For the JAGM contract, Lockheed provides a 27-month technology development program that includes design, test and demonstration of joint air-to-ground missile system that significantly enhances warfighters operational flexibility and combat effectiveness.

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Kadish declared that such a layered system, comprised over time of a range of systems to address an evolving threat, would likely utilize sea- and space-based missile defense "layers" to complement and add robustness to the ground-based capability he is preparing for deployment in Alaska.

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There are, moreover, other ways to provide such a defense -- notably, from the sea using modified AEGIS fleet air defense ships -- that could enable a national missile defense to be fielded for a fraction of the cost of the ground-based system.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Sea-Based Missile Defenses -- for the Allies, for the U.S.

Obering went on to say that the U.S. would be investing in a "good experimental foundation" that would add to the country's existing sea and ground-based missile defenses.

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The U.S. military has become heavily dependent on orbital systems and their supporting ground networks to connect far-flung forces, collect vital intelligence, detect missile launches, provide precise navigation information, and monitor weather conditions.

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Such systems include all phases of the Phased Adaptive Approach to missile defenses in Europe, the modernization of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, and the continued development of the two-stage Ground-Based Interceptor as a technological and strategic hedge.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center for Security Policy | Mapping a National Security Failure: Ratification of the New START Treaty | Page: 14

If the intercepting missile is ground-launched, it must have extremely high acceleration (15 to 30g over a one-minute period) so as to arrive at the target before burnout.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Multilateral madness