The Missile Defense Agency has requested a budget of $9.9 billion for fiscal year 2019 in an effort to counter emerging threats that include North Korea’s nuclear weapon development efforts and ballistic missile tests, Defense News reported Tuesday.Gary Pennett, director of operations at MDA, told reporters Monday the agency’s proposed budget backs the National Defense Strategy that seeks to invest in layered missile defense and other capabilities.
MDA’s budget request would allocate $926.4 million for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, including funds for the acquisition of 20 additional ground-based interceptors.
The budget proposal also includes $95.8 million for two radar platforms that will be installed in Hawaii and in another site in the Pacific to support threat detection initiatives.
MDA aims to award a development contract for the Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii by the end of FY 2018, begin construction by FY 2021 and deploy the HDR-H system by FY 2023.
The agency will begin the solicitation for the Homeland Defense Radar-Pacific program in FY 2019 with plans to commence military construction by FY 2022 and field the HDR-P radar by FY 2024, according to budget documents.
