By John Isaacs and Samuel M. Hickey Pentagon missile defense costs could soar to a massive $176 billion between 2020 and 2029, a 40% increase, according to a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report. Since programs were first launched in the 1950s to build systems capable of intercepting incoming long-distance nuclear or conventional weapons, the United States has spent more than $400 billion* on various missile […]
Congress is (finally) paying attention to missile defense costs and failures
By John D. Isaacs and Samuel M. Hickey In the recently completed Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress takes some significant steps toward reining in the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and its wayward acquisition strategy. In the bill, Congress levels criticisms at the Pentagon’s handling of missile defense programs, reduces the missile […]
Conference Outcomes of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act
Topline Funding Nuclear Weapons and Related Programs Columbia Class Strategic Submarine House: $4.33 billion, the requested amount Senate: $4.51 billion, an increase of $175 million Conference Outcome: $4.46 billion, an increase of $130 million B-21 Long-Range Strike Bomber House: $2.8 billion, the requested amount Senate: $2.8 billion, the requested amount Conference Outcome: $2.8 billion, the requested amount Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) House: $1.52 billion, the […]
Select Comparisons Between House and Senate FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Bills
Topline Funding Senate approved House approved Total funding $750.0 billion $733.0 billion Overseas Contingency Operations funding $75.9 billion $69.0 billion (Note: $738 billion is the new total in the Pelosi-Mnuchin budget agreement) Nuclear and Related Weapons Programs and Treaties LOW-YIELD NUCLEAR WARHEAD FOR SUBMARINES House: Prohibits funds for the deployment of W76-2 low-yield warhead […]
Did abandoning the ABM Treaty make America safer?
By Bryce Farabaugh and Deverrick Holmes, Policy Interns This month marks the seventeenth anniversary of the United States withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, a landmark agreement from the Cold War that limited American and Soviet (and subsequently, Russian) ground-based, anti-ballistic missile defense systems. Originally signed May 26, 1972, between American President Richard Nixon and Soviet General Secretary […]
