It had its origins in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which was established in 1983 by Ronald Reagan and which was headed by Lt. General James Alan Abrahamson.

Under the Strategic Defense Initiative's Innovative Sciences and Technology Office[5][6][7] headed by physicist and engineer Dr. James Ionson,[8][9][10][11] the investment was predominantly made in basic research at national laboratories, universities, and in industry.

As the inheritor of the SDI and BMDO work, the MDA continues to fund fundamental research in high-energy physics, supercomputing/computation, advanced materials, and many other science and engineering disciplines.

"[16]The National Defense Authorization Act is cited as the original source of the MDA's mission: "It is the policy of the United States to maintain and improve an effective, robust layered missile defense system capable of defending the territory of the United States, allies, deployed forces, and capabilities against the developing and increasingly complex ballistic missile threat with funding subject to the annual authorization of appropriations and the annual appropriation of funds for National Missile Defense.

The general strategy for international efforts is:[17] As of 2017 MDA was working on facilities in Germany, Romania, Poland, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

[18] Ballistic missile systems using advanced liquid- or solid-propellant propulsion are becoming more mobile, accurate and capable of striking targets over longer distances and are proliferating worldwide.

For example, "block 4.0" was stated as "Defend Allies and Deployed Forces in Europe from Limited Iranian Long-Range Threats and Expand Protection of U.S.

[35][36] On 17 September 2009, the Obama administration scrapped the "block 4.0" plan, in favor of a new so-called "European Phased Adaptive Approach" (EPAA).

This is the most desirable interception phase because it destroys the missile early in flight at its most vulnerable point and the debris will typically fall on the launching nations' territory.

It is significantly less challenging than boost phase intercepts, less costly, minimizes the potential impact of debris, and reduces the number of interceptors required to defeat a raid of missiles.