Missile Defense System

In the early 1990’s, following the aftermath of the Cold War and the prerequisites to the first war in Iraq, the U.S. government began implementing what it called Ground-Based Mid-Course Defense (GMD). Using ground based Interceptor missiles in Alaska, the system proved to be semi-effective against preventing ICBMs (inter-continental ballistic missiles) from being launched in a nuclear attack against North America.

Originally they had named the system GMD because in the early stages it was only ground based only. The system was renamed in 2002 to encompass all aspects of missile defense, be it by sea, high altitude or space.

President Ronald Reagan implemented the early working for this system in 1983 with what he called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). However, the new GMD was not intended to be a shield, but rather a system of interception. This new system would use strategically placed interceptor missiles to shoot incoming ICBM’s out of the sky.

The development of this system, very similar to Arrow, the missile defense system Israel uses, received much opposition by surrounding nations. After the ABM (anti-ballistic missile) treaty was signed in 1972 which was introduced by the UN to deter the amassing of nukes in the US, the USSR and China, there was much worldwide debate over the development of this new missile defense system.

Many countries saw it as a form of deterring a deterrent. A vice that is seemingly silly, considering all nuclear powers claim their missiles only exist as a deterrent to other countries that try to invade them. The UN even met in 1999 endorsing a resolution aimed at forcing nations to relinquish their plans of building such systems. To this day Russia, Israel, the U.S. and China have semi-effective missile defense systems in place.