Defense News:


Historically, modern presidential transitions have been rocky, to say the least. That is why many of us in the defense community breathed a sigh of relief at the Biden administration’s embrace of the Next Generation Interceptor missile defense program, even though its genesis occurred under the Trump administration.

The current ground-based missile defense system has languished over the past few years, which saw a plan to upgrade already existing interceptors canceled in 2019 amid technical difficulties. Instead of continuing to limp along, the Department of Defense decided to opt for a bolder, more long-lasting solution to the nation’s missile defense needs. The Missile Defense Agency selected two contracting teams to compete to develop a Next Generation Interceptor, or NGI, to be installed no later than 2028.

Congress strongly supported the MDA’s request last year, and in late May the Biden administration followed suit, allocating $926.1 million for NGI in the fiscal 2022 budget. Disdaining the all-too-human impulse to throw out the baby with the bathwater, the Biden administration has rightly adopted an essential defense initiative, even though it emanated in the Trump era.

But doubts persist. One point of worry for the defense community is that the new White House may move forward with the NGI budget request, only to have something to trade away when it meets Russian President Vladimir Putin at the June 16 U.S.-Russia summit, to be held in Geneva…



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