Publication

This report examines the ability of the United States to defend itself against a limited ballistic missile attack. The gradual phase-in of ballistic missile defense deployments will mark an important change in the policy context of the missile defense issue. To manage the transition to NMD the author concludes that policy guidance will have to be somewhat flexible. It will likely evolve over time, based on the evolution of the system as well as operational experience and future testing using varied assumptions and scenarios.