The Science and Technology of the US National Missile Defense System

The National Missile Defense System utilizes UHF and X-band radars for search, track and discrimination, and interceptors that use long-wave infrared sensors to identify and home on attacking warheads. The radars and infrared sensors in the missile defense system perform at near the theoretical limits predicted by physics. However, in spite of the fantastic technical advances in sensor technology, signal processing, and computational support functions, the National Missile Defense System cannot be expected to ever work in realistic combat environments. This talk will describe why these impressive technologies can never deliver on the promise of a credible defense against long-range ballistic missiles.