| Publication |
2008.
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| Summary/Abstract |
While there is some uncertainty about the direction of the U.S. missile defense program, there can be little question that the threats posed by ballistic missiles and the availability of nuclear weapons to potential adversaries will continue to grow well into this century. We will need new capabilities, because, over the long term, the currently configured and planned terrestrial-based missile defense system will be unable to deal with increasingly sophisticated countermeasures and shifting threats. Maximizing protection of the United States and its allies against new threats in the decades ahead can be achieved by supplementing fixed ground-based defenses with mobile defenses, using platforms on land, at sea, or in space. Space seems to have the most to offer if we are striving for global and timely protection. It will be critical to future security strategy to continue efforts to integrate offensive and defensive capabilities in order to bring the full power of our armed forces to bear on the dangers we will face in the years ahead.
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