How an Intercept Would Work

摘要

To understand the "complex system of elements" the Missile Defense Agency is constructing to provide a layered defense against missile attack, consider a hypothetical Iranian missile attack on Europe or the United States sometime in the foreseeable future. Immediately upon launch, the missile will be detected by state-of-the-art infrared sensors aboard the Air Force's constellation of SBIRS and STSS satellites, and by SPY-1 radars aboard Navy Aegis ballistic missile defense cruisers stationed in the Persian Gulf. Early detection is critical, because missiles are easiest to detect and most vulnerable in the initial "boost phase" of flight, when missile exhaust is bright and hot and no countermeasure decoys have deployed. The boost phase "window" for engagement closes in five minutes or less, meaning interceptors must be stationed relatively close by.