Former MDA head named to CSIS missile defense project

Retired Vice Adm. Jon Hill, the former Missile Defense Agency director, has joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies as a senior adviser with the international security program's missile defense project, CSIS announced Thursday.

Hill, whose Navy career spanned more than 30 years, also will serve as a member of the missile defense project’s advisory board.

Hill was the 11th MDA director, heading the agency from May 2019 to July 2023.

As MDA director, he executed the agency’s mission to “develop, deliver and sustain global layered capabilities” for defending deployed forces, the U.S. and allies and partners from missile attacks, according to CSIS.

As a Navy leader, he served as program executive officer for integrated warfare systems from 2014-2016; director of cruiser and destroyer combat systems, 2013-2014; and major program manager, Aegis combat systems, 2010-2013.

Hill currently is vice president and chief engineer for training and logistics solutions at Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems.

“The coming years will be a pivotal time for missile defense, and it is a privilege to be part of an organization shaping the conversation on the future of national security,” he said in a prepared statement about his role as senior advisor at CSIS.

The CSIS missile defense project conducts research and analysis and holds events on missile defense policy, budgets, legislation and programs.

The project runs a “Missile Threat” website, which offers a look at policy, news and strategy on missile defense.