Brother, Can You Spare a Billion. Or How to Sell a THAAD in the Land of Bureaucratic Politics

摘要

Pundits of doom are just waiting for THAAD (Theater High Altitude Area Defense) to be canceled. THAAD's enemies are quick to ensure that everyone has been the microscopic analysis of the 'latest failure, noting that THAAD is a VERY expensive program, and maybe the Department of Defense could better spend its scarce dollars elsewhere. Oh, by the way, each of the other services has at least one or two 'elsewhere's' that could readily accept Theater Missile Defense funding. This paper will examine THAAD in light of previous Air Defense acquisition failures, and in the context of today's bureaucratic politics. I will then attempt to 'operationalize' the findings into practical application that could be used by today's decision makers as they continue to fight for the THAAD program.