imagine the unimaginable the world's largest superpower the United States comes under a nuclear threat as missiles rain down from the sky icbms or intercontinental ballistic missiles hurdle toward American soil launched from distant lands like Russia or North Korea it's a nightmare scenario one that seems too terrifying to entertain but the reality is nuclear icbms could hit us soil within 30 minutes after launch the question is can the US defend itself against this kind of attack before we explore the United States defense systems it's essential to understand the missile threats it's up against these are no
ordinary missiles they are weapons capable of annihilating cities and altering the course of history let's look at the Russian and North Korean icbms that could potentially strike the us one of the most fearsome weapons in Russia's Arsenal is the rs28 sarmat dubb the Satan 2 this nuclear missile is designed to defeat the best missile defense systems in the world it's built to carry up to 15 nuclear warheads each capable of decimating large metropolitan areas with a range of up to 18,000 km it can hit any Target in the US from Russian soil what makes Satan
2 so dangerous is its Advanced counter measures it's equipped with sophisticated decoys and penetration AIDs that confuse missile defense systems additionally Satan 2 has the capability to maneuver during its descent making it even harder to track and intercept the missiles mves or multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles Vehicles ensure that even if some Warheads are destroyed others can still hit their intended targets overwhelming missile defenses Beyond its ability to deploy multiple Warheads Satan 2 can also carry Hypersonic Glide vehicles or hgvs which travel its speeds greater than Mach 5 and can change direction mid-flight this makes
them extremely difficult for traditional missile defense systems to intercept Russia's missile development continues to push the boundaries of Defense technology ensuring that even the best systems might struggle to defend against this threat on the other side of the globe North Korea's missile development continues to pose a serious threat the wasang 17 North Korea's most advanced ICBM has a range of around 15,000 km meaning it could strike any location in the United States although North Korea's missile technology is less advanced than Russia it's improving at a frightening Pace the wasang 17 is believed to be equipped
with multip multiple warheads and designed to overcome missile defense systems through maneuverability and penetration AIDS North Korea's missiles much like rushes can deploy decoys to confuse the tracking systems of missile interceptors making them harder to intercept despite North Korea's smaller Arsenal these missiles represent a real and growing danger what makes North Korea particularly challenging is its mobile launch platforms these launchers can be moved at a moment's notice making it difficult for the US to detect and track missile launches until it's too late it's a game of high stakes hideand-seek where the enemy can launch from
almost anywhere in the country with these Advanced missiles capable of decimating the US in a matter of minutes the question becomes can the United States stop them fortunately the US has invested billions into missile defense systems but the question remains will these systems be enough the first line of defense against an incoming ICBM is the groundbased midcourse defense system or GMD GMD is designed to intercept nuclear warheads during their midcourse phase which is the time when they're traveling through space just before re-entry into Earth's atmosphere during this phase missile defense systems can Target Warheads as
they are in a predictable trajectory the groundbased interceptors or gbi are launched from silos in places like Alaska and California to intercept and Destroy IC cbms in space these interceptors travel at high speeds relying on kinetic energy to destroy the incoming missile GMD uses a combination of radar systems such as the c-based xand radar and satellite tracking to pinpoint the exact location of the missile in space however GMD has limitations its success rate is somewhat contested the system is designed to intercept missiles during a time when they are still on a predictable flight path but
it Advanced countermeasures like decoys mvs and decoy Warheads can overwhelm the system the US has only 44 GB currently in operation which limits the number of missiles that can be intercepted at once while GMD handles missile defense in space AIS ballistic missile defense or bmd operates in the terminal phase of a missile's flight when it's re-entering the Earth's atmosphere AIS uses standard missile 3 or sm3 interceptors launched from Navy destroyers and cruisers these interceptors are designed to intercept missiles up to 100 km in altitude well above commercial airliners but lower than ICBM re-entry speeds the
Aegis system excels at handling short to medium- range ballistic missiles but can also play a role in intercepting icbms while AIS isn't the primary line of defense for ICBM strikes it adds an extra layer of protection especially for regional missile threats as the missile gets closer to its Target the terminal high altitude area defense or Thad system comes into play Thad is designed to intercept missiles in the terminal phase just before they strike their target the system uses hit to kill technology meaning it destroys the incoming missiles by physically colliding with it at speeds greater
than Mach 8 in other words the intercepting missile hits the target with such force that it effectively destroys the Warhead that is deployed in many places around the world and has a range of up to 200 km this gives it the capability to protect against Regional missile threats including North Korean icbms however against a fullscale Russian nuclear attack Thad may only be able to intercept a limited number of missiles in the event of a missile strike on the US it's important to consider what the enemy targets the goal of a nuclear ICBM strike isn't just
destruction it's to the US and severely limit its ability to retaliate the first targets of a nuclear strike would undoubtedly be the most populated cities New York Los Angeles Washington DC Chicago and other strategic locations destroying these Urban centers would have a devastating psychological impact while also crippling the economic and political Heart Of The Nation widespread civilian casualties and Chaos would ensure a swift collapse of national morale adversaries would also Target military bases particularly those housing nuclear weapons ICBM silos and missile defense systems crippling US military capabilities would make it impossible for the US to
retaliate or defend itself key bases such as Mino Air Force Base North Dakota and Vandenberg Air Force Base California would be the top of the target list finally the enemy would strike at critical infrastructure energy grids Transportation networks and communication hubs the goal here would be to paralyze the country making it harder for the US to organize a defense or recovery in the event of a nuclear attack the US would retaliate with devastating Force Through the doctrine of mutually assured destruction or mad this means that even if a portion of the US is destroyed the
enemy would face total annihilation in return the US arsenal of icbms Submarine launched ballistic missiles or slbms and nuclear capable bombers would ensure that no adversary could survive an allout nuclear war missile defense systems can intercept some missiles but they can never guarantee 100% protection the real deterrence lies in the US retaliatory capability which is designed to deliver devastating punishment to Any Nation that dares to launch a nuclear strike as technology evolves the cat and mouse game of missile defense and attack will continue the US must remain Vigilant and invest in Next Generation systems that
can counter Advanced threats like Russia's Satan 2 and North Korea's Wong 17 while defense systems can certainly intercept many missiles the only Sure Fire way to guarantee National survival is through a credible deterrent strategy ensuring that Any Nation thinking of launching a nuclear attack on the US will face an inevitable and catastrophic retaliation
