... designed to nullify any advantages the United States would get through implementing its missile defense programs. Thus, the BMD challenge to deterrence was – and still is being - met by improving the capacity of one’s missile fleet to penetrate enemy ... ... issues, the general power imbalance between the two countries, and the asymmetrical strategic position of India and Pakistan.
North Korea, which developed its nuclear weapons and long-range missiles in the 21st century, presented another problem. Its arrival ...
... be observed in miniature on the Korean Peninsula today), there is much about it that defies the traditional definition. The defence systems, notably BMD, while protecting one side, diminish the deterrent potential of the other. Given a high-quality BMD, there may be a temptation to strike first, in order to destroy the bulk of the strategic nuclear force, and then try to beat off a retaliatory strike. Deploying a single THAAD battery is not enough to neutralize the threat of North Korea’s Strategic Rocket Forces
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. At best, it can counter a local strike, for example, in one of the unusually excessive “exchanges of fire” that occur from time to time between North and South. After all, the North has more ...
... the mountains, making attempts to destroy mobile missile launchers that have a very good chance of surviving a nuclear strike futile. Obviously, even such specialized anti-missile complexes as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Aegis BMD cannot ensure 100 per cent interception
[16]
, and nothing less will suffice when it comes to countering a nuclear attack.
North Korea does not need to equip a significant part of its missiles with nuclear warheads. Indeed, it would even be harmful to do so. A large number of conventional missiles would come in handy as a means of a “last warning”, and in the ...
