TAMPA, Fla. - Sequestration could hurt the U.S. Air Force's plans for a new kill vehicle for its missile interceptors. These cuts could happen should the Air Force's budget return to sequestration levels in 2016 and beyond.
The Missile Defense Agency could lose a combined $1.2 billion from 2016 through 2019. Spending levels proposed for 2015 will not be affected.
A report from the Pentagon says a return to sequestration would hit the Ground Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system. GMD funding could be reduced by $639 million from 2016-2019, to $3.7 billion. This funding would come out of an interceptor follow on effort.
MDA wants to redesign the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) used by the GMD interceptor. The redesign effort emerged following problems with existing versions of the Raytheon-built kill vehicle. The MDA is requesting $99.5 million for the kill vehicle redesign effort in 2015.