Defence policy bill closely aligns with White House’s homeland missile defence requests

The fiscal year 2018 (FY 2018) National Defense Authorization Bill calls for expanded US missile defences and requires a Pentagon plan for reaching 104 homeland defence interceptors, according to an 8 November summary of the reconciled bill.

House and Senate versions of the legislation, informally known as the defence policy bill, were reconciled during conference negotiations and must next be enacted by the president. The authorisers’ language on missile defence closely aligns with the White House’s apparent preferences.

The bill would authorise “up to 28 additional Ground-Based Interceptors [GBIs] and requires the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan for increasing the overall number from 44 to 104 interceptors”, the House Armed Services Committee said in a summary.

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