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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Role of terminal defenses in strategic defense

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6060290

Terminal interceptors can use the atmosphere for discrimination. They also have disadvantages in development, cost, saturation, and susceptibility to preferential attacks. Terminal could be preferred for higher midcourse costs or decoys. Their main limitation is battlespace. It is possible to integrate boost- and terminal-phase defenses by reducing the number of reentry vehicles penetrating the boost phase to the roughly one per target terminal defenses could handle. Terminal defenses could offset boost-phase defenses' lack of preferentiality and midcourse defenses; sensitivity to decoys. 15 refs.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
6060290
Report Number(s):
LA-12064-MS; ON: DE92004340
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English