Global Policy Forum

By Jim Wolf

President George W. Bush is planning to put the first weapons in space despite broad international opposition, budget papers sent to Congress on Monday showed. Bush's spending plans for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 include an unspecified sum for developing and testing "advanced, lightweight, space-based (missile) interceptor components," the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said.

In its budget overview, the agency said it was seeking $47 million to start "technology development" of such weapons and others that could be phased into a multi-layered U.S. missile shield starting in January 2012. In the two years thereafter, the Pentagon aims to base a handful of missile interceptors in orbit for testing, the agency said.

Any such setup, whether space-based lasers or interceptor rockets in orbit, could give the United States the means to attack enemy satellites as well as incoming warheads. China, an emerging space power, has voiced strong objections to such "weaponization" of space as have Russia and some U.S. European allies. Although the heavens are already home to spy satellites and other military and intelligence sensors that help weapons work, no offensive or defensive arms are known to be in orbit yet.

Last year, the Missile Defense Agency obtained an initial $14 million for research on a space-based interceptor "test bed," but no decision has been made yet to deploy it. The fiscal 2005 budget is the first to set aside funds to start developing the kind of weapons President Ronald Reagan had in mind when he called for a space-based Strategic Defense Initiative on March 23, 1983. Critics decried Reagan's vision as "Star Wars" for fear it would launch an arms race in space.

Ground-Based Missile Shield

By Sept. 30 of this year, Bush is set to put on alert several ground-based interceptor missiles at Fort Greely, Alaska, for an initial shield against limited ballistic missile attacks from countries like North Korea. By December 2005, this bulwark will consist of up to 20 ground-based interceptors in Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, up to 10 based on U.S. warships at sea plus upgraded radar stations and communications links.

The initial system is optimized to knock down any long-range North Korean missiles that could carry nuclear, chemical or biological warheads, though critics doubt the system -- such as it is -- could thwart a surprise attack. Overall, Bush is seeking to boost funding for missile defense by 13 percent to $10.2 billion next year, including funds for the Army's Patriot Advanced Capability-3 short-range missile interceptor program. Boeing Co. is the prime contractor for the ground-based leg of missile defense. Northrop Grumman Corp. is building the system's battle command, control and communications system. Raytheon Co. builds the interceptor's "kill vehicle" designed to obliterate its target by slamming into it. Lockheed Martin Corp. and Orbital Sciences Corp. (ORB.N: are building booster rockets.

Missile defense is the Pentagon's costliest weapons program. The new budget projects $53.1 billion in related spending for the next five fiscal years, up more than $3 billion for the five-year period projected a year ago. In addition, billions of dollars that had been earmarked for spending from 2006 to 2010 are now due to be spent sooner -- a sign critics said showed the program was behind schedule and over budget. "What they're doing now are the simplest efforts," said Philip Coyle, who stepped down in January 2001 as the Pentagon's top weapons evaluator. "The later years aren't going to be any less expensive (than forecast last year) -- and that's especially true because the system has become more complex," he said in a telephone interview.

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