This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study—prepared at the request of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities of the Senate Armed Services Committee—looks at technical, operational, and cost issues related to using a boost-phase intercept (BPI) system to defend the United States against intercontinental ballistic missiles. The study compares the strengths, weaknesses, and costs of five alternative designs for a BPI system—three surfacebased and two space-based—that span a range of performance characteristics. In keeping with CBO’s mandate to provide objective, impartial analysis, this study makes no recommendations.
Summary
1. Ballistic Missile Defenses and Threats
2. Performance Needed for an Operationally Effective BPI System
3. Alternative Designs for BPI Systems
4. Comparison of BPI Options
A. CBO's Estimates of the Costs of Alternative BPI Systems
B. Kinetic Kill Vehicles for Boost-Phase Interceptors
Policy makers, national defense and intelligence specialists, and the Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency members might be interested in this study.
Product Details
- Arthur, David
- CBO Study
- National Defense
- Boost Phase Missile Defense
- Ballistic Missiles
