Space systems and missile defense in 2010

The Space Review ^ | 1/18/2010 | Taylor Dinerman

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

The recent Chinese missile defense test is just one of many signs that anti-ballistic missile systems are the “must have” military fashion accessory of 2010. For China the need for such weapons is obvious: the only neighbors they have who lack a real or potential short- to medium-range missile capability are Laos, Burma, and perhaps Mongolia. All of their other neighbors, especially Russia, North Korea. and India, have been building up their rocket forces at a rapid rate.

For both Europe and China, any effective BMD requires space-based early warning sensors similar to the US Defense Support Program satellites based in GEO. China itself has also been aggressively expanding its missile units facing Taiwan and this has been pushing the Taiwanese into a variety of countermeasures. US pressure has, so far, stopped Taipei from building its own force of ballistic missiles, but they have been developing and fielding long-range cruise missiles. The HY-9 ballistic missile defense (BMD) system that was tested was not probably intended for use in the Taiwan theater. Instead, China may be looking at other threats, such as the one south of the Yalu River.

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[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]