By 
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Ahead of the thrice rescheduled Golden Dome industry summit, the director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) indirectly alluded to the Trump administration’s initiative as similar to previous boosts in missile defense attention and called on industry to “get ready to go fast and think big.”
The last speaker here at the preceding annual Space and Missile Defense Symposium, Air Force Lt. Gen. Heath Collins did not even directly name Golden Dome amid reports the Secretary of Defense’s office restricted DoD officials from directly talking about it. All discussions were reportedly funneled into the industry summit, which followed the end of the symposium Thursday afternoon.
Despite the summit being unclassified and meant to attract non-traditional potential defense contractors, the government did not permit media attendance.
(Photo: Defense Daily)
Collins did not take any questions following his remarks, noting that “as you probably can understand, I will not be taking any questions today. In the last six months, I’ve walked into many, many rooms and said I can’t take any questions on ‘you know what.’ And I’ve never received a question other than something like ‘you know what.’ So we’ll just avoid that and move on,” saying he was sure to see many industry attendees at the following summit.
Collins overviewed the ups and downs of the Missile Defense Agency as a sort of repeating cycle over the past 42 years since President Reagan started the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), repeating when George W. Bush’s push led to what became the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system. He sees the second Trump administration as the third “up” period.
The years “have certainly followed a rhythm and usually the rhythm is the President identifies a need. We get the focus, the resources, priority that is required, and we make enormously large changes to an enterprise. And then that doesn’t last. That focus goes away, resources get cut out.”
He called on industry to take advantage of the newest missile defense push by government. “It’s a fleeting moment, as history has shown, this doesn’t last forever, and we need to make a monster change now.”
Collins reiterated that the three things he thinks an acquisition development agency needs to make lasting change are on the upturn for MDA: priority on the national scale and access to decision-makers, the authority to make decisions on its own, and the money and willingness to use the resources on talented people.
The director also said MDA is still working on the same four lines of effort he outlined last year, calling them “fortuitous. That’s some of those we worked on in advance of Jan. 27,” referring to the date the Trump White House issued an executive order directing DoD to work on Iron Dome for America, since renamed Golden Dome.
The lines of effort are delivering missile defense capabilities currently needed, investing in and growing the workforce, transforming the organization’s processes and procedures, and educating and improving the workforce.
Collins argued the missile defense capabilities that the agency has developed are now a proven architecture, especially in light of the Aegis Weapon System, Standard Missiles and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) used to help defend Israel during its recent 12-day air war with Iran. That combined with plans in recent years to boost 360-degree missile defense of Guam feeds into Golden Dome.
“I would just posit, then, that really what we see today is all of those colliding together with the realization of the threat and the realization and recognition from the nation that we require that national, 360-degree layered air and missile defense capability as we move forward.”
Collins added MDA and industry still need to push forward with disruptive technology to improve magazine depth and interception cost.
“We still need to learn how to change the cost calculus of the game. How do we increase magazines, get that more affordable price tag? How do we do that?”
Collins compared that to how the SDI investments of the 1980s and early 1990s led to the foundation of the current capabilities
“ I think it was a much added investment in the technology needed for the future to change the game. We also need an investment to disrupt our technology of today so we can set the foundation for the world as we move forward.”
