U.S. Strategy to Hobble North Korea Was Hidden in Plain Sight<br />" he said, "we won’t always have the luxury of doing so." The result, he added, would be the continuing need for "solid right-of-launch capability" — in other words, the traditional methods.<br />that While we would still obviously prefer to take a threat missile out while it’s still on the ground,<br />Raytheon, an antimissile contractor, gave an industry presentation in 2015 on missile threats to the United States<br />and plans for new defenses, including cyber and electronic attacks before launch and in the first moments of flight.<br />Last year, the Pentagon’s budget request for 2017 said an antimissile program known as Nimble Fire had advanced General Dempsey’s goals by exploring "electronic attack"<br />and "offensive cyber operations." The details, it said, were classified secret.<br />In 2014, Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told the Atlantic Council<br />that left-of-launch strikes would, by definition, remain a novel adjunct to wider antimissile efforts.<br />But in the case of using cyberstrikes, electronic warfare<br />and other exotic forms of sabotage to redefine antimissile defense for the United States, many high-ranking officials and officers have been talking openly, often to persuade Congress to fund the secretive efforts.
