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U.S. Plans II: SBIRS-Low Restructuring Plan Almost Done, Pentagon Says The U.S. Missile Defense Agency will submit a restructuring plan for a missile defense satellite system to the defense secretary in about a month, Pentagon acquisition chief Pete Aldridge told a Senate panel last week. Aldridge and MDA Director Ronald Kadish attempted to persuade the Senate Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces panel to support the restructured Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Low program, which would help track incoming ballistic missiles in mid-course. The system had previously been criticized for cost overruns and technical problems (see GSN, Dec. 19, 2001). “I clearly support SBIRS Low … it is an essential part of our future missile defense capability,” Aldridge said. Even with the restructured SBRIS Low plan, there will probably still be a debate on the need for space-based sensors as a component for a U.S. missile defense system, Kadish said. “We need … space sensors to bring along the effectiveness of all our missile defense systems,” he said. “Terrestrial-based sensors have to be in the right spot, with space we have a wider range of threat space” (Kerry Gildea, Defense Daily, March 8).
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