1. THAAD Case Study
Welcome to the breifing on the THAAD case study. I am Andrew Bessette. I am a US Air Force member who has had the luck to travel around the US and the world. I have been fortunate enough to see these platforms in action, and appreciate their awesome destructive power. Lets go over what we are going to cover today.

2. Overview - THAAD explained - Case Study Findings
- THAAD Lessons Learned
- Audits Completed
- THAAD and MDA Now
- Summary
Give overview

3. What is THAAD?
Explain that the THAAD program is the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (which is now) known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is a program initially requested by the United States Army. Its design, according to the Missile Defense Agency’s website is to “provide(s) the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) with a globally transportable, rapidly deployable capability to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or outside the atmosphere during their final, or terminal, phase of flight.” All of this information and diagrams comes from the Missile Defense Agency Website.

4. What is THAAD?
Explain parts of missile and configuration to show what the finished product looks like.
Kill Vehicle-part that destroys incomming threat
Shroud-Houses navigation systems for targeting of threat
Flare-guides missile towards target

5. What is THAAD?
-Theater High Altitude Area Defense (aka) Terminal High Altitude Defense
- Provides long range standoff from attacks
- Developed by the MDA with help from Lockheed Martin
- Recent uses include the AEGIS system/THAAD and SM-3 Block 1A
1. Explain term THAAD
2. Describe AEGIS and Patriot System and how it is used. NOTE: Intercontinental ballistic missile or even some smaller attack medium focused at a target within the United States, or within its ally’s territory, the mobile defense system provided will be able to neutralize the threat before or shortly after it enters the protected airspace. A current example of this is the Patriot Missile Defense System. This system deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom where it intercepted “SCUD” ballistic missiles shot by Iraqi military forces.

6. Case Study Findings
Case study explains the issues, findings, and recommendations by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) also it is their duty according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office website (2013) is to ensure improvement and performance and hold accountable the federal government and their implemented programs. Also according to their website, “We provide Congress with timely information that is objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, non-ideological, fair, and balanced.”
Case study in the text covered specifically the THAAD program, however the GAO covers the entire missile defense system, and the presentation covers all the findings.

7. Case Study Findings Flight test schedule too short
Quality of parts lacking
Quality Assurance not robust
Poor contract verbiage caused no responsibility on company to produce
Poor Team Environment
No useful Electronic Data Management System in service
The DOD and GAO found that the program’s flight test schedule was shortened and did not allow for sufficient testing on the ground. Created a speeding up of processes in order to get into the actual flight-testing and not enough time allocated for pre and post flight evaluation and adjustments (Meredith and Mantel pp ).
Requirement levied to produce a prototype early in the program. This requirement caused a diversion of focus from building working interceptors with strong test data to the deployment of a prototype not ready for testing.
Lack of focus on quality assurance. Quality assurance is responsible to the contractor and overall the customer to ensure all parts and actions completed are up to specification. Because of the lack of focus on quality assurance and lack of funding to them, this caused many parts to be manufactured at less than desired quality specifications. These parts caused many problems for the company in the future. (Meredith and Mantel Jr. 2012)
Contract was developed on a “cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, a contract type that placed all of the program’s financial risk on the government and did not include provisions that could be used to hold the contractor accountable…” (Meredith and Mantel pp )

8. THAAD Lessons Learned
Explain that the GAO not only found issues with the project, but also gave suggestions on how to fix them.

9. THAAD Lessons Learned
Poor success with early deployment of prototypes made a system of awards and penalties
Quality Control Process Improved
Team Continuity Improved
Electronic Data Management System utilized
Primarily, the program had not had any early successes with its prototypes, and they were not held accountable for that issue. Focus was placed on successful flight testing by providing a bonus for the first two flights. If they were successful, then the company was given a substantial bonus; 25 million dollars. However, if Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company failed after the first attempt, they would be penalized by sharing 20 million in contract cost.
Because of the earlier design and manufacturing errors, new modifications and manufacturing of quality parts had to be completed before the first missiles could be built and fielded. (Meredith and Mantel Jr. 2012) This was the only way to get past the earlier failures because without improving the hardware, performance would remain at a low level. Along with these newly manufactured parts and components, there had to be a much stronger testing and quality control process. This quality control process had to incorporate more active and thorough ground testing of components and systems. (Meredith and Mantel Jr. 2012) Additionally, the quality of the components and parts had to be validated by a strong Quality Assurance Department
Improvement of the team concept within the organization and with outside contractors. This improvement would ensure that when problems surface, all the affected departments could attack the problem together and solve the issue much faster
This electronic data management system, if used properly would provide all the necessary individuals and sections with accurate and real-time information on the status of each part of the program

10. Types of Audits
What is an Audit? The following information will explain.
What type of audit was covered by the text. This can be a little tricky.

11. Types of Audits Financial Audit Financial Statement Audit
Project Audit
Management Audit
They types of audits that normally occur are financial audits, management audits, and project audits.
Financial Audit- According to the businessdictionary.com website (2013), financial audits are “A third-party examination of a company's financial records and reporting activities. An audit is conducted for disclosure, compliance, taxation, legal or other purposes. The examiner will check for accuracy and full representation of financial activities and claims”
The financial statement audit is when an auditor obtains all the required information and evidence to support whether the financial statements are accurate enough so there will not be a misinterpretation of the data. (Gauthier, S. J. 2007)
According to Meredith and Mantel Jr. (2012) the project audit is simply a formal inquiry into any part or all of a project.
according to the text, a management audit takes place later in the project. The management audit focuses on things that management could do differently or should do late in the project to reallocate assets or personnel. A management audit concentrates on management procedures and the overall organizational performance. A management audit is designed for the discovery of weaknesses and to improve the overall organization or company.
THE type of audit that was conducted on this project was not discernable. Almost all types were incorporated into the investigation.

12. THAAD and MDA Now
Now to cover where all of these process improvements have brought the MDA and the THAAD projects.

13. THAAD and MDA Now Back on Track! Multiple Tests have been completed
Many systems have been successfully fielded and are currently operational.
Recent tests have shown marked improvement
Recent audit by GAO shows room for improvement
1. Between 2000 and 2003 engineering departments completed a thorough rework of the entire system and fixed many of the issued discovered. The rework of the system lead the THAAD program to a production spike of 16 actual flight tests in In 2007 the initial operating capability was met, and the systems were fielded for limited use.
2. According to the GAO “…Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has made some progress, the new MDA Director faces challenges developing and deploying new systems to achieve increasingly integrated capabilities as well as supporting and upgrading deployed systems while providing decision makers in the Department of Defense (DOD) and Congress with key oversight information in an era of fiscal constraints” (U.S. Government Accountability Office website 2013) As you can see, the MDA still has many lessons to learn in the development of multiple weapons systems, the contracting agreements, and fiscal responsibility. However, due to the initial changes the company has made, and the continuing process improvements the THAAD programs and the company is now a success.
3. This year alone the MDA has reported (during the second thru the fourth quarter) that there has been three successful Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system tests, and two other tests. The other two tests were also successful, and constituted multiple targets, lending further evidence that the program is on track and is successful.

14. Summary - THAAD explained - Case Study Findings
- THAAD Lessons Learned
- Audits Completed
- THAAD and MDA Now
We have covered what the THAAD program was, what the case study found. Also covered the lessons that were learned from the GAO case study and other investigations. Explained what audits were, and how each of them played a part in the case study on the THAAD project. Finally covered what the THAAD project and the MDA currently is doing, and how they can still improve.