A new report released by the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis recommends expanding the missile defense structure by reorganizing programs, increasing Presidential and Congressional involvement, and developing more public recognition to make it an urgent national priority. The 200-plus-page report, which is the work of the Independent Working Group on Post-ABM Treaty Missile Defense and the Space Relationship formed in 2002, gives a thorough assessment of missile defense requirements and makes recommendations for using all available technology to ensure US primacy in space. One of its bigger findings is the need to deploy space-based defense systems within three years to augment ground-based interceptors. The IWG also recommends that DOD science and technology funding “should constitute at least 3 percent of total defense spending.”
The Department of the Air Force has identified 50 programs that will make up the core of its contribution to the Pentagon’s joint all-domain command and control effort, branding them part of the “DAF Battle Network,” according to newly-released budget documents. The DAF Battle Network programs span multiple offices and agencies…