The U.S. General Accounting Office today released a report criticizing the Defense Department for planning to field the national missile defense system with immature and untested technology (see GSN, Sept. 23).

U.S. President George W. Bush wants to field a national missile defense system, based in Alaska and California, by September 2004.

The report said that Bush’s plan is “dependent on 10 critical technologies,” and the Missile Defense Agency “has accepted higher cost and schedule risks by beginning integration … before these technologies have matured.”

The report singled out the missile defense system’s radar as “the least mature.”

In a response to the report, the Pentagon said that it is attempting to test the radar before the missile system is fielded.

“MDA is considering the addition of an integrated flight test prior to September 30, 2004, that would prove-out the upgrades that are underway to the Cobra Dane radar at Shemya, Alaska.  However, the lead time for adding radar tests with dedicated targets is considerable,” the Pentagon response said (General Accounting Office report, Sept. 24).

Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), who requested the report, said the agency must test the radar before it is deployed.  Akaka said that tracking a foreign missile test with U.S. radar equipment will not prove the technology in an intercept situation.

“MDA hopes that it will get advance notice of a foreign missile test — presumably by North Korea or Russia — and then has time to turn on its hopefully installed software.  Even that type of test will not demonstrate Cobra Dane’s capability under stressful, operational conditions.  Relying on North Korea or Russian missile development to test our defense is a new approach to operational testing,” Akaka said (Akaka release, Sept. 23).

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