Kent Conrad: “I am pleased to join Senator Bumpers in introducing legislation to terminate the Milstar Satellite Program. This bill…”

“I am pleased to join Senator Bumpers in introducing legislation to terminate the Milstar Satellite Program. This bill would result in an estimated savings of $3.9 billion over 5 years. The Milstar satellite is, quite frankly, an anachronism. Some have called it a dinosaur of the cold war. It was designed in the 1980's as a super-secret program to provide secure communications during a nuclear exchange. The satellite is built to survive a 6-month nuclear war. Is this the kind of capability that we need? Clearly, the answer is no. Milstar has features for which we have absolutely no use in a post-cold-war world. Our satellites do not need to be hardened from a nuclear blast, nor do they need to perform complex maneuvers to avoid antisatellite weapons. Yet, Milstar has these capabilities, as well as others that add weight to the satellite and cost to the program. Top defense officials have told me that Milstar is no longer needed. The General Accounting Office [GAO] and the Rand Corp. have studied Milstar and raised very serious concerns about continuing the program. They conclude that we can both save money and put a more capable system in place by terminating Milstar. Frankly, I haven't found too many people who are supportive of Milstar. This is a perfect example of a system that we can afford to do without. How costly is Milstar, Mr. President? It is expensive, even by Department of Defense standards.”