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>>  The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report highlighting challenges to the U.S. establishing missile defense shields in Poland and the Czech Republic and recommendations on actions needed to implement the plans. For example, the GAO notes that neither country’s parliament has ratified the agreements, signed last year; and the Department of Defense hasn’t established roles and responsibilities of the main U.S. stakeholders for the missile defense shield sites. Among the GAO’s recommendations are:

“[T]he Secretary of Defense should direct MDA, the Army, and the Air Force to finalize the Overarching Memorandums of Agreement and element-specific annexes that detail the specific roles and responsibilities for the European sites and define the criteria that must be met before the transfer of those sites from MDA to the Army and Air Force.”

Download the 44-page report. (PDF).

>>  Aviation Week reports that the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) seeks to increase the range of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system. The booster is currently 14.5 inches long, and the MDA wants to increase it to 21 inches.

MDA’s THAAD project manager William Lamb said, “The concept behind the 21 inches is that it significantly increases the interceptor range, and by increasing range that significantly–three to four times–increases the defended area we have on the ground with the system.”

Additionally, a longer booster would give commanders more time to make the decision to fire at a target.

“It allows you to shoot one interceptor, assess whether or not you have killed the incoming reentry vehicle,” Lamb said, “and [possibly] precludes having to ripple-fire to launch several interceptors. So, you shoot, assess and then–if you didn’t get it–you would shoot again.”

>>  South Korea intends to launch its first space rocket this week. The $405-million Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 is on the launch pad at Naro Space Center and prepped for fueling. The launch has been delayed twice. (Source)

(Image source: Army Technology)

 
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report questioning the effectiveness of ground-based missile defense interceptors the U.S. plans to deploy to Poland under an agreement signed by Poland and the U.S. last year. (Source)

The U.S. agreed to deploy missile shields to Poland and the Czech Republic to counter missile threats from rogue countries like Iran, but those plans are in doubt. President Barack Obama apparently is not committed to moving forward. While the GAO is an independent agency, that is no guarantee of fair and credible evaluations of Pentagon programs. For example, a recent GAO report supposedly identified a $21 billion overrun in a Pentagon program. In response, Lt. Gen N. Ross Thompson III, military deputy assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology said, “I don’t know where they came up with the figure. I don’t know where it came from.” (Source)

Another issue raised by the GAO report is the effectiveness of our ability to detect decoys. This criticism doesn’t make sense when we consider that Iran hasn’t developed a ballistic warhead decoy system. Developing the ability to detect decoys likely would serve as a deterrent to Iran. In any case, we will improve this ability should Iran or North Korea deploy decoys.

For more information about missile defense, see the companion reader to the 33 Minutes documentary.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report titled, Ballistic Missile Defense: Actions Needed to Improve Process for Identifying and Addressing Combatant Command Priorities (PDF).
 
The Department of the Defense (DOD) established the Missile Defense Agency in 2002, and the GAO was asked to determine the degree that DOD had developed a course of action that deals with combatant command priorities as the agency develops ballistic missile defense capabilities.
 
The result is a 50-page report, which found that DOD has taken some steps toward but has not established “an effective process to identify, prioritize, and address these needs, or to provide a DOD-wide perspective on which priorities are the most important.”
 
Other findings: 

*The Warfighter Involvement Process was created by the U.S. Strategic Command and the Missile Defense Agency in 2005 to address combatant command capability needs, but the agency has not “overcome three interrelated limitations” or taken the necessary steps to implement the process;

*The Missile Defense Agency’s goals have not been met, because of lack of clear information and communication;

*Senior civilian leadership in DOD has yet to become involved in working out the potential differences among the combatant command priorities.

The GAO concludes that there remains a risk of DOD failing to effectively provide combatant commands with the missile defense capabilities they need.