Director, Missile Defense Agency Provides Insights on DoD’s Rapidly Evolving Missile Defense Programs and Strategy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) October 22, 2009 -- Lieutenant General Patrick J. O’Reilly, director, Missile Defense Agency (MDA), placed into context many of the rapidly evolving U.S. Department of Defense missile defense programs and policy issues during an in-depth interview in the current issue of Military Space & Missile Forum.

Regarding the advantages of the Obama administration’s restructured European missile defense system, O’Reilly pointed out, “The new missile defense program for Europe will be a more powerful and capable missile defense system that will deploy at least 72 proven SM-3 interceptors in the first phase of deployment versus the 10 interceptors originally planned. This architecture will accelerate protection by several years--instead of the 2018 timeframe planned for the original program, we will be able to do it several years earlier, in 2011.”

The MDA’s director also discussed the significance of the draft FY 2010 defense bill to the administration’s new focus on theater missile defense. O’Reilly remarked, “We are in a position to triple the number of Aegis interceptors [SM-2 Block IV and SM-3 Block 1A] we were planning to buy in the previous program, and triple the number of THAAD interceptors. We will increase the number of THAAD units from four units that was in the previous plan, to six units.”

The complete interview with Lt. Gen. O’Reilly is contained in MSMF issue 2.5. For additional information about this interview and MSMF contact: Marty Kauchak, editor, Military Space & Missile Forum, Phone: 703.490.0878, Email: martyk@kmimediagroup.com.

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