American missile defense : a guide to the issues / Victoria Samson.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- The ballistic missile threat -- George W. Bush and missile defense -- Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system -- The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system -- The Patriot and Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) systems -- The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system -- The airborne laser and kinetic energy interceptor -- Space sensors -- Space-based interceptors.

A bullet hitting a bullet. That is the simplest explanation of how missile defense supporters envision their project working. An enemy would launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at the United States; we would detect and track it; then we would launch an interceptor that would ram into the oncoming missile and destroy it entirely. Accompany this image with lots of visuals taken from the movie Star Wars-- explosions in space and the like-- and you have the beginnings of a hypothetical missile shield. This simplistic scenario, however, leaves out many of the concerns and nuances surrounding missile defense, many of which existed when efforts began 60 years ago and still continue to this day. This issue has become highly partisan and a political litmus test for both sides. Questions swirl around missile defense's technology: Is it developing fast enough? Are the tests realistic and free from fraud and distortion? Can we depend upon it to enhance U.S. national security? The continually growing costs of a missile defense system cause some to wonder if there is a better way to spend money allocated for the country's defense. Congressional overseers worry that missile defense is ducking the reporting requirements to which all other defense programs are beholden. The effect of missile defense on U.S. allies is often overlooked, while the consequences of it on missile proliferation are frequently downplayed. Finally, the link between missile defense and space weapons is both simultaneously solidifying and becoming ambiguous, which should force a discussion of what the United States hopes to achieve with its ballistic missile defense systems.