MDA Acting Director Rear Adm. Doug Williams said that the agency's plans include beginning tests of its Next-Generation Interceptor in 2027, "with the anticipation of operational testing of NGI at the end of 2029."
Russia since this spring has been using both newly minted cruise missiles and even hypersonic missiles in its war to annex Ukraine.
Knowing when to build on commercial systems and when to develop something new can be the difference between parity and information dominance.
One of MDA's biggest investments in FY24 is for the Next Generation Interceptor, with $2.1 billion requested.
“We’re in a great place to get to that delivery to complete in ‘23,” the Missile Defense Agency director said.
Overall, House Appropriators are looking at increasing procurement funding at the cost of research dollars.
“There’s a need in the near-term to defend against all of those [Chinese missile] threats from a 360-degree standpoint, and if the answer is Aegis, I’m ready to support it,” the presumptive head of Indo-PACOM told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The network transport architecture for NGC2 could be a hybrid approach that combines high assurance communications with 5G, WiFi, and multi-orbit satellites.
Taiwan may be targeted for annexation by 2027, Adm. Phil Davidson said, and Guam will have to be vigorously defended in a Pacific War.
If confirmed by the Senate, Adm. John Aquilino and Vice Adm. Samuel Paparo will enter their jobs amidst increasing competition in fleet size, precision missiles, hacking, & espionage.
The report, delivered to Capitol Hill on Monday, sketches out the ask for the 2022 budget and in the years out to 2027, envisioning a long-range plan that Indo-Pacom commander Adm. Phil Davidson first introduced last year.
CBO estimates that developing F-35-launched boost-phase interceptors to defend against North Korean ballistic missiles would cost $25 billion to $40 billion to develop, with an additional $10 billion to $20 billion a year to operate.
Why edge and endpoint security can’t be an afterthought.
“China has a profound advantage in ballistic missiles against the United States,” he said. “They also have a profound advantage in ground-launched cruise missiles. We have to get into that offensive force game as well.”
By 2026, Adm. Philip Davidson said, the US will need additional air and missile defenses on Guam to counter a growing Chinese threat.
As Trump takes heat from his own party over a proposed troop drawdown in Germany, new US drone and armor bases in Poland are in the works.
“Due to considerations of cost and timing, we have stopped the process of introducing the Aegis Ashore system,” Japanese Defense Minister Toro Kono said. “For the time being, Japan will continue to counter (missile threats) with Aegis-equipped ships.”