Three senior Defense Department officials took part
in a discussion about missile defense capabilities in 2030 and the
demands of tomorrow at the Missile Defense 2030 symposium.
Yesterday's panel included James H. Anderson, acting undersecretary
of defense for policy; Navy Vice Admiral Jon A. Hill, director of the
Missile Defense Agency; and Army Lt. Gen. Daniel L. Karbler, commander
of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
"When you look at 2030, we're looking at advanced ballistic missiles,
[and] we know they're going to maneuver hypersonic threats and cruise
missile threats," Hill said. "That's a very challenging place to be."
When you get into ground-based missile defense or midcourse defense
for protection of the United States, we are working very Intensely on
the service-life extension program, along with the reliability program
that takes us beyond just the analytical, he added. "We now have
hardware and equipment tied into that thanks to very great support
coming from Congress, as well as the department."
That support, Hill said, will help DOD increase and extend the life of the existing fleet, which he said is vital.
"While we have to also compete in parallel with the next generation
interceptor, … by closing that gap with a very strong liability program
for the fleet today, and bringing on a new interceptor that will tie
into the ground systems and into the sensors, [it] is going to be pretty
formidable," Hill said.
The joint kill web has to enable DOD's defensive systems and its offensive systems, Karbler said.
"If the adversary launches at us, we're going to the joint kill web
[to] enable us to censor any sensor by shooter to engage," he said. He
noted it also will allow DOD, integration-wise, to offensively respond
with whatever capability that it might have from air to surface.
"The Army is working very hard on long-range precision fires to be
able to counter what that adversary brings to us," Karbler said.
In terms of DOD's vision for 2030, the department will seek out those
opportunities where it makes sense to work with allies and partners in
missile defense, Anderson said.
"We talked before about defending the homeland. What's also very
critical when we talk about missile defense is the regional context," he
noted.
Anderson also said both China and Russia would seek to overwhelm the
U.S. and its allies early in a particular theater and impede the flow
of allied forces.
Because of this, it's vital in a regional context for the United
States to have a robust integrated air and missile defense. "That's why
we have had these collaborative efforts, and we will seek out them going
forward, as well," he added.
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