HISTORY IS FILLED WITH examples of new weapons and technologies that have revolutionized warfare. Man’s introduction of gunpowder, the airplane, and other discoveries have changed the nature of warfare forever. Ballistic missiles have done the same since World War II. These new weapons have provided a nation the capability to bypass the battlefield and hit a capital city or strategic target with relative impunity. Ballistic missiles, coupled with nuclear weapons, have made profound changes to international relations, regional balances of power, and how countries think about conflict. Whole national strategies have been devised to incorporate their effects and how a state should treat an enemy who possesses them.
The United States and the former Soviet Union developed and controlled vast missile inventories that threatened mutual annihilation all within thirty minutes. Fortunately, these weapons were never used, but their legacy continues to haunt the world. The cold war ended with the United States and countries from the former Soviet Union trying to disarm their strategic nuclear force. However, these delivery systems have found new lives among nations wishing to influence regional and global rivals. Today, one can see these
weapon systems and others in North Korean and Iranian arsenals. Some countries have acquired ballistic missiles to expand their ability to hit only battlefield targets and treat them as mere extensions of field artillery. Others have sought them as a way to counter an existing threat that they could not counter with conventional weapons. These weapons also offer a path to expand
technologies to allow for space launches or a means to demonstrate national pride. Ballistic missile development and deployment offer a wide range of ways to enhance a country’s military, political, and economic capabilities.
Книга представляет обзор конструкций ракет от V-2 до современных баллистических ракет. От первой в мире баллистической ракеты Фау-2 (V-2) до современных образцов ракетной техники.
