Senate Armed Services Committee Holds Hearing on FY2004 Defense Authorization: Ballistic Missile Defense

FDCH TRANSCRIPTS
Congressional Hearings
Mar. 18, 2003
Senate Armed Services Committee Holds Hearing on FY2004 Defense Authorization: Ballistic Missile Defense

REED (?):

Just briefly, Mr. Chairman. Like all of us, we are expecting the commitment of military forces and I have every confidence that they'll prevail. That confidence is borne out by having associated with many of the commanders as classmates and as friends for 30 years. They're extraordinary Americans and they'll do a great job for our country.

Their job is to carry out the orders of the Commander in Chief. Our job is to continue to probe and ask questions so that the policy is the right policy for the country, and that's a process of debate and deliberation in our system of government. The system that we'd like to see in Iraq.

And when it comes to the issues before this committee, we continue to raise serious questions because these are complicated and serious issues, and that's why I think this hearing is very important.

Over the last few years, sticking to the last two as I chaired the Strategic Committee, we've tried to focus on deploying equipment after it's been thoroughly tested, not without testing. We wanted to fund activities that could be executed, not simply to provide funds that would not lead to executable programs. And third, to avoid excessive funding for just nonspecific activities, and those questions still remain, and we'll keep raising those questions, because that's our responsibility and our job and we're committed to do it.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

REED:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Christie, I think one of the critical points in your testimony, which is very good testimony, is this phrase with respect to the mid-course ground-based program—"This conclusion, which I believe MDA agrees with, is based on the fact that many essential components of GMD have not yet been built. We cannot test the system without these critical components and we cannot test it realistically without the test bed."

Will all of these critical systems be built prior to 2004?

CHRISTIE:

They will be built as part of the block '04 -- as the block '04 test bed. I don't think they will all be in place by September 2004. The sea-based X-band (ph) radar is a necessary component. We will have new boosters. We will be testing the new boosters and we will be using new boosters with a ground-based interceptor.

So those...

REED:

So based...

CHRISTIE:

...—so those are two components...

REED:

Yes, sir.

CHRISTIE:

... that are not there now.

REED:

So based on your testimony and your response, this is a question of not just deploying a system without testing, this is deploying a system that has not yet been fully built. Is that accurate?

CHRISTIE:

Well, no, we have not built the sea-based X-band (ph) radar yet that we will need for mid-course...

REED:

But we are...

CHRISTIE:

... (inaudible).

REED:

... deploying a system that has not yet been built—the whole system?

CHRISTIE:

Well, of course we have to build it...

REED:

Well....

CHRISTIE:

... to put out in the field.

REED:

... my point is—I understand we have to build it, but maybe I'm missing something, but usually we deploy systems that are at least built—not fully tested, but at least built. This seems to be departure from my assumption that we will build a system and then we'll test it. And, again, I think your comments suggest that we're doing something that is somewhat unusual in deploying a system that has not yet been—fully been built.

CHRISTIE:

We will...

REED:

I think the issue...

CHRISTIE:

...—we will not deploy it until we have built it—now.

REED:

Well, I...

UNKNOWN:

Right.

(LAUGHTER)

REED:

... we're deploying it at 2004 -- is that correct? Am I wrong?

CHRISTIE:

Yes.

REED:

And you have just indicated that we will not have a significant...

CHRISTIE:

We will...

REED:

... part of the system even built by 2004.

CHRISTIE:

...—we may not have it deployed in 2004. OK? It may not be built and in place in 2004.

REED:

Well—but...

CHRISTIE:

It's being built as part of the 2004 test bed.

REED:

Secretary Aldridge, I assume that it's—the president of the United States has declared that this system will be deployed in September 2004. Is that correct?

ALDRIDGE:

He has set a goal to have it deployed and we use the term 2004 to 2005. We are constructing the components that will make that happen, some of which already exist, some of which do not.

REED:

So there is the possibility that in September 2004 this system will not be deployed?

ALDRIDGE:

I don't—the terminology "deployed" bothers me is the reason I'm hesitating.

REED:

It bothers me, too. That's why I'm trying to figure out what you intend to do.

ALDRIDGE:

We are talking about the construction of a test bed—the construction of a test bed which will be augmented with some limited operational capability. The word "deployed" has a connotation that goes far beyond the construction of a test bed. And that's...

REED:

Mr. Secretary, I couldn't agree with you more, but that's the choice—the term the president of the United States used. He didn't get up and make a speech about a test bed and limited capabilities, which I think is very accurate, which suggests to me that from a defense planning standpoint what you're saying makes a great deal of sense. But there's a political connotation to deployment, which I think has snuck in, perhaps.

Let me turn to General Kadish, which—first, let me say that you've got a very difficult job—technically demanding and also rhetorically demanding, at times. And we appreciate...

KADISH:

I will not disagree with that, Senator.

REED:

I know. We will—well, that's fine—we agree.

So far, all of the tests that you have conducted—and some have been successes and some, recognizably, have not succeeded—require that you input into your kill vehicle—in your booster target data. Is that correct?

KADISH:

That's correct.

REED:

At what point will you be not putting target data into your test shots? What—at what time frame?

KADISH:

Well, let me try to be a little bit more precise because the implication of the question is that there's target data that shouldn't be there...

REED:

No, no, no, I just—I just—at what point will you be...

KADISH:

...—that I would fire a missile without target data.

(CROSSTALK)

KADISH:

We don't ever expect to fire a missile without target data. The way the systems are—missile defense systems operate, by their very nature, is that you have to have a sensor in a right place at the right time to detect the missile launch. Once that missile launch is detected, the whole system starts tracking it, deciding when to shoot at it, how many times to shoot at it, whether we killed it or not, whether we want to shoot at it again. And then—and then in a layered missile defense system, we will always be injecting target data into the system.

REED:

At this point, you inject the days before the event—the preloaded data.

KADISH:

These tests are very scripted today.

REED:

When will you stop doing very scripted tests?

KADISH:

We will—we will—in...

REED:

When will you...

KADISH:

...—we will get less and less scripted the more we get the test bed into the operation.

REED:

Well, let me put it—by September 2004, will you be firing missiles that have limited or no data preloaded?

KADISH:

No.

REED:

No.

KADISH:

But the operational system will also have preloaded data.

REED:

That's true. But by 2004, essentially you'll be firing a missile—or the kill vehicle and its booster, which has significantly been loaded days before with target data.

KADISH:

But that's the way the operational system will work. It—what we will not do is predict the time of launch of a threatening missile. The system, if we do it right—and this is part of the testing that we have to do—is to make sure that it's always up and operating so when those sensors detect a launch, we can shoot at it.

It will have intelligence data loaded up. It will have the time of day loaded up because that's the way the system operates. So it will have that type of data, but it—but the operational system will use data of that nature.

REED:

Well, my time has expired.

Thank you, gentlemen.

Thank you.