Missile Defense Project

Authoritative analysis on missile defense and related issues

The Missile Defense Project at CSIS looks at a wide range of policy, program, and strategic issues related to missile defense. Technological and geopolitical factors have driven increased global supply and demand for high-velocity, unmanned, missile-based weapons and their corresponding counters. Besides more recognized cruise and ballistic missile threats, global missile proliferation now consists of a spectrum including precision-guided rockets, anti-ship missiles, air defenses, hypersonic delivery systems, and counterspace weapons.  
 

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NA Missile Defense

North America is a Region, Too

July 14, 2022 | Report by Tom Karako, Ian Williams, Wes Rumbaugh, Ken Harmon, and Matthew Strohmeyer

This report explores the strategic significance of air and missile defense for the homeland, considers principles informing defense design, and develops and costs an architecture based on those principles.

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Missile Threat

Missile Threat brings together a wide range of information and analysis relating to the proliferation of cruise and ballistic missiles around the world and the air and missile defense systems designed to defeat them.

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A New Generation of Homeland Missile Defense Interceptors

Recent Pentagon actions have produced considerable uncertainty in the future of homeland ballistic missile defense. In August 2019, Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Dr. Michael Griffin cancelled the Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) program, a long-running effort to replace the kill vehicles on older Ground-Based Interceptors (GBI) designed to defend the nation from a long-range ballistic…

Commentary — November 12, 2019

More Than Missiles: China Previews its New Way of War

China’s October 1 display of military hardware revealed a nation seeking to supplant the United States as the dominant military and technological power in the Asia-Pacific region.

Brief by Ian Williams and Masao Dahlgren — October 16, 2019

More Than Missiles: China Previews its New Way of War

On October 1, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) celebrated the 70th anniversary of its founding. Among the pageantry was a military parade in which the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) performed a highly orchestrated show of strength, exhibiting many of its strategic weapon systems. While China has regularly held such displays in the past, this…

Commentary — October 16, 2019

A Vision for the Future of Missile Defense

The CSIS International Security Program is pleased to welcome Vice Admiral Jon Hill, Director of the Missile Defense Agency, to speak on his vision and intent for the Agency.

Event by Tom Karako , VADM Jon Hill , Sarah Reeves , John Schumacher , Paul Smith , Dr. Mitch Stevison , and Brig. Gen. Kenn Todorov (USAF, ret.) — October 7, 2019

Don’t Waste This Lesson: How drone attacks reveal fixable flaws with American air defenses

Originally published in The Hill. The attacks on the oil facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais in Saudi Arabia are neon flashing warning signs of the threat presented by the proliferation of low flying precision guided weapons like drones and cruise missiles. These attacks were highly successful, despite the apparent presence of air defenses. This illustrates…

Commentary — September 24, 2019

Trump’s Blind Spot

New missile defense plans depend upon the success or failure of one thing: a new layer of space-based sensors. At the January release of his administration’s new missile defense policy review, President Donald Trump announced the beginning of a “new era” for missile defense. To be sure, a new period of missile threats has already…

Commentary — September 6, 2019

Achilles’ Heel: Adding Resilience to NATO’s Fragile Missile Shield

The United States relies on missile defense architectures like the EPAA to defend against ballistic missiles, but the EPAA has a weakness that an adversary could exploit. Fortunately, there are steps that NATO and the United States can take to strengthen the system.

Brief by Ian Williams — August 5, 2019

Achilles’ Heel: Adding Resilience to NATO’s Fragile Missile Shield

Tensions with Iran are once again increasing. The slow implosion of the nuclear accord, Iran’s harassment of cargo ships, and the downing of a U.S. unmanned aircraft have made plain the risk of conflict between Iran and the United States. The dispute should also draw attention to the questionable preparedness of the United States and…

Commentary — August 5, 2019

Adapting NATO Missile Defense to Survive Enemy Contact

Tensions with Iran are once again high, making plain the risk of unexpected conflict between Iran and the United States. In the event of such a conflict, the United States would likely rely heavily on regional missile defense architectures like the European Phased Adaptive Approach, or EPAA, designed to protect NATO from ballistic missile attacks…

Commentary — August 2, 2019