The FY 2009 Pentagon Spending Request - Ballistic Missile Defense
by Christopher Hellman [contact information]
by Travis Sharp [contact information]
Ballistic missile defense continues to receive more funding than any other weapons system in the annual Pentagon budget.
Background: As part of its Fiscal Year 2002 budget request, the Defense Department announced a major restructuring of the Ballistic Missile Defense Office (BMDO). Funding for a range of programs within BMDO were absorbed and redistributed into five major areas of research. These are the Terminal, Midcourse, and Boost Segments, the Ballistic Missile Defense Segment, and Ballistic Missile Defense Sensors. As part of the FY'02 reorganization, some specific missile defense programs were absorbed into the general research areas and have, from a funding perspective, effectively disappeared.
Meanwhile, as specific systems and technologies mature, they are shifted out of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) budget into one (or more) of the service budgets. The Space Based Infra-Red System-High (SBIRS-High) continues to be funded outside the MDA budget.
FY'09 Request - The Administration is requesting $8.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) in FY'09, up roughly $350 million from the current $8.6 billion. The request includes $720 million for the third missile defense site in Europe ($96 million for Development, $382.6 million for Fielding, and $241.2 million for Military Construction). The $8.9 billion total does not include $2.3 billion for the SBIRS-High satellite program and a further $1 billion for programs such as Patriot and MEADS that are being funded directly by the services. Including these non-MDA programs increases the total FY'09 request for ballistic missile defense to $12.2 billion.
Ballistic Missile Defense in Europe - The FY'09 request includes $720 million for the third missile defense site in Europe ($96 million for Development, $382.6 million for Fielding, and $241.2 million for Military Construction). In the Missile Defense Agency's budget documentation, missile defense in Europe is known as "Block 4.0" and is meant to "Defend Allies & Deployed Forces in Europe from Limited Iranian Long-Range Threats." Block 4.0 components include:
- Ten ground-based interceptors (GBIs) equipped with the two-stage Orbital Boost Vehicle (OBV) configuration rather than the three-stage OBV configuration used on the interceptors deployed at Fort Greely and Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB). These GBIs are scheduled for deployment at the European Interceptor Site (EIS) in Poland pending an agreement with the Polish government and fulfillment of certain test requirements.
- The European Mid-course Radar (EMR) currently located at the Kwajalein Atoll, modified and relocated to a site in the Czech Republic pending an agreement with the Czech government. It will provide critical midcourse tracking data for the European Interceptor Site.
- A forward-based AN/TPY-2 radar. The site for this radar has not been selected, but its placement should enable it to provide information early in the flight of a potential ballistic missile launch and help discriminate threat RVs from associated countermeasures.
- The C2BMC infrastructure and expanded network enabling capabilities required to support the EIS in Poland and provide sensor management of the EMR in the Czech Republic and the forward-based AN/TPY-2 radar.
TABLE 6. FY'09 REQUEST FOR BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE
(Budget Authority in Millions of Dollars)
(Budget Authority in Millions of Dollars)
FY’08 |
FY’09 Request |
|
|---|---|---|
| Terminal Defense (MDA) | 1,045.3 | 1,019.1 |
| Boost Defense (MDA) | 510.2 | 421.2 |
| Midcourse Defense (MDA) | 2,243.2 | 2,076.7 |
| AEGIS BMD (MDA) | 1,126.3 | 1,157.8 |
| BMD Sensors (MDA) | 586.1 | 1,077.0 |
| Space Tracking & Surveillance (MDA) | 231.5 | 242.4 |
| BMD Technologies (MDA) | 108.4 | 118.7 |
| Advanced Concepts (MDA) | 196.9 | 288.3 |
| BMD System Interceptors (MDA) | 340.1 | 386.8 |
| Multiple Kill Vehicle | 229.9 | 354.5 |
| Other Programs (MDA) | 1,934.0 | 1,748.3 |
| Joint Theater Air Missile Defense Org. (Joint Staff) | 53.7 | 55.3 |
| Total Ballistic Missile Defense | 8,605.6 | 8,946.1 |
| MEADS/Patriot CAP (Army) | 370.0 | 462.3 |
| Patriot/PAC-3 | 480.5 | 523.3 |
| Space Based Infra-Red System-High (SBIRS-High) (Air Force) | 982.6 | 2,328.2 |
| GRAND TOTAL Ballistic Missile Defense | 10,438.7 | 12,259.9 |
SOURCE: DOD FY2009 Budget Request Summary Justification, Major Weapons Systems, February 2008. |
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TABLE 7. FY'09 REQUEST FOR BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE IN EUROPE
(Budget Authority in Millions of Dollars)
(Budget Authority in Millions of Dollars)
| FY’08 | FY’09 | FY’10 | FY’11 | FY’12 | FY’13 | TOTAL |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Development | 67.7 | 96.0 | 130.9 | 622.1 | 306.7 | 661.5 | 1,817.2 |
| Fielding | 175.7 | 382.6 | 476.3 | 630.5 | 326.7 | 68.1 | 1,884.2 |
| Military Construction | -- | 241.2 | 596.3 | -- | -- | -- | 837.5 |
| Integration | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Total | 243.4 | 719.8 | 1,203.5 | 1,252.6 | 633.4 | 729.6 | 4,538.9 |
TABLE NOTES SOURCE: DOD FY 2009 Budget Estimates, RDT&E Defense Wide Volume 2 - Missile Defense Agency, February 2008. |
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Christopher Hellman 202-546-0795 chellman@armscontrolcenter.org
Christopher Hellman is the Military Policy Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation where his work focuses on national security spending, military planning and policy, trends in the defense industry, global military spending, and homeland security. Hellman is a frequent media commentator on these issues. Previously, Hellman worked for the Center for Defense Information, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and spent ten years as a congressional staffer working on national security and foreign policy issues.
Travis Sharp 202-546-0795 x123 tsharp@armscontrolcenter.org
Travis Sharp is the Military Policy Analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation where he performs policy work on national security spending, military policy, and Iraq. He has published letters and articles in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Foreign Policy in Focus, United Press International, and Peace Review.