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Arms Control Today » June 2009 » Missile Defense Programs in Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010 Budgets

Missile Defense Programs in Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010 Budgets

Cole Harvey

The fiscal year 2010 Department of Defense budget request, released in May, provides additional detail on the Obama administration's refocusing of U.S. missile defense efforts. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates outlined the reorientation at an April 6 press conference. (See ACT, May 2009.) The revised approach emphasizes terminal-phase missile defense programs over midcourse and boost-phase ones. The following table compares major missile defense programs in the fiscal year 2010 request with requests and appropriations from fiscal year 2009.

FY 2009 Request

FY 2009 Appropriation

FY 2010 Request

Percent Change in Requests

thousand dollars

Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense

1,157,783

1,113,655

1,690,758

46

Terminal High Altitude Area Defense

864,899

753,189

665,455

-23

Ground-Based Midcourse Defense

2,076,662

1,507,481

982,922

-53

Airborne Laser

421,229

400,751

186,697

-56

Kinetic Energy Interceptor

386,817

385,493

 0

-100

Multiple Kill Vehicle

354,455

283,481

 0

-100

Sources: Fiscal years 2009 and 2010 Missile Defense Agency budget justifications, Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller) Web site.