Senator Feinstein Raises Concerns About Plans to Allow Deployment of Missile Defense System
Without Full Testing

- Feinstein Believes Real-World Testing Should be Completed Before
Any Missile Defense System is Deployed -

February 21, 2003

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today raised concerns about Defense Department plans to allow missile defense system to be deployed before it is fully tested. The following is the text of Senator Feinstein's letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld:

"I am writing to you to express my surprise that the Department of Defense has apparently decided to seek an exemption in the FY 2004 defense budget from the Section 2399 of Title 10 of the United States Code for missile defense in the FY 2004 budget, and plans to use Chapter 144 of Title 10 to allow a deployment of an unproven, untested missile defense system or capability.

Section 2399 of Title 10 of the United States Code requires that weapons systems, whether part of a fully integrated system or an emergency deployment, have completed operational testing and are deemed to be effective and suitable for use in combat before deployment. Chapter 144 allows acquisition of systems while in the pre-operational phase.

I believe that any deployed missile defense system, must meet the same requirements and standards that we set for all other fully operational weapons systems. Indeed, given the potential cost of a failure of missile defense, I believe that, if anything, it should be required to meet more stringent test standards than normally required. Given the test problems that missile defense has faced since its inception - ranging from data-link malfunctions to exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) system failures - I believe that the Department of Defense should strive to increase testing, including realistic challenges of the system's ability to work under real world conditions and ensure that the current system failures are corrected before deployment.

Given the threats faced by the United States I am not necessarily apposed to the development and deployment of missile defense under all circumstances, but given the importance of this decision, I simply do not understand how we can go forward with the deployment of a missile defense system which may or may not work and which the Department of Defense apparently does believe need to be fully or realistically tested.

I would very much like to know your thinking in making this request. I look forward to hearing from you soon."

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