The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) requests $8.626 billion for fiscal year 2012 to fit plans to complete Ground Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) initial fielding.
The fiscal 2012 defense budget advances the administration’s missile defense approach with a total request for $10.7 billion for ballistic missile defense programs, which includes the MDA request.
The FY ’12 budget includes an additional $780 million to increase regional radars, continue MDA’s flight test program, add additional ground-based interceptors (GBI), and hedge capabilities against potential threats. It also includes more than $2 billion for missile defense systems required to implement the European Phased Adaptive Approach, which will field its initial phase in the 2011 timeframe.
If Congress approves, MDA’s funds and planned efforts across the future years defense program budget would complete not only the initial fielding of GMD for homeland defense but would improve “initial regional defenses to provide at least two intercept opportunities by two interceptors against short- medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs, MRBMs and IRBMs, respectively),” agency budget documents said.
In FY ’11, MDA requested $8.4 billion, and the agency said as it developed the FY ’12 budget it “assumed the eventual approval of funding near the FY 2011 requested level…not the level in the continuing resolution (CR) based on the FY 2010 current level of $7.892 billion that has been in effect from October 2010 through our FY 2012 submission in February 2011.”
Major missile defense contractors include Boeing [BA], Lockheed Martin [LMT], Northrop Grumman [NOC] and Raytheon [RTN].
The agency plans continue to hew to the policy priorities outlined last year in the Ballistic Missile Defense Review to deploy fiscally sustainable defenses that are “adaptable and flexible” to adjust to future threats and to expand international efforts.
MDA is developing and deploying regional missile defense in four phases. The first, initial integrated defense is scheduled for completion by 2011 to achieve an initial defensive capability against SRBMs, MRBMs and IRBMs.
Contributing to this will be the Aegis BMD 3.6.1 weapons system with SM-3 Block 1A interceptors, forward-based AN/TPY-2 and SPY-1 radars, and the C2BMC system at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. This system will improve connections to NATO command and control. Additionally, THAAD batteries will be available for deployment.
In support, MDA plans to deliver 25 THAAD interceptors for THAAD batteries 1 and 2.
MDA will also convert one ship to Aegis BMD 3.6.1 and two ships to Aegis BMD 4.0.1, and deliver 19 SM-3 Block 1A missiles and the first SM-3 Block 1B missile.
Additionally, MDA will work to finalize the first Foreign Military Sales case for missile defense with the United Arab Emirates. The United States intends to sell the THAAD system, including two THAAD batteries, 96 interceptors and support systems.
Key tests are also planned in FY 2011. Importantly, MDA created a Failure Review Board to investigate the causes and recommend fixes after a failure to intercept a long-range ballistic missile target in the FTG-06a flight test. “It is our number one goal to determine the root causes and correct the problems before repeating the flight test,” documents said.
Among other key tests will be the first THAAD multiple intercept scenario in which two THAAD interceptors will engage two SRBM targets; the first Aegis launch on remote test; and the first intercept of the SM-3 Block 1B interceptor.