The White House has prevailed on lawmakers to soften some missile defense provisions included in preliminary versions of the fiscal year 2019 defense authorization bill, including mandates to develop a space-based interceptor capability and to accelerate hypersonic defense capability. The Senate version of the FY-19 defense authorization bill proposed directing the U.S. military to plan development of a space-based, ballistic missile interceptor fleet -- a project estimated to cost at least tens of billions of dollars -- even if the...
