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Defense Primer: U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense
Ballistic missiles fielded by China, Iran, North Korea, and
Russia could threaten the U.S. homeland, U.S. forces
abroad, and U.S. allies and partners. These missiles
constitute one subset of the diverse array of aerial threats
facing the United States, including crewed aircraft,
uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), and cruise missiles.
Since the late 1940s, the U.S. government has invested in
developing ballistic missile defense (BMD) capabilities to
counter ballistic missile threats.
Since the start of an enhanced BMD effort under the
Reagan Administration, Congress has identified BMD as a
national security interest. Congress passed the Ballistic
Missile Defense Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-106), which
declared U.S. commitment to developing theater and
national missile defense systems. In 2017, Congress
directed the Secretary of Defense to establish a unified
major force program for missile defense and defeat, to
prioritize these and related activities in the Department of
Defense (DOD) budget. The House Armed Services
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces holds annual hearings on
missile defense and defeat, and the Senate Armed Services
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces has held similar
hearings. In the fiscal year 2025 National Defense
Authorization Act (FY2025 NDAA; P.L. 118-159),
Congress directed that DOD build a third ballistic missile
interceptor site on the U.S. East Coast and began requiring
an annual briefing on the missile defense of Guam.
U.S. BMD capabilities are not designed to counter the full
range of ballistic missile threats. They are designed to deter
and defend against (1) ballistic missile attacks on U.S.
forces abroad, as well as allies and partners, and (2) attacks
against the homeland from rogue states, like North Korea
and Iran. U.S. BMD is neither intended for or capable of
defending the homeland against the ballistic missiles of
peer competitors Russia and China; instead, the United
States relies on its nuclear forces to deter these threats. If
deterrence fails, U.S. strategy describes missile defense as a
tool for damage limitation.
Ballistic CMSS Threats
Ballistic missiles vary in launch platform, range, and
payload. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) strike
targets from 300 to 1,000 km away. Medium-range ballistic
missiles (MRBMs) strike targets from 1,000 to 5,500 km
away. The longest-range ballistic missiles, intercontinental
ballistic missiles (ICBMs), strike targets greater than 5,500
km away. Shorter-range missiles are generally considered
tactical capabilities for regional conflicts, while ICBMs are
considered strategic deterrent forces, or forces meant to
deter a strategic attack.
The ballistic missile threat is evolving and growing. One
Army official testified in May 2024 that increasingly,
Updated December 30, 2024
Competitors' ballistic missiles are more mobile,
survivable, reliable, and accurate with longer ranges. To
complicate targeting and evade missile defenses, U.S.
competitors have developed missiles with multiple
warheads (known as MIRVs or multiple independently
targetable reentry vehicles), maneuverable warheads,
decoys, and jammers. Additionally, recent conflicts show
how large, diverse missile and UAS salvos can be used to
overwhelm missile defenses and exhaust interceptor stores.
n U.S. trategy
The Biden Administration published a Missile Defense
Review (MDR) as a subordinate document to its
congressionally-mandated National Defense Strategy in
2022. The Trump Administration also published an MDR in
2019. These two most recent MDRs describe the missile
threat environment as well as U.S. missile defense
capabilities, strategy, and cooperation with allies and
partners. The two MDRs are not identical, but both
emphasize the necessity of BMD system integration,
resilient sensor networks, and affordability, as well as the
unequivocal inclusion of Guam in the definition of the U.S.
homeland.
In its assessment of the ballistic missile threat, the 2022
MDR distinguishes between U.S. homeland and regional
threats, and focuses on four nations-China, Iran, North
Korea, and Russia. Of these, China, North Korea, and
Russia have nuclear ICBM capabilities that could reach the
U.S. homeland. All four countries have SRBMs and
MRBMs that allow them to threaten various regions where
U.S. forces, allies, and partners are located.
The 2022 MDR describes missile defense as part of a
holistic deterrence strategy, complementary to U.S. nuclear
capabilities. The authors write that U.S. nuclear weapons
present a credible threat of... cost imposition, while missile
defenses contribute to deterrence by denial. They explain
that missile defense deters by introducing doubt and
uncertainty into [adversary] strike planning and execution,
reducing the incentive to conduct small-scale coercive
attacks, decreasing the probability of attack success, and
raising the threshold for conflict. Additionally, missile
defenses reassure allies and partners that the United States
will not be deterred from fulfilling its global security
commitments, offer military options, and may be less
escalatory than employing offensive systems.
Major ements of the US. M System
The United States has deployed a global array of networked
ground-, sea-, and space-based sensors for target detection
and tracking, a number of ground- and sea-based
interceptors, and a global network of command, control,
and battle management capabilities to link sensors to
interceptors. The hit-to-kill (also called kinetic energy or](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govervk0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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