U.S. Plans:  Senate Committee Cuts Programs

The Senate Appropriations Committee draft report on the fiscal 2002 Defense Appropriations Bill recommended cutting $25 million from the $50 million budget request for a space-based radar program and denied any funding for advanced procurement for a Space Based Infrared Systems (SBIRS) High ballistic missile warning system (see GSN, Nov. 16), saying the program continued to have “poor cost and schedule performance.”  The committee recommended $50 million for SBIRS High research and development. 

“The committee is concerned that at time when Air Force space programs are generally underfunded and experiencing cost and schedule difficulties, that the Air Force would propose to begin a new start program that is not well defined and for which sufficient outyear funding has not yet been identified,” the report said, adding that some of the proposed activities would have duplicated work in other Defense Department agencies (Frank Wolfe, Defense Daily, Dec. 6).

The committee cut $120 million from the $385 million request for SBIRS Low but included language that would permit U.S. President George W. Bush to add funding for the program from a pot money allocated for missile defense (Kerry Gildea, Defense Daily, Dec. 6).

Meanwhile, Raytheon Missile Systems won a $36.8 million contract to develop laser radar technology that would improve the ability of Raytheon’s Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle to detect a missile outside the atmosphere (Associated Press, Dec. 6).

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ABM Treaty:  Russia Reaffirms Support for Treaty

Russia cautioned the United States yesterday against any unilateral action to scrap the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.  The Russian warning came in the wake of a successful U.S. test of an interceptor missile on Monday (see GSN, Dec. 4).

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov told U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton it would be a mistake to disregard the ABM Treaty, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. 

“During the talks, the Russian side once again noted the negative consequences for international stability of any U.S. decision to unilaterally leave the 1972 ABM treaty, which is supported by the vast majority of countries,” a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.  “It would be particularly dangerous given the current international situation” (Reuters/South China Morning Post, Dec. 7).

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U.S Plans:  Mercury Computer System Chosen for Tests

U.S. government contractor Raytheon has chosen Mercury Computer Systems Inc.’s multicomputer systems for use in testing the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), Mercury announced today.  Mercury’s commercial off-the-shelf RACE series computers will be used to test the SM-3’s Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP) kinetic warhead.

“Our previous successes with Mercury’s systems in the Exo-Atmospheric Kill Vehicle program, for the [U.S.] Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and the [U.S.] National Missile Defense program, aided in our decision to use their products for LEAP,” said Michael Leal, a program director at Raytheon’s business unit in Tucson, Arizona.

The SM-3 is designed as part of the Navy Theater Wide (NTW) system, a sea-based theater ballistic missile defense system.  The kinetic warhead for the SM-3 is designed to intercept ballistic missiles outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, according to Mercury.  The NTW system is to be deployed on the U.S. Navy’s AEGIS ships.

“The state-of-the-art SM-3 is intended to provide U.S. and allied forces protection from rogue theater ballistic missiles and is designed to reduce the threat posed by … weapons of mass destruction by providing a wide defended area,” said Mercury Vice President and General Manager Vince Mancuso (Mercury release, Dec. 4).

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