In the 2007 defense authorization bill, still awaiting signature by the President, lawmakers have curtailed spending on the space-based interceptor program until 90 days after the Missile Defense Agency supplies a comprehensive report. The report must include a description of the system’s “essential components” and its relationship to other missile defense systems, an estimate of acquisition and life cycle costs, a countermeasures vulnerability analysis, and a “projection of the foreign policy and national security implications.”
The Pentagon announced new long-term agreements with four defense companies May 13 to develop and produce large numbers of low-cost cruise missiles. And while the effort will focus mostly on the Army to start, it pairs with Air Force efforts to find more affordable munitions.