DAILY BRIEFING
Navy plans to boost antimissile program
The Navy plans on expanding its antimissile program by turning its fleet of Aegis cruisers and destroyers into platforms for launching high-altitude interceptors, the Washington Post reported Monday.
The move comes in the wake of a faltering $14 billion Army antimissile program that has faced quality-control problems.
The Navy has already spent more than $1 billion on plans to shoot down ballistic missiles from ships at sea, but a Pentagon panel that authorizes major defense acquisition programs soon is to approve the Navy's plan for an expanded antimissile program, the Post reported.
The Navy concept is less tested than the Army's and actual intercept flight tests will not begin until 2000. The Post quoted an unidentified senior defense official involved in supervising the Pentagon's antimissile efforts as saying the Navy program "has been long on view graphs and short on engineering work."
House Speaker Bob Livingston, R-La., and other Congressional Republicans reportedly support the Navy's plan.
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