The United States continues to implement a program to build a missile defense system. Ignoring all the problems of an international character and the interests of third countries, Washington continues to work to improve existing systems, and also negotiates, the purpose of which is the construction of new facilities on the territory of third countries. Recently, several interesting news have appeared, to one degree or another revealing the progress of work, as well as demonstrating the plans of the American command.
On the twentieth of February, the Polish radio station "Radio Poland" announced the upcoming start of construction of a new facility, which will be included in the so-called. Euro-Atlantic missile defense system. According to the radio station, the US Department of Defense has signed a contract with Poland, the purpose of which is to build a radar station and an anti-missile launch complex. The new facilities will be deployed at the former Redzikowo military airfield in northern Poland.
It is reported that the new facilities will be served by about 300 people, including security. The cost of the contract for the construction of missile defense facilities will amount to USD 182 million. It is expected to complete all construction work, deploy the necessary equipment and prepare it for operation by April 2018. According to some reports, American specialists have already started preliminary work. Representatives of the Missile Defense Agency, the Pentagon and other US structures have already arrived in Redzikovo.
Loading a GBI rocket into a silo launcher
Thus, over the next few years, the Eastern European grouping of US missile defense objects will be reinforced with a new radar station and an additional launch complex for ground-based SM-3 anti-missiles. The consequences of such actions have long been known: the project of deploying Euro-Atlantic missile defense systems in Eastern Europe has long been subject to justified criticism from the Russian leadership. Such systems, according to official Moscow, pose a great danger to the situation in the region, and also affect the interests of Russia.
It should be recalled that the US missile defense system is a complex complex, which includes a variety of components of several types. In particular, work continues on the GMD (Ground-based Midcourse Defense) complex with the GBI (Ground-Based Interceptor) interceptor missile. Since the beginning of the year, several important events have taken place in the history of this project. Regular tests were carried out, and in addition, an interesting report from the regulatory authorities came out.
On January 28, the ABM Agency, the Ministry of Defense and a number of army structures conducted regular tests of the GMD complex, during which the updated GBI missile with a CE-II warhead was tested (Capability Enhancement-II Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle - "Expansion of capabilities-2, transatmospheric interceptor"). In addition, the complex's radar stations, communication and control systems, as well as other elements of antimissile defense were subjected to regular checks.
A medium-range aeroballistic target missile equipped with anti-missile defense systems was used as a training target during the tests. The target was launched from a converted C-17 transport aircraft, which at the time of launch was in the area west of the Hawaiian Islands. The launch of the target was immediately recorded by the AN / TPY-2 radar station located on the Kauai Island range. Information about the found target was transferred to other elements of the missile defense system. Also, the target was found by a towed surface radar of the SBX type, which at that time was located northeast of the Hawaiian Islands. The joint work of the two radar stations made it possible not only to detect the target, but also to calculate its trajectory, providing the necessary data for the GBI anti-missile complex.
After receiving the necessary information and entering the training target into the affected area at Vandenberg airbase (California), an interceptor missile with a CE-II warhead was launched. The missile successfully brought the interceptor to a given trajectory, after which he performed a number of predetermined maneuvers, thereby showing the capabilities of his power plant and control systems. In addition, having approached the target, the CE-II Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle performed several turns of the shunting engines, as a result of which the interception of the training missile was deliberately prevented. Such tests were carried out for the first time.
The information gathered during the latest tests will be used in the further development of the GMD system. In particular, it is supposed to continue improving the new warheads, as well as to modernize some other components of the anti-missile complex.
On February 17, The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a new report on the program for the creation and improvement of the GMD complex. After analyzing the reports of the ABM Agency, the Pentagon and other structures, analysts of the Accounts Chamber came to not too optimistic conclusions. It turned out that the GMD program is facing serious problems that can interfere with the full implementation of the assigned tasks. It is noteworthy that some of the points of the report repeat previous statements about the prospects for the system under construction. Thus, some problems have plagued the project over the years.
The GAO report notes a not entirely acceptable feature of the reports of the Ministry of Defense on projects for the construction of missile defense systems. Thus, the results of work in 2014 and 2015 financial years do not fully meet the requirements. In addition, the reports show a noticeable lag behind predetermined schedules, which also negatively affects the country's defense against a potential nuclear missile threat. Also, the auditors found the wrong approach to carrying out the necessary work. Instead of organizing an evaluation of options, the Pentagon carried out work under the guise of ongoing research.
According to Department of Defense reports, the US missile defense complex is currently capable of protecting the country from a number of strategic threats. Analysts of the Accounts Chamber have double-checked the existing state of such systems and do not agree with the Pentagon. For example, the reports of the military department talk about the possibility of protecting the United States from missiles from North Korea and Iran. Nevertheless, as the auditors note, some important components of missile defense have not yet been demonstrated, which does not allow drawing far-reaching conclusions, and also raises doubts about the possibility of fully fulfilling the set requirements.
There are also problems with the production of the necessary equipment, as well as with the deployment of new systems. In accordance with the existing order of the Minister of Defense, 44 GBI missiles should be deployed in positions by the end of 2017. The auditors found that the industry and the military department have achieved some success in the construction and deployment of new technology, however, this area has not been without problems. The existing schedule is overly optimistic, which can cause problems with the development and testing of various products. In this case, the risks associated with the production, deployment and operation of new weapons increase.
The GAO recalls that in a previous analysis of the state of the missile defense program, the ABM Agency proposed some measures aimed at improving operational efficiency. These recommendations related to the approach to the implementation of design and other work, procurement strategy, as well as minimization of existing risks. As the latest study showed, some recommendations were accepted for implementation, while others were ignored by the Agency. Analysts at the Accounts Chamber continue to believe that the military and industry need to obey their opinions in order to successfully complete the entire program.
The Accounts Chamber, as if justifying its name, also carried out calculations of the costs of the GMD program. From the start of work until the summer of 2011, a little more than $ 39.16 billion was spent on the creation of the components of the new complex. A year later, the cost of the program exceeded 40.9 billion. At the same time, it was noted that for further work in 2013-17, it would be necessary to spend another 4.4 billion. Thus, the costs of developing the GMD system continue to be quite high, which is an additional reason for criticism of the incorrect approaches used by program managers. Errors of the ABM Agency lead to an increase in the cost of the program and do not allow saving on its implementation, which has a negative impact on the entire defense budget as a whole.
As you can see, the missile defense construction program implemented by the United States has achieved some success, and also regularly encounters various difficulties. It can be noted that such a course of the program is not something unusual and unexpected, since any complex project, by definition, is doomed to success and failure, and the task of its developers is to eliminate the existing shortcomings and fully comply with the requirements.
According to the US Accounts Chamber, the main problem of the missile defense program at the present time is the wrong approach to the implementation of certain works. It is because of this that the required work is delayed, and their results leave much to be desired. First of all, this is demonstrated by the failures that end some of the tests. In this context, we should consider the training interception performed at the end of January.
According to the published press release, during the tests on January 28, the interceptor missile did not hit the training target. In the last seconds before the collision with the target, the controlled warhead of the interceptor made a series of maneuvers aimed at evading the intercepted object. This feature of the tests can raise certain questions. At the same time, one should not forget that over the past several years, the ABM Agency and the Pentagon have conducted a number of tests, during which the task of hitting a training target was not set. In addition, in some such cases, not a real target was used, but its computer simulation. This time there was a real launch of a target missile, which could not be intercepted (possibly planned).
Floating radar Sea-Based X-band Radar (SBX)
The unusual result of the latest tests leads to speculation. The most probable are two versions. The first is problems during training and combat work. In favor of this assumption, an argument can be made in the form of the use of a target missile with a complex of anti-missile defense measures. Thus, the radars used in the tests did not cope with the selection of targets and aimed the anti-missile at the wrong object. In view of the difficulty of intercepting high-speed ballistic targets accompanied by decoys, such a development of events looks quite real.
The second assumption concerns the specifics of the test program. It cannot be ruled out that interception of the target was not originally a verification task. Thus, the purpose of the tests could be to test the interceptor maneuvering systems at all stages of the flight, up to the final rendezvous with the target. It is for this reason that in the last seconds before the alleged collision with the target missile, the interceptor stepped aside and prevented the hit.
One way or another, another test launch of an anti-missile missile with a new warhead was performed, which made it possible to collect data to continue the development of the entire system. The first results of this development can be announced in the very near future. It is unlikely that all work will immediately lead to the planned results and will allow you to solve the tasks without any problems. Nevertheless, the Pentagon intends to complete the program at any cost and to ensure the protection of the country from potential enemy missiles. Time will tell how successful the next stages of the current program will be.
