The White House and the Department of Defense have issued a new policy framework to protect U.S. forces and allies from missile threats posed by rogue states and other potential adversaries, U.S. Strategic Command reported Thursday.President Donald Trump released the 2019 Missile Defense Review with Vice President Mike Pence and Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Thursday at the Pentagon.
The document assesses the threats posed to the U.S. and its allies by North Korea, Iran, Russia and China as they develop capabilities such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons.
The MDR framework calls for the development and deployment of missile defenses to keep ahead of projected missile threats; use of nuclear deterrence to address ICBM capabilities of Russia and China; and pursuit of new missile defense technologies and concepts to address the evolving threats.
The review recommends several initiatives to build up the capability of the Ground-Based, Mid-Course Defense system. These include the addition of 20 more deployed ground-based interceptors in Alaska; development of a new kill vehicle for the GBI; and deployment of missile tracking and discrimination sensors in Hawaii and Alaska.
Other efforts suggested in the document to address regional offensive threats include the development of mobile missile defense capabilities to facilitate response to evolving conflicts; interoperability between missile defenses of U.S. forces and allies; and the need to build up regional missile defense posture by fielding Aegis, Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems.
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