The U.S. military has delayed until 2028 plans for a major flight test to demonstrate the ability of three major ballistic missile defense systems to collaborate, a goal that if not further postponed will be 15 years after the Pentagon's top weapon tester called for the Navy and Army systems to establish rudimentary engagement coordination for theater-level threats. Last month, then-Director of Operational Test and Evaluation Robert Behler disclosed in a report to Congress future plans for assessing Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Patriot that the Missile Defense Agency had not previously made public - Flight Test Operational-(05). "MDA ground tests have routinely shown that inter-element coordination and interoperability need improvement to improve engagement efficiency; however, flight testing with multi-element engagement coordination has been limited," the report states. "Aegis BMD has exercised rudimentary engagement coordination with Terminal High Altitude Area Defense firing units, but not with Patriot. The MDA plans to exercise engagement coordination between those three theater elements during Flight Test Operational (FTO)-05, but that flight test has been repeatedly delayed and is currently planned for FY-28."
展开▼
