WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 31, 2023 – The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) today announced that former Missile Defense Agency director Jon Hill has joined CSIS as a non-resident senior adviser with the International Security Program’s Missile Defense Project and as a member of the project’s advisory board.
VADM Hill, USN(Ret) brings to CSIS decades of leadership experience and technical expertise from the highest levels of U.S. missile defense research, development, and acquisition. His track record of innovation, implementation, and partnership-building will bolster the Missile Defense Project’s work across the wide array of missile defense policy, program, and strategic issues.
“Vice Admiral Hill’s leadership in the missile defense world is widely known, and we are grateful to have him as part of our team and brain trust,” said Dr. Tom Karako, director of the CSIS Missile Defense Project. “Our project’s effort at CSIS to shape and inform the conversation about the full spectrum of missile defense challenges will be enriched by his counsel.”
Hill currently serves as vice president and chief engineer for training and logistics solutions at Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, following a career of over three decades with the U.S. Navy, where he completed his active-duty career as a U.S. Navy Vice Admiral. He previously served as the eleventh director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), a role he held from 2019 through July 2023. As MDA director, he oversaw the agency’s mission to develop, deliver, and sustain global layered capabilities to defend deployed forces, the United States, allies, and friends against hypersonic and ballistic missile attacks in all phases of flight. He also served as the MDA’s deputy director from 2016 to 2019.
Prior to MDA, VADM Hill held a variety of other leadership positions within the U.S. Navy, including as Program Executive Officer for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) (2014-2016); Director, Cruiser & Destroyer Combat Systems for PEO IWS (2013-2014); and Major Program Manager, AEGIS Combat Systems (2010-2013). Additionally, from 2008 to 2010, he was the Technical Director for Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense. He began his career with the U.S. Navy in 1985 as a surface warfare officer, serving onboard USS Richard E. BYRD (DDG-23), deploying in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean, and South America.
“I am excited to start the next chapter of professional life, and supporting the CSIS Missile Defense Project rounds out my desire to stay engaged in the national security dialogue.” said VADM Hill. “The coming years will be a pivotal time for missile defense, and it is a privilege to be part of an organization that is shaping the conversation on the future of national security.”
The CSIS Missile Defense Project is recognized globally for its world-class research and analysis at the forefront of solutions for the full spectrum of missile defense and defeat issues. The project hosts a variety of events to shape the debate about policy, budgets, legislation, and both current and future programs. It also operates Missile Threat, a website that brings together a wide range of information and analyses relating to global missile proliferation and the air and missile defense systems designed to defeat them.
To learn more and read recent analysis by the CSIS Missile Defense Project, visit here.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world’s greatest challenges.