Scientific American:

Russia recently attacked Kyiv with a cruise missile in a menacing demonstration of Moscow’s ability to carry out a long-range strike against a metropolitan target. The successful assault exposed vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s air defenses—and highlighted similar gaps in those of the U.S. Now the Pentagon wants to test technology that it hopes can defend American cities against the very same type of weapon.

This experiment, a proposed 2023 event called the Cruise Missile Defense–Homeland Kill Chain Demonstration, would combine existing technologies in an effort to better shield cities and critical infrastructure from cruise missiles. “I need [a domestic cruise missile defense system] yesterday, candidly,” says Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and head of U.S. Northern Command, who is responsible for protecting the U.S. and Canada against such weapons. “The threat exists today, primarily from Russia,” he says. The four-star general warns that Moscow’s current technology would enable it to attack American targets from within Russian territory or from ships off U.S. shores. And the problem is not limited to Russia. In “five to 10 years,” VanHerck says, “we’ll be in the same place with China.”

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