Defense News:
“Order to Intercept Missiles Issued.” This was The Japan News headline on 21 June 2016 when the Japanese defense minister responded to an impending North Korea missile launch. He made the same decision three weeks earlier for exactly the same situation. The good news here: these North Korean missile launches resulted in failed tests of their Musudan ballistic missiles.
Just a few days ago, North Korea declared the U.S. and South Korea will suffer “extreme uneasiness and terror,” threatening to physically act against both nation’s as they determine where to deploy an advanced anti-missile system, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), in South Korea.
What if these were not tests or threats, and the rouge nation really launched conventional or nuclear ballistic missiles? How would Japan, or South Korea, or for that matter, territories or sections of the United States defend themselves?
This is one of just a few real world examples of why it is imperative our warfighters and our allies must be equipped with the most advanced anti-ballistic (upper tier) missile defense systems. Make no mistake about it — the United States, its allies, partners and friends must all stay ahead of the threat from hostile nations like North Korea and Iran, and even our near-peer competitors, China and Russia. According to the U.S. Army’s Space Missile Defense Command, 22 countries have ballistic missile capabilities, and it’s likely nine of those nations have nuclear capabilities.
It is no secret, our global foes are making serious inroads developing next-generation ballistic missile capabilities. This is about more than just keeping up with the Joneses; this is about leading on missile defense.
So how do we lead on missile defense? We must start by maintaining and modernizing our upper tier missile defense system, which requires increased capabilities to match emerging threats. That means committing to developing the Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) to ensure our warfighters and our allies have the most advanced kill vehicle capabilities to defend our homeland, deter our enemies and respond to growing exoatmospheric threats.
The Aegis Ashore, with the proven reliability of the SM-3, is the cornerstone of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) that is being implemented to address Iran’s emerging ballistic missile threats. The latest site recently opened in Romania and Poland is next. But more are required to ensure regional security.
As Iran and North Korea continue to make headway in developing these capabilities, imminent threats from adversaries still remain.
China still poses a threat to the continental United States as it re-engineers its long-range ballistic missiles to carry nuclear warheads. Russia also continues to be a provoking force that, according to Vice Admiral Syring, Director of the Missile Defense Agency, Russia “could imperil our nation’s existence.”
