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U.S. Missile Defense Programs | Illinois State University

October 8

Title: U.S. Missile Defense Programs: A Case Study in the Interaction of Science, Technology, and Public Policy
Abstract
During the past 70 years, the United States has spent $400 billion on ballistic missile defense, mostly on systems intended to intercept nuclear-armed intercontinental-range missiles that might be launched against the United States. But would these systems be able to defend effectively against an attack by such missiles? As I will describe, despite decades of effort, no missile defense system thus far developed has been shown to be effective against realistic ICBM threats. (ICBMs are ballistic missiles with a range of more than 3,500 nautical miles.) In particular, the capabilities of the current U.S. systems intended to defend against the nuclear-armed ICBMs that North Korea has deployed are relatively low, and are likely to remain low for at least the next 15 years. The ability of these systems to defend against the ICBMs deployed by Russia and China is even less. Despite the ineffectiveness of these systems, their existence—and proposals for new defensive systems—have spurred the deployment by U.S. adversaries of new nuclear weapons designed to overcome them. I will discuss how scientists and the general public can help address this danger.
About the speaker

Frederick Lamb is a Research Professor of Physics and of Astronomy, the Brand and Monica Fortner Chair of Theoretical Astrophysics Emeritus, and a core faculty member in the Arms Control and Domestic & International Security Program at the University of Illinois. An expert on space policy, ballistic missiles and missile defenses, and the technical aspects of nuclear test bans, he has been a consultant to the Defense Department, national laboratories, and Congressional committees. He co-chaired the American Physical Society’s 2003 study of boost-phase missile defense and is chairing its current study of missile defenses. The current focus of his scientific research is high-energy and relativistic astrophysics and dense matter. He is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the APS. He shared the 2005 Leo Szilard Award of the APS for his leadership of the 2003 study of missile defense and received the 2021 APS Five Sigma Physicist Award for his leadership of the current study. He shared the 2022 Bruno Rossi Prize of the American Astronomical Society for his contributions to the success of NASA’s NICER X-ray astronomy mission.

For more biographical information, see https://physics.illinois.edu/people/directory/profile/fkl

Details

Date:
October 8
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