Intelligent Approach to Theater Ballistic Missile Attack Operations

摘要

In a relatively short span of time, the theater ballistic missile (TBM) threathas grown from a well-known but largely tactical threat to a major politico-military problem. Theater missiles have been in existence for many years, but during the cold war era the only non-NATO country with a viable capability was the Soviet Union. Having operational intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Soviets used their Scud missiles primarily as battlefield support weapons. Equipped with either chemical or high explosive warheads, the missiles were a recognized threat, all of which was minimal in the context of the vast European East-West conflict. Today, however, TBM's have achieved a new dimension in the hands of hostile or unstable third world nations, many of which are developing nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) capabilities for which the Scud and other such missiles are an acceptable delivery vehicle.