Richard Garwin/Related Articles

Parent topics

Weapons of mass destruction [r]: Weapons that cause death or injury not primarily through kinetic energy of projectiles or the detonation of conventional explosives, but rather produce large-scale effects greater than possible with the same weight of explosives weapons; by means heat, blast and radiation from nuclear weapon; poisoning by chemical weapon; infectious disease by biological weapons; or acute or chronic radiation syndromes from radiological weapons. ^[e]
- Nuclear weapon [r]: A weapon that produces extremely powerful explosions from principles involving subatomic particle reactions, rather than the chemical reactions among atoms that power conventional explosives ^[e]
- Biological weapon [r]: Living organisms, or substances produced by living organisms, used as weapons to produce death or disease in human or agricultural populations ^[e]
Ballistic missile [r]: A guided missile which, once its engines stop firing, follows a generally parabolic path to its target, defined by momentum, aerodynamic resistance, and gravity ^[e]
- Ballistic missile defense [r]: A combination of sensors, command and control systems, and missile/warhead kill mechanisms that protect a region, or, in the case of the U.S., theaters of operations as well as the nation proper. ^[e]
- Ballistic missile penetration aids [r]: Devices that variously attach to the reentry vehicles of ballistic missiles, or reenter separately with the real warheads, for deception of ballistic missile defense ^[e]

Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States [r]: 1998 Congressionally-mandated study to assess emerging ballistic missile threats against the continental United States, whose recommendations showed greater urgency than those of the United States intelligence community ^[e]