Congress should play a leading a role in steering the United States toward a strategically prudent and responsible missile defense policy one that maximizes U.S. national security interests while averting an unnecessary nuclear arms race at a time when conventional challenges loom large.
Competition will speed up timeline to field next-gen homeland missile defense interceptor, MDA director says 3 hours ago
A threat-representative ICBM target launches from the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands March 25, 2019. It was successfully intercepted by two long-range Ground-based Interceptors launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in the first salvo test of GBIs. (Photo courtesy of Missile Defense Agency) WASHINGTON The Missile Defense Agency is aiming to get its first Next-Generation Interceptors to replace the current Ground-Based Interceptors that make up the United States’ homeland ballistic missile defense system by 2028, but the agency’s director anticipates being able to move more quickly.
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The United States is scrambling to develop its Next-Generation Interceptor as quickly as possible. Estimations put the program’s cost at $18 billion.
The Next-Generation interceptor specifically refers to a weapon to counter intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
The development itself is expected to cost $13 billion, and then sustainment and procurement would be “a bit” over $2 billion.
The Pentagon announced in August 2019 its intention to build a new interceptor after the Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) program was canceled.
An ICBM interceptor is crucially needed, however. This weapon makes up the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System that has been in place in the continental United States to defend against possible threats from North Korea and Iran.
Watchdog expresses concern over using US Navy interceptor for homeland missile defense 7 hours ago Can the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor be upgraded to counter evolving ICBM threats to the U.S. homeland without breaking the bank? The Government Accountability Office is unsure. (Ryan Keith/U.S. Army) In a report released this week, the GAO said the SM-3 Block IIA could “introduce considerable cost, schedule, and performance uncertainty to a program that has just entered initial production.” The Ground-Based Midcourse Defense, or GMD, system provides homeland defense against possible ICBM threats from North Korea and Iran, but the Missile Defense Agency has proposed using SM-3 Block IIA missiles as well as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems as part of an underlay to cover possible gaps in homeland defense as threats continue to evolve.
In theory, that shocking expense would be justified if the improved missile prevented a nuclear attack on a dense area of the U.S. But so far, missile defense appears to have motivated China and Russia to invest in more advanced nuclear weapons at lower cost than the U.S. defense systems.