Sec. 238. REPORT ON POTENTIAL FUTURE HOMELAND BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE OPTIONS

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## SEC. 238 REPORT ON POTENTIAL FUTURE HOMELAND BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE OPTIONS ###

(a)Report Required Not later than 240 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on potential future options for enhancing the ballistic missile defense of the homeland of the United States. ###

(b)Consultation The Secretary shall prepare the report under subsection

(a)in consultation with the Commander of the United States Strategic Command, the Commander of the United States Northern Command, and the Director of the Missile Defense Agency. ###

(c)Elements The report under subsection

(a)shall include the following: ####

(1)A description of the current assessment of the threat to the United States from limited ballistic missile attack (whether accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate), particularly from countries such as North Korea and Iran, and an assessment of the projected future threat through 2022, including a discussion of confidence levels and uncertainties in such threat assessment. ####

(2)A description of the current capability of the ballistic missile defense of the homeland of the United States to defend against the current threat of limited ballistic missile attack (whether accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate), particularly from countries such as North Korea and Iran. ####

(3)A description of the status of efforts to correct the problems that caused the flight test failures of the ground-based midcourse defense system in December 2010 and July 2013 and plans for future efforts, including additional flight testing, to demonstrate that the problems have been successfully corrected. ####

(4)A description of planned improvements to the current ballistic missile defense system of the homeland of the United States, and the enhancements to the capability of such system that would result from such planned improvements, including— #####

(A)deployment of 14 additional ground-based interceptors at Fort Greely, Alaska; #####

(B)missile defense upgrades of early warning radars at Clear, Alaska, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts; #####

(C)deployment of an in-flight interceptor communications system data terminal at Fort Drum, New York; and #####

(D)improvements to the effectiveness and reliability of the ground-based interceptors and the overall ground-based midcourse defense system. ####

(5)In accordance with subsection (d), a description of potential additional future options for the ballistic missile defense of the homeland of the United States, in addition to the improvements described in paragraph (4), if future ballistic missile threats warrant deployment of such options to increase the capabilities of such ballistic missile defense, including— #####

(A)deployment of a missile defense interceptor site on the East Coast; #####

(B)deployment of a missile defense interceptor site in another location in the United States, other than on the East Coast; #####

(C)expansion of Missile Field-1 at Fort Greely, Alaska, to an operationally available 20-silo configuration, to permit further interceptor deployments; #####

(D)deployment of additional ground-based interceptors for the ground-based midcourse defense system at Fort Greely, Alaska, or Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, or both; #####

(E)deployment of additional missile defense sensors, including at a site in Alaska as well as an X-band radar on or near the East Coast or elsewhere, to enhance system tracking and discrimination, including various sensor options; #####

(F)enhancements to the operational effectiveness, cost effectiveness, and overall performance of the ground-based midcourse defense system through improvements to system reliability, discrimination, battle management, exo-atmospheric kill vehicle capability, and related functions; #####

(G)the potential for future enhancement and deployment of the standard missile-3 block IIA interceptor to augment the ballistic missile defense of the homeland of the United States; #####

(H)missile defense options to defend the homeland of the United States against ballistic missiles that could be launched from vessels on the seas around the United States, including the Gulf of Mexico, or other ballistic missile threats that could approach the United States from the south, should such a threat arise in the future; and #####

(I)any other options the Secretary considers appropriate. ###

(d)Evaluation of Potential Options For each option described under subsection (c)(5), the Secretary shall provide an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of such option. The evaluation of each such option shall include consideration of the following: ####

(1)Technical feasibility. ####

(2)Operational effectiveness and utility against the projected future threat. ####

(3)Cost, cost effectiveness, and affordability. ####

(4)Schedule considerations. ####

(5)Agility to respond to changes in future threat evolution. ###

(e)Conclusions and Recommendations Based on the evaluations required by subsection (d), the Secretary shall include in the report under subsection

(a)such findings, conclusions, and recommendations as the Secretary considers appropriate for potential future options for the ballistic missile defense of the homeland of the United States. ###

(f)Form The report under subsection

(a)shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.