GAO: MISSILE DEFENSE: Actions Needed to Improve Planning and Cost Estimates for Long-Term Support of Ballistic Missile Defense

GAO: MISSILE DEFENSE: Actions Needed to Improve Planning and Cost Estimates for Long-Term Support of Ballistic Missile Defense

Highlights of GAO-08-1068, a report to the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives

The Department of Defense (DOD) has spent a total of over $115 billion since the mid-1980s to develop a Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) comprised of land, air, and sea-based elements—such as missiles and radars—working together as an integrated system. Since the cost to operate and support a weapon system usually accounts for most of a system’s lifetime costs, the resources needed to fund BMDS could be significant as DOD fields an increasing number of BMDS elements. In 2005, DOD began planning to transition responsibility for supporting BMDS elements from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to the services.

GAO was asked to assess the extent to which DOD has (1) planned to support BMDS elements over the long-term, and (2) identified long-term operation and support costs. To do so, GAO analyzed 7 BMDS elements that will be fielded by 2015, compared DOD’s plans and cost estimates to DOD and GAO key principles, and assessed the extent to which MDA and the services have agreed on responsibilities for supporting and funding BMDS elements.

What GAO Recommends
GAO recommends that DOD establish a standard process for long-term BMDS support planning and establish a requirement to estimate BMDS operation and support costs. In response, DOD generally agreed stating that its draft proposal for managing BMDS is intended to handle these issues.

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Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD), GAO