Sec. 1648. Risk reduction in procurement of Guam missile defense system
257 words·~1 min read·
/bill/117/hr/7900/eh/section-1648A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
It is the sense of Congress that— the defense of Guam and the Armed Forces that operate there is of key strategic significance and is one of the top priorities for United States Indo-Pacific Command and the United States; the most severe adversary threat to Guam consists of long-range hypersonic and cruise missiles launched from a variety of air, land, and sea-based platforms; the current plan of the Missile Defense Agency using a mixed architecture which, when applied to the launcher systems, relies on numerous road-mobile transport erector launchers for launching, and is an unproven and high-risk plan; and the existing vertical launch system, which can accommodate the standard missile–3 and the standard missile–6, is a more capable and tested system and provides reasonable risk reduction to the short-term missile defense of Guam, and in the long term provides much needed capacity increase.
Except as provided by subsection (c), not later than December 31, 2023, the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Director of the Missile Defense Agency, shall rapidly procure and field up to three vertical launching systems that can accommodate planned interceptors operated by the Navy as of the date of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary may waive the requirement under subsection
(b)if— the Secretary determines that the waiver is in the best interest of the national security of the United States; the Secretary submits to the congressional defense committees a notification of such waiver, including a justification; and a period of 120 days has elapsed following the date of such notification.