FOIA: Ballistic Missile Defense Program Information Package

bmdoInformationPackage.pdf
Ballistic Missile Defense Program Information Package
Good Quality scans of Informational Package on Ballistic Missile Defense Programs
Document date: 1996-03-01
Department: Department of Defense
Author: Unknown
Document type: Report
pages: 25


Archivist's Notes: Fact Sheets on the History of Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, US Ballistic Missile Defense Program Focus, Ballistic Missile Defense - The Core Programs, Patriot Advanced Capability, Navy Area Defense BMD Program, Theater High Altitude Area Defense System, Navy Theater Wide BMD program, Medium Extended Air Defense System, National Missile Defense Program, Innovative and Science Technology Program, BMD and Environmental Protection

This document starts by quoting President Ronald Reagan in his March 23rd, 1983 "Star Wars" Speech:

Tonight, consistent with our obligations under the ABM Treaty and recognizing the need for close consultation with our allies, I am taking an important first step. I am directing a comprehensive and intensive effort to define a long-term researched development program to begin to achieve our ultimate goal of eliminating the threat posed by strategic nuclear missiles... Our only purpose - one all people share - is to search for ways to reduce the danger of nuclear war.
- President Ronald Reagan, March 23, 1983

This speech marked the official beginning of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which was a program designed to find an alternative measure to countering the policy of mutually assured destruction (MAD).

In 1993, SDI was changed to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO). The name change, according to the documents, was a "reorientation of ballistic missile defense policy to place primary emphasis on developing and fielding advanced theater missile defenses."

The SDIO program's many technological achievements included the Flexible Lightweight Agile Guidance Experiment (FLAGE) and the Exoatmospheric Reentry Vehicle Interceptor System (ERIS). These programs were especially successful because they were proved to be the most cost effective, most reliable and have the best performance against weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

The name change from SDI to BMDO was, in large part, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the proliferation of ballistic missiles, their technologies, and the weapons themselves in to the newly formed nations which used to be Soviet Union territories. Given that many of these nations struggled, and still struggle to this day financially, the new threat became that these dangerous weapons would fall in to the hands of an enemy that was not afraid of MAD, such as Al Qaeda, who had proved the ability and the motivation to attack the United States with their attack on the basement of the World Trade Center in February of 1993, just three months before the change in name and policy of the defense system. This new threat prompted the change in approach to missile defense of the United States homeland, it's allies and it's interests around the world.

The commercial aspect of BMDO was also quite significant. In total, BMDO led to the creation of at least 28 companies which spun off of federal laboratories, universities, or private companies to commercialize different BMDO-funded technologies. Around 170 new commercial products have resulted from the program. Eight companies funded by the BMDO Small Business Innovation Research program have gone public. 230 ventures have been formed using BMDO-funded technologies as their basis. To top it off, over 200 patents have been issued with 150 (at the time of this document) still pending.

One of BMDO's most successful achievements was the Extended Range Interceptor (ERINT), which was the first application of "hit-to-kill" technology, and was selected, in 1994, to be the interceptor used in the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile defense system by the United States Army.

BMDO has three major programs: Theater Missile Defense, National Missile Defense, and the Advanced Technology Program.

The Theater Missile Defense (TMD) program is considered the highest priority of the three major BMDO programs. The TMD is charged with defending "U.S. forces, allies and other countries, including areas of vital interest to the U.S., from theater missile attacks."

TMD has two tiers, upper and lower, which are defined by the altitude at which the interception takes place, the speed of the interceptor, and the speed of the incoming enemy missile. This essentially gives forces the ability to have multiple opportunities to destroy an enemy missile as it crosses from one tier to another, or if it fluctuates, based on any changes in altitude or speed.

The National Missile Defense (NMD) program is charged with defending against a limited ballistic missile attack against the United States homeland. Using sensors and ground based interceptors (GBI), NMD is a silo-based defense system which fires exoatmospheric interceptors in order to destroy any incoming ballistic missiles.

The Advanced Technology Program is charged with keeping the BMD program "cost effective, reliable, and ahead of the increasingly sophisticated global missile threat." The program basically supports research on new technologies and leaves the option open to improving upon existing systems and technologies including interceptors, surveillance systems, sensors and directed energy weapons (DEW).

The document goes on to describe the PAC-3 system as well as the Navy Area Defense Ballistic Missile Defense Program, along with it's AEGIS system. The Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is also discussed, describing it as an "umbrella of missile protection in a theater, arching over all other missile defense systems."

Basically the document continues on to describe each of the BMDO's systems and advancements, providing graphs, models, specifications and background information, including some ABM Treaty information.

The document is an interesting read in learning about the ever changing ballistic missile defense programs of the United States and how different world events affect the policy making and the technological developments of these programs.

Other Links:
www.defenselink.mil...
www.fas.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
www.globalsecurity.org...

[edit on 2/29/08 by NovusOrdoMundi]

Nice analysis NOM Well done !!!

In fact as the other thread in ATS about FOIA SDI which can be seen as the forerunner of the latest programs all BMD discussed and declassified recently are full of information about the defense system and obviously related to SDI. Looking on the net for some more info and hopefully any report from congressional hearings I found some strictly related to this document and more advance since it belongs to the years after 1996. Here some excerpts:

# We must achieve an interoperable and integrated, secure, and "smart" command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) infrastructure that encompasses both strategic and tactical needs. Enhanced situation awareness and information assurance are the critical elements of an effective 21st century warfighting capability and the backbone of the Revolution in Military Affairs. The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, for example, is working on a single integrated air picture for both theater air and missile defense. This is an important partnership with the JTAMDO, which develops the requirements, and BMDO, which develops the architecture.
# We must develop and deploy -- in sufficient quantities -- long-range, all-weather, low-cost, precise, and "brilliant" weapons for both offensive and defensive use. On the offensive side, this will allow us to achieve maximum fire power on fixed or mobile targets -- from land, sea, or air -- with minimum loss of life and to take full advantage of C4ISR systems that provide in-flight re-targeting updates to weapons launched from remote platforms. Similarly, on the defensive side, when we consider hit-to-kill interceptors -- whether in theater or national missile defense programs -- we are talking about precise, smart weapons that can defend against ballistic and cruise missiles. Our challenge here is to demonstrate both reliability and affordability.
# We must achieve rapid force projection, global reach, and great mobility for our military capability. With uncertainty over where our forces will be required, and the need for extremely rapid response to a crisis anywhere in the world, this capability -- when combined with the first two elements -- will provide us with overwhelming military superiority.

MISSILE DEFENSE: A 21st CENTURY STRATEGY

Some more:

Since its inception in 1983 the BMD program has evolved through four distinct phases:

* A broad-based technology exploration and demonstration program to identify those technologies ready for development to support an initial multilayer comprehensive defense system and those promising follow-on technologies that could provide resilience against a full range of responsive countermeasures (1984-1986);
* A focused development program called Phase 1 Strategic Defense System, initiated in 1987 and aimed toward a significant ground- and space-based, layered defense capability to augment and strengthen deterrence (1987-1990);
* The refocusing of the program toward a Global Protection Against Limited Strikes system, which would protect the U.S., our forces overseas and friends and allies against limited ballistic missile strikes (1991-1992); and
* The reorientation of the BMD program to focus on acquisition and deployment of highly effective theater missile defenses to protect against the ballistic missile threat that is "here and now," and to maintain a technology readiness program for national missile defenses, should the ballistic missile threat to the U.S. emerge (1993-present).

Ballistic Missile Defense: 12 Years of Achievement

On September 30, 2004, the commanding officer of the guided missile destroyer, USS Curtis Wilbur, steaming in the Sea of Japan, broadcast the following message to higher headquarters: “Aegis BMD on Station.” And so began the first operational missile defense mission for the U.S. Navy. While the Curtis Wilbur wasn’t yet armed to intercept a ballistic missile, it would be available to provide surveillance and tracking information in support of the long-range ground-based interceptor (GBI) missiles being fielded at Fort Greely, AK, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA...

Missile Defense: Long Way in a Short Time

If all goes according to plan, by the end of 2004, the United States will deploy eight groundbased midcourse defense (GMD) interceptors1 in Alaska and California, along with land-, sea-, and space-based sensors and the command and control systems to support the interceptors. By the end of 2005, 12 more GMD interceptors will be added, along with additional sensors and interceptor missiles on Navy ships.

Deploying Missile Defense: Major Operational Challenges