WASHINGTON (Feb. 12, 2015) -- The commander of Army Space and Missile Defense Command said that while the 2012 Air and Missile Defense, or AMD, Strategy "is a good one ... we're trying to make sure we update and take into account some of the concerns from combatant commands on gaps as well as some of the strategic portfolio reviews."
Lt. Gen. David L. Mann, who also wears the Army Forces Strategic Command hat, told an Association of the U.S. Army audience at its monthly Hot Topic forum, Feb. 12, that many studies and assessments are underway to update the AMD strategy, which will help optimize certain investment strategies given finite resources.
"I think it's fair to say that as the demand for AMD assets increases, the integration of what we bring to the fight - not just within the Army, but also across the joint force in conjunction with our allies - is going to be increasingly important," he said.
Mann said it was no secret the country continues to be under constant threat from adversaries worldwide and that they were growing in capability, capacity and quantity as well as in the quality of their systems.
"Right now, 22 countries have ballistic missile capability ... of those 22 countries, we believe nine have nuclear capability," he said, adding that at least 75 countries are developing unmanned aerial vehicles and of those, 20 are developing armed drones while another nine are developing land-attack cruise missile capabilities.
"That, in conjunction with the integration of a lot of the threat systems out there is most worrisome," Mann said. "But the threat is not only focused on ballistic missiles, they're also looking at non-kinetic applications. They're really making the problem-set a lot more troublesome and a lot more problematic."
Mann said the technology that adversaries have today is increasing exponentially and that missile detection is becoming more difficult to achieve with the development of mobile defeat systems and underground facilities, as well as in-flight counter-measures, decoys and maneuvering reentry vehicles.
"We have to modernize the force," Mann said. "Right now there's not a lot of appetite for exquisite, extremely expensive programs of effort. That said, we need to optimize what we currently have on the team."
Mann also said the AMD force had grown despite the trends in downsizing end strength across the Army. Eight of the present 15 Patriot missile battalions are deployed or forward-stationed. He said the Army was considering adding a 16th Patriot battalion to the force.
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