Biden’s FY25 budget cuts missile defense when we need it more than ever
By Robert Peters
Wednesday, May 1
Despite the incredible performance of missile defenses in Ukraine, Israel and the Red Sea over the past 12 months, the Biden administration’s fiscal 2025 defense budget cuts missile defenses.
This is a mistake. Given the rising threat from missiles and drones — coupled with the effectiveness of missile defenses — the United States should be expanding its missile defense capabilities, not cutting them.
Indeed, autocrats increasingly are relying on a combination of missiles and drones to attack their enemies. From Russia’s unrelenting air campaign against Ukraine, to the strikes on Israel from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, to the Houthi missile strikes on civilian shipping, missiles are becoming an increasingly central component to fighting forces around the world.
In all of the above instances, however, integrated air and missile defenses have proved capable of intercepting a high percentage of missile salvos, saving countless lives in the process and denying the autocrats’ battlefield success.
https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/2024/05/01/bidens-fy25-budget-cuts-missile-defense-when-we-need-it-more-than-ever/
