US Plans to Cripple Adversary Missiles Using Cyberwarfare

The United States seeks to add cyberwarfare to its antiballistic missile arsenal to destroy enemy missiles before they launch in case of an imminent threat, The Daily Beast reported, citing the Pentagon’s document from May 2017.

However, the document did not identify the adversaries, but the report quotes some experts as saying that “it might be aimed at North Korea—and may represent a fallback option for the Trump administration should its June 12 summit with Kim Jong Un fail to result in the denuclearization President Trump desires”.

The unclassified document from May 2017, acquired by The Daily Beast, asserts that “pre-conflict left of launch operations” would be legal against an “imminent missile attack,” without defining “imminent.” It explicitly cites “non-kinetic options” for destroying missiles that would fall short of a “use of force” under the United Nations charter.

Missile experts who reviewed the document understood it as representing what appears to be the first official confirmation that the U.S. reserves the right to infect adversary missile networks with disabling malware. It appears to confirm a March 2017 New York Times report that the Pentagon was looking to add digital-network assaults to its antiballistic missile arsenal.