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The FY 2009 Pentagon Spending Request - Ballistic Missile Defense

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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:

TABLE 6. FY'09 REQUEST FOR BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE
(Budget Authority in Millions of Dollars)

 

FY08
Total

FY09
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.

TABLE 7. FY'09 REQUEST FOR BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE IN EUROPE
(Budget Authority in Millions of Dollars)

  FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13

TOTAL
FY’09-
FY’13

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.

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 ext. 2105 tsharp@armscontrolcenter.org

Travis Sharp is the Military Policy Analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. He has published articles on defense policy in scholarly journals, internet magazines, and local newspapers, and has appeared on or been quoted in media venues such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, CNN, and Al Jazeera.