U.S. Plans I:  Alaska Test Bed Construction Is on Schedule

Construction of a missile defense test bed at Fort Greely, Alaska — a planned component in the U.S. Ground-based Missile Defense System — is proceeding on schedule for a planned fiscal 2004 deployment, U.S. Missile Defense Agency officials said this week (see GSN, April 18).

The MDA began work at the site in mid-June 2002, and since then 80,000 square feet have been under construction, including 11 new buildings and renovations of an additional 25 buildings, agency spokesman Rick Lehner said.  All of the building construction is expected to be completed by spring of next year, according to Defense Daily.

“All of the construction activities are on schedule and making good progress,” Lehner said.

The current plans for the GMD system call for the MDA to initially place six missile interceptors at the Fort Greely site, Defense Daily reported.  The agency is also asking for funding to field up to 10 additional interceptors at the site in 2005. 

Construction of the first missile interceptor silo at Fort Greely is expected to be completed by the end of this month, with all six planned silos set to be constructed by February 2004, Lehner said (Kerry Gildea, Defense Daily, July 3).

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U.S. Plans II:  Pentagon Slows Space-Based Interceptor Development

Financial and technical constraints have led the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to delay the space-based component of its boost-phase interceptor program, Aerospace Daily reported today (see GSN, Jan. 22).

That program, the Kinetic Energy Interceptor Program, has pursued two parallel tracks to develop technologies to shoot down enemy missiles in their boost phase.  Technical difficulties, however, have caused the agency to slow the space-based track while maintaining the ground- and sea-based effort.

“There are some major technology challenges that we need to deal with before we can begin developing a space-based capability that we could affordably deploy in operationally meaningful numbers,” Defense Department officials said.

In addition to the technical problems, the program is suffering budgetary cuts as House and Senate authorizers have cut $150 million and $70 million respectively from the agency’s $301 million request for the program for fiscal 2004 (see GSN, May 8).

Agency officials had hoped to begin the development phase of the space-based test bed in fiscal 2005 but now estimate that the phase will be delayed for two years.

The Pentagon originally planned to prevent a single contractor from receiving both the space- and ground-based development contracts, but now that the two tracks are no longer proceeding in parallel, the ban has been lifted.

Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman received eight-month, $10 million concept design contracts in March for the ground-based component, and the agency expects to select a single contractor in the beginning of fiscal 2004 to develop the system (Marc Selinger, Aerospace Daily, July 3).

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United States:  House Appropriations Cuts Some Missile Defense Funding

A House Appropriations subcommittee last week cut millions of dollars from the Bush administration’s request for a variety of missile defense programs but raised funding to procure the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missile, Aerospace Daily reported yesterday.  The full committee is scheduled to consider the bill today (see GSN, May 8)

In considering the fiscal 2004 defense appropropriations bill, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense boosted PAC-3 procurement funds by $90 million and added almost $23 million to sea-based X-band radar development, a key component of a national missile defense system (see GSN, May 16).

The subcommittee cut the overall White House missile defense request by $193 million.  In its report to the full committee, the subcommitee said Defense Department proposals to develop advanced missile defense technologies expressed concern that “considerable work remains to fully develop, test and deploy current systems.”  The committee cut $150 million from a $301 million request for an advanced missile interceptor.

According to the report, lawmakers cut $76 million from the Bush administration’s Ballistic Missile Defense Systems request.

“It is not clear what activities, levels of effort, or deliverables warrant,” that level of funding, the report says.

Committee members also decreased the $274 million request for the Space Based Radar by $100 million (see GSN, July 18, 2002).

Although the radar’s technology “is worthwhile for a variety of satellite applications, the committee is concerned that the large constellation and associated tasking, exploitation, processing and dissemination (TPED) required to satisfy the SBR goal is ultimately unaffordable,” the report says.

The program could require 20 satellites and $25 billion in funding, Aerospace Daily reported.

The subcommittee supported a House Armed Services Committee proposal to investigate the possibility of a new, advanced bomber aircraft (see GSN, May 8).  According to the report, the subcommittee provided $100 million for the study (Marc Selinger, Aerospace Daily, June 25).

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United States:  Franks to Testify Before Congress on Patriot Friendly Fire Incidents

U.S. Army General Tommy Franks, head of the U.S. Central Command, is expected to testify before Congress on two friendly-fire incidents during the Iraq war that involved the Patriot missile interceptor, Aerospace Daily reported today (see GSN, May 23).

Franks’ testimony may be classified, but an open session on the incidents for reporters is being scheduled in the next several weeks in Washington, said Lt. Gen. Joseph Cosumano, head of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the Army Space Command.  The investigations into the two Patriot incidents — the destruction of a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet and a British Tornado, both by Patriots — have examined a number of possibilities, he said.

An investigation was also conducted into an incident wherein a U.S. F-16 fired at a Patriot battery, destroying the system but leaving the crew unharmed, according to Aerospace Daily.  Congress is also expected to be briefed on this incident (Rich Tuttle, Aerospace Daily, June 25).

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