Missile Defense AgencyGovernment

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is an operational and research agency within the United States Department of Defense. Its primary mandate is to design, test, field, and continuously integrate a multi-tiered missile defense architecture—including Ground-based Midcourse Defense, Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, and THAAD—to shield the United States, its forward-deployed forces, and allied nations from hostile missile attacks. Founded in 1984 under President Ronald Reagan as the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO), the agency was reorganized as the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) in 1993 before Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld formally designated it the Missile Defense Agency in 2002.