Cost-exchange ratio
Encyclopedia
In anti-ballistic missile
defence the cost-exchange ratio is the ratio of the incremental cost to the aggressor of getting one additional warhead through the defence screen, divided by the incremental cost to the defender of offsetting the additional missile.
In practice, this means the marginal cost of a ballistic missile vs the marginal cost of an interceptor missile plus any marginal costs associated with upgrading radars and data processing equipment. In the early part of the Cold War
, the cost-exchange ratio favoured the defender, since the cost of missiles increases rapidly with size, and interceptors are generally much smaller than ballistic missiles.
This gave a strong impetus to the development and deployment of anti-ballistic missiles in the 60's. However, the deployment of Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRV's) required the defender to deploy multiple interceptors for each enemy missile, thus skewing the cost-exchange ratio in favour of the aggressor.
Consideration of cost-exchange ratios was influential in persuading the United States
and the Soviet Union
to sign the ABM Treaty.
Anti-ballistic missile
An anti-ballistic missile is a missile designed to counter ballistic missiles .A ballistic missile is used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" describes any antimissile system designed to counter...
defence the cost-exchange ratio is the ratio of the incremental cost to the aggressor of getting one additional warhead through the defence screen, divided by the incremental cost to the defender of offsetting the additional missile.
In practice, this means the marginal cost of a ballistic missile vs the marginal cost of an interceptor missile plus any marginal costs associated with upgrading radars and data processing equipment. In the early part of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the cost-exchange ratio favoured the defender, since the cost of missiles increases rapidly with size, and interceptors are generally much smaller than ballistic missiles.
This gave a strong impetus to the development and deployment of anti-ballistic missiles in the 60's. However, the deployment of Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRV's) required the defender to deploy multiple interceptors for each enemy missile, thus skewing the cost-exchange ratio in favour of the aggressor.
Consideration of cost-exchange ratios was influential in persuading the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
to sign the ABM Treaty.