The House Armed Services Committee has called for an audit of the Patriot and Terminal High Area Air Defense (THAAD) system deployment and training rates in its revision of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.
The committee in the NDAA markup released Monday directs the U.S. Comptroller General to prepare a report on training and deployment of Patriot and THAAD batteries because of a concern the units already are spread thin.
The comptroller is asked to provide a report to HASC and its Senate counterpart before Jan. 15 on “the ability to meet current mission and deployment requirements, as well as the capability and plan to meet potential expanding deployment requirement.”
“The committee continues to be concerned that the deployment schedule for Patriot and THAAD may become unsustainable due to expanding requirements on these units, which are already highly utilized,” the HASC full committee markup summary reads.
“The committee understands the continuing strategic importance of Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense systems for U.S. and allied missile defense. As threats continue to adapt and increase, the committee notes the importance of maintaining these systems and providing adequate training and deployment schedule for the crews.”
Patriot modernization has been on HASC’s radar for a while. The committee in the NDAA for the current fiscal year demanded a report on the status of the missile-defense system’s performance and the Army’s plans for upgrading various system components. The report also is to detail how modernization efforts will affect system integration and interoperability with existing Patriot batteries.
In its markup of the 2017 NDAA, HASC provided the requested funding of $197 million for modifications to existing Patriot batteries and another $49.5 million for “Patriot product improvement.”
A major planned upgrade to the Patriot systems is the acquisition of a new, more capable radar. HASC in the 2017 NDAA calls attention to the Army’s intention to delay fielding a new radar “despite high-technology readiness levels” for another 12 years.
“This means our warfighters will be deployed with a 58-year old radar before they get a modernized capability,” the HASC markup says, before threatening to withhold funding until a new acquisition strategy is devised.
“The current Army strategy is a case study in how a broken acquisition system results in unacceptable delays in providing the warfighter the technology they need, paced ahead of adversary threats.”