Missile Defense

The Pentagon is seeking congressional permission to shift $2 billion between budget accounts as part of an annual reallocation of funds the U.S. military has in hand, launch five new-start projects and shift funds the Defense Department says are required immediately to achieve U.S. Space Command "critical mission capability."

The Defense Department has completed a study that will determine the fate of the Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii, a planned $1 billion, long-range, ground sensor project that was effectively defunded in the fiscal year 2021 budget request in order to bolster resources for space-based sensors, according to a senior official. (UPDATED)

Japan's decision to halt plans for two Aegis Ashore systems is driven by concerns of local communities about the deployment of the land-based ballistic missile defense system and there are 'a number of options' to get the project back on track, according to a senior U.S. defense official.

The Defense Department has reworked its weapons technology development priorities, elevating microelectronics to the No. 1 position -- a move that bumps maneuvering hypersonic technology development from the top to the No. 3 post, with 5G technology development pulling into the No. 2 billet between them, according to a senior Pentagon official.

Two congressional committees are again coming to the rescue of the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor program, each recommending a $120 million increase for an ostensible Pentagon priority that was not funded in the fiscal year 2021 budget request and rejecting the Defense Department's gambit to shift responsibility for the project from the Missile Defense Agency to the Space Development Agency.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is proposing legislation that would withhold support for adopting ballistic missile defense systems originally designed for regional missions to protect the U.S. homeland in a new "layered" architecture.

The Senate Armed Services Committee's mark of the fiscal year 2021 defense policy bill recommends authorizing an extra $65 million to fund the Air Force's scramjet-powered hypersonic missile program at a higher development level that could bring the system closer to operational use.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved a fiscal year 2021 defense authorization bill that would repeal a previous provision requiring large defense contractors to reimburse the Pentagon for the cost of processing losing bid protests.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is proposing legislation mandating the Defense Department develop an "interim" Ground-based Interceptor capability to upgrade the current homeland ballistic missile defense fleet and field 20 of the new guided missiles in currently empty Alaska silos by the mid-2020s, a project that -- if enacted -- could siphon funds from the Missile Defense Agency's priorities.