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DoD Establishes Missile Defense Agency
Friday, January 4, 2002
United States Department of Defense

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 008-02
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld announced this week the redesignation of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) as the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Consistent with the president's emphasis on missile defense, the secretary also provided direction necessary to meet the top four priorities for the United States in this important mission area. These are:

* To defend the United States, deployed forces, allies and friends from ballistic missile attack.

* To employ a Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) that layers defenses to intercept missiles in all phases of their flight (i.e. boost, midcourse, and terminal) against all ranges of threats.

* To enable the Services to field elements of the overall BMDS as soon as practicable.

* To develop and test technologies, use prototype and test assets to provide early capability, if necessary, and improve the effectiveness of deployed capability by inserting new technologies as they become available or when the threat warrants an accelerated capability.
(More: DoD News Source)
2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

Dan