{"id":59133,"date":"2018-04-26T15:12:43","date_gmt":"2018-04-26T15:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/04\/26\/why-the-missile-defense-review-is-taking-so-long-to-complete\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:30:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:30:16","slug":"why-the-missile-defense-review-is-taking-so-long-to-complete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/04\/26\/why-the-missile-defense-review-is-taking-so-long-to-complete\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Missile Defense Review is taking so long to complete"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 The Pentagon\u2019s Missile Defense Review was supposed to be finished before the end of 2017. Then it was supposed to be complete by February. Now, it\u2019s scheduled to come out<\/a> in mid-May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what\u2019s been the hold up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cQuality,\u201d says Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked by reporters April 24 why the review has dragged, Shanahan described the delay as a mix of wanting to be thorough<\/a>, the logistics of working on multiple reviews over the last six months and the need to have people in place, most notably John Rood, the Pentagon\u2019s undersecretary of defense for policy, who was confirmed in early January<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt took a long time to get people confirmed. And both John Rood and I have a background in missile defense,\u201d the deputy told the Defense Writers Group. \u201cAnd I spent the better part of the fall working on the National Defense Strategy<\/a> and the Nuclear Posture Review<\/a>, and we were waiting for John to get on board and he and I were going to tag team that together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s really been a matter of bandwidth and availability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Informed of Shanahan\u2019s comments, Rood told Defense News later that afternoon that the review is on track for a public release next month, adding that \u201cin terms of the assembly of the process, a lot of people have been involved in generating things, but we\u2019re not quite yet to the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally billed as a ballistic missile defense review, the Pentagon dropped the term ballistic in order to better reflect the range of topics being covered in the public document. The review will feature a mix of big-picture questions about the \u201cchanging environment\u201d for missile defense, as well as specific programs, Rood said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t