MEADS Shot Down

House authorizers are proposing to defund the Medium Extended Air Defense System, according to the panel's just-released mark of the fiscal year 2013 defense bill. The Obama administration had requested $400 million for the program as a last payment to finish development of the system.

The panelists' report included a message for co-developers Germany and Italy, where government leaders want the United States to continue funding the program for FY-13 in accordance with a trinational pact. “The committee urges the [Defense] Department to remind the representatives of Germany and Italy that only Congress can commit the United States to the expenditure of taxpayer funds,” lawmakers wrote.