# Project MD08 — Ground Based Midcourse

**Program element:** 0603882C — Ballistic Missile Defense Midcourse Defense Segment  
**Project:** MD08  
**Component:** Defense-Wide  
**Appropriation:** 0400 — RDT&E, Defense-Wide  
**Budget Activity:** 4 — Advanced Component Development & Prototypes  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603882C/MD08  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603882C

## Summary

Project MD08 — Ground Based Midcourse requests $1.24B in FY2027, 91% of the $1.36B requested for program element 0603882C, up 77% on FY2026. 7 R-2A activities decompose the request. Northrop Grumman is the largest named R-3 performer at $681.9M, 55% of the project's FY2027 R-3 total.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 684.5 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 703.1 |
| FY2027 | Request | 1,242.8 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 1,310.2 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 1,163.5 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 922.7 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 883.2 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0603882C; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project MD08 buys

The Ballistic Missile Defense Midcourse Defense Segment enables the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Weapon System (GWS) to provide the combatant commands, including United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), with a continuously available (24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year) Homeland Defense Weapon System. The GWS contributes to the Missile Defense System by acquiring, developing, demonstrating, deploying, and sustaining an operational Weapon System with Ground Based Interceptors, development of a GWS with a mixed-fleet of Ground Based Interceptors and Next Generation Interceptors, improved Warfighter capabilities, and Interceptor Fleet Management. The GWS leverages integration of Missile Defense sensors from across the globe to enable the interceptors to deliver kill vehicles to counter allocated threats in space during the midcourse phase of the threat's ballistic trajectory. The Ground Systems consist of the GFC, GCN / GWS Network Infrastructure (GNI), IDT, and GSS. The GFC consists of two (2) GFC nodes at Fort Greely, Alaska (FGA) and at the Missile Defense Integration and Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The GFC plans midcourse engagements and provides the human-in-control interface to the Warfighter. As a critical component of Ground Systems, the GFC supports decision-making and command execution. The GCN is the communications network for the GWS and network connection to the Missile Defense System. The GNI serves as a common secure platform improving real-time cyber integration and the ability to detect and respond to cyber events. The IDTs are located at FGA (2); Vandenberg Space Force Base, California (VSFB) (2); Eareckson Air Station, Alaska (1); and Fort Drum, New York (1). The IDTs provide secure communications from the GFC to the in-flight interceptors. The GSS consists of the Launch Support System and Missile Field / Launch Site Components located at FGA and VSFB and provides the hardware and software interfaces between the GFC and the interceptors. The Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Program provides USNORTHCOM with a solution that is lethal across the specified threat space, upgradeable to address future and advancing threats, and fully integrated into the Missile Defense System as demonstrated through flight and ground testing.

**R-3 lines of work:** Product Development; Support; Management Services.

## Named R-3 performers

| Performer | $M | Share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total |
|---|---|---|
| Northrop Grumman | 681.9 | 55% |
| Boeing | 184.1 | 15% |
| JACOBS | 51.7 | 4.2% |
| RTX / Raytheon | 32.2 | 2.6% |

> Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations. Shares need not reach 100% — unnamed and government work is in the denominator.

## Activities (R-2A) — 7

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ground Systems & Fire Control | 301.1 | 390.1 | 778.5 | +100% | [a1](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603882C/MD08/a1) |
| Element Engineering | 0.0 | 199.7 | 303.4 | +52% | [a5](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603882C/MD08/a5) |
| Program Operations | 71.7 | 64.6 | 91.7 | +42% | — |
| Interceptor Fleet Management | 0.0 | 48.8 | 69.2 | +42% | — |
| Ground Based Interceptor | 41.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | — |
| Systems Engineering and Program Management | 261.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | — |
| GMD Weapon System/GBI Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) | 8.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | — |

> Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. In the request year they partition this project exactly; in earlier years they can under-cover it.

### Ground Systems & Fire Control

- Complete iterative GMD Integration and Development Execution (GIDE) points to integrate hardware and software between the Ground Systems and Next Generation Interceptor (NGI). - Deliver NGI HWIL to GMD Integration Lab. - Initiate silo modifications to support initial NGI Flight Test. - Initiate firmware development for hardware…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603882C/MD08/a1

### Element Engineering

- Execute GMD Element testing and performance analysis in support of mixed fleet operations. - Update developmental lab infrastructure incorporating future capabilities.

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603882C/MD08/a5

### Program Operations

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Increase from FY 2026 to FY 2027 provides for program-wide digital and information technology (IT) support, including IT hardware/software, cloud storage, and end user support to facilitate modernization of Agency processes including digital engineering, DevSecOps, and digital acquisition.

### Interceptor Fleet Management

**FY2027 planned work.** - Initiate development of EKV 11.2 software to implement learning from test events.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Increase from FY 2026 to FY 2027 provides additional interceptor emplacements / de-emplacements to support maintenance and upgrade activities. Increase also provides initiation of EKV 11.2 software build to implement learning from test events.

### Ground Based Interceptor

**FY2027 planned work.** N/A - See R-2a Accomplishment, Interceptor Fleet Management.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** N/A - See R-2a Accomplishment, Interceptor Fleet Management.

### Systems Engineering and Program Management

**FY2027 planned work.** N/A - See R-2a Accomplishment, Element Engineering.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** N/A - See R-2a Accomplishment, Element Engineering.

### GMD Weapon System/GBI Service Life Extension Program (SLEP)

**FY2027 planned work.** No funding is requested in FY 2027 for this accomplishment. See R-2a Accomplishment, Interceptor Fleet Management.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** No funding is requested in FY 2026 for this accomplishment. Effort continues in Interceptor Fleet Management.

## What is NOT on this page

Congressional marks, the R-2 mission description and acquisition strategy, the industry vs government split of the whole request, and related program elements are recorded at **program-element** grain — an NDAA mark lands on a PE, never on a project. They are at https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603882C.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0603882C project MD08 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0603882C")`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*