Riki Ellison, Chairman and Founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org has reviewed the FY2011 Missile Defense Budget released on February 1st by the Department of Defense which offers a substantial increase to the total budget for missile defense. This increase recovers close to half the amount that was cut by the President and Secretary Robert Gates a year ago. Ellison is one of the top lay experts in the world on the topic of missile defense. His comments and observations include the following:

“Early this week, President Barack Obama’s administration and the Department of Defense announced a substantial increase to the 2011 Missile Defense Budget. The amount, $9.42 billion, equals a 6.13 percent increase from the 2010 budget. This increase, $577 million, recovers close to half the amount that was cut by the President and Secretary Robert Gates a year ago. ” [Defence Pros]

People that follow missile defense probably all remember that just back in April the widely publicized cuts in missile defense were announced.  However, the budget was cut, but I did like Secretary Gates strategy of focusing funding on missile defense systems that currently work.

With this new announcement the focusing of money on missile defense that currently works is only continuing:

Among the highlights of the 2011 Missile Defense Budget Request are:

• Increase of development funding of $359 million for the Ground Based Interceptors.
- Plans to construct 38 GBI silos and to buy 56 GBIs.
- A significant reversal from the 30 silos and 44 GBIs from last years request.

• Increase of 249 THAAD (142) and AEGIS SM3 (107) land and sea-based regional missile defense interceptors for a total of 867 by 2015.

• Upgrades of 3 additional Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Ships.

• Addition of three new Missile Defense programs:
- $256 million for the Land-Based SM3 program that will go to over a $1.0 Billion by 2015.
- $99 million to Directed Energy Programs.
- $67 million for a future space based satellite sensor constellation called Precision Tracking Space System (PTSS) that will go to $1.2 Billion by 2015.

• Increase to $1.47 billion (up $31 million) for the AEGIS program.

• Increase to $1.0 billion (up $52 million) for the Patriot Terminal Defense interceptors and systems.

• Increase to $1.11 billion (up $290 million) for missile defense testing and targets.

• Increase to $319 million (up $63 million) for co-development with Japan on the Sea Based SM3-BlockIIa interceptor.

The increased funding into GMD is significant which is interesting considering the failure of the last fight test due to an issue with the SBX sensor.  However, the technology and capability of the GMD program is impressive for those familiar with it and I believe with more testing this can become a more reliable program.  Apparently the President now thinks so as well.

THAAD live fire at the Pacific Missile Range Facility In Hawaii.

What I am most excited about is to see more money being put into the THAAD and AEGIS SM-3 programs.  These are both very successful systems.  Also it was good to see money being poured into the land-based SM-3 program that will allow the missile to deployed in areas that an AEGIS ship cannot access.  Finally considering the failure of the last THAAD flight test due to a target issue it is good to see that more money is being poured into testing and targets.

All in all I continue to believe a solid missile defense strategy is in place by Secretary Gates and President Obama.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced the successful completion of an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) intercept flight test, in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, off the coast of Kauai in Hawaii. The event, designated Japan Flight Test Mission 3 (JFTM-3), marked the third time that a JMSDF ship has successfully engaged a ballistic missile target, including two successful intercepts, with the sea-based midcourse engagement capability provided by Aegis BMD.

The JFTM-3 test event verified the newest engagement capability of the Japan Aegis BMD configuration of the recently upgraded Japanese destroyer, JS MYOKO (DDG-175). At approximately 6:00pm (HST), 1:00 pm Tokyo time on Oct 28, a separating, medium-range ballistic missile target was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. JS MYOKO crew members detected and tracked the target. The Aegis Weapon System then developed a fire control solution and, at approximately 6:04pm (HST), 1:04 pm Tokyo time a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IA interceptor missile was launched. Approximately 3 minutes later, the SM-3 successfully intercepted the target approximately 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean. JFTM-3 is a significant milestone in the growing cooperation between Japan and the U.S. in the area of missile defense.

Also participating in the test, were the Pearl Harbor-based USS Lake Erie (CG 70) and USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60) which detected and tracked the target and conducted a simulated engagement.

Before returning to Japan, JS MYOKO will be loaded with additional SM-3 Block IA missiles. The ship will arrive in Japan ready to provide additional ballistic missile defense capability against the increasing ballistic missile threat present in that region.  [MDA Webpage]

The U.S. Department of Defense’s Missile Defense Agency (MDA) awarded Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] a $1 billion contract for continued development and evolution of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Weapon System. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin’s Surface-Sea Based Missile Defense line of business, in Moorestown, N.J., will design, develop, integrate, test, deliver and install further Aegis BMD capability for the U.S. and allied navies.

“This contract will both continue the spiral development of Aegis BMD capability to meet expanding global security threats and increase the number of BMD-capable ships at sea by integrating Aegis BMD into the Aegis Modernization program,” explained Orlando Carvalho, vice president and general manager of the Lockheed Martin business completing the work. “This further supports the increasing demand for Aegis BMD capability worldwide, especially in light of the Administration’s recent shift in policy in European Missile Defense.”

Currently, a total of 21 Aegis BMD-equipped warships – 19 in the U.S. Navy and two in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force – have the certified capability to engage ballistic missiles and perform long-range surveillance and tracking missions. The U.S. Navy is modifying two additional U.S. East Coast-based Aegis-equipped ships to perform ballistic missile defense.  [Defence Professionals]