On his last day as President of the United States of America, we acknowledge and respect President Barack Obama for his legacy on missile defense for our nation and that of the world.
Overs eight years, President Obama invested $63.6 billion in missile defense in which he maintained existing systems, modernized and increased the quantity of deployed systems, and developed new systems.
His most notable achievement was the creation and successful deployment of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) (Click here to learn more about the EPAA) to defend Europe from Iranian ballistic missiles. An innovative approach for regional ballistic missile defense using Aegis BMD capability both on land and at sea, fused together through forward based radars and early warning sensors to establish a defended region. Two of the three EPAA Phases are fully completed and operating today to protect Europe.
President Obama’s unwavering support of Israel’s highly successful Iron Dome by funding over $1.4 billion into its firing systems and interceptors that has had over 2,000 intercepts defending seven million Israelis and the new David Sling, which is to be recognized as an achievement in helping Israel protect itself.
Under President Obama, the THAAD system – the most recent BMD system developed – was deployed in Guam for ballistic missile defense of the United States Territory and an approved THAAD deployment into South Korea by the Republic of Korea this upcoming fall. There are six THAAD Batteries produced under President Obama with a rotation that provides one THAAD battery available in Fort Bliss, Texas for the 24/7 rapid global response.
Baseline 9 was successfully developed, proven and deployed amongst Aegis platforms at sea and on land. The SM-6, one of the greatest multipurpose missiles ever engineered and created, was developed, proven and deployed under President Obama. The biggest shared Allied development, over $3 billion, of an advanced interceptor with our Japan has taken place with the SM-3 Block 2A under President Obama. There are 33 BMD capable ships, four of them Baseline 9 in the water today compared to 18 when President Obama first came into office in 2009.
Four TPY-2 Radars have been forward deployed in Japan, Turkey, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), to enhance our Homeland and regional missile defense systems. There are 37 Ground Based Interceptors (GBIs) deployed today for United States Homeland Defense with funding to increase up to 44 by the end of this year. Modernization and testing to increase the reliability of the GBIs and the second-generation interceptors for the GBIs have taken place with an upcoming intercept test to prove the enhancements. A new billion-dollar Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) is to be built at Clear Air Force Base, Alaska – has been approved and funded to provide more confidence and reliability for the United States Homeland defense.
The world has seen over these past eight years, ballistic missiles in combat being intercepted by American technology, a remarkable number of North Korean and Iranian ballistic missile tests, and substantial growth in regional missile defenses from both the United States and its Allies that have provided stability in those regions.
President Obama supported the vast variety of our nation’s missile defense capabilities and increased it capacity during his realm as the United States President. We acknowledge and respect his efforts and his legacy on the achievements he has put in place to make our nation and the world a safer place.
