The Last Thirty Seconds


Book Description

In March 1983, as the world’s superpowers continued aggressively stockpiling nuclear weapons, President Ronald Reagan described his vision for a world no longer confronted with the concept of mutually assured destruction. A year later the Strategic Defense Initiative was established, followed soon after by the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO). The SDIO was tasked with the development and coordination of missile technologies designed for the strategic defense against civilization’s most dangerous invention, one that carried with it the threat of nuclear destruction—intercontinental ballistic missiles. In The Last Thirty Seconds: A Brief History of the Evolution of Hit-to-Kill Technology, David K. Stumpf details the development of one of many possible solutions for ballistic missile defense commonly known as hit-to-kill. Hit-to-kill is a nonnuclear technique using kinetic energy, rather than explosives, to destroy reentry vehicles carrying chemical, biological, or nuclear warheads. It is the centerpiece of the United States’ current ballistic missile defense systems and has proven invaluable in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia as well as in the ongoing conflict with the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. While much of the subject remains classified, this detailed study will be welcomed for its substantial references and the inclusion of newly declassified material.










The Relations between Defence and Civil Technologies


Book Description

This book arises from a meeting held at Wiston House, Sussex, UK, in September 1987. The meeting brought together academic, governmental and industrial experts from eight countries to discuss the increasingly important sUbject of the relations between civil and defence technologies. It was primarily funded under the Advanced Research Workshops Programme of NATO's Scientific Affairs Division, and was the first science policy workshop funded by the Programme. Additional financial support came from the Leverhulme Trust. The choice of topic, of speakers and, finally, of papers to be published was entirely ours. The conclusions reached were our own and those of the partIcipants. They were not in any way guided by NATO; nor do they represent NATO policy. We speak for all the participants in offering our thanks to the NATO SCIentific Affairs Division, especially Secretary General Durand and Dr. Craig Sinclair, for rnei r- generosity and encouragement. WIthout them this book would not exist. We thank the Leverhulme Trust for enabling assistance to be provided to the Workshop Directors, in the form of lain Bate, who himself played a major part in the success of the meeting. The staff of Wiston House must also be thanked for prOViding an admirable environment for the meeting. For secretarial support prior to the meeting we thank Gill Miller and Lesley Price. Finally, we offer special thanks to Mrs. Yvonne Aspinall for converting all the papers, in whatever state they were presented, into camera-ready copy with such professionalism and gOOd humour.







A Shield in Space?


Book Description

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1989.




Ballistic Missile Defense In The Post-cold War Era


Book Description

With the end of the Cold War and the visibility of U.S. Patriot missile defenses during the 1991 Gulf War, the cost and benefits of ballistic missile defense systems (BMD) need to be re-evaluated. In this detailed and balanced study, David Denoon assesses new types of short-range and intercontinental missile defenses. In the post Cold War era, two fundamental changes have made missile defense for the United States and its military forces more compelling: The United States and Russia no longer see each other as direct threats and there has been a dramatic proliferation of ballistic missile capability in the Third World. Consequently, U.S. forces deployed overseas are more likely to be at risk and, eventually, the United States itself could become vulnerable to missile threats. With these changes in mind, David Denoon analyzes the current BMD dilemma, arguing that active defenses against missiles should be seen as a form of insurance against catastrophe. He assesses the likelihood of missile attacks and the appropriate level of investment for the United States to defend against such attacks. The book provides an assessment of deterrence and the performance of the Patriot missiles during the 1991 Gulf War, critiques the Strategic Defense Initiative, and analyzes the prospects for new types of short-range and intercontinental missile defenses.