National Missile Defense and Early Warning Radars: Background and Issues

Chasteen, Larry

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service.

关键词: Weapons systems;    Antimissile missiles;    Intercontinental ballistic missiles;   

RP-ID  :  RL30654
RP-ID  :  RL30654_2000Aug25

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The Clinton Administration is scheduled to decide by Fall 2000 whether theUnited States should begin deploying a National Missile Defense (NMD) system.This system could achieve initial operational capability by 2005 and would be designed to protect the United States from a limited attack by intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). As currently envisioned, the NMD system would operate as an integrated system that would rely on a variety of sensors to detect and track incoming missiles. One key program element is to upgrade the existing Early Warning Radars (EWR) so that they can detect and track the incoming missiles sooner.This report provides background information and technical details of these planned upgrades as well as their cost and schedule.