THE US GENERAL Accounting Office (GAO) has recommended that the Department of Defense seek Congressional approval to delay initial procurement of the Lockheed Martin Theater High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system until it is proven effective.
Without the Congressional action, initial THAAD prototypes must be acquired by fiscal year 1998. On 15 July, a prototype THAAD missile failed to destroy a simulated ballistic missile, marking the third misfire in as many intercept attempts. Current plans require the US Army to buy a THAAD User Operational Evaluation System (UOES), which includes 40 interceptor missiles, before testing verifies its value.
The THAAD project, which is undergoing demonstration and validation, is expected to cost the Pentagon $17 billion.
A decision on whether to proceed into the engineering and manufacturing development phase has been set for March 1997, and a production decision is due in early 2003. The GAO points out that the THAAD programme has already experienced cost, schedule and technical-performance problems.
Although sufficient data will not be available for two years, the US Army is forced now to commit funds to meet the Congressionally ordered THAAD UOES deployment deadline.
The current timetable "-risks acquiring a system that might not be capable enough to warrant its deployment", says the GAO.
Source: Flight International