›8th Annual U.S. Missile Defense Conference and Exhibit (SECRET/U.S. Only)

A key objective of the 8th Annual U.S. Missile Defense Conference is to maintain the legacy of providing a world-class, secure environment for all members of the U.S. Missile Defense Team to meet and discuss key issues facing the development, testing, and deployment of missile defense systems in support of national strategic objectives. The national Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) team includes senior leaders, program managers, scientists, and staff in government, defense, and industry, as well as members of active duty, Reserve, and National Guard forces training, testing, and employing missile defenses in support of national security objectives. Finally, the team includes a singular voice from the United Kingdom as we include the UK participating person in all elements of this conference as an element of bilateral transparency.

The conference—hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in cooperation with Raytheon Corporation, and supported by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA)—provides delegates access to the current state of the worldwide BMDS, including a review of national policies, service priorities, technical advances, and related issues that may support or affect the deployment of the BMDS. Discussions will provide views of the evolutionary development of a worldwide, layered, integrated BMDS; the integration and testing of BMDS capabilities; the status of key BMDS elements; and the current political/policy environment, including the status of Allied programs in support of BMDS forward-deployed elements.

Conference organizers have developed an informative three-day program that includes invited presentations, selected technical presentations, panel discussions, and other demonstrations that provide a balanced and informative program and give delegates an up-to-date assessment of the progress of the BMDS. The conference will build on the past theme of “Building Confidence through Testing” to move toward “Warfighters and the Integration of Deployed Missile Defense Systems.”

Conference participation is restricted to delegates from the U.S. government and industry who have demonstrated a valid need to know and who have a valid SECRET or higher security clearance. Delegates may NOT represent the interests of non-U.S. entities. [Exception: A member of the UK Ministry of Defence Missile Defence Centre is assigned to the U.S. MDA as a fully integrated member of the agency staff, with full access to technical and operational information, either collateral secret or unclassified but export controlled, that is developed or owned by MDA. This person is the singular non-U.S. representative authorized to attend the conference. Separate disclosure review will be required for the discussion of detailed manufacturing or production information, intelligence, service- or component-originated information, or information developed under or protected by agreements with other nations.]