Skip to page content

Ballistic Missiles

Ballistic missiles are short-, medium-, and long-range rocket-propelled vehicles that deliver nuclear or conventional weapons. RAND's analyses help policymakers understand the potential uses of ballistic missiles for warfare and terrorism, the likelihood of their use by combatants, possible defense strategies, and emerging threats to the global security environment.

Report
Penaid Nonproliferation: Hindering the Spread of Countermeasures Against Ballistic Missile Defenses
An attacker's missile-borne countermeasures to ballistic missile defenses are known as penetration aids, or penaids. This research recommends export controls on penaid-related items under the Missile Technology Control Regime.
Feb 26, 2014
Report
The Future of the U.S. Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Force
Assesses alternatives for a next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) across a broad set of potential characteristics and situations and weighs them against the costs of those alternatives.
Feb 4, 2014
Report
Employing Land-Based Anti-Ship Missiles in the Western Pacific
This report illustrates the potential strategic advantages for the United States of a land-based anti-ship missile capability that could be deployed to the Western Pacific in the event of a conflict with China.
Nov 1, 2013
Report
Crisis Stability and Long-Range Strike: A Comparative Analysis of Fighters, Bombers, and Missiles
In an international crisis, the United States must balance its threats with restraint while limiting its vulnerability. A RAND study sought to identify which long-range strike assets offer capabilities most conducive to stabilizing such crises.
Jun 19, 2013
Blog
Korea Tensions Different from Previous 'Normal Crises,' RAND Experts Tell Media
Three RAND Corporation researchers discussed the regional and global implications of the recent flurry of bluster and provocation emanating from North Korea, during a conference call April 9 with reporters.
Apr 9, 2013
Commentary
North Korean 'Satellite' May Fall from Sky, but That Won't Deter Kim Jong-Un
Kim Jong-Un's regime has placed outsized import on its missile launches—despite the risk of alienating the international community—to offset the lack of success across a wide range of topics, writes Bruce Bennett.
Dec 20, 2012
Commentary
North Korea's Just Getting Started
While many observers of North Korea have been surprised by the apparently peaceful ascension of Kim Jong-Un, there are reasons to believe that the situation in the North is not so stable, writes Bruce Bennett.
Dec 12, 2012
Commentary
Turkey Edges Toward Seeking NATO Support in Syria Crisis
As the crisis along the border between Syria and Turkey intensifies, Turkey appears on the brink of a formal request to the North Atlantic Council that NATO deploy Patriot missiles to help defend the border, writes Christopher Chivvis.
Nov 21, 2012
Report
Expendable Missiles vs. Reusable Platform Costs and Historical Data
This report presents an analysis of historical use of air-to-ground attacks to assess the economic wisdom of relying primarily on expendable weapons, such as cruise missiles.
Oct 3, 2012
News Release
RAND Stanton Research Fellows Issue New Studies Examining Nuclear Security Issues
Three Stanton Nuclear Security Fellows at the RAND Corporation—Robert Reardon, Markus Schiller, and David Kearn—have published new research examining nuclear security issues.
Oct 2, 2012
Report
Characterizing the North Korean Nuclear Missile Threat
Questions the current common view of the North Korean missile program and seeks to better characterize the North Korean missile threat by comparing the available data on the North Korea missile program against several possible hypotheses.
Sep 27, 2012
Report
Facing the Missile Challenge: U.S. Strategy and the Future of the INF Treaty
Report assesses whether the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty continues to serve America's national interests, or whether adherence unduly constrains the U.S. ability to effectively respond to emerging security threats.
Sep 27, 2012
News Release
Book by Noted Expert Proposes a Renaissance of Thought on Nuclear Deterrence for Today's Strategic Environment
A new book by the late French scholar Thérèse Delpech provides a critical review and update of nuclear deterrence theory, focusing a critical eye on nuclear issues during the Cold War, examining the lessons of past nuclear crises, and outlining ways in which these lessons apply to major nuclear powers and nuclear pretenders today.
Apr 17, 2012
Report
Book by Noted Expert Proposes a Renaissance of Thought on Nuclear Deterrence for Today's Strategic Environment
A new book by the late French scholar Thérèse Delpech provides a critical review and update of nuclear deterrence theory, focusing a critical eye on nuclear issues during the Cold War, examining the lessons of past nuclear crises, and outlining ways in which these lessons apply to major nuclear powers and nuclear pretenders today.
Mar 27, 2012
Commentary
Getting Value from the U.S.-ROK Summit
For months, N. Korea has been trying to upstage the summit between S. Korean President Lee and U.S. President Obama that is scheduled for June 16. Almost all Americans I know have heard of the recent N. Korean provocations. But few have heard anything about the U.S.-ROK summit, writes Bruce Bennett.
Jun 15, 2009
Commentary
No Surprise in Failure to Deter North Korea
North Korea's latest misbehavior highlights an uncomfortable truth: the failure of the United States and the international community to deter its actions. In this case, it is pretty easy to see why North Korea has not been deterred, writes Bruce Bennett.
Jun 2, 2009
Commentary
N.K. Provocation Suggests Regime in Trouble
North Korea spent weeks preparing to launch a ballistic missile that could reach the United States. It argued that the launch was intended to put a satellite into orbit. But a space launch vehicle is a ballistic missile used for a modestly different purpose, writes Bruce W. Bennett.
Apr 9, 2009
Commercial Book
Strategy in the Missile Age
Classic work from 1959 that discusses the origins of air power, its cornerstone position in the evolution of Cold War era nuclear strategy, and its treatment of preventive and preemptive attacks, deterrence, and the economics of strategy.
Oct 8, 2007
Commentary
U.S., European Strategy Must Adjust to Confront Military Power in China
Ever since China test-fired ballistic missiles… in 1995 and 1996, many analysts have sounded the alarm about the threat of China's military power. This has been a false alarm until now, but within a decade China could supplant America as the dominant military power in East Asia, writes Roger Cliff.
Jul 29, 2007
Commentary
Missile Defense: Avoiding a Crisis in Europe
Published commentary by RAND staff: Missile Defense: Avoiding a Crisis in Europe, in International Herald Tribune.
Mar 29, 2007

Previous
1
2
3
4
5
Next

RAND Topic:
Ballistic Missiles

Research conducted by