Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) must focus on next-generation concepts and align their capabilities with the core mission, Defense News reported Friday.
Hyten, who is also a two-time Wash100 Award winner, said at a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) event that the MDA’s structure is “absolutely correct” and that the agency needs to shift priorities away from the production and sustainment of other capabilities.
He said the MDA needs to align priorities with research and development since most of the agency’s fiscal 2021 budget was concentrated on sustainment and production funding.
“That should be a normal process. What you really want for MDA is to focus on this next generation thing and next-generation interceptor and next-generation sensor, a next-generation architecture and next-generation capability and drive that piece there,” noted Hyten.
He added that the MDA must revitalize collaboration with the Joint Requirements Oversight Council to inform requirements for air and missile defense,