National Missile Defence System

[dimpy.handa]

The upgrade in the Chinese nuclear arsenal would have occurred regardless of whether the US pursued NMD because the Chinese deterrent was out-dated and insufficient for its task. Furthermore, the US programme of NMD makes use of ground-breaking new technologies such as lasers. These lasers, perhaps in the near future mounted on satellites, will revolutionise warfare. A more precise and discriminating weapon than a nuclear warhead, an attack laser could in the future make warfare much more humane and much less likely to end in huge civilian casualties. NMD must be seen as part of a long-term military programme to revolutionise warfare.

 

[swatiraohnlu]

The threat to the United States, and the world, seems clear and intolerably high. Global concerns are not alleviated by other U.S. stands. Last November the United States blocked a UN General Assembly resolution opposing space-based weapons. It passed 138-0, with the United States and Israel alone abstaining. It was recently announced that the United States is renovating more than 6,000 nuclear warheads, almost double what it is allowed to deploy under Start II, rejecting Russian initiatives to reduce the number of warheads to 1,500 in future talks. Currently the United States maintains a launch-on-warning posture with the option of first-strike even against nonnuclear states that have signed the NPT.