Engineers at the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) continue to ignore concerns about their next-generation missile interceptor, leaving serious technical shortcomings on the table and threatening the program's 2028 deadline.
Missile Intercept Test Video released by DOD
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded after an eighteen-month review of MDA's Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) program, detailed in a report released yesterday.
Among the most glaring problems GAO identified were a pair of unresolved 2022 recommendations that asked MDA to improve its coordination with intelligence agencies to account for the latest enemy missile technology and concerns that simulation software does not fully represent field use of NGI.
"MDA disagreed with key aspects of the risk assessment [published in 2022] and to date has taken limited action to mitigate those risks," the GAO report said. "By not addressing these risks in a timely manner, MDA increases the possibility of later discovering performance deficiencies that could delay the program."
