Defense News:

Congress directed the Pentagon to build an interim homeland intercontinental ballistic missile defense interceptor, a weapon that is not in the Missile Defense Agency’s current plans to counter threats from North Korea and Iran.

The fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act released on Dec. 3, gives the Pentagon, through the Missile Defense Agency, 30 days to “commence carrying out a program to develop an interim ground-based interceptor capability” once the bill is signed into law.

The Pentagon’s solution “should address the majority of current and near- to mid-term projected ballistic missile threats to the United States homeland, from rogue nations” and “at a minimum, meet the proposed capabilities of the Redesigned Kill Vehicle program,” the language of the bill states.

The interim interceptor should use existing kill-vehicle booster technology, according to the bill.

Lawmakers were unhappy with the sudden cancellation of the RKV program, which would have improved the current ground-based interceptors that make up the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California…

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