The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) was an agency of the
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...
that began on 20 May 1974 with the responsibility for all U.S.
ballistic missile
A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...
defense efforts. It was renamed the
Missile Defense Agency
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is the section of the United States government's Department of Defense responsible for developing a layered defense against ballistic missiles. It had its origins in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which w ...
in 2002.
History
It evolved from the SAFEGUARD System Organization. The original mission of BMDO was comparable to that of SAFEGUARD, which was to defend U.S. ballistic missile sites, but BMDO additionally had the more general role of conducting research and development in advanced ballistic missile defense (BMD) technology and also managed what was then called the
Kwajalein Missile Range (KMR).
In July 1984, BMDO became a part of the
Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) and one year later BMDO was renamed the U.S. Army Strategic Defense Command.
The name "Ballistic Missile Defense Organization" (BMDO) came back into use in 1993 when SDIO was renamed BMDO by the administration of President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
and this was accompanied by a shift in emphasis from national missile defense to theater missile defense, i.e. from global to regional coverage.
In 1998, focus shifted back to national missile defense when Defense secretary
William Cohen
William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979â ...
proposed spending an additional $6.6 billion on ballistic missile defense programs to build a national system to protect against attacks from North Korea or accidental launches from Russia or China.
BMDO became better known in the public eye in 1994 when it launched a space probe,
Clementine
A clementine (''Citrus × clementina'') is a tangor, a citrus fruit hybrid between a willowleaf mandarin orange ( ''C.'' × ''deliciosa'') and a sweet orange (''C. × sinensis''), named in honor of Clément Rodier, a French missionary who fir ...
, to the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
, in collaboration with
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
. BMDO was primarily interested in field testing new satellite and space reconnaissance technologies incorporated in Clementine, technologies which enabled Clementine to discover pockets of ice at the Moon's south pole.
BMDO was renamed the
Missile Defense Agency
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is the section of the United States government's Department of Defense responsible for developing a layered defense against ballistic missiles. It had its origins in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which w ...
in 2002 by the administration of President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
.
Timeline
See also
*
Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO), predecessor organization
*
Missile Defense Agency
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is the section of the United States government's Department of Defense responsible for developing a layered defense against ballistic missiles. It had its origins in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which w ...
(MDA), successor organization
*
Ground-Based Midcourse Defense
Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) is the United States' anti-ballistic missile system for intercepting incoming warheads in space, during the midcourse phase of ballistic trajectory flight. It is a major component of the American missile de ...
(GMD), previously named
National Missile Defense
National missile defense (NMD) is a generic term for a type of missile defense intended to shield an entire country against incoming missiles, such as intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBMs) or other ballistic missiles.
This is also used ...
(NMD)
*
Anti-satellite weapon
Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic or tactical
purposes. Several nations possess operational ASAT systems. Although no ASAT system has been utilised in warfare, a few ...
s
*
Anti-ballistic missile
*
Militarization of space
The militarization of space involves the placement and development of weaponry and military technology in outer space. The early exploration of space in the mid-20th century had, in part, a military motivation, as the United States and the Sov ...
References
Chapter III
Footnotes
External links
{{Commons category, Ballistic Missile Defense Organization
Missile Defense Agency
Missile Defense Agency
Space weapons
United States military history timelines
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Strategic Defense Initiative