The Missile Defense Popularity Contest

The economic crisis has helped bring the inefficiency of defense acquisition to the forefront of the DoD agenda.  With an Administration that seems ambivalent at best about missile defense, it is an obvious candidate for a program that needs to be thoroughly evaluated. The press from the past couple of days on the issue seems to generally agree: Aegis is in, Air Borne Laser is on the outs, and GMD won't be prom queen any time soon.  An interesting trio of vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff James Cartwright, Michigan Senator Carl Levin, and soon-to-be State Department undersecretary Ellen Tauscher all had some sharp words for some of the missile defense systems that are perpetually behind schedule and overbudget. According to the the American Forces Press Service, General Cartwright said,

"A perfect solution after the fact doesn't do us much good," the general said, addressing ballistic missile defense capabilities as an example. "Ballistic missiles are about as passé as sea mail. Nobody does it anymore." Ballistic missile threats aren't as significant today as they once were, he explained, adding that "even countries who we consider ‘Third World' have gone beyond that." (this article also helped clarify the perplexing quotation "Ballistic missiles are about as passe as email. Nobody does it anymore."  Sea mail seems to make a bit more sense.)

While General Cartwright's quoted remarks seemed primarily focused on the inability of missile defense to adequately keep up with the ever-changing security environment, Senator Levin's remarks emphasized the defense acquisition problems that missile defense creates:

MDA programs have suffered from extensive schedule delays, and from billions of dollars of added costs. Unfortunately, we have not been in a position to say how bad these problems are, because unlike other acquisition programs, MDA programs are not required to establish firm baselines for cost and schedule, not required to measure their performance against those baselines, and not subject to Nunn-McCurdy requirements to identify and address troubled programs.

Meanwhile, Tauscher's remarks focused on the ineffectiveness of current missile defense plans against the more likely short range missile threat that would come from Tehran.  She also took the cake for the most memorable phrases including:

advocates of the European missile defense program "have been running around with their hair on fire." the Airborne Laser is the "the definition of insanity" and GSN quote of the day "Missile defense cannot be like some second marriages -- the triumph of hope over experience."

Not surprisingly, Boeing disagreed.