House Armed Services Examines Ballistic Missile Defense programs -- California Capitol Hill Bulletin - Volume 10, Bulletin 7 -- March 20, 2003

On Thursday, March 20, 2003, the full House Armed Services Committee, chaired by Rep. Duncan Hunter (Alpine), held a hearing to examine funding for ballistic missile defense (BMD) programs.

Chairman Hunter noted that the 106th Congress passed the National Missile Defense Act of 1999, officially committing the United States to the deployment of a national missile defense system "as soon as is technologically possible." (On December 19, 2002, President Bush made the decision to deploy a limited BMD capability beginning in 2004.) Chairman Hunter lauded the Administration's decision to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, which he described as obsolete and counterproductive, adding, "By ridding ourselves from the artificial constraints of this treaty, we can now fully explore all options for basing sensors and weapons to provide the most comprehensive defense possible."

The Committee heard testimony from E.C. "Pete" Aldridge, Jr., Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, who said that the Pentagon has made progress toward BMD with a revamped management structure. He disagreed with concerns that have been raised that BMD development urgency "might result in the fielding of systems that are unproven and unsuitable for battlefield conditions." Instead, he said, "Quite the contrary, the revolutionary nature of missile defense and the threat posed by ballistic missiles have prompted us to take steps to ensure that deployed systems meet effectiveness and suitability goals through rigorous testing throughout development." He also described the importance of integrating a BMD system with U.S. allies.

Assistant Defense Secretary for International Security Policy J.D. Crouch commented that some nations have recently developed long-range strike capabilities. He noted that North Korea "caught us by surprise when it launched its three-stage Taepo-Dong I space-launch vehicle/ballistic missile in August 1998." He added that "North Korea has the Taepo Dong II long-range missile capable of reaching parts of the United States with a nuclear weapon-sized payload," and that the U.S. intends to field initial BMD capabilities in 2004 and 2005. Much of the concern over long-range capabilities focuses on the ability to attack west coast cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. He commented that, "since the beginning of 2001, we have had four successful tests out of five for the long-range, ground-based interceptor, three successful tests out of three for the short-to-medium-range sea-based interceptor, and five successful tests out of seven for the short-range, ground-based interceptor. In the next two years, we plan to conduct over 120 flight and ground tests." He also stated, "The capabilities planned for 2004-2005 include 20 ground-based interceptors (GBIs) against the intercontinental-range ballistic missile threat; 16 located at Ft Greely, Alaska and 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California."

Assistant Secretary Crouch stated that the Administration for FY 2004 and FY 2005 seeks $7.7 billion and $8.7 billion respectively for BMD, which includes an additional $1.5 billion dollars to provide those initial capabilities directed by the President for 2004 and 2005. He expected that funding requests for BMD programs would "remain relatively constant at roughly $8+ billion dollars per year from FY04 to FY 09."

For more information, see http://armedservices.house.gov/schedules/2003.html .

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