Senior Science Fellow Phil Coyle was quoted in USNI News on the forthcoming Ballistic Missile Defense Review.
The review will also likely advocate for the continued development of the SM-3 Block IIA missile, which is fired from an Aegis Combat System both aboard U.S. Navy destroyers and on ground stations. The Raytheon-made missile failed its last two intercept tests in June 2017 and January 2018.
If those tests can be turned around, the missile, which is faster and has a longer range than its predecessor, would likely provide an impetus for China and Russia to build more and more sophisticated missile systems to try and beat it. In effect, said Philip Coyle of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, “what that says to Russia is that the United States has a new system that they will have to counter.” Read more
