Panetta on MEADS

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week moved quickly to notify lawmakers about what he called a successful Nov. 29 test of the Medium Extended Air Defense System. MEADS is on the chopping block in the Senate's defense authorization bill that's being debated on the chamber's floor now.

"In light of this solid success and the need to archive data that will allow the United States and our partners, Germany and Italy, to capitalize on the demonstrated capabilities, we should provide the final year of funding to complete the PoC [proof of concept] development and testing against ballistic missiles," Panetta writes in a Nov. 30 letter to the chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services committees.

"The Army is already considering ways to link the knowledge gained from the tri-national MEADS PoC program to its future air and missile defense development plans," Panetta adds.

At stake is the administration's fiscal year 2013 request of roughly $400 million. That sum would fund the final year of development work plus an intercept test against a tactical ballistic missile a year from now.