Missile Defense and Space: What's Changed? What Hasn't?

In late 2004, the Bush Administration appeared to be eager to declare a nascent operational capability at its deployment sites in Alaska and California. In early December a flight intercept test failed, as had the previous test two years earlier. By the time of the inauguration, the Administration appeared to be backing away from a formal declaration of operational capability. Where does the system stand today? What has happened in important flight tests in more recent months? What has happened to the budgets for missile defense? What has happened with boost-phase missile defense, with Patriot, with the Airborne Laser, and other missile defense programs? And how have recent programmatic and budgetary changes affected the likelihood that missile defense will be the first U.S. military program to place strike weapons in space? Philip Coyle, Senior Advisor with the Center for Defense Information and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Test and Evaluation, will review the latest developments and describe from a technical, programmatic, and policy point of view, ``What's Changed? and What Hasn't?"