Ballistic Missile Defense: Historical Overview

For some time there has been a growing sense of urgency to develop and deploy effective missile defenses against a range of long-range and short-range ballistic missile threats. Although many people might believe this to be relatively new to U.S. national security objectives, such interest has been ongoing since the end of World War II. Many current technologies being investigated date their start to the 1980s, and earlier. This effort has been technically challenging and politically controversial. Some 110 billion has been spent on missile defense efforts since the mid-1980s Congress appropriated 9.3 billion in FY2006. For FY2008, the Administration requested 8.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency. This short report provides a brief overview of the history of the missile defense efforts undertaken to defend the United States. It begins with a brief summary of the provisions of the 1972 ABM Treaty, which shaped most of the history of the U.S. ballistic missile defense BMD effort, and includes a short review of U.S. programs leading to the current program. It may be updated periodically.