Defense News:
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s inspector general launched an audit of the Army’s future missile defense plans in August, according to a recent announcement from the office.
“Our objective is to determine whether the Army is developing an affordable Integrated Air and Missile Defense program that can meet all capability requirements and whether these requirements remain valid and meet warfighter needs,” Theresa Hull, assistant inspector general responsible for acquisition, contracting and sustainment, wrote in a memo sent to Pentagon leadership.
The Army has for years been struggling to bring online a new air and missile defense system capable of detecting and defeating incoming threats from 360 degrees.
The service tried years ago to replace its Raytheon-made Patriot air and missile defense system, in operation since the 1980s, with a Lockheed Martin-developed system called the Medium Extended Air Defense System. The U.S. was developing MEADS with Germany and Italy, but withdrew from the program after closing out a successful proof-of-concept phase…
