From BMD History Project, some random topics of interest, listed alphabetically
Contract Approach
As the program office transitioned to ABMD, we found ourselves without vehicles to implement the contract actions necessary. The legacy contracts controlled by PMS 400 and 422 did not have ceiling, scope, etc., necessary to get ABMD to IDO and beyond.
In the ultimate “alfa” effort, the program office, Raytheon, and Lockeheed Martin in a single session crafted out the work necessary for Block 2004, with stubs for future Blocks. We crafted strong, interlocked incentives between the two companies.
Jack stood in the center of the room and photographed the boards.
RADM Paige strengthened the incentives, adding a triple-crown, and ability to re-earn missed incentive with extra effort.
Our contracting officers, Cindy Shaver and Sharon Rustmeier, turned these into the 6110 and 6111 contracts that enabled efforts for many years. These contracts were no small part of the ultimate program success.
One of the “Navy” complaints was that ABMD “stole” the contracts. No – we were kicked off the existing contracts, and as a NAVSEA organization (direct successor to PMS 452), we used NAVSEA processes, contracting authority, and contracting officers to implement the new contracts. The change to MDA contracting came much later.
Return to top
Cruiser vs Destroyer
The role of Cruiser vs Destroyer was an ongoing issue with RADM Meyer. We were tasked repeatedly to differentiate the roles of the ships in the BMDS.
Despite the 3/4s of a Cruiser design assumption, the purpose-designed Destroyer for the AEGIS system has proved enduring.
RADM Meyer never loved the Destroyer (insert ref to Andy Summers interview when posted), but it remains his enduring legacy.
Return to top
Flight Mission Naming
The first four flights had functional names: FTR-1, FTR-1A, CTV-1, CTV-1A
Naming then shifted to a numerical Flight Mission (FM) sequence, starting with FM-2, also the first intercept mission.
RADM Meyer objected to the work “Flight,” preferring the word “Firing” mission
As MDA control increased, they wanted more “clarity” in the flight mission names, so they proposed Flight Mission – Navy (FTN). Well, no Sailor was going to use that terminology in polite company, so we settled on Flight Mission – Maritime (FTM) [think about it for a minute].
As MDA was attempting to herd all efforts into defined year blocks, FM-7 and FM-8 became FTM-04-01 and FTM-04-02. But that was quickly forgotten.
Eventuallly it sort of settled down that the FTMs were the normal development sequence, FTX were experimental, FTO were operational, and FTI was interoperability (or somthing like that). S prefix was used for the SCD program, and J for the Japan firings.
And some pop-up flight missions, like Stellar Avenger, did not have a FM number, and got assigned a FM sequence ex post facto. By now you have to have a cheat sheet to figure out what the mission is, where it lies in the sequence.
Return to top
USS Arleigh Burke Association 
