United States national missile defense: Difference between revisions

One major component is [[Ground-Based Midcourse Defense]] (GMD), consisting of ground-based interceptor (GBI) missiles and radar in the United States in [[Alaska]], which would intercept incoming warheads in space.<ref>[http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/060509/loc_img2_001.shtml Begich, Gates visit Alaska missile defense base] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129160036/http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/060509/loc_img2_001.shtml |date=29 November 2010 }} By Tim Bradner, Alaska Journal of Commerce 5 June 2009.</ref><ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS197994+30-Oct-2009+GNW20091030 Northrop Grumman Contribution to Support Missile Defense Workforce in Alaska] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091104221744/http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS197994+30-Oct-2009+GNW20091030 |date=4 November 2009 }}, reuters.com Fri 30 October 2009.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/08/commanding-the.html|title=Commanding Alaska's Guard w/ 24/7 missile defense|work=BLACKFIVE}}</ref> Currently some GBI missiles are located at Vandenberg AFB in California. These GBIs can be augmented by mid-course SM-3 interceptors fired from Navy ships. About ten interceptor missiles were operational as of 2006. In 2014, the Missile Defense Agency had 30 operational GBIs,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/3979m-next-step-or-last-step-for-gmd-05229/|title=Missile Defense: Next Steps for the USA’s GMD|date=1 June 2015|work=Defense Industry Daily}}</ref> with 14 additional ground-based interceptors requested for 2017 deployment, in the Fiscal Year 2016 budget.<ref>United States [http://www.mda.mil/global/documents/pdf/budgetfy16.pdf Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Overview] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430182858/http://www.mda.mil/global/documents/pdf/budgetfy16.pdf |date=30 April 2015 }} accessdate=2015-05-08</ref>

The Wall Street Journal reported on 17 July 2012, that the Pentagon is building a missile-defense radar station at a secret site in Qatar.<ref name="WSJ20120717">{{cite news|title=Pentagon Bulks Up Defenses in the Gulf|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304388004577531331722511516 |accessdate=17 September 2012|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=17 July 2012|author=Adam Enteus and Julian E. Barnes}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=US missile defence site in Qatar: Report|url=http://india.nydailynews.com/business/a2d51a9c3c2841d25e3e4479e526bf51/us-missile-defence-site-in-qatar-report|accessdate=17 September 2012|newspaper=The Daily News|date=17 July 2012|location=New York|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103183331/http://india.nydailynews.com/business/a2d51a9c3c2841d25e3e4479e526bf51/us-missile-defence-site-in-qatar-report|archivedate=3 November 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=US 'building missile defence radar' in Qatar|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/07/2012717203533999430.html|publisher=Al Jazeera English|accessdate=17 September 2012|date=18 July 2012}}</ref> The Wall Street Journal report was later confirmed by a New York Times article from 8 August 2012, which stated that U.S. officials disclosed that a high-resolution, X-band missile defense radar would be located in Qatar.<ref>{{cite news|last=Shanker|first=Tom|title=U.S. and Gulf Allies Pursue a Missile Shield Against Iranian Attack|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/world/middleeast/us-and-gulf-allies-pursue-a-missile-shield-against-iranian-attack.html|accessdate=17 September 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=8 August 2012}}</ref> The radar site in Qatar will complete the backbone of a system designed to defend U.S. interests and allies such as Israel and European nations against Iranian rockets, officials told The Wall Street Journal.<ref name="WSJ20120717" /> The Pentagon chose to place the new radar site in Qatar because it is home to the largest U.S. military air base in the region, Al Udeid Air Base, analysts said. The radar base in Qatar is slated to house a powerful AN/TPY-2 radar, also known as an X-Band radar, and supplement two similar arrays already in place in Israel's Negev Desert and in central Turkey, officials said. Together, the three radar sites form an arc that U.S. officials say can detect missile launches from northern, western and southern Iran. Those sites will enable U.S. officials and allied militaries to track missiles launched from deep inside Iran, which has an arsenal of missiles capable of reaching Israel and parts of Europe. The radar installations, in turn, are being linked to missile-interceptor batteries throughout the region and to U.S. ships with high-altitude interceptor rockets. The X-Band radar provides images that can be used to pinpoint rockets in flight.<ref name="WSJ20120717" />

*[http://atimes.com/2015/09/the-china-challenge-the-weapons-the-pla-didnt-show/ "The weapons the PLA didn't show", 8 Sep 2015, ''Asia Times'' ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005171216/http://atimes.com/2015/09/the-china-challenge-the-weapons-the-pla-didnt-show/ |date=5 October 2015 }}</ref> capable of penetrating US missile defenses. The US Department of Defense denotes as this HGV as the [[WU-14]].<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/china-conducts-first-test-of-new-ultra-high-speed-missile-vehicle/ "China Conducts First Test of New Ultra-High Speed Missile Vehicle"]. ''Washington Free Beacon''. 2014-01-13.</ref>