Page 23 - ADT MARCH 2021 Online Magazine

“THE QW-12 MISSILE SUCCESSFULLY How Safe is Safe? [ MISSILE DEFENCE ]
SHOT DOWN A SPECIALLY The US national missile defence system is robust, comprising
DESIGNED TARGET AIRCRAFT 40 ground-based interceptors at Fort Greely in Alaska and four
BUILT TO SIMULATE AN ATTACK at Vandenburg Air Force Base in California. Twenty more will be
deployed by 2023. The Biden administration also has plans to build
HELICOPTER BY MIMICKING ITS a new interceptor to counter long-range ballistic missile attacks.
INFRARED SIGNAL,” the Global Times However, no missile defence system, or a combination of systems,
claimed. can ensure total protection. A study by the American Physical
Society (APS), published in February, questions the ability of the
“As the QW-12 missile was approaching, the U.S. to defend against intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)
aircraft released eight decoy flares that resem- even after investing more than US$350 billion in ballistic missile
ble the infrared signal of the target aircraft in defense. The report, which examined a hypothetical North Korean
an attempt to disorient the missile. However, strike and the response of current and future missile defense sys-
the missile ignored the flares and hit the air- tems, concluded that current capabilities are inadequate and future
craft.” If the reports are true, the targeting systems unlikely to do the job of defending the country in the next 15
technology that can distinguish the actual years at least, even from a small number of North Korean missiles.
target from decoys would enable the hand-
held shoulder-launched weapon to neutralize The report, which considered midcourse warhead intercept sys-
countermeasures. tems such as the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system
and the Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) system, said that the
South Korea, which has to contend with a unreliability of the GMD system and its vulnerability to countermea-
hostile China as well as North Korea, is contem- sures seriously limit its effectiveness against ICBMs. Boost-phase
plating replacing the THAAD missile defense missile intercept systems, which would attempt to intercept ICBMs
system with a long-range surface-to-air mis- during their first few minutes of flight, “could theoretically defend
sile (L-SAM) that is expected to be ready for part of the U.S.” but would be incapable of defending the entire
deployment before the end of the decade. country. For a space-based boost-phase missile intercept system
Successfully test-fired in February by the state- to be successful against a single North Korean ICBM, hundreds of
run Agency for Defence Development, L-SAM weapons orbiting on space platforms would be needed while thou-
is reportedly capable of targeting incoming sands of such weapons would be required to defend five ICBMs
missiles at altitudes of around 50-60km and launched within a short time, the report added.
has a price tag that is significantly less than
the THAAD, which costs about $US 3 billion
per unit. Once deployed, the L-SAM will be The Pentagon, however, remains confident. According to a report
one component of a layered defense network by its Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), the
that includes the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 country’s various missile defense programs, working together, are
missiles and the indigenously produced capable of defending the country against ICBMs.
Cheongung II KM-SAM medium-range weap-
ons. The country is also working on a US$2.6
billion artillery interception system, on the lines “THE MISSILE DEFENCE SYSTEM (MDS) HAS
of Israel’s Iron Dome, to defeat North Korea’s DEMONSTRATED A MEASURED CAPABILITY TO
long-range guns and rockets. In January, South DEFEND THE UNITED STATES, DEPLOYED FORCES,
Korea signed a US$3.5 billion deal with the UAE AND ALLIES FROM A ROGUE NATION’S MISSILE
for the export of the KM-SAM, providing a fillip
to its domestic defense industry. ATTACK,” the report said.

ASIAN DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY March 2022 | 23