If sequestration returns in fiscal year 2016, it would impact new programs vital to protecting the nation, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) director told the Senate Appropriations defense panel Wednesday.
“Depending on how deep the cuts go, would be how deep I (would need) to go not just into new starts but other capability and testing we’re working on outside of that,” Vice Adm. James Syring said. “There would be deep ramifications…”
Syring follows in the footsteps of military leaders who deplore the return of sequestration and dire consequences as they defend their FY ’16 budgets on Capitol Hill. Some have speculated that MDA would be more harshly impacted by sequestration than the services because it has no readiness account to absorb the cuts. The services can draw from fairly robust readiness accounts to meet the sequestration targets.
MDA’s $8.1 billion fiscal year 2016 budget request is some 3 percent above last year’s enacted amount.
To date, MDA has not received any Defense Department guidance on the potential return of sequestration, Syring said.
Programs Syring views as critical to keep the nation safe–his consistent top priorities over the past few years, backed by combatant commanders include: “…sensors and discrimination,” which means programs such as the Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR), Ground-based interceptor (GBI) kill vehicle, and discrimination improvements.
“Persistent tracking and discrimination capability against the longer range, more complex threat” is needed to pace and keep ahead of the threat, he said.
Sure to cause discussion among authorizers and appropriators, Syring did not include as a top priority building a potential $4 billion East Coast Ground Based Missile defense site.
“Not at this time,” he said.
Environmental studies are being conducted at the four potential sites, in New York, Maine, Ohio and Michigan.
While there is no doubt an East Coast interceptor site is important, he said, “the more important investment today is for the radar and discrimination capability to make the best use of 44 (GBI) interceptors that we’ll have by 2017.”
MDA is on track to have those 44 interceptors in 2017, he added.
The budget for sensors and discrimination in the FY’ 16 budget is focused in Alaska and other parts of the system to provide a more complex capability against the North Korean threat.
“That is our first focus,” Syring said. As that is fielded and the resources become available, then “we will talk about a similar capability for the East Coast.
The threat from North Korea is “increasing in capacity–meaning numbers–and in demonstrated capability,” he said. Also, North Korea has been demonstrating a no-notice launch capability.
MDA is working on the Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR), a new midcourse tracking radar that will provide persistent coverage and provide improved discrimination against threats in the Pacific area. Proposals are in source selection with an award expected by the end of the fiscal year. The MDA budget requests $137.6 million for the radar.
“Its critically important for especially for what we see in the intelligence estimates for the capability of North Korea and Iran to develop more complex threats, which would include decoys and countermeasures and the ability of having a long-range sensor that can discriminate the proper lethal object for us to intercept,” Syring said.
Warfighters need the discrimination to properly intercept the threat, he said.
The LRDR would keep American capabilities ahead of the threat, giving warfighters the tool and awareness of the threat the re-entry vehicle would pose, and where that lethal threat is among the other objects flying along with it.
The redesigned kill vehicle, to replace rapidly fielded older kill vehicles, also is “extremely critical,” Syring said. The program is part of the $1.7 billion GMD program request. It is $613 more than was requested for FY ’15.
The acquisition strategy is going well, he said. Raytheon [RTN] Boeing ][BA] and Lockheed Martin [LMT] are part of a government-led design authority team. Over the next two years, the companies will design, with government approval, that kill vehicle. Once the design is done, a follow-on GMD contract will compete kill vehicle production in the 2018 time period.
Between now and 2020, MDA plans to use available technology to improve existing sensors, battle management and fire control and kill vehicles. After 2020, the plan is to field advanced electro-optical/infrared sensors and upgrade discrimination capabilities based on new technology investment.
For FY ’16, MDA requests $28.2 million for discrimination sensor technology.
In FY ’16, MDA plans to upgrade unmanned aerial vehicle-borne sensors. In the first quarter of FY’17, flight testing is expected to demonstrate greater discrimination in conjunction with Aegis flight testing. This testing would precede the development and test of a prototype advanced sensor under the Technology Maturation Initiatives program.