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Background The possession of weapons of mass destruction and bal-listic missiles by potential adversaries is an urgent security issue for the United States and our allies. The United States strives to prevent further proliferation of these weapons and roll back these capabilities in potentially hostile nations. We also must be prepared to defeat ballistic missile attacks, should they occur. The United States is fielding the BMDS to provide such protection.The BMDS is a collection of elements and components integrated to achieve the best possible per- formance against a full range of potential threats. For- merly, some of these elements had been developed to act as independent missile defense systems. Once the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002, MDA was able to leverage the benefits of integrating complementary, layered systems. Fielding missile defense capabilities requires the combined efforts of MDA, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the U.S. Combatant Commands, the Military Services, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, other federal agencies, more than 17 major defense contractors, the Congress, and, increasingly, our allies and friends. introduction and Goals Mission MDA’s mission is to develop and field an integrated, layered BMDS to defend the United States, our deployed forces, al-lies, and friends against all ranges of enemy ballistic missiles in all phases of flight. A ballistic missile trajectory is divided into three distinct phases. In the boost phase, the ballistic missile’s rocket engine ignites and thrusts the missile into space. Following boost, the missile coasts in the midcourse phase and may deploy a Reentry Vehicle (RV) and coun- termeasures. In the terminal phase, the missile reenters the atmosphere and proceeds to the intended target. As directed by the President, the United States has fielded Ballistic Missile Defense assets to demonstrate missile defense technologies and provide a limited defense against long-range ballistic missile attacks aimed at any of our 50 states. MDA is expanding the breadth and depth of this initial capability by adding and networking mobile and for-ward-deployed sensors and interceptors at sea and on land. Goals MDA’s current activities are focused on several critical areas including: organizational excellence, an effective core com- petency, capability enhancement, and productive partner-ships. In these areas, MDA simultaneously pursues seven strategic goals: 1. Retain, recruit, and develop a high-performing and ac- countable workforce 2. Deliver near-term additional defensive capability in a structured Block approach to close gaps and improve the BMDS 3. Establish partnerships with the Services to enable their operations and support of the BMDS components for the Combatant Commanders 4. Substantially improve and demonstrate the military util- ity of the BMDS through increased system integration and testing 5. Execute a robust BMDS technology and development program to address the challenges of the evolving threat through the use of key knowledge points 6. Expand international cooperation through a compre- hensive strategy to support our mutual security interests in missile defense 7. Maximize mission assurance and cost effectiveness of MDA’s management and operations through continuous process improvement Flight test Ftt08