The invasion of Ukraine has put on the table the enormous number of advances linked to the military industry. And despite the fact that many of them are kept under lock and key, there are some that can be spied on through a crack. One of them is anti-missile shields. Basically, cruise missile defenses consist of three main components: sensors that detect an incoming threat, projectiles that try to eliminate it, and management systems that act as brains that control the entire process. The latter must first identify a missile, then calculate a trajectory to intercept it, and finally launch and guide an “interceptor” (eg another missile) to destroy the incoming weapon.

The US military already has well-established systems to protect ships and deployed forces in the field against these weapons. The best known of them is the Patriot system, which came into use during the 1991 Gulf War. At sea, Navy cruisers and destroyers equipped with the SPY-1 radar and Aegis combat system can counter cruise missiles with the Standard Missile-6. But there are relatively few of these assets, and they are in high demand.

It is therefore not surprising that the Department of Defense prefers to preserve its shields for use in possible operations abroad instead of tying that inventory to protect, say, Los Angeles, New York, or other vulnerable population centers. In fact, the only place in the United States that has this kind of 24-hour cruise missile protection is Washington, DC

But defending the United States from all kinds of missiles is becoming increasingly complex and NORAD (US Aerospace Defense Command) needs better sensors, satellites, radar, data tools and more to see and track incoming threats and to do so. will invest 50 million euros.

“We have a plan to defend against cruise missiles – NORAD chief Gen. Glen D. VanHerck explained at a recent conference. A big part of this is prioritizing defense around targets that an adversary would most likely attack with cruise missiles. Cruise missiles can be launched from submarines in the Atlantic or Pacific, from ships stationed in port or from land. Also from the air. So we need to be able to have 360-degree mastery awareness.”

Key and classified details of the cruise missile defense plan are codified in the latest versions of Concept Plan (CONPLAN) 3310 and will no doubt be “inspired” by the famous Iron Dome or Iron Dome, that protects Israel and was designed with the financial help of the United States.

El Iron Dome is an air defense missile system developed by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems… The emphasis on the word defense is important because, according to those responsible never used to attack or take reprisals and is not a threat. The system has three components: a radar that detects incoming rockets; a command and control system that determines the level of threat; and an interceptor that, if the system determines that there are human lives or infrastructure at risk, seeks to destroy the missile before it reaches its target. It is about 90% effective to stop short-range projectiles. What is sought with the new advances is to develop a system that is capable of evaluating what type of weapon can be used when intercepting a missile: the height of flight, the distance to a city, its capacity for destruction… All of this must be evaluated.

The technology being pursued by NORAD also seeks to detect launches as early as possible. For this, thermal images by satellite, seismic movement and sound sensors could be used.

Categorized in: