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MDAA Alert:
Immediate Imperative
March 10, 2020

Mr. Ryan McCarthy, Secretary of the Army, and General James McConville, Chief of
Staff of the Army, testify before HASC on March 3, 2020. (Photo: DVIDS - U.S. Army
photo by Sgt. James Harvey)
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Dear Members and Friends,
a
The United States Army, overseen by civilian control by the Secretary of the Army,
Ryan McCarthy, and in partnership with the Chief of Staff of the Army, General James
C. McConville, presented to Congress [[link removed]]
last week their Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 budget request for the Army. The Former Secretary
of Army and now the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, in partnership with the former
Chief of Staff of the Army and now the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General
Mark Milley, also presented to Congress the overall FY 2021 Defense budget request
last week to Congress.
"The 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) provides a clear roadmap for the Department
of Defense (DoD) to address the re-emergence of long-term strategic competition
from near-peer competitors: China, then Russia" - The Honorable Mark T. Esper, Secretary
of Defense, at the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing on the DoD Budget
Posture [[link removed]]
on March 4, 2020.
"In 2018, the NDS outlined the current and future threat picture, drastically changing
the Army's focus. The strategy outlined great power competition, specifically Russia
and China, who are rapidly investing to modernize their formations. In order to
achieve national objectives laid out in the defense strategy, including deterrence,
the Army with the support of Congress, developed 3 distinct priorities of readiness,
modernization, and reform" - The Honorable Ryan McCarthy, Secretary of the Army,
at the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) hearing on the FY 2021 National Defense
Authorization Budget Request for the Department of the Army [[link removed]]
on March 3, 2020.
The near peers of China and Russia, with significant resources invested and coupled
with a powerful unified intent, have developed, tested, and deployed missile systems
directly to overmatch, contest, and deny U.S. coalition and joint maneuver forces
to operate in contested areas. The United States has not been able to address, invest,
and deploy adequate air defenses against the near peer evolving missile threats
to freely operate in contested environments due to its priority and resourcing for
conflicts over the past two decades in the Middle East as air, land, space, and
sea supremacy to maneuver joint forces were not contested.
One of the most critical important missions to be addressed by the United States
is the land based 360 degree cruise missile defense within the United States Army
to defend U.S. Joint Forces in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates
(UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait, Korea, Japan, the Pacific, Europe, and the United States
homeland & territories today and in the future. Due to the lack of that capability,
the United States Congress put in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA),
which became Public Law 115-232 on August 13, 2018 [[link removed]],
"Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
of Defense shall certify to the congressional defense committees whether there is
a need for the Army to deploy an interim missile defense capability." Congress further
defined an interim missile defense capability as, "a fixed site, cruise missile
defense capability that may be deployed before the Indirect Fire Protection Capability
[[link removed]]
(IFPC) of the Army becomes fully operational."
As by this law, in order to meet the deadlines, the interim cruise missile defense
capability would have the following:

* Deploy systems that require the least amount of development
* Procure non-developmental air and missile defense systems currently in production
to ensure rapid delivery of capability
* Use existing systems, components, and capabilities already in the Joint Force
inventory, including rockets and missiles as available
* Use operational information technology for communication, detection, and fire
control that is certified to work with existing joint information technology systems
to ensure interoperability
* Use institutional and operational basing to facilitate rapid training and fielding
The United States Army chose the Iron Dome system that is operating very successfully
in Israel by the Israel Defense Force for mortar and small rocket defense with over
2,000 intercepts of rockets and mortars since deployment in 2011, but does not fulfill
all the requirements listed above. It is noted too that no other United States ally
and partner in Europe, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Korea, Japan, and Australia
has an Iron Dome system and thus burden sharing of this capability is non-existent.
Last week General John Murray, Commander of Army Futures Command, testified at the
HASC hearing on the FY 2021 Army and Marine Corps Ground Modernization Programs
[[link removed]]
on March 5, 2020 and stated, "It took us longer to acquire those two batteries than
we would have liked for a lot of different reasons... We believe we cannot integrate
them into our air defense system based upon some interoperability challenges, some
cyber [security] challenges, and some other challenges. So what we ended up having
is two stand-alone batteries that will be very capable, but they cannot be integrated."
General Murray further stated on integration if Israel provided Iron Dome proprietary
data, "We don't know yet. We're significantly behind, I wouldn't say 'schedule,'
we're behind where we thought we were going to be, just based upon, it took us
longer to get two batteries than we thought it would... My assessment right now
is, it would be - and I hate to ever use the word 'impossible' - but exceptionally
difficult to integrate Iron Dome into our layered air defense architecture [and]
to get Iron Dome talk to other systems, other radars, specifically the Sentinel
radar. What you're probably - almost certainly - going to see is two standalone
systems, and if the best if we can do is standalone systems, we do not want to
buy another two batteries." - General John Murray, Commander of Army Futures Command,
during an interview with Breaking Defense on March 5, 2020. [[link removed]]
The United States Army has an existing fixed site cruise missile defense system,
components, and capabilities already in the Joint Force inventory that allies and
partners in the GCC, Europe, Australia and India have also deployed, soon to have
deployed, or in the process of acquiring that fulfills these Congressional requirements.
The National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) has been deployed and
operational under the command of the Joint Air Defense Operations Center (JADOC)
since 2005 by the Army National Guard in one of the most complex air environments
in the world to defend the United States' highest asset, the National Capital Region
(NCR). The NASAMS have been tested against and qualified to shoot down cruise missiles
from 360 degrees.
Having operational NASAMS that are already Link 16 capable, work in the joint force
under JADOC, a proven system, and leverages the existing deployed Army Sentinel
radars for tracking and firing solutions and existing manning from the Army National
Guard of seven states, that are home to seven rotating Air Defense Battalions that
operate the missile defenses of the NCR could provide an interim defense capability
as the Army's IFPC capability is not yet defined while it gets developed and tested
to integrate into the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS)
with Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS), which all three systems
are many years away from operational deployment.
With the recent Army surge deployment of two Patriot batteries and a Terminal High
Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) [[link removed]]
into the Middle East, current Army air and missile defense Patriot and THAAD operations
are strained globally on an unsustainable 1 to 1 dwell time of deployment for soldiers,
that has to be addressed by reducing the demand that would preferably be from allied
burden sharing or increasing the Army Air and Missile Defense Force. Surging Army
Air Defense Artillery (ADA) deployed forces with Army National Guard with "interim
missile defense capability" where required would help to address the 360 cruise
missile defense capability and relieve some of the strain on the Army ADA Soldiers
and their efficiency of their missile defense systems.
"The demand for Army forces paired against a flat budget has forced tough fiscal
decisions. In-depth program reviews will continue in FY21, with a total target
of 9.1 billion in programs what will be delayed, reduced, or eliminated." - The
Honorable Ryan McCarthy, Secretary of the Army, at the HASC hearing on the FY 2021
National Defense Authorization Budget Request for the Department of the Army [[link removed]]
on March 3, 2020.
The Joint Missile Defense Force will be the First to Fire in the defense of our
Joint Force deployed overseas, both fixed and maneuverable.
It is imperative that United States have an interim fixed site cruise missile defense
capability.
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Respectfully,
Riki Ellison
Chairman and Founder
Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
Click Here to Join MDAA [[link removed]]
MDAA is a non-profit, non-partisan tax-exempt 501(c) (4) organization. Our mission
is to make the world safer by advocating for the development and deployment of missile
defense systems to defend the United States and its allies against missile threats.
We are a membership-funded organization that does not advocate on behalf of any
specific system, technology, architecture or entity. Founded in 2002, MDAA is the
only organization in existence whose primary mission is to recruit, organize, and
mobilize proponents to advocate for the critical need of missile defense. Visit
our website www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org [[link removed]]
for more information.
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Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
515 King Street, Suite 330
Alexandria, VA 22134
Phone: (703) 299-0060
Email: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
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