Missile Defense Agency
Agency of the US Defense Department From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Agency of the US Defense Department From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is a component of the United States government's Department of Defense responsible for developing a comprehensive defense against ballistic missiles. It had its origins in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which was established in 1983 by Ronald Reagan and which was headed by Lt. General James Alan Abrahamson. Under the Strategic Defense Initiative's Innovative Sciences and Technology Office[5][6][7] headed by physicist and engineer Dr. James Ionson,[8][9][10][11] the investment was predominantly made in basic research at national laboratories, universities, and in industry. These programs have continued to be key sources of funding for top research scientists in the fields of high-energy physics, advanced materials, nuclear research, supercomputing/computation, and many other critical science and engineering disciplines—funding which indirectly supports other research work by top scientists, and which was most politically viable to fund from appropriations for national defense.[12] It was renamed the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization in 1993, and then renamed the Missile Defense Agency in 2002.[13] The current director is U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Jon A. Hill.[14]
| |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | January 2002 |
| Preceding agencies | |
| Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
| Headquarters | Headquarters Command Center, Fort Belvoir, Virginia[1] |
| Employees | Approx. 2500 (3000 with non-MDA support personnel) (2016)[2] |
| Annual budget | $9.187 billion (FY 2021)[3] |
| Agency executives |
|
| Parent agency | Department of Defense |
| Website | www |
Rapid changes in the strategic environment due to the rapid dissolution of the Soviet Union led, in 1993, to Bill Clinton focusing on theater ballistic missiles and similar threats, and renaming it the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, BMDO. With another change to a more global focus made by George W. Bush, in 2002 the organization became the Missile Defense Agency.
The Missile Defense Agency is partially or wholly responsible for the development of several ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems, including the Patriot PAC-3, Aegis BMD, THAAD and the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system with a cost of $194 billion.[15] They also led the development of numerous other projects, including the Multiple Kill Vehicle and the newer Multi-Object Kill Vehicle, the Kinetic Energy Interceptor and the Airborne Laser. As the inheritor of the SDI and BMDO work, the MDA continues to fund fundamental research in high-energy physics, supercomputing/computation, advanced materials, and many other science and engineering disciplines.[12]
The MDA currently publishes the following mission statement:
"The Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) mission is to develop and deploy a layered Missile Defense System to defend the United States, its deployed forces, allies, and friends from missile attacks in all phases of flight."[16]
The National Defense Authorization Act is cited as the original source of the MDA's mission:
"It is the policy of the United States to maintain and improve an effective, robust layered missile defense system capable of defending the territory of the United States, allies, deployed forces, and capabilities against the developing and increasingly complex ballistic missile threat with funding subject to the annual authorization of appropriations and the annual appropriation of funds for National Missile Defense. National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 114–328)"[16]
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Ballistic Missile Defense Systems (BMDS) must be capable of operating in different regions of the world to ensure the success of the MDA mission. The International Strategy was approved by the MDA Director in 2007. The general strategy for international efforts is:[17]
As of 2017 MDA was working on facilities in Germany, Romania, Poland, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.[18]
Ballistic missile systems using advanced liquid- or solid-propellant propulsion are becoming more mobile, accurate and capable of striking targets over longer distances and are proliferating worldwide.[19]: pp.18–19/61
MDA will be using multiple technologies to defend Guam.[31][32][33][34]
MDA divides its systems into four phases: boost; ascent; mid-course; and terminal. Each of these corresponds to a different phase of the threat ballistic missile flight regime. Each phase offers different advantages and disadvantages to a missile defense system (see missile defense classified by trajectory phase), and the geography of each defended area dictates the types of systems which can be employed. The resultant flexible and layered defense approach concept is believed to improve overall defense effectiveness. The more opportunities a system has to neutralize a threat (e.g., by shooting down a missile), the better the chance of success.[citation needed]
Activities have also been categorized as fulfilling the goals of one of five "blocks". For example, "block 4.0" was stated as "Defend Allies and Deployed Forces in Europe from Limited Iranian Long-Range Threats and Expand Protection of U.S. Homeland". It included the US missile defense complex in Poland to be constructed, and the European Mid-course Radar (EMR), currently located at the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll, which was to have been modified and relocated to the Czech Republic.[35][36]
On 17 September 2009, the Obama administration scrapped the "block 4.0" plan, in favor of a new so-called "European Phased Adaptive Approach" (EPAA).[37]
Can intercept all ranges of missiles, but the missile boost phase is only from one to five minutes. It is the best time to track the missile because it is bright and hot. The missile defense interceptors and sensors must be in close proximity to the launch, which is not always possible. This is the most desirable interception phase because it destroys the missile early in flight at its most vulnerable point and the debris will typically fall on the launching nations' territory.
This is the phase after powered flight but before the apogee. It is significantly less challenging than boost phase intercepts, less costly, minimizes the potential impact of debris, and reduces the number of interceptors required to defeat a raid of missiles.
This phase begins after the booster burns out and begins coasting in space. This can last as long as 20 minutes. Any debris remaining will burn up as it enters the atmosphere. Ground-based missile defense systems can defend from long-range and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in this phase. Mobile elements can defend against medium and short ranged missiles in midcourse.
This phase is the last chance to intercept the warhead. This contains the least-desirable Interception Point (IP) because there is little room for error and the interception will probably occur close to the defended target.[17]
Research and development:
One can distinguish disabling the warheads and just disabling the boosting capability. The latter has the risk of "shortfall": damage in countries between the launch site and the target location.
See also APS report.
Research and development:
In use:
Research and development:
Research and development:
By 2021, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) realized that it almost had a countermeasure to hypersonic boost-glide weapons, by using existing data on the adversary hypersonic systems which were gathered from existing US satellite and ground-based sensors.[43] MDA then fed this data into its existing systems models, and concluded that the adversary hypersonic weapon's glide phase offered the best chance for MDA to intercept it.[44] MDA next proffered a request for information (RFI) from the defense community for building interceptors (denoted the GPI —glide phase interceptor) against the glide phase of that hypersonic weapon.[44] GPIs would be guided by Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensors (HBTSS).[45][46] These GPI interceptors could first be offered to the Navy for Aegis to intercept using the C2BMC,[47] and later to the Army for THAAD to intercept using IBCS.[44][48] By 2024, a first test of the hypersonic tracking sensors was imminent.[49]
In use:
Research and development:
| No. | Director | Term | Service branch | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Duration | ||
| Director, Strategic Defense Initiative Organization | ||||||
| 1 | Lieutenant General James A. Abrahamson (born 1933) | March 27, 1984 | January 31, 1989 | 4 years, 310 days |  U.S. Air Force | |
| 2 | Lieutenant General George L. Monahan Jr. (born 1933) | February 1, 1989 | June 30, 1990 | 1 year, 149 days | U.S. Air Force | |
| 3 | Ambassador Henry F. Cooper (born 1936) | July 10, 1990 | January 20, 1993 | 2 years, 194 days |  U.S. Foreign Service | |
| Director, Ballistic Missile Defense Organization | ||||||
| 4 | Lieutenant General Malcolm R. O'Neill (born 1940) | November 22, 1993 | August 1, 1996 | 2 years, 253 days |  U.S. Army | |
| 5 | Lieutenant General Lester L. Lyles (born 1946) | August 1, 1996 | May 28, 1999 | 2 years, 300 days | U.S. Air Force | |
| 6 | Lieutenant General Ronald T. Kadish (born 1948) | June 14, 1999 | January 2, 2002 | 2 years, 202 days | U.S. Air Force | |
| Director, Missile Defense Agency | ||||||
| 6 | Lieutenant General Ronald T. Kadish (born 1948) | January 2, 2002 | July 2, 2004 | 2 years, 182 days | U.S. Air Force | |
| 7 | Lieutenant General Henry A. Obering III (born c. 1954) | July 2, 2004 | November 21, 2008 | 4 years, 142 days | U.S. Air Force | |
| 8 | Lieutenant General Patrick J. O'Reilly (born c. 1959) | November 21, 2008 | November 19, 2012 | 3 years, 364 days | U.S. Army | |
| 9 | Vice Admiral James D. Syring (born 1963) | November 19, 2012 | June 16, 2017 | 4 years, 209 days |  U.S. Navy | |
| 10 | Lieutenant General Samuel A. Greaves (born c. 1963) | June 26, 2017 | May 31, 2019 | 1 year, 339 days | U.S. Air Force | |
| 11 | Vice Admiral Jon A. Hill (born 1963) | May 31, 2019 | July 31, 2023 | 4 years, 61 days | U.S. Navy | |
| - | Rear Admiral (lower half) Douglas L. Williams Acting | August 1, 2023 | December 5, 2023 | 126 days | U.S. Navy | |
| 12 | Lieutenant General Heath A. Collins (born c. 1971) | December 5, 2023 | Incumbent | 290 days | U.S. Air Force | |
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