As you probably already know, the Missile Defense Agency’s Integrated Flight Test (IFT)-13C failed today. I’ve got a post on the subject, Performance Anxiety: Missile Defense Booster Fails to Rise to the Occassion, over on DefenseTech.org. That post notes that flight tests cost around $100 million (this one may have been less since they didn’t …
Performance Anxiety: MDA Booster Fails to Rise to the Occassion
by | 2004-12-15 | No Comments
Integrated Flight Test (IFT)-13C was aborted “after the interceptor missile experienced an anomaly shortly before it was to be launched.” The target, perhaps representing a North Korean ICBM hurtling toward a U.S. city, performed flawlessly. Let’s be clear: This test was a big deal. Thomas Christie, the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, told …
Mapping the Intelligence Budget
by | 2004-12-15 | 3 Comments
In the debate over the National Intelligence Director, news stories often report that the Secretary of Defense “currently controls up to 80 percent of the estimated 40-billion-dollar intelligence budget.” This estimate is either asserted, phrased in the passive voice or attributed to unnamed “experts.” So, where does the estimate come from? The 80 percent part …
Comments
by | 2004-12-14 | 11 Comments
I am thinking over the whole “comments” policy. Comments on the topic of comments are welcome.
