 "Explained: How US keeps track of ballistic missiles that have been fired")
Russia on Thursday caused quite a stir.
Moscow fired a ballistic missile at Ukraine’s Dnipro.
While earlier reports from Ukraine said Russia fired a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has clarified that Moscow used the Oreshnik — which is a new intermediate-range ballistic missile.
But have you ever wondered how the US keeps track of ballistic missiles that have been fired?
Washington, in fact, has a special system to spot, track and identify any ballistic missiles that have been launched.
Though this programme dates back to the Cold War, it has been refined to keep it up-to-date to form a global surveillance system.
Here’s everything you need to know
How does it work?
Six satellites built by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, part of the US Space Force’s Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), orbit Earth in a geostationary position.
These satellites are designed to detect and monitor missile launch signatures using infrared technology.
According to William Alberque, a visiting fellow at the Henry L. Stimson Center, these satellites, along with a network of smaller ones in lower orbits, are equipped with advanced sensors that detect ballistic missile launches worldwide within seconds.
They can track a wide range of weapons, from smaller, basic missiles like Scuds to powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
“The things that you can do with video, plus IR, plus synthetic aperture radars, plus ground-based radars…all of these things knit together,” Alberque said. “Processing all this data at very high speed means we have the ability to know more about what is launched than ever before.”
Rocket motors, for instance, produce different exhaust gases of varying temperatures based on their fuel and other design factors. These “signatures” can quickly identify a missile.
Ground-based sensors include massive solid-state early warning radars in the United States, Canada and Britain. Together with satellites, the system can determine missile type, launch angle, azimuth, apogee, velocity, size and landing point, among other things.
Which organisations are involved in operating it?
In addition to the Space Force, several US agencies, such as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, US Strategic Command and the Missile Defense Agency, are also involved.
Regional military commands may participate as well.
Some launch notifications can be automated such as smaller, short-range weapons that don’t pose any threat to the US or its allies. More serious alerts for longer-range weapons or a direct threat require human analysis and decision-making.
Also Read: What is Aegis Ashore, US missile base in Poland on Russia’s ‘priority target’ list?
In the case of Russia’s strike on Ukraine near the city of Dnipro, there was no concern about a nuclear attack because there were no signs of warheads being moved, other forces being prepared or the involvement of Russia’s 12th Chief Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, which controls its nuclear weapons, Alberque said. “There would be a huge signature for potential use,” he said, referring to nuclear weapons.
Early warning systems as a concept originated during the 1950s, at first to spot bomber formations and later expanded to detect missiles. The first systems used enormous ground-based radars to scan for missiles rising over the horizon and were linked to defensive systems that often included nuclear-tipped interceptors.
The Space Force is in the midst of a nearly $15 billion (Rs 1,24,500 crore) program for more advanced early warning satellites, dubbed Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared. The system will include geostationary satellites, the first of which is set for delivery in 2025 and polar-orbiting satellites scheduled for launch in 2028.
With inputs from Reuters
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