The fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill, passed last week, kept provisions that push the Missile Defense Agency to operate counter-hypersonic interceptors earlier than currently planned and pushed the Defense Department to develop a missile defense strategy for the Indo-Pacific region.
Congress passed the final FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Dec. 13, with $886 billion in defense spending that aligns with the defense topline agreed to in the debt ceiling agreement from earlier in 2023. Congress has still not passed final FY ‘24 appropriations bills to fund the government (Defense Daily
, Dec. 14).
Last April, former MDA director Vice Adm. (Ret.) Jon Hill told the House Armed Services’ subcommittee on Strategic Forces that he appreciated any additional funding to accelerate deployment of the Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI), but said the push should be limited to after the program proceeds through risk reduction and Milestone A so the agency has more confidence on how it can be accelerated (Defense Daily, April 21).
The bill directs MDA to reach the initial operational capability (IOC) for the Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) program by the end of 2029, fielding at least 12 interceptor missiles. It is also directed to reach full operational capability (FOC) by the end of 2032 with at least 24 interceptors.
MDA first awarded contracts to three competitors to develop and refine their GPI concepts in 2021, then in 2022 MDA downselected to RTX [RTX] and Northrop Grumman [NOC] for further concept refinement (Defense Daily, June 24).
In April, subcommittee chairman Rep. Doug Lamborn (R- Colo) said the current plan to reach IOC for GPI around 2035 is far too late, at 13 years after program start, given missile development in North Korea, China and Russia.
Hill said he believed MDA can pull GPI deployment earlier once the initial work is completed because he agreed the mid-2030s is “almost irrelevant.”
In August, MDA Executive Director Laura DeSimone said the GPI program plan was “throttled” due to the new technologies the agency needs to mature and prove out, before it can possibly be shortened (Defense Daily, Aug. 22).
The defense authorization act also requires the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) to develop a comprehensive strategy for developing, acquiring and operationally establishing an integrated air and missile defense architecture for the INDOPACOM area of responsibility (AOR).
INDOPACOM will work with the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Commander of United States Northern Command, director of the Missile Defense Agency, and the director of the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization on the strategy.
The legislation specified the strategy must at least address sensing, tracking and intercepting capabilities to address missile threats to Hawaii, Guam, other U.S. territories in the region and deployed U.S. forces in the AOR.
This includes a balance of missile detection, tracking, defense and defeat capabilities; a command and control network to integrate detection, tracking, defense and defeat capabilities over the AOR; and a “time-phased scheduling construct” for fielding these systems.
Within 90 days of the law’s enactment, the Secretary of Defense also must submit a report to the congressional defense committees on the findings of the analysis conducted by the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) of the current integrated air and missile defense sensor architecture that informed the president’s FY ‘24 budget request as well as specific programs of record that can add more sensor coverage to Hawaii.
Similarly, the bill has a provision requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a separate report on potential enhancements to U.S. and allied integrated air and missile defense capability of NATO, including potential enhancements to current systems.
Another provision directs the Missile Defense Agency to enter into an arrangement with a federally funded research and development center to update a previous Institute for Defense Analyses study that examines the “feasibility and advisability” of developing a space-based missile defense capability. This study update process should start within 90 days after the law was passed and a report with the updates is due to the congressional defense committees within 270 days after the arrangement starts.