GEORGE BUSH鈥檚 rush to field a missile defence system before the presidential elections in September 2004 could endanger the programme鈥檚 success. The government spending watchdog, the General Accounting Office (GAO), warned last week that the tight timetable is forcing the Pentagon鈥檚 Missile Defense Agency to employ immature and poorly tested technology.
Coming from a non-partisan government department, the warning is an embarrassment to the Bush administration as it strongly echoes critics who say the anti-missile technology is far from ready for deployment.
The GAO report concentrates on the management of the anti-missile programme, rather than questioning the need for such technology. This reflects a shift in strategy by Democratic sceptics in Congress, who asked the GAO to report on the issue, toward pressing for accountability rather than arguing over politics, says Mike Levi of the Brookings Institution, a public policy think tank in Washington DC.
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The GAO says the Missile Defence Agency is doing the right thing in trying to progress step by step, rather than attempting dramatic technical advances. But it says the MDA is failing to predict costs properly. The $50 billion earmarked for the project over the next six years will cover development but not deployment and operational costs, it says. In response, the Pentagon says it will 鈥渃onsider鈥� modifying its budget to cover all these costs.
President Bush鈥檚 order to deploy the system just before the 2004 election attracts the sharpest criticism. The GAO says this doesn鈥檛 leave enough time to develop and test the technology.
The most advanced parts of the system are the ground-launched interceptors that would destroy warheads in mid-flight, guided by ground-based radars, surveillance satellites and ship-based radars. Early tests hit five out of eight targets, but the system is not ready for full-scale testing.
The three-stage rocket that will carry the missile-killing warhead is still being redesigned. After slipping 18 months behind schedule, the rocket had only been tested twice. The first test was successful, but the second failed.
Another problem is the Cobra Dane radar in Alaska鈥檚 Aleutian Islands, which would be crucial for hitting a target coming across the Pacific. Its software and hardware are being upgraded so it can spot and track targets in real time, but it will not be ready for the MDA鈥檚 missile-killing tests early next year.