Trump announces space-based missile defense

The United States will develop a space-based missile defense system to protect against advanced weapons, President Donald Trump said Thursday at the Pentagon. The military needs the system because adversaries such as Russia and China are developing missiles that are harder to see, track, and defeat, said acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan, who also spoke at the Pentagon review. The president said the government will do what it takes “to ensure that we can detect and destroy any missile launched against the United States anywhere, any time, any place.”

At this point, the United States is just studying the feasibility of options such as space-based sensors and interceptors that can detect and shoot down enemy missiles. Current U.S. missile defense systems are land- and sea-based. Russia has long opposed the United States having any kind of air defense, but it also has developed advanced strategic weapons such as the hypersonic glider that can fly 20 times faster than the speed of sound and make sharp maneuvers to avoid being detected by missile defense systems.