U.S. Plans:  MDA Set to Conduct Sea-Based Missile Defense Intercept Test

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Navy are preparing to conduct a sea-based missile defense intercept test tomorrow involving the use of an Aegis destroyer, the Defense Department announced yesterday.

The test will involve the launch of a Standard Missile 3 interceptor from the USS Lake Erie against an Aries target fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii, according to the Pentagon release.  The purpose of the test is to evaluate the interceptor’s kinetic warhead’s guidance, navigation and control operation in space using an upgraded solid divert and attitude control system.

The scheduled test is the second in a planned series of six intercept tests in the current phase of development, the Pentagon release said (U.S. Defense Department release, June 16).

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U.S. Plans:  Decision on Miniature Kill Vehicles Due This Year

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency will make a decision in a few months on developing Miniature Kill Vehicles that could be fired in groups from a single missile, Defense News reported today (see GSN, Feb. 3).

The agency is scheduled to decide how much money to spend on the systems by the end of summer.  Multiple MKVs, which could weigh between 2 and 10 kilograms, would theoretically allow an interceptor to defeat decoys.

A missile armed with two- or three-dozen MKVs would decrease the need to have “excruciating knowledge of the bad guys’ weapons,” said Gary Payton, the MDA deputy for advanced systems.

“With one interceptor, I can assign multiple kill vehicles to everything I see,” Payton said.  “It improves the probability of kill,” he added.

It is not certain, however, if a small kill vehicle can destroy an incoming missile.

“At the extreme, you have to worry about lethality,” Payton said (Gopal Ratnam, Defense News, June 16).

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European Plans:  NATO Ministers Approve Study Funding

NATO defense ministers have approved funding for a missile defense feasibility study at their meeting yesterday (see GSN, June 2).

“This is truly an exciting time for missile defense at NATO,” said NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Defense Investment Robert Bell.  “Missile defense is without any doubt a major building block towards transformation of the alliance to meet new security threats,” he added.

Work on the study, which will examine options for missile defense systems and determine the best technologies and systems to achieve an effective NATO missile defense, is expected to commence in October (NATO release, June 13).

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U.S.-Japan:  Kadish Pushes for Two-Layer Japanese Missile Defense

The top U.S. missile defense official today encouraged Japan to implement a two-layer missile defense shield, the Kyodo News Agency reported (see GSN, June 5).

Visiting Tokyo, U.S. Missile Defense Agency Chief Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish persuaded Japan’s defense chief Shigeru Ishiba to adopt a system that incorporates Aegis radar-equipped ships and ground-based Patriot missiles, according the news agency.  Kadish also pushed for a spiral approach, in which technology is upgraded and the system is enhanced over time.

The two officials said they would cooperate on ballistic missile defense, according to a Japanese official.  Ishiba said, however, that more domestic debate is needed before Japan adopts such a system (Kyodo News Agency/BBC Monitoring, June 13).

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U.S. Plans:  Defense Department May Budget For Missile Procurement

Responding to criticism from government auditors, the U.S. Defense Department may begin allocating money in future budgets to buy missiles currently under development by the Missile Defense Agency, Inside Missile Defense reported today (see GSN, June 5).

Agency officials said the military services do not currently budget for procurement because they do not know if missile systems will be transferred to them.

Glenn Lamartin, director of defense systems for the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, commented on a General Accounting Office recommendation to earmark money for missile procurement in future budgets.

“Doing so would not only promote the stability of the overall defense budget, but would also significantly improve the likelihood that an element or component would actually be fielded,” Lamartin wrote in an April 17 response to the GAO.  “The department will certainly consider this option for elements and components that have demonstrated sufficient maturity to enter into production,” he added.

In its report, the GAO warns that not laying out the costs in advance could force cuts in other programs down the line, Inside Missile Defense reported (Thomas Duffy, Inside Missile Defense, June 11).

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