Press Release: GAO on Missile Defense: Administration's Rhetoric Does Not Match Reality
Jun 4, 2003
News from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
For Immediate Release - June 4, 2003
Contact - Matt Martin (202) 546-0795 ext.107
The General Accounting Office (GAO) has released three reports in the last week confirming that President Bush’s decision to deploy a national missile defense a month before Election Day 2004 is premature and jeopardizes the effectiveness of the entire system.
According to the most recent report from the investigative arm of Congress, Missile Defense: Knowledge-Based Practices Are Being Adopted, but Risks Remain, “[T]he President’s directive to begin fielding a missile defense capability by 2004 places the [Pentagon]
in danger of getting off track early and impairing the effort over the long term…While doing so may help MDA meet the President’s deadline, it also increases the potential that some elements may not work as intended.”
“The Administration must acknowledge the growing rift between its rhetoric and the technological reality, ” said Matt Martin, assistant director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
The report points out that the few highly scripted tests which have been conducted so far on the ground-based midcourse program are not sufficient for the Pentagon to collect enough data to determine system effectiveness and readiness. Moreover, there are no plans to stress the system with operational tests before it is deployed in 2004. The report states that past systems have suffered from the results of similarly immature technology, ill-defined cost assessments, and political pressure.
“No deployment should be made until the system’s effectiveness is borne out by rigorous testing and solid data,” continued Martin. “The Administration can’t wish the system into existence.”
Put together, these three reports point out that many of the essential elements of the systems to be deployed in 2004 simply won’t exist for years after deployment, while even existing elements will not be fully tested for years after deployment:
- The booster rockets are still being developed.
- The “kill vehicle” is only a prototype.
- The radar planned to track incoming missiles “Cobra Dane” — has never been part of the testing process.
- The satellites to be used to detect the launch of an enemy missile and track it in the early stages of its flight have been plagued by technical and engineering difficulties; the first “demonstration” model of these satellites will not go into space until 2007 at best.
“The Bush Administration has stated that missile defense is a major component of our national security. To deploy a system that not only lacks testing but essential components puts us and our national security at risk,” concluded Martin.
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