First Steps to Remedy President Obama’s Flawed Missile Defense Policy Taken

Baker Spring and Michaela Bendikova / May 13, 2011

Yesterday, members of the House Armed Service Committee, under the leadership of Representative Michael Turner (R–OH) increased the funding for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program in the fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget. Members of the committee decided to increase the funding for this program by $100 million above the Obama Administration’s $1.2 billion request.

By taking this step, the committee attempted to remedy an almost 15 percent cut from the missile defense program in the FY 2010 compared to the FY 2009 level that would have left the United States vulnerable to a ballistic missile threat. The GMD is the only operationally deployed system protecting the U.S. homeland against a threat of long-range ballistic missile strikes, particularly from Iran and North Korea, in the future.

Despite this unique capability, the Obama Administration decided to cap the number of ground-based interceptors (GBIs) in the U.S. at 30 instead of the 44 originally proposed by President Bush. In addition, the Obama Administration reversed the decision to deploy 10 two-stage GBIs in Poland, which opens a window of vulnerability in Europe if the Iranian ballistic missile program progresses earlier than expected. (more…)