Ballistic Missile Defense System Transition and Transfer Process from Missile Defense Agency to the Army - Innovative or Dysfunctional?

Abstract

Abstract : In December 2002, President George W. Bush made the defense of the United States, its deployed forces, its friends and its allies against ballistic missile threats his highest priority as Commander in Chief and of his administration. Accordingly, he directed the development and deployment of ballistic missile defenses at the earliest possible date, including the deployment of an initial limited missile defense capability in 2004. The Missile Defense Agency, the executive agent for ballistic missile defense system (BMDS) development, was already developing several ground, sea, and air-based ballistic missile defense systems. However, to make the 2004 timeline, the Department of Defense (DoD) gave the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) wide-ranging authority and liberal exemptions from many existing DoD acquisition-related processes. The non-traditional development process implemented by the MDA made transfer of ground-based ballistic missile defense systems to the US Army a contentious issue, delaying turnover to the Army. To facilitate progress, the DoD instituted a new process, the Life Cycle Management Process, which includes specific time-phased management responsibilities, including transfer of systems to the Services. The MDA and the Services now operate under this new guidance, although the processes are still maturing. After reviewing the historical framework of United States missile defense development and the current BMDS transition and transfer process, this paper considers the sufficiency and effectiveness of the current process the MDA uses to plan and execute the transition and transfer of missile defense systems to the Army, followed by recommendations for DoD, MDA, and the Army to improve the current process to ensure proper missile defense capability transfer from the MDA to the Army.