Pentagon plans hard look at missile
defense programs
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[March 18, 2015]
By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense
Department has launched a major review of missile defense programs and
capabilities, after military commanders called the current strategy
"unsustainable" given tough budget pressures and rising threats around
the world.
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Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel described the review in a
Feb. 4 memo to top officers in the U.S. Army and Navy, a copy of
which was obtained by Reuters.
This year's review would also cover regional ballistic missile
defense issues, the global reach of the U.S. Patriot missile defense
system, and U.S. power projection capabilities.
Hagel said a strategic review by top Pentagon officials last fall
had concluded the current ballistic missile defense policy was
sound, but recommended an update of a 2011 joint study to help shape
the Pentagon's fiscal 2017 budget process.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert and Army Chief
of Staff General Ray Odierno, in a memo dated Nov. 5, had called for
a reassessment by the Pentagon.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Mar/18/images/ads/current/Hallies_sda_010615.png) The Pentagon's current focus on forward-deployment of assets was too
costly, they wrote, urging a shift to a more holistic approach that
included use of non-kinetic "left of launch" technologies such as
electromagnetic propogation and cyber.
They said it was critical to develop a more cost-effective and
sustainable long-term approach that addressed homeland missile
defense and regional missile defense priorities.
In his response, Hagel said the department would continue to look
for "innovative" ways to address challenges, and urged Greenert and
Odierno to play an active role in the various reviews.
Kingston Reif, head of disarmament and threat reduction policy at
the Arms Control Association, said the concerns raised by the Army
and Navy underscored the myriad problems still facing the current
system.
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Riki Ellison, founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said
various Pentagon officials and others had worked for years on a
"left of launch" strategy that lowered costs by targeting the
electronic radar signatures of enemy command and control systems, or
the targeting systems of incoming missiles.
But he said relying on such capabilities to defend against potential
missile attacks by North Korea or Iran - instead of the current
ground-based interceptors - was problematic, since it would entail
"preemptive strikes" that could have grave political and strategic
consequences.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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