Analysis of cruise missile vulnerability within the context of the Systems Engineering Process

Anti-shipping cruise missiles are likely to pose a serious threat to U.S. Naval forces in any future conflict. In order to adequately defend their assets, the U.S. Navy needs to develop the means to defeat these systems. To do this, it needs to define and exploit any vulnerabilities associated with them.

The Systems Engineering Process is used to define the vulnerability of a generic cruise missile system. Initially, the requirement for a vulnerability analysis is established. The functions associated with cruise missile systems are presented, to a level in which components are identified. Existing systems are then compared, providing a means in which a "typical" system can be identified. The failure modes for this system are then defined.

Finally, a computer model of the missile is constructed and analyzed, leading to numeric values for the measures of vulnerability to fragmenting warheads.