Letter to the Honorable Daniel K. Inouye, Chairman, Committee of Appropriations, the Honorable Thad Cochran, Ranking Member, Committee of Appropriations

Letter

Dear Chairman Inouye and Vice Chairman Cochran:

We write to respectfully request your consideration for elimination of appropriations for the tri-national Medium Air Extended Defense System (MEADS) program in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2012.

As you know, the Department of Defense (DoD) is requesting $804 million through Fiscal Year 2013 to proceed with a MEADS "proof of concept" effort. Yet DoD does not intend to complete development or procure the MEADS system based on the program's inability to deliver. In fact, according to the Department's information paper distributed in February 2011 the MEADS program has encountered "management and technical challenges since its inception in the mid-1990's" and "has been unable to meet schedule costs and targets."

Although some DoD officials have suggested the "proof of concept" may yield a few minimal capability gains, other senior leaders including the Secretary of the Army have expressed serious doubt the "proof of concept" will deliver any tangible benefit for the warfighter. We also doubt the United States or partner nations will gain from a substantial investment based on the MEADS program's poor performance over the last two decades and are dismayed by the DoD's request.

There are other less costly and more beneficial options for the United States with respect to MEADS. The United States' unilateral termination obligation under the 2004 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Governments of Germany and Italy is $690 million, approximately $114 million less than the "proof of concept." Multilateral termination of the program would further reduce the United States expenditures. Additionally, there may be technologies that can be harvested or transitioned now without the significant investment planned under the "proof of concept."

As committed advocates for a robust transatlantic defense relationship, we are mindful of the role cooperative defense initiatives can play in deepening our ties and in building interoperability between our closest transatlantic allies. However, we believe that joint funding of unnecessary and underperforming programs like MEADS actually undermines public confidence in these types of joint projects and could potentially limit opportunities for future cooperative efforts.

Further, in this economic climate we must ensure each dollar spent advances our national security priorities and provides for members of our military. We can no longer afford to do otherwise. We therefore urge you to eliminate appropriations for MEADS and direct the Department of Defense to pursue less costly options as the Senate Armed Services Committee directed in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

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