DEPRESSED TRAJECTORY ICBMS HAVE SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT TIMELINES AND CHARACTERISTICS THAN MINIMUM ENERGY TRAJECTORIES.

DEPRESSED TRAJECTORY ICBMS HAVE SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT TIMELINES AND CHARACTERISTICS THAN MINIMUM ENERGY TRAJECTORIES. WHILE IT IS TRUE THAT HARD TARGETS ARE NOT EASILY ATTACKED WITH DEPRESSED TRAJECTORIES DUE TO CEP DEGRADATION, AN INCREASING AWARENESS IN THE STRATEGIC COMMUNITY OF THE INCREASED PENETRATIVITY AND DAMAGE POTENTIAL OF DEPRESSED TRAJECTORIES AGAINST RELATIVELY SOFT BUT DEFENDED TARGETS (AIRFIELD, INDUSTRY, LOGISTICS CENTERS, ETC.) HAS MOTIVATED AN ASSESSMENT OF THEIR UTILITY. THIS EFFORT WILL EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL VALUE OF COMBINING THE RESPONSIVENESS/TIMELINES OF ICBMS WITH DEPRESSED TRAJECTORIES AGAINST CRITICAL MILITARY TARGETS. IN PARTICULAR, WE WILL EXAMINE THEIR POTENTIAL FOR INCREASING DETERRENCE BY SUPPRESSING BMD SYSTEMS THAT ARE EFFECTIVE AGAINST U.S. SLBMS AND AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS, THAT ARE EFFECTIVE AGAINST U.S. BOMBERS AND CRUISE MISSILE.