Pentagon: Don't Slash Missile Defense

The Hill reports:

The Pentagon’s top weapons buyer has concerns about a House-approved plan to terminate a missile defense system Washington is working on with Italy and Germany.

A section of the House-approved Pentagon policy bill would place limits on federal funds for the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program until it is terminated or restructured to provide technologies that could be used in other weapon programs.

The measure would reduce MEADS funding by $149.5 million in 2012.

The MEADS is a joint missile defense program between Washington and two European allies. Work on the system is done and financed in by Lockheed in United States, MBDA in Italy, and by EADS in Germany.

The Pentagon announced in February that, due primarily to delays and cost breaches, it will not buy and field the system. The department decided it would continue the development phase and provide funding up to the agreed upon ceiling of $4 billion (in 2004 dollars), according to a DOD fact sheet.

“We believe implementation of a proof of concept [development] program, using the remaining [development] funds contributed by the three nations, is the best option for all MEADS partners,” DOD said in the fact sheet.

But House and Senate lawmakers question why the Pentagon wants to dump billions into a program that will never produce a single unit for combat.