Navy Adm. James Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Defense Department plans to prioritize the provision of funds for the Boeing-led Ground-based Midcourse Defense platform as the governments of Iran and North Korea work to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles, DoD Buzz reported Tuesday.
Brendan McGarry writes Winnefeld said the U.S. military must not take for granted the efforts of both countries to improve their missile defense capabilities.
“A robust and capable national missile defense is our best bet to defend the United States from such an attack,†he said in a speech delivered at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
The Pentagon has asked for $1.6 billion in additional funding for fiscal year 2016 to perform enhancements on the missile defense platform, according to the report.
The agency plans to redesign components of the missile technology, carry out additional flight tests and increase the number of interceptors to 40, McGarry noted.
