Critical Analysis: Operational Scheme and Joint Theater Missile Defense AttackCapabilities

摘要

Following the Gulf War in 1991, US military and civilian leaders identifiedsignificant shortcomings in the conduct of US Joint Theater Missile Defense (JTMD) operations and applied the lessons learned to improve the Joint Force Commander's (JFC) ability to execute such operations more effectively in the future. Four pillars of JTMD were doctrinally established: Passive Defense, Active Defense, Attack Operations, and C41. This scope of this paper is specifically limited to JTMD Attack Operations and related C41 capabilities which are designed to be employed against an adversary capable of launching ground-based theater missiles at US forces and/or their allies during a regional conflict. To be effective, procedural improvements and the execution of JTMD Attack Operations cannot be implemented in a vacuum; the must be coordinated and integrated as part of a JFC's overall operational design. Thus, by using four integral elements of operational scheme (Application of Forces and Assets; Synchronization; Coordination; and Operational Fires) as a framework of analysis, this paper will critically evaluate the present/near-future effectiveness of JTMD attack systems and C41 capabilities to support and implement the JFC's overall operational design.