{"id":18449,"date":"2018-01-18T20:43:20","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T20:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/18\/griffin-interested-in-airborne-missile-defense\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:45:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:45:48","slug":"griffin-interested-in-airborne-missile-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2018\/01\/18\/griffin-interested-in-airborne-missile-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Griffin interested in airborne missile defense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2013 The man poised to become the first ever undersecretary of defense for research and engineering supports investing heavily in airborne missile defense and directed energy weapons, as well as new ways of moving technology from theory to production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Griffin, the former NASA administrator up for the R&E job, faced few tough questions during his nomination hearing Thursday, but did give insight into some of the areas he may focus on after what appears to be an inevitable confirmation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about the feasibility of airborne boost-phase missile defense, Griffin expressed strong support for the idea, calling it \u201cvery feasible\u201d to develop the technology, which he said would be particularly useful against a country like North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was feasible many years ago to do it. What we have lacked in the missile defense arena until recently was the will, not the technology, not the means,\u201d Griffin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t