U.S. House and Senate conferees yesterday agreed to reduce funding for a component of the planned U.S. national missile defense.  The measure was part of the fiscal 2002 defense appropriations, which next will move to the full houses for their approval.

As recommended by the House, the conference agreed to eliminate the Bush administration's nearly $400 million request for the SBIRS-Low program, a satellite sensor technology component of the national missile defense program that has raised cost concerns (see GSN, Nov.20).

The program, however, could continue receiving funding from a $250 million appropriation for unspecified satellite sensor technology, an appropriations committee staffer told Global Security Newswire today (David Ruppe, Dec. 19).

The Bush administration had initially protested when the House zeroed the funding at the end of November, but relented recently.  Congressional sources said Pentagon acquisition chief Pete Aldridge called legislators on Friday to tell them that the Pentagon would not fight the funding cut too strongly.

“[The] administration hasn’t been thundering in its support of SBIRS-Low, and no one in the Senate has stepped up to say we need to do this,” a congressional source said.

The move did upset some missile defense proponents, however.  “How can you justify zeroing SBIRS-Low when you want a national missile defense system in a timely manner,” asked another congressional source who argued that the cutting the program would delay fielding an effective mid-course missile defense system for five to six years (Frank Wolfe, Defense Daily, Dec. 18).

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