Postscript: Reviewers and Authors Comment on Report

The review committee for the DEW study, headed by George Pake, transmitted the report to the APS Council on 20 April. In his transmittal letter, Pake noted that recent statements from the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization indicated that kineticenergy weapons, not directed‐energy weapons, are being emphasized as a short‐term strategy for ballistic missile defense. Under such plans DEWs are largely relegated to discriminating against decoys, he wrote. Although the study dealt with both decoy discrimination and target destruction, it emphasized the latter. The study group had not been charged with examining kineticenergy weapons components or systems; while the study was under way, SDIO shifted its emphasis.

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