The Pentagon has recently requested more than $220 million in fiscal year (FY) 2014 to support Israel’s air defense system, known as “Iron Dome.” The Missile Defense Agency likewise requested an additional $175 million for FY 2015. Funding Iron Dome is in the interest of America’s closest ally in the …
Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) speech in 1983 launched a program to eliminate the threat posed by a nuclear attack and set the groundwork for today’s missile defense system. On March 19, The Heritage Foundation and the George C. Marshall Institute co-hosted an event commemorating the 30th anniversary of …
On December 15, the Missile Defense Agency conducted an unsuccessful test of Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD), a long-range ballistic missile defense system designed to protect the U.S. homeland against a missile threat from North Korea or Iran. The initial review suggests that the failure occurred because an undetermined problem with …
Yesterday, The New York Times ran an editorial titled “Fixing Missile Defense.” Given the editors’ clear track record of opposing missile defense, they must mean “fix” it in the sense of neutering it. Ostensibly, the editors are pointing to recent public complaints by the Director of the Missile Defense Agency …
When President Barack Obama first nominated long time missile defense critic Philip Coyle to be associate director for national security and international affairs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy back in October, we immediately noted that this nomination signaled a major shift in our ballistic missile …
The U.S. Missle Defense Agency (MDA) reports that its airborne laser successfully shot down its first ballistic missile last night over Ventura, California. The MDA’s press release explains that the airborne laser “successfully destroyed a boosting ballistic missile” and “the entire engagement occurred within two minutes of the target missile launch”. According to Reuters, …
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced on January 31, 2010, that a test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system for countering long-range missiles that took place over the Pacific Ocean that day failed to destroy the target missile. The initial review suggests that the failure occurred because a new …
The Missile Defense Agency is scheduled to test its Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor over the Pacific later this month. The test target it will be directed against is being designed to mimic an Iranian long-range missile attack on U.S. territory. This test is a valuable undertaking and will serve …
