Russia Warns Against Space-Based Missile Defenses

A senior Russian military official has called on the world’s nuclear powers to prevent the deployment of missile defenses in space, Interfax reported today (see GSN, Oct. 26).

“According to the modern understanding of models of comprehensive missile defense systems, it is the space component that can make the largest contribution to their efficiency by intercepting most missiles at their active and post-boost trajectories, regardless of the depth of the territory from which the missiles are launched, unlike analogous capabilities of sea-, aerial-, and ground-based missile defense systems,” said Gen. Vladimir Mikhailov, commander of the Russian air force.

“In building missile defense systems, both for the European continent and the U.S., that is, creating them against the relatively small number of ballistic missiles of any type, control over the level of development of missile defense systems plays a significant role,” he said.

“This concerns above all the U.S., Russia, France, the United Kingdom and, in the future, China.  The key goal for such control should be to prevent the undermining of strategic stability if one or several states build a highly efficient missile defense system that would serve as a shield to deliver an unreciprocated nuclear strike upon another nuclear power,” Mikhailov said.

“The need for agreements on such control exists already now, because the U.S. programs of building nonstrategic missile defense systems envision the development and testing of space-based weapons,” he said (Interfax, Nov. 20).

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