|
18 December 2001 |
|
The House of Representatives' zeroing
of funding for the Space Based Infrared System-Low (SBIRS-Low) is likely to stand in conference
between the House and Senate on the FY '02 Defense Appropriations
Bill, sources told Defense Daily yesterday. "This is an outright kill," one source said yesterday. (..) SBIRS-Low was to consist of 27 to 30 satellites crosslinked to provide early warning and tracking of ballistic missiles in their mid-course of flight. The Pentagon had increased funding for the program in its FY '02 request by $113 million to get a capability by 2011. A TRW [TRW]- Raytheon [RTN]-Northrop Grumman [NOC] team is competing against a Spectrum Astro-Northrop Grumman-Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA] team for SBIRS-Low. (..) Congressional sources said yesterday that DoD acquisition chief Pete Aldridge called legislators on Friday to tell them that the Pentagon would not strenuously protest the House's position, if it stood in conference. Aldridge does not support the House position, DoD spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin said yesterday. "How can you justify zeroing SBIRS-Low when you want a national missile defense system in a timely manner? You've pushed it out so far that you can't achieve that goal," a congressional source said. The source said that cutting SBIRS-Low would mean a five- to six-year delay in fielding an effective ground-based mid-course system. (..) Instead of funding the administration's $385 million request for SBIRS- Low, the House put $250 million in a new line item called "satellite sensor technology" to reduce risk and mature technologies for future space sensor applications and $75 million in another new line item called "ground sensor technology" for algorithm development and radar risk reduction. Because of affordability concerns, however, the conference agreement on SBIRS-Low funds only the $250 million satellite sensor effort, not the $75 million ground sensor effort, one source said. (..) Last month, the administration appealed to congressional appropriators to restore the $385 million cut in the House's version of the defense bill. (..) Though the Senate cut $120 million from the $385 million request, it included language permitting the president to restore funds if he chooses to from a pot of money allocated for missile defense efforts. (..) The termination of SBIRS-Low could entail significant costs, as the government ends the current work and defines a future program. |
|
|
