US Missile Defense Agency
US Missile Defense Agency
The US Missile Defense Agency is the structural US counterparty to MAFAT and IAI on the Arrow missile defense program — the deepest and longest-running US-Israeli joint defense development relationship. The MDA's Arrow program funding, technology partnership, and procurement architecture is one of the most-consequential bilateral US-Israeli defense industrial relationships.
| Type | US federal agency |
| Founded | 2002 (as MDA; predecessor SDIO founded 1984) |
| Headquarters | Fort Belvoir, Virginia, United States |
| Parent | US Department of Defense (Office of the Secretary of Defense) |
| Director (2026) | (Position; varies by administration) |
| Mandate | US ballistic missile defense system development, testing, and procurement |
The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is the US Department of Defense agency responsible for ballistic missile defense development. The MDA operates as the principal US counterparty in the Arrow missile defense program — the joint US-Israeli development that produced Arrow-2 (operationally deployed since 2000) and Arrow-3 (operationally deployed since 2017).
The Arrow program is the deepest and longest-running US-Israeli joint defense development relationship. The MDA's funding architecture, technology partnership with IAI and the broader Israeli industrial base, and procurement coordination together anchor a bilateral relationship that operates across multiple administration transitions, fiscal cycles, and operational environments.
For Defense pillar coverage in The Olam, the MDA is the structural US counterparty whose decisions shape one of the most-consequential elements of the Israeli defense architecture. The MDA's authorization shaped Germany's $3.5 billion Arrow-3 procurement in 2023 — the largest single Israeli defense export transaction in history. The MDA's continuing engagement with the Arrow program shapes its ongoing capability development, the European customer programs that are emerging in adjacent markets, and the broader US-Israeli joint missile defense industrial architecture.
The MDA also operates substantial bilateral cooperation with Rafael on David's Sling (developed jointly with Raytheon, with MDA institutional engagement), and on the broader US missile defense architecture's interface with the Israeli multi-layered system.
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- IAI · Rafael · MAFAT — Joint development counterparties
Sources
US Missile Defense Agency publications; US Department of Defense Congressional notifications; Israeli Ministry of Defense publications; Defense News; Breaking Defense; published research on US-Israeli missile defense cooperation. Data current as of Q2 2026.