Does the Pentagon want to strengthen a key US missile defense system?
In its budget request for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, the Missile Defense Agency has asked for $9.2 billion to "refocus" the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System, a weapons program intended to protect the U.S. mainland.
The missiles have failed in 8 of 18 tests since 1999. Work to strengthen a key component of the $67 billion program was cancelled in 2019. Now the goal is to develop a "layered" approach working with other shorter-range missiles and detection efforts, Defense News reported.
The U.S. at first limited use of missile-defense systems under a treaty with Russia, but the Bush administration changed course following the 9/11 attacks. The U.S. says the GMD system is focused on threats from "rogue" states such as North Korea; 44 interceptors are currently deployed, mostly in Alaska.