Anti-ballistic missile defense countermeasures are tactical or strategic actions taken by an attacker to overwhelm, destroy, or evade anti-ballistic

missile defense Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ...

s. Anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defense countermeasures can be categorized in a variety of ways, such as whether something is attacked or just confounded (i.e., whether the defender is attacked, whether the defender's ABM defense is attacked, or whether the defenders ABM system is confounded). They can be categorized by the type of ABM system they are to operate against. Finally, they can be categorized by which part of a ballistic missile's flight they are active (boost, bus, midcourse, or terminal phases).

Attacking Countermeasures

Countermeasures Attacking the Defender

The simplest countermeasure to an ABM defense is to simply increase the size of the attack. This can be done by adding more

ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons ...

s, by increasing the number of warheads delivered by each ICBM using

MIRV A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is an exoatmospheric ballistic missile payload containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target. The concept is almost invariably associated with i ...

s, by using

SLBM A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhea ...

s (which have a much shorter flight time and are thus difficult to destroy before the terminal phase), or by a heavier reliance on bombers and cruise missiles.

Countermeasures Attacking the Defense

These countermeasures include

anti-satellite weapon Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic or tactical purposes. Several nations possess operational ASAT systems. Although no ASAT system has been utilised in warfare, a few ...

s, space weapons, and the launching of clouds of debris or projectiles in identical but counter-rotating orbits to a space-based defense.

Confounding Countermeasures

Countermeasures Confounding the Defense

These countermeasures include using fast-burn boosters (which limit the time allowed for boost-phase intercept), light-weight ICBM skirts which limit the

infrared signature Infrared signature, as used by defense scientists and the military, is the appearance of objects to infrared sensors. An infrared signature depends on many factors, including the shape and size of the object, temperature, and emissivity, reflect ...

of the

booster (rocketry) A booster rocket (or engine) is either the first stage of a multistage rocket, multistage launch vehicle, or else a shorter-burning rocket used in parallel with longer-burning sustainer engine, sustainer rockets to augment the space vehicle's t ...

, use of decoys (e.g., lightweight

mylar BoPET (biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and a ...

balloons which, until re-entry, will travel on an identical trajectory with the heavier warheads), use of

Ablation Ablation ( la, ablatio – removal) is removal or destruction of something from an object by vaporization, chipping, erosive processes or by other means. Examples of ablative materials are described below, and include spacecraft material for ...

materials or

reflective coating Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated. Common examples include the reflection of light, sound and water waves. The ...

s which limit the damage of

directed energy weapons A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include we ...

, launches of numerous harmless missiles early in an attack which might cause the defender reveal their defenses and expend valuable resources.

Attacking Countermeasures

Countermeasures Attacking the Defender

Countermeasures Attacking the Defense

Confounding Countermeasures

Countermeasures Confounding the Defense

See also

Further reading