A Shahab-3 launched by Iran at Israel. An SS-27 accidentally fired by Russia at Britain. As frightening as it may seem, the correct answer is none of the above. Even though scenarios such as these could develop at any moment, the United States currently has no way to defend itself or its allies against such missiles, including ones tipped with chemical or biological weapons. Yet polls show most Americans remain unaware of how easily many foreign nations could exploit this vulnerability.
Help is at hand.
Heritage defense analyst James H. Anderson, a Marine Corps veteran with a doctorate in international relations, explains how such a system can be developed quickly and efficiently. More than two dozen nations, including Iran, Iraq and Libya, have missiles either deployed or in development. The ABM treaty expressly forbade the United States and the former Soviet Union to develop nationwide missile-defense systems. But the Soviet Union ceased to exist in 1991, Anderson notes, along with any obligation the United States had to the terms of the ABM treaty. A sea-based system would upgrade the capabilities of the Navy's Aegis defense system, which was developed two decades ago to protect the U.S. fleet from cruise missiles.