Northrop Grumman Endorses Own Programs for Missile Defense

Northrop Grumman released a press release today touting their systems in missile defense. This kind of effort costs almost nothing and is guaranteed to get the company some publicity and almost make it seem like a regular news article. Hosted at Fox Business the release is entitled “Northrop Grumman Urges Missile Defense Focus On Early Engagement, Strategic Flexibility” the release uses a former Army General, Larry Dodgen, who commanded the Strategic Missile and Defense Command prior to his retirement, to discuss that the “most value for the dollar clearly lies in shooting down ballistic missiles as early as possible after they’re launched”. Not surprisingly Northrop makes two systems that would be ideal for this mission: Kinetic Energy Interceptors and the Space Tracking and Surveillance System. In what appears to be at time when the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) may see major cuts to its budget any advantage a contractor can get to support funding for its program worthwhile. The two major programs that MDA has invested in are the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system and the Navy AEGIS based system that intercept the enemy missile well after launch and possibly not until warhead separation from the launch vehicle. Northrop is promoting their more mobile system designed to engage the threat right after launch when it should be easier to track and destroy it prior to warhead separation. Depending on how the budget announcement goes next week there will be plenty more of this direct and indirect lobbying to come.