DTN News: U.S., Poland Sign New Missile Defence Pact
Source: DTN News / CBC News
Showing posts with label US Missile Shield. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US Missile Shield. Show all posts
Sunday, July 04, 2010
DTN News: U.S., Poland Sign New Missile Defence Pact
DTN News: U.S., Poland Sign New Missile Defence Pact
Source: DTN News / CBC News
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
DTN News: White House Okays Missile Defense Aid For Israel
DTN News: White House Okays Missile Defense Aid For Israel
Source: DTN News / WorldTribune
Source: DTN News / WorldTribune (NSI News Source Info) TEL AVIV, Israel- May 19, 2010: Israel, denied offensive weapons since January 2009, has sought aid from the United States for the developme
nt and procurement of defensive systems.
Officials said the Israeli Defense Ministry has been discussing a range of projects that would enable Israel to withstand missile and rocket attacks by Iran and its proxies. They said the plan called for a significant increase in U.S. aid for missile and rocket defense over the next three years.
"Missile defense allows for efforts to reach peaceful resolutions," U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense Policy Frank Rose said.
The latest Israeli missile defense request comes amid a policy by the Obama administration to deny offensive weapons to the Jewish state. Over the last 16 months, Obama has either rejected or withheld approval for Israeli procurement or upgrades of such platforms as attack helicopters. Israel has received $2.55 billion in defense aid in 2010.
Officials said the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has approved $205 million for the Israeli procurement of at least 10 Iron Dome batteries. They said the U.S. assistance for the Israeli-origin Iron Dome short-range missile and rocket defense system would be secured over the next few weeks in talks by visiting Israeli Defense Ministry director-general Udi Shani.
"The United States and our ally Israel share many of the same security challenges, from combating terrorism to confronting the threat posed by Iran's nuclear-weapons program," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said on May 13. "The president recognizes the threat missiles and rockets fired by Hamas and Hizbullah pose to Israelis."
In April, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak discussed missile and rocket defense with the administration. Officials said Barak asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates for U.S. help to bolster the Jewish state's multi-layered rocket and defense system with funds for development and procurement.
"Not a week goes by when there is no security-related interaction [between Israel and the United States]," Israeli Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz said.
One proposal stipulated U.S. funding for Israel to produce and procure Iron Dome, scheduled for initial deployment in mid-2010. The Israeli Finance Ministry has allocated funding for two Iron Dome systems, but the military has set a requirement for another dozen batteries for protection of northern and southern Israel from Hamas and Hizbullah missiles and rockets.
"This funding will expand what they can produce and deploy, and how quickly they're able to do it," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said on May 13.
The Pentagon has been lobbied by at least one U.S. defense major for joint production of Iron Dome. The U.S. company was identified as Raytheon, the leading U.S. missile producer and Israel's partner in the David's Sling tactical missile defense system.
"The ideal would be a project that would produce Iron Dome for both the U.S. and Israeli militaries, with the prospect of upgrades, but the Americans are not interested in acquiring Iron Dome," the official said.
In April 2010, the administration approved the launch of the first major military project for Israel under Obama. The Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin a $98 million contract for one C-130J air transport to Israel. The Israeli request was approved by then-President George W. Bush in mid-2008.
On May 17, the Pentagon awarded its second defense contract for Israel under the Obama administration. The $20 million contract called for an engine upgrade of an Israeli armored personnel carrier that had been deployed in the 2009 war in the Gaza Strip.
"This [U.S. refusal to supply weapons to Israel] will become a major problem over the next few months," another official said.
nt and procurement of defensive systems.
Officials said the Israeli Defense Ministry has been discussing a range of projects that would enable Israel to withstand missile and rocket attacks by Iran and its proxies. They said the plan called for a significant increase in U.S. aid for missile and rocket defense over the next three years.
"Missile defense allows for efforts to reach peaceful resolutions," U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense Policy Frank Rose said.
The latest Israeli missile defense request comes amid a policy by the Obama administration to deny offensive weapons to the Jewish state. Over the last 16 months, Obama has either rejected or withheld approval for Israeli procurement or upgrades of such platforms as attack helicopters. Israel has received $2.55 billion in defense aid in 2010.
Officials said the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has approved $205 million for the Israeli procurement of at least 10 Iron Dome batteries. They said the U.S. assistance for the Israeli-origin Iron Dome short-range missile and rocket defense system would be secured over the next few weeks in talks by visiting Israeli Defense Ministry director-general Udi Shani.
"The United States and our ally Israel share many of the same security challenges, from combating terrorism to confronting the threat posed by Iran's nuclear-weapons program," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said on May 13. "The president recognizes the threat missiles and rockets fired by Hamas and Hizbullah pose to Israelis."
In April, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak discussed missile and rocket defense with the administration. Officials said Barak asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates for U.S. help to bolster the Jewish state's multi-layered rocket and defense system with funds for development and procurement.
"Not a week goes by when there is no security-related interaction [between Israel and the United States]," Israeli Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz said.
One proposal stipulated U.S. funding for Israel to produce and procure Iron Dome, scheduled for initial deployment in mid-2010. The Israeli Finance Ministry has allocated funding for two Iron Dome systems, but the military has set a requirement for another dozen batteries for protection of northern and southern Israel from Hamas and Hizbullah missiles and rockets.
"This funding will expand what they can produce and deploy, and how quickly they're able to do it," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said on May 13.
The Pentagon has been lobbied by at least one U.S. defense major for joint production of Iron Dome. The U.S. company was identified as Raytheon, the leading U.S. missile producer and Israel's partner in the David's Sling tactical missile defense system.
"The ideal would be a project that would produce Iron Dome for both the U.S. and Israeli militaries, with the prospect of upgrades, but the Americans are not interested in acquiring Iron Dome," the official said.
In April 2010, the administration approved the launch of the first major military project for Israel under Obama. The Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin a $98 million contract for one C-130J air transport to Israel. The Israeli request was approved by then-President George W. Bush in mid-2008.
On May 17, the Pentagon awarded its second defense contract for Israel under the Obama administration. The $20 million contract called for an engine upgrade of an Israeli armored personnel carrier that had been deployed in the 2009 war in the Gaza Strip.
"This [U.S. refusal to supply weapons to Israel] will become a major problem over the next few months," another official said.Wednesday, April 21, 2010
DTN News: Japan Sticks To Key Missile-Shield Deal Says US General
DTN News: Japan Sticks To Key Missile-Shield Deal Says US General
* Project is vital to U.S. plans to defend Europe
* Exports could face hurdle from pacifist elements
* U.S. general eyes $37 bln in contract competition
Source: DTN News / Reuters By Jim Wolf
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON,- April 22, 2010: Japan remains fully committed to 
building a linchpin multibillion-dollar missile interceptor with the United States, the head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency told Congress, even as U.S.-Japanese ties adjust to a new era.
Army Lieutenant General Patrick O'Reilly said on Wednesday he had held several high-level program reviews with Japanese government officials since the Democratic Party of Japan's victory in the Aug. 30, 2009, elections for the legislature's lower house.
"They have indicated that they are in full support and their commitments are solid," he told the Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee, referring to a Standard Missile-3 upgrade program in its fifth year of development.
Published reports from Japan have said the coalition government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama that took power in September plans to reduce overall missile-defense spending.
Japan has spent just over $1 billion to help build a more capable SM-3 version, said Richard Lehner, a Missile Defense Agency spokesman. It is being co-developed with Waltham, Massachusetts-based Raytheon Co (RTN.N), the world's biggest missile maker.
The new version, dubbed SM-3 Block IIA, is key to U.S. plans to be able to defend all of NATO's European territory from a perceived Iranian ballistic-missile threat as soon as about 2018.
It is designed to improve the antimissile's velocity, range and ability to discriminate among a missile target and decoys and would be deployed on land as well as at sea. A follow-on version, called Block IIB, with yet higher velocity, is planned to help protect the U.S. East Coast starting in about 2020 from potential long-range Iranian missiles.
O'Reilly said the United States and the Hatoyama government had identified all steps necessary to successfully integrate the upgraded Block IIA SM-3 interceptor.
Its first flight test should be in 2014 and the first intercept test in 2015, he said.
"Within the next year, we will begin our discussions on production arrangements between the United States and Japan," O'Reilly added.
Left unmentioned by O'Reilly was potential opposition from pacifist elements in the coalition government to Japan's export of the interceptor to countries other than the United States.
Poland and Rumania have agreed in principle to host land-based SM-3 interceptor sites. These are known as "Aegis ashore" units after a Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) mobile defense system initially used only at sea.
Responding to Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, O'Reilly said contractors could compete for "Aegis ashore" work after the projected Rumanian installation that he described as on a tight deadline.
"We are reviewing over $37 billion in new contracts for competition over the next two years," O'Reilly said in an opening statement, referring to the range of missile-shield work.
By 2015, the Obama administration plans to buy 436 early-generation SM-3 interceptors and 431 Lockheed-built Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems, the building blocks of regional antimissile shields. It also plans to have 38 ballistic-missile-defense ships available.
Since the Democratic Party of Japan's victory, bilateral tensions have risen over the desire of some Hatoyama government members to change a 2006 U.S.-Japan deal to relocate a controversial U.S. Marine air station, Futenma, to a less densely populated spot on Okinawa.
Japan has acquired from the United States a layered shield against ballistic missiles that could be fired by North Korea and tipped with chemical, biological or nuclear warheads.
The SM-3 co-development program represents "not only an area of significant technical cooperation, but also the basis for enhanced operational cooperation to strengthen regional security," Bradley Roberts, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, told a House of Representatives Armed Services subcommittee on April 15.
(Reporting by Jim Wolf; editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Andre Grenon)
Source: DTN News / Reuters By Jim Wolf
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON,- April 22, 2010: Japan remains fully committed to 
building a linchpin multibillion-dollar missile interceptor with the United States, the head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency told Congress, even as U.S.-Japanese ties adjust to a new era.
Army Lieutenant General Patrick O'Reilly said on Wednesday he had held several high-level program reviews with Japanese government officials since the Democratic Party of Japan's victory in the Aug. 30, 2009, elections for the legislature's lower house.
"They have indicated that they are in full support and their commitments are solid," he told the Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee, referring to a Standard Missile-3 upgrade program in its fifth year of development.
Published reports from Japan have said the coalition government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama that took power in September plans to reduce overall missile-defense spending.
Japan has spent just over $1 billion to help build a more capable SM-3 version, said Richard Lehner, a Missile Defense Agency spokesman. It is being co-developed with Waltham, Massachusetts-based Raytheon Co (RTN.N), the world's biggest missile maker.
The new version, dubbed SM-3 Block IIA, is key to U.S. plans to be able to defend all of NATO's European territory from a perceived Iranian ballistic-missile threat as soon as about 2018.
It is designed to improve the antimissile's velocity, range and ability to discriminate among a missile target and decoys and would be deployed on land as well as at sea. A follow-on version, called Block IIB, with yet higher velocity, is planned to help protect the U.S. East Coast starting in about 2020 from potential long-range Iranian missiles.
O'Reilly said the United States and the Hatoyama government had identified all steps necessary to successfully integrate the upgraded Block IIA SM-3 interceptor.
Its first flight test should be in 2014 and the first intercept test in 2015, he said.
"Within the next year, we will begin our discussions on production arrangements between the United States and Japan," O'Reilly added.
Left unmentioned by O'Reilly was potential opposition from pacifist elements in the coalition government to Japan's export of the interceptor to countries other than the United States.
Poland and Rumania have agreed in principle to host land-based SM-3 interceptor sites. These are known as "Aegis ashore" units after a Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) mobile defense system initially used only at sea.
Responding to Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, O'Reilly said contractors could compete for "Aegis ashore" work after the projected Rumanian installation that he described as on a tight deadline.
"We are reviewing over $37 billion in new contracts for competition over the next two years," O'Reilly said in an opening statement, referring to the range of missile-shield work.
By 2015, the Obama administration plans to buy 436 early-generation SM-3 interceptors and 431 Lockheed-built Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems, the building blocks of regional antimissile shields. It also plans to have 38 ballistic-missile-defense ships available.
Since the Democratic Party of Japan's victory, bilateral tensions have risen over the desire of some Hatoyama government members to change a 2006 U.S.-Japan deal to relocate a controversial U.S. Marine air station, Futenma, to a less densely populated spot on Okinawa.
Japan has acquired from the United States a layered shield against ballistic missiles that could be fired by North Korea and tipped with chemical, biological or nuclear warheads.
The SM-3 co-development program represents "not only an area of significant technical cooperation, but also the basis for enhanced operational cooperation to strengthen regional security," Bradley Roberts, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, told a House of Representatives Armed Services subcommittee on April 15.
(Reporting by Jim Wolf; editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Andre Grenon)
Friday, March 05, 2010
DTN News: Romania To Host 3 Batteries Of US missiles
DTN News: Romania To Host 3 Batteries Of US missiles
Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) BUCHAREST, Romania - March 6, 2010: Romania has confirmed its intention to host three batteries of US interceptor missiles on its soil as part
of Washington's revamped missile system plan for Eastern Europe.
Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) BUCHAREST, Romania - March 6, 2010: Romania has confirmed its intention to host three batteries of US interceptor missiles on its soil as part
of Washington's revamped missile system plan for Eastern Europe.
Bucharest in October expressed readiness to take part in the US missile system plan expected to be operational by 2015.
"This is not a secret. There will be three batteries of eight missiles each," President Traian Basescu said on Friday during a presentation of the Defense Ministry in the country's capital, AFP reported.
The announcement has angered Russia, which deems the US plan an infringement of its national sovereignty and a direct threat against Moscow.
In an attempt to reassure Russia, Washington and its allies in the region say the missile system is meant to ward off threats from rogue states like 'North Korea and Iran.'
"This is a defensive system and it cannot be reversed into an offensive one," Basescu reiterated. US President Barack Obama decided last year to drop the missile plan drawn up by former President George W. Bush, which envisaged deployment of elements of the missile system in the Czech Republic and Poland.
The new plan stipulates the deployment of medium-range ballistic missile interceptors in Romania while initiating a "phased, adaptive approach" to the plan in Eastern Europe.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
DTN News: Russia Will Respond To NATO Expansion, U.S. Missiles
DTN News: Russia Will Respond To NATO Expansion, U.S. Missiles
*Source: DTN News / By Andrew Moran Digital Journalist
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 26, 2010: A top Russian military official and an Ambassador believe they
must respond to NATO's eastward expansion in Europe and the US implementations of its missile defense system. However, the US Secretary of State said Russia has nothing to worry about.
Moscow, Russian Federation - On Wednesday, Russia’s top military official General Nikolai Makarov said his country will most likely respond over their concern about NATO’s eastward expansion, despite members of NATO attempting to downplay the extension, according to Xinhua. Russia is also cautious about the United States' plans to install elements of a missile defense system in Eastern Europe.
The Chief of the General Staff of Russia’s armed forces said in an interview with Russia Today that nations around the world should tackle these issues together, work together and trust each other instead of creating and strengthening military blocs near the borders of Russia, “This means we have to take appropriate measures in response.”
Makarov also stated that there are general concerns that the US missile defense system is directed against Russia, although the system was officially designed to defend air strikes from Russia, “Last year we withdrew more than 600 tanks, about 600 armored vehicles and about 600 pieces of artillery from the Kaliningrad region. In return we're getting a buildup of the missile defense system. Double standards alarm us.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made assurances that Russia should not fear NATO’s eastward advancement but, according to Russia Today, Russian Ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said he wants more than just words.
“While Russia faces challenges to its security, NATO is not among them. We want a cooperative NATO-Russia relationship that produces concrete results and draws NATO and Russia closer together,” said Clinton at a Washington hotel ballroom on Monday.
However, Rogozin thinks Clinton failed to answer any of the key questions or concerns that Moscow has with the US and NATO, while addressing a list of complaints his country has against NATO, “A unilateral world, NATO-centrism, the alliance's spontaneous expansion eastwards and refusal to recognize the principle of integrity and security.”
The Ambassador added that the US and NATO’s failures to address the interests of Russia and its allies are reminiscent to that of the Cold War, notes Xinhua.
Source: DTN News / By Andrew Moran Digital Journalist
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 26, 2010: A top Russian military official and an Ambassador believe they
must respond to NATO's eastward expansion in Europe and the US implementations of its missile defense system. However, the US Secretary of State said Russia has nothing to worry about.
Moscow, Russian Federation - On Wednesday, Russia’s top military official General Nikolai Makarov said his country will most likely respond over their concern about NATO’s eastward expansion, despite members of NATO attempting to downplay the extension, according to Xinhua. Russia is also cautious about the United States' plans to install elements of a missile defense system in Eastern Europe.
The Chief of the General Staff of Russia’s armed forces said in an interview with Russia Today that nations around the world should tackle these issues together, work together and trust each other instead of creating and strengthening military blocs near the borders of Russia, “This means we have to take appropriate measures in response.”
Makarov also stated that there are general concerns that the US missile defense system is directed against Russia, although the system was officially designed to defend air strikes from Russia, “Last year we withdrew more than 600 tanks, about 600 armored vehicles and about 600 pieces of artillery from the Kaliningrad region. In return we're getting a buildup of the missile defense system. Double standards alarm us.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made assurances that Russia should not fear NATO’s eastward advancement but, according to Russia Today, Russian Ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said he wants more than just words.
“While Russia faces challenges to its security, NATO is not among them. We want a cooperative NATO-Russia relationship that produces concrete results and draws NATO and Russia closer together,” said Clinton at a Washington hotel ballroom on Monday.
However, Rogozin thinks Clinton failed to answer any of the key questions or concerns that Moscow has with the US and NATO, while addressing a list of complaints his country has against NATO, “A unilateral world, NATO-centrism, the alliance's spontaneous expansion eastwards and refusal to recognize the principle of integrity and security.”
The Ambassador added that the US and NATO’s failures to address the interests of Russia and its allies are reminiscent to that of the Cold War, notes Xinhua.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
DTN News: U.S. Patriot Missiles In Poland Early April 2010 ~ Report
DTN News: U.S. Patriot Missiles In Poland Early April 2010 ~ Report
*Source: DTN News / Reuters
(NSI News Source Info) WARSAW, Poland - February 22, 2010: Poland is set to host a battery of U.S. Patriot missiles and the American troops to man it from the start of April, PAP news agency said Sunday. 
"The Defense Ministry expects the first stage of the stationing of a Patriot air-defense battery and a 100-man service team to get under way in the (northern) town of Morag at the turn of April," the agency said.
The Patriots are part of a Polish-U.S. agreement signed last December to upgrade the NATO member's air defenses, following Washington's decision last September to scrap a Bush-era Missile Shield incorporating installations in Poland and the neighboring Czech Republic.
Russia has repeatedly warned against stationing NATO missiles in former Soviet-bloc countries and said it would beef up its naval base across the border from Poland in its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad.
Friday, however, the Russian defense minister said Iskander tactical missiles would be installed in Kaliningrad only if Moscow felt directly threatened.
A week ago, Poland's lower house of parliament sent the Polish-U.S. agreement to President Lech Kaczynski for ratification, but his signature is expected to be a formality.
(Reporting and writing by Rob Strybel; Editing by Jon Boyle)
Source: DTN News / Reuters
(NSI News Source Info) WARSAW, Poland - February 22, 2010: Poland is set to host a battery of U.S. Patriot missiles and the American troops to man it from the start of April, PAP news agency said Sunday. "The Defense Ministry expects the first stage of the stationing of a Patriot air-defense battery and a 100-man service team to get under way in the (northern) town of Morag at the turn of April," the agency said.
The Patriots are part of a Polish-U.S. agreement signed last December to upgrade the NATO member's air defenses, following Washington's decision last September to scrap a Bush-era Missile Shield incorporating installations in Poland and the neighboring Czech Republic.
Russia has repeatedly warned against stationing NATO missiles in former Soviet-bloc countries and said it would beef up its naval base across the border from Poland in its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad.
Friday, however, the Russian defense minister said Iskander tactical missiles would be installed in Kaliningrad only if Moscow felt directly threatened.
A week ago, Poland's lower house of parliament sent the Polish-U.S. agreement to President Lech Kaczynski for ratification, but his signature is expected to be a formality.
(Reporting and writing by Rob Strybel; Editing by Jon Boyle)
DTN News: Bulgaria: Says No Official Talks On US Missile Shield
DTN News: Bulgaria: Says No Official Talks On US Missile Shield
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) SOFIA, Bulgaria- February 22, 2010: The foreign ministry said in a statement Friday (February 19th) that Bulgaria has held no official talks with Washington on hosting elements of the planned US missile defence shield.
The statement came in response to Russia's request on Thursday for an explanation, after Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said last week that preliminary talks with Washington will be held. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vesela Cherneva said on Friday that Sofia has received no official invitation to such talks, adding that the country will continue to adhere to NATO's joint security and defence decision-making policy
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
DTN News: Russia Concerned Over Revised U.S. Missile Defense Plan
DTN News: Russia Concerned Over Revised U.S. Missile Defense Plan Plan
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - September 30, 2009: Russia's envoy to NATO is calling for guarantees from Washington that a revised U.S. missile defense plan won't threaten Moscow. 
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, center, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, left, examine a Belarusian drone while visiting a military base during the West 2009 joint military exercises near Brest in western Belarus on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009. Russia and Belarus on Tuesday completed two days of massive joint military exercises on bases that are close to borders with NATO members.
Dmitry Rogozin says that the prospective U.S. system involving missiles on navy ships could potentially cause Russia concern.
He said Tuesday that Russia wants assurances that the prospective U.S. system would be only aimed to counter short- and medium-range missiles.
President Barack Obama earlier this month dumped a plan for missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, which Moscow fervently opposed. Obama said that a shield involving a network of sensors and missiles at sea or on land would be deployed instead.
Rogozin demanded guarantees that the planned U.S. missile defenses won't move close to Russia's borders.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, center, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, left, examine a Belarusian drone while visiting a military base during the West 2009 joint military exercises near Brest in western Belarus on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009. Russia and Belarus on Tuesday completed two days of massive joint military exercises on bases that are close to borders with NATO members.
Dmitry Rogozin says that the prospective U.S. system involving missiles on navy ships could potentially cause Russia concern.
He said Tuesday that Russia wants assurances that the prospective U.S. system would be only aimed to counter short- and medium-range missiles.
President Barack Obama earlier this month dumped a plan for missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, which Moscow fervently opposed. Obama said that a shield involving a network of sensors and missiles at sea or on land would be deployed instead.
Rogozin demanded guarantees that the planned U.S. missile defenses won't move close to Russia's borders.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
DTN News: Russia No Longer Require To Deploy New Missiles In Kaliningrad Says Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin
DTN News: Russia No Longer Require To Deploy New Missiles In Kaliningrad Says Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - September 22, 2009: Russia will not deploy new missiles in the Kaliningrad enclave after the United States dropped plans for an anti-
missile shield in Eastern Europe, Russia's deputy defence minister said on Saturday.
"Naturally, we will scrap the measures that Russia planned to take in response to the deployment of missile defence in Eastern Europe," Vladimir Popovkin told Ekho Moskvy radio station. (Image: Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Chief of Russia's Space Forces Colonel General Vladimir Popovkin (3rd R) and other unidentified officers visit the Voronezh radar in the village of Lekhtusi, about 50km north of St. Petersburg, in this August 11, 2007, handout photo.)
"One of these measures was the deployment of Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad region," he said.
His comment echoed a statement by Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, who on Friday also welcomed a proposal from NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen for more cooperation with Russia on anti-missile systems.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin described as "correct and brave" President Barack Obama's decision to drop the missile shield intended for Europe by his predecessor George W. Bush.
Popovkin said Russia would continue spending the bulk of its defence budget on the development of strategic nuclear forces.
"This is our shield. We need to develop it so if somebody attacks us we have something to respond with. And that (response) won't seem small to anyone," he said.
Washington had proposed the missile shield because of concerns Iran was trying to develop nuclear warheads -- something Tehran denies -- and could mount them on long-range missiles.
But Russia saw it as a threat to its own missile defences and overall security.
missile shield in Eastern Europe, Russia's deputy defence minister said on Saturday.
"Naturally, we will scrap the measures that Russia planned to take in response to the deployment of missile defence in Eastern Europe," Vladimir Popovkin told Ekho Moskvy radio station. (Image: Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Chief of Russia's Space Forces Colonel General Vladimir Popovkin (3rd R) and other unidentified officers visit the Voronezh radar in the village of Lekhtusi, about 50km north of St. Petersburg, in this August 11, 2007, handout photo.)
"One of these measures was the deployment of Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad region," he said.
His comment echoed a statement by Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, who on Friday also welcomed a proposal from NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen for more cooperation with Russia on anti-missile systems.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin described as "correct and brave" President Barack Obama's decision to drop the missile shield intended for Europe by his predecessor George W. Bush.
Popovkin said Russia would continue spending the bulk of its defence budget on the development of strategic nuclear forces.
"This is our shield. We need to develop it so if somebody attacks us we have something to respond with. And that (response) won't seem small to anyone," he said.
Washington had proposed the missile shield because of concerns Iran was trying to develop nuclear warheads -- something Tehran denies -- and could mount them on long-range missiles.
But Russia saw it as a threat to its own missile defences and overall security. Under Obama's new plan, the United States would initially deploy ships with missile interceptors and in a second phase would field land-based defence systems.
Popovkin also confirmed Russia was keen to buy a Mistral-class warship from France, which many experts said would have helped the country fight its five-day war against Georgia last year. But he said the move was complicated by opposition from Russia's military industrial sector.
"We are in talks but haven't bought anything yet," he said adding that Russia also wanted to modernise some outdated nuclear cruisers.
"We must have at least two-three such cruisers ... We inherited several such cruisers from the Soviet fleet," he said.
Friday, September 18, 2009
DTN News: NATO Sees Closer Work With U.S. On Missile Defense
DTN News: NATO Sees Closer Work With U.S. On Missile Defense
*Source: DTN News / Defense Media
(NSI News Source Info) BRUSSELS, Belgium - September 18, 2009: NATO said on Thursday it expected closer cooperation with Washington on developing anti-missile systems and that revamped U.S. plans had the potential to protect all of Europe if fully implemented. 
The United States briefed NATO allies Wednesday on the latest developments of its plan to station anti-missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic. Lt. Gen. Henry Obering III, head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, was joined by senior State and Defense Department officials in a meeting with envoys from the 26 NATO allies. The talks come between visits to Washington by Czech and Polish leaders to discuss the plans.
President Barack Obama announced on Thursday he was dropping a plan to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic.
They were to form part of a missile shield intended to protect the United States and its European NATO allies against possible attack from Iran, but which had angered Russia.
He promised instead stronger, swifter defense systems to protect U.S. allies against any threat from Iran.
A NATO spokesman said U.S. officials briefed NATO ambassadors on the U.S. plans on Thursday.
The spokesman said the defense ministers of the 28 alliance states would discuss how to move forward on missile defense in the light of U.S. plans at an October 22-23 meeting in Bratislava.
"The U.S. has briefed on an approach which has a number of phases, which, if and when the final phase were to be put in place, based on circumstance and technological development, would provide full coverage for Europe," James Appathurai said.
It also could include participation by any NATO ally, he said.
NATO has been developing its own plans for defense against short- to medium-range missiles and has in the past cooperated with Russia to ensure such systems can work with each other.
It had been considering moves to complement the scrapped U.S. system to extend the area it would have protected.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier the new U.S. approach would involve NATO to a much greater degree in establishment of missile defense.
"I highly appreciate that. I think it is in full accordance with the principle of solidarity within the alliance and the indivisibility of security in Europe," he said.
He said closer integration on missile defense would be a positive step and in the interests of "our eastern allies within the NATO alliance."
Poland and the Czech Republic are among the states of eastern and central Europe which joined NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Russia had been angered by U.S. plans to station an anti-missile system in those countries.
Dropping that plan should ease efforts by both NATO and the United States to boost security ties with Russia, which Rasmussen again said was a priority for the alliance.
The United States briefed NATO allies Wednesday on the latest developments of its plan to station anti-missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic. Lt. Gen. Henry Obering III, head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, was joined by senior State and Defense Department officials in a meeting with envoys from the 26 NATO allies. The talks come between visits to Washington by Czech and Polish leaders to discuss the plans.
President Barack Obama announced on Thursday he was dropping a plan to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic.
They were to form part of a missile shield intended to protect the United States and its European NATO allies against possible attack from Iran, but which had angered Russia.
He promised instead stronger, swifter defense systems to protect U.S. allies against any threat from Iran.
A NATO spokesman said U.S. officials briefed NATO ambassadors on the U.S. plans on Thursday.
The spokesman said the defense ministers of the 28 alliance states would discuss how to move forward on missile defense in the light of U.S. plans at an October 22-23 meeting in Bratislava.
"The U.S. has briefed on an approach which has a number of phases, which, if and when the final phase were to be put in place, based on circumstance and technological development, would provide full coverage for Europe," James Appathurai said.
It also could include participation by any NATO ally, he said.
NATO has been developing its own plans for defense against short- to medium-range missiles and has in the past cooperated with Russia to ensure such systems can work with each other.
It had been considering moves to complement the scrapped U.S. system to extend the area it would have protected.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier the new U.S. approach would involve NATO to a much greater degree in establishment of missile defense.
"I highly appreciate that. I think it is in full accordance with the principle of solidarity within the alliance and the indivisibility of security in Europe," he said.
He said closer integration on missile defense would be a positive step and in the interests of "our eastern allies within the NATO alliance."
Poland and the Czech Republic are among the states of eastern and central Europe which joined NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Russia had been angered by U.S. plans to station an anti-missile system in those countries.
Dropping that plan should ease efforts by both NATO and the United States to boost security ties with Russia, which Rasmussen again said was a priority for the alliance. The NATO chief is due to deliver a speech in Brussels on Friday in which he plans to propose concrete steps to improve NATO's ties with Moscow, which soured as a result of the alliance's eastward expansion and Moscow's military intervention into Georgia last year.
Friday, September 11, 2009
DTN News: European Missile Defense Reviewed
DTN News: European Missile Defense Reviewed
*Source: DTN News / POLITICO
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON, DC - September 11, 2009: Supporters of basing a U.S. missile defense system in Europe are trying to determine whether the words “under review” mean “all but dead.” 
A Standard Missile-3 is launched from the guided-missile destroyer Hopper on July 30 in the latest Missile Defense Agency test in conjunction with the Navy. The missile intercepted a short-range ballistic missile target launched a few minutes earlier from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. It was the 19th successful intercept in 23 at-sea firings by the Missile Defense Agency's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program, the sea-based element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System.
The Obama administration is expected to wrap up its examination of the nation’s ballistic missile defense programs this month, including the controversial proposal to place a missile defense system in Europe that NATO and some governments there embrace over the strong opposition of their citizens.
While arms control advocates are eager for President Barack Obama to end the effort that was a signature defense initiative of President George W. Bush, they’re reluctant to read too much into a trail of actions that seem to point toward canceling the program, which calls for missile interceptors in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic.
“Certainly the Bush administration was very enthusiastic, and the Obama administration is less so,” said John Isaacs, executive director of Council for a Livable World. He didn’t mince words about his own preference: “I hope they kill the system.”
Defense industry insiders also are reading tea leaves and largely coming away with a feeling of doom. Here are a few reasons why:
• The initial outpouring of love for European missile defense from the administration, the military and supporters in Congress has dried up. Even its biggest boosters have fallen silent.
Shortly after a Polish newspaper reported the U.S. would not proceed with the European sites, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley dismissed the article as “inaccurate.” Later, Marine Gen. James Jones, national security adviser, sought to reassure Polish officials about America’s “firm and unwavering commitment to Poland’s security and defense.”
For defense contractors, a commitment to Poland’s security is a far cry from putting U.S. missiles on the country’s soil.
The Pentagon’s brass, including Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, the former Missile Defense Agency director, used to be the missile program’s biggest backers.
But during a recent Space and Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville, Ala., the new powers-that-be at the Pentagon — including Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, director of the Missile Defense Agency — didn’t mention European missile defense. Not once.
“For those generals not to mention it, when they have every year for the last five or six years — they’re not going there,” said Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, who attended the conference.
And even champions on Capitol Hill, such as Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), have gone quiet, a defense lobbyist pointed out.
• Instead of continuing discussions about Bush’s plans for European missile defense, Pentagon officials are focusing on other options for defending Europe against missile attacks, such as combining sea-based Aegis destroyers with land-based missiles under development.
In the past year, the Navy has wholeheartedly embraced sea-based missile defense, setting up a new Air and Missile Defense Command in Dahlgren, Va., and adjusting its weapons investments accordingly.
Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, laid the groundwork last year when he opted to stop making a next-generation destroyer in favor of outfitting an older model with a missile defense capability: the DDG-51. This year, the Navy is stepping up that effort, and Roughead has said the Navy could retrofit the entire fleet of Arleigh Burke destroyers with missile defense systems.
A Standard Missile-3 is launched from the guided-missile destroyer Hopper on July 30 in the latest Missile Defense Agency test in conjunction with the Navy. The missile intercepted a short-range ballistic missile target launched a few minutes earlier from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. It was the 19th successful intercept in 23 at-sea firings by the Missile Defense Agency's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program, the sea-based element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System.
The Obama administration is expected to wrap up its examination of the nation’s ballistic missile defense programs this month, including the controversial proposal to place a missile defense system in Europe that NATO and some governments there embrace over the strong opposition of their citizens.
While arms control advocates are eager for President Barack Obama to end the effort that was a signature defense initiative of President George W. Bush, they’re reluctant to read too much into a trail of actions that seem to point toward canceling the program, which calls for missile interceptors in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic.
“Certainly the Bush administration was very enthusiastic, and the Obama administration is less so,” said John Isaacs, executive director of Council for a Livable World. He didn’t mince words about his own preference: “I hope they kill the system.”
Defense industry insiders also are reading tea leaves and largely coming away with a feeling of doom. Here are a few reasons why:
• The initial outpouring of love for European missile defense from the administration, the military and supporters in Congress has dried up. Even its biggest boosters have fallen silent.
Shortly after a Polish newspaper reported the U.S. would not proceed with the European sites, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley dismissed the article as “inaccurate.” Later, Marine Gen. James Jones, national security adviser, sought to reassure Polish officials about America’s “firm and unwavering commitment to Poland’s security and defense.”
For defense contractors, a commitment to Poland’s security is a far cry from putting U.S. missiles on the country’s soil.
The Pentagon’s brass, including Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, the former Missile Defense Agency director, used to be the missile program’s biggest backers.
But during a recent Space and Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville, Ala., the new powers-that-be at the Pentagon — including Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, director of the Missile Defense Agency — didn’t mention European missile defense. Not once.
“For those generals not to mention it, when they have every year for the last five or six years — they’re not going there,” said Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, who attended the conference.
And even champions on Capitol Hill, such as Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), have gone quiet, a defense lobbyist pointed out.
• Instead of continuing discussions about Bush’s plans for European missile defense, Pentagon officials are focusing on other options for defending Europe against missile attacks, such as combining sea-based Aegis destroyers with land-based missiles under development.
In the past year, the Navy has wholeheartedly embraced sea-based missile defense, setting up a new Air and Missile Defense Command in Dahlgren, Va., and adjusting its weapons investments accordingly.
Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, laid the groundwork last year when he opted to stop making a next-generation destroyer in favor of outfitting an older model with a missile defense capability: the DDG-51. This year, the Navy is stepping up that effort, and Roughead has said the Navy could retrofit the entire fleet of Arleigh Burke destroyers with missile defense systems.Thursday, September 10, 2009
DTN News: U.S. May 'Redeploy BDM In Israel'
DTN News: U.S. May 'Redeploy BDM In Israel'
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) TEL AVIV, Israel - September 10, 2009: Israeli officials say there is a "strong possibility" that the United States will leave missile defense systems in the Jewish state after a joint missile defense exercise planned for October is concluded, according to The Jerusalem Post. 
The THAAD weapon system consists of launchers, missiles, battle management / command, control, communications and intelligence (BMC3I) units and THAAD radars.
The U.S. missiles, part of the Ballistic Defense Program, would almost certainly remain under U.S. control, but it was not clear whether they would participate in defending Israel against Iranian missiles.
The report indicated that the Americans may deploy the missiles in Israel rather than in the Czech Republic and Poland as planned, in deference to Russia's vehement objections to having U.S. missile systems so close to its border.
The Israeli report published Monday followed an Aug. 27 report in the Warsaw newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza that Washington planned to scrap its plans to base 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and an advanced radar in the Czech Republic to counter hostile missiles aimed at the United States, with Iran seen as the most likely threat.
U.S. President Barack Obama's administration is seeking to find an accommodation with a resurgent Russia on a host of issues, including having Moscow stop aiding Iran's nuclear program and providing it with advanced weapons systems that could impede any potential pre-emptive military strike.
By removing the planned anti-missile shield from Central Europe and relocating it is elsewhere -- Israel and Turkey have been seen as the most likely candidates -- Washington could expect a quid pro quo from Moscow.
In this case, that would likely be blocking the sale of advanced Russian S-300 air-defense missiles to Iran or supporting U.S. efforts to impose harsh new economic sanctions on Iran to force it to abandon its alleged quest for nuclear arms.
However, by redeploying the missiles in Israel, the Americans would be seen to be bolstering the Jewish state's anti-missile defenses against a possible Iranian strike with its Shehab-3 ballistic missiles.
The Shehabs -- Iran is believed to have 80-100 operational -- are expected to be bolstered by more powerful Sajjil-2 missiles now being developed.
By adding U.S. weight to Israel's own anti-ballistic defenses, namely the high-altitude, long-range Arrow-2 interceptor, Washington would be involving itself directly in the defense of Israel.
That would thus raise the stakes to an unprecedented degree in the event of an Iranian attack, either a first strike initiated by Tehran or one retaliating for a pre-emptive Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic.
Israel, which considers Iran's nuclear and missile development as an existential threat, is widely perceived to be considering a unilateral pre-emptive strike against Iran.
The Americans already have a long-range X-Band radar unit operating in Israel. The radar, a key element in the U.S. missile defense array, is intended to give Israel early warning of an Iranian missile launch.
The unit was set up at Nevatim Air Base in the Negev Desert a year ago at the request of the Israeli government and is operated by 100 U.S. personnel. It would be linked to the U.S. missile systems if they are deployed in Israel.
The Jerusalem Post reported that "while the United States has yet to announce it will leave the systems in place here, the possibility is strong, one official said, particularly in light of reports that the Pentagon was conducting a review of its European missile shield."
The daily noted that a "senior Israeli defense official" said that "while the United States has not made an official request to deploy the systems here, the topic was being discussed in unofficial channels."
The upcoming exercises, codenamed Juniper Cobra, will involve the Arrow-2 system along with the U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system and the ship-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.
Meantime, Iran claimed Sunday that it has developed a missile defense system that can shoot down radar-evading cruise missiles.
But Western analysts were skeptical. They questioned why Iran was so anxious to acquire Russian S-300s to defend its strategic installations if it was capable of producing its own defense systems.
The THAAD weapon system consists of launchers, missiles, battle management / command, control, communications and intelligence (BMC3I) units and THAAD radars.
The U.S. missiles, part of the Ballistic Defense Program, would almost certainly remain under U.S. control, but it was not clear whether they would participate in defending Israel against Iranian missiles.
The report indicated that the Americans may deploy the missiles in Israel rather than in the Czech Republic and Poland as planned, in deference to Russia's vehement objections to having U.S. missile systems so close to its border.
The Israeli report published Monday followed an Aug. 27 report in the Warsaw newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza that Washington planned to scrap its plans to base 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and an advanced radar in the Czech Republic to counter hostile missiles aimed at the United States, with Iran seen as the most likely threat.
U.S. President Barack Obama's administration is seeking to find an accommodation with a resurgent Russia on a host of issues, including having Moscow stop aiding Iran's nuclear program and providing it with advanced weapons systems that could impede any potential pre-emptive military strike.
By removing the planned anti-missile shield from Central Europe and relocating it is elsewhere -- Israel and Turkey have been seen as the most likely candidates -- Washington could expect a quid pro quo from Moscow.
In this case, that would likely be blocking the sale of advanced Russian S-300 air-defense missiles to Iran or supporting U.S. efforts to impose harsh new economic sanctions on Iran to force it to abandon its alleged quest for nuclear arms.
However, by redeploying the missiles in Israel, the Americans would be seen to be bolstering the Jewish state's anti-missile defenses against a possible Iranian strike with its Shehab-3 ballistic missiles.
The Shehabs -- Iran is believed to have 80-100 operational -- are expected to be bolstered by more powerful Sajjil-2 missiles now being developed.
By adding U.S. weight to Israel's own anti-ballistic defenses, namely the high-altitude, long-range Arrow-2 interceptor, Washington would be involving itself directly in the defense of Israel.
That would thus raise the stakes to an unprecedented degree in the event of an Iranian attack, either a first strike initiated by Tehran or one retaliating for a pre-emptive Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic.
Israel, which considers Iran's nuclear and missile development as an existential threat, is widely perceived to be considering a unilateral pre-emptive strike against Iran.
The Americans already have a long-range X-Band radar unit operating in Israel. The radar, a key element in the U.S. missile defense array, is intended to give Israel early warning of an Iranian missile launch.
The unit was set up at Nevatim Air Base in the Negev Desert a year ago at the request of the Israeli government and is operated by 100 U.S. personnel. It would be linked to the U.S. missile systems if they are deployed in Israel.
The Jerusalem Post reported that "while the United States has yet to announce it will leave the systems in place here, the possibility is strong, one official said, particularly in light of reports that the Pentagon was conducting a review of its European missile shield."
The daily noted that a "senior Israeli defense official" said that "while the United States has not made an official request to deploy the systems here, the topic was being discussed in unofficial channels."
The upcoming exercises, codenamed Juniper Cobra, will involve the Arrow-2 system along with the U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system and the ship-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.
Meantime, Iran claimed Sunday that it has developed a missile defense system that can shoot down radar-evading cruise missiles.
But Western analysts were skeptical. They questioned why Iran was so anxious to acquire Russian S-300s to defend its strategic installations if it was capable of producing its own defense systems.
Monday, August 31, 2009
DTN News: US Considers Alternative To Europe Missile Sites ~ Report
DTN News: US Considers Alternative To Europe Missile Sites ~ Report
*Source: DTN News / AFP
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON, USA - August 31, 2009: The US government has developed possible alternative plans for a missile defense shield that could drop proposed missile bases in Poland 
and the Czech Republic, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Citing unnamed administration officials, the newspaper said the change would please Russia and Germany but could sour relations with US allies in Eastern Europe.
Barack Obama administration officials said they hoped to complete their months-long review of the planned antimissile system as early as next month, possibly in time for Obama to present ideas to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting in New York during the annual opening of the UN General Assembly, the report said.
But they cautioned that no decisions had been made and that all options were still under discussion, the paper noted.
The Obama review team plans to present a menu of options rather than a single recommendation to a committee of senior national security officials in the coming weeks, The Times said. Only after that would the matter go to cabinet-rank officials and the president.
The paper said that among the alternatives are dropping either the Polish or Czech site, or both sites, and instead building launching pads or radar installations in Turkey or the Balkans, while developing land-based versions of the Aegis SM-3, a ship-based anti-missile system.
Officials said the changes would be intended not to mollify Russia, but to adjust to what they see as an accelerating threat from shorter-range Iranian missiles, according to the report.
People following the review, including anxious officials in Eastern Europe, said they thought that the administration was preparing to abandon the Polish and Czech sites, The Times noted.
"It is clear that Eastern Europe is out of the epicenter of this American administration," the paper quoted Piotr Paszkowski, a spokesman for Poland’s foreign minister, as saying. "The missile defense system is now under review. The chances that it will be in Poland are 50-50."
and the Czech Republic, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Citing unnamed administration officials, the newspaper said the change would please Russia and Germany but could sour relations with US allies in Eastern Europe.
Barack Obama administration officials said they hoped to complete their months-long review of the planned antimissile system as early as next month, possibly in time for Obama to present ideas to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting in New York during the annual opening of the UN General Assembly, the report said.
But they cautioned that no decisions had been made and that all options were still under discussion, the paper noted.
The Obama review team plans to present a menu of options rather than a single recommendation to a committee of senior national security officials in the coming weeks, The Times said. Only after that would the matter go to cabinet-rank officials and the president.
The paper said that among the alternatives are dropping either the Polish or Czech site, or both sites, and instead building launching pads or radar installations in Turkey or the Balkans, while developing land-based versions of the Aegis SM-3, a ship-based anti-missile system.
Officials said the changes would be intended not to mollify Russia, but to adjust to what they see as an accelerating threat from shorter-range Iranian missiles, according to the report.
People following the review, including anxious officials in Eastern Europe, said they thought that the administration was preparing to abandon the Polish and Czech sites, The Times noted.
"It is clear that Eastern Europe is out of the epicenter of this American administration," the paper quoted Piotr Paszkowski, a spokesman for Poland’s foreign minister, as saying. "The missile defense system is now under review. The chances that it will be in Poland are 50-50."Friday, August 28, 2009
DTN News: U.S. To Relocate Missile Defense System
DTN News: U.S. To Relocate Missile Defense System
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) WARSAW, Poland, - August 28, 2009: Washington may relocate the controversial missile defense system planned for Eastern Europe 
to the Balkans, Turkey or Israel, a Polish newspaper reports.
The U.S. plan included 10 long-range interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic. That plan will almost certainly be scrapped, Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reports. Washington is now looking for alternative locations including in the Balkans, Israel and Turkey, the daily says, citing U.S. administration officials and lobbyists based in Washington.
"The signals that the generals in the Pentagon are sending are absolutely clear: as far as missile defense is concerned, the current U.S. administration is searching for other solutions than the previously bases in Poland and the Czech Republic," Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a Washington-based lobby group, told the newspaper.
The system, meant to be ready by 2013, was aimed at defending the United States and its allies in Europe against nuclear attacks from rogue states such as Iran.
The Kremlin, however, says the planned location in Eastern Europe is compromising Russia's national security and a further sign of NATO's eastward expansion. Russia believes the alliance has turned from a security coalition into a geopolitical tool used by the United States to increase its political and economic clout in Eastern Europe.
Washington had promised to alleviate Russia's concerns and integrate Moscow in the system as much as possible, with proposals having included stationing Russian officers at the sites to monitor them. However, no cooperation ever materialized.
U.S. President Barack Obama has shaken up foreign policy and tried to improve ties with the Kremlin. He has previously signaled a willingness to talk about the missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, had already struck deals with Warsaw in 2008.
U.S.-Russian relations were challenged on several other fronts over the past years, with differences over human rights, the independence of the former Serbian province of Kosovo and last year's Russian-Georgian war.
to the Balkans, Turkey or Israel, a Polish newspaper reports.
The U.S. plan included 10 long-range interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic. That plan will almost certainly be scrapped, Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reports. Washington is now looking for alternative locations including in the Balkans, Israel and Turkey, the daily says, citing U.S. administration officials and lobbyists based in Washington.
"The signals that the generals in the Pentagon are sending are absolutely clear: as far as missile defense is concerned, the current U.S. administration is searching for other solutions than the previously bases in Poland and the Czech Republic," Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a Washington-based lobby group, told the newspaper.
The system, meant to be ready by 2013, was aimed at defending the United States and its allies in Europe against nuclear attacks from rogue states such as Iran.
The Kremlin, however, says the planned location in Eastern Europe is compromising Russia's national security and a further sign of NATO's eastward expansion. Russia believes the alliance has turned from a security coalition into a geopolitical tool used by the United States to increase its political and economic clout in Eastern Europe.
Washington had promised to alleviate Russia's concerns and integrate Moscow in the system as much as possible, with proposals having included stationing Russian officers at the sites to monitor them. However, no cooperation ever materialized.
U.S. President Barack Obama has shaken up foreign policy and tried to improve ties with the Kremlin. He has previously signaled a willingness to talk about the missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, had already struck deals with Warsaw in 2008.
U.S.-Russian relations were challenged on several other fronts over the past years, with differences over human rights, the independence of the former Serbian province of Kosovo and last year's Russian-Georgian war.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
DTN News: China TODAY August 13, 2009 ~ China Warns Against Missile Defence Systems
DTN News: China TODAY August 13, 2009 ~ China Warns Against Missile Defence Systems
*Source: DTN News / AFP
(NSI News Source Info) GENEVA, Switzerland - August 13, 2009: China's foreign minister warned on Wednesday that there was a "looming danger" of an arms race in outer 
space, as he urged countries not to deploy missile defence systems that could undermine global security.
"The practice of seeking absolute strategic advantage should be abandoned," Yang Jiechi told the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
"Countries should neither develop missile defence systems that undermine global strategic security nor deploy weapons in outer space," he added.
US President Barack Obama has been reviewing a planned missile defence shield championed by his predecessor, which remains a major source of tension with Russia.
The Obama administration has not backed down from the shield, which would partly be based in Poland and the Czech Republic, but insists that is not directed against Russia.
Russia's air force commander said on Monday that Moscow was developing new missiles to counter space-based systems that could soon be deployed by the United States.
"Outer space is now facing the looming danger of weaponisation," said Yang.
"Credible and effective multilateral measures must be taken to forestall the weaponisation and arms race in outer space," he added, calling such steps of "high strategic significance."
Both Russia and China have proposed a new treaty banning the use of weapons in space, but the idea has been rejected by the United States.
Nonetheless, the issue is one of those up for international discussion under the Conference on Disarmament's recent landmark decision to revive talks after more than a decade of deadlock.
In a speech reaffirming China's commitment to international nuclear weapons safeguards and disarmament, Yang backed attempts to strengthen the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency and to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.
"The international security situation is undergoing the most profound change since the end of the Cold War," Yang acknowledged. "Unprecedented opportunities now exist in international disarmament."
Yang reiterated China's insistance on a peaceful resolution of the nuclear standoffs with North Korea and Iran, and called on the IAEA to play a greater role in promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
That should include "the possibility of establishing a multilateral nuclear fuel supply mechanism," he added. Western countries have been sceptical of the idea proposed by Russia.
The Chinese foreign minister stopped short of signalling Beijing's swifter ratification of a ban on nuclear tests.
"The Chinese government is dedicated to promoting early ratification of the treaty and will continue to make active efforts toward this end," Yang said, pledging to work with the international community for "early entry into force."
Although China was amongst the first to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, it is one of nine nations that are preventing its entry into force because they have either not ratified or signed it.
The only other traditional nuclear power not to have ratified is the United States.
However, Obama announced in April that he wanted to press ahead with US ratification, reversing the stance of George W. Bush's administration.
The other outstanding ratifications are Egypt, Indonesia, Iran and Israel.
India, Pakistan, and North Korea have not signed the test ban treaty, which is regarded as a cornerstone of efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and promote disarmament.
space, as he urged countries not to deploy missile defence systems that could undermine global security.
"The practice of seeking absolute strategic advantage should be abandoned," Yang Jiechi told the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
"Countries should neither develop missile defence systems that undermine global strategic security nor deploy weapons in outer space," he added.
US President Barack Obama has been reviewing a planned missile defence shield championed by his predecessor, which remains a major source of tension with Russia.
The Obama administration has not backed down from the shield, which would partly be based in Poland and the Czech Republic, but insists that is not directed against Russia.
Russia's air force commander said on Monday that Moscow was developing new missiles to counter space-based systems that could soon be deployed by the United States.
"Outer space is now facing the looming danger of weaponisation," said Yang.
"Credible and effective multilateral measures must be taken to forestall the weaponisation and arms race in outer space," he added, calling such steps of "high strategic significance."
Both Russia and China have proposed a new treaty banning the use of weapons in space, but the idea has been rejected by the United States.
Nonetheless, the issue is one of those up for international discussion under the Conference on Disarmament's recent landmark decision to revive talks after more than a decade of deadlock.
In a speech reaffirming China's commitment to international nuclear weapons safeguards and disarmament, Yang backed attempts to strengthen the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency and to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.
"The international security situation is undergoing the most profound change since the end of the Cold War," Yang acknowledged. "Unprecedented opportunities now exist in international disarmament."
Yang reiterated China's insistance on a peaceful resolution of the nuclear standoffs with North Korea and Iran, and called on the IAEA to play a greater role in promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
That should include "the possibility of establishing a multilateral nuclear fuel supply mechanism," he added. Western countries have been sceptical of the idea proposed by Russia.
The Chinese foreign minister stopped short of signalling Beijing's swifter ratification of a ban on nuclear tests.
"The Chinese government is dedicated to promoting early ratification of the treaty and will continue to make active efforts toward this end," Yang said, pledging to work with the international community for "early entry into force."
Although China was amongst the first to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, it is one of nine nations that are preventing its entry into force because they have either not ratified or signed it.
The only other traditional nuclear power not to have ratified is the United States.
However, Obama announced in April that he wanted to press ahead with US ratification, reversing the stance of George W. Bush's administration.
The other outstanding ratifications are Egypt, Indonesia, Iran and Israel.
India, Pakistan, and North Korea have not signed the test ban treaty, which is regarded as a cornerstone of efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and promote disarmament.Saturday, August 08, 2009
DTN News: South Russia Missile Radar To Be Fully Operational In October
DTN News: South Russia Missile Radar To Be Fully Operational In October
*Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti
(NSI News Source Info) BALASHIKHA (Moscow Region) - August 8, 2009: A radar station in the southern Russian town of Armavir will become fully operational in 
October-November as part of the country's missile warning system, a military official said on Thursday.
"The station will be put into operation...in October-November this year," said Gen. Nikolai Abroskin, head of the Federal Agency for Special Construction, which builds radar sites and space launch centers.
The station is currently operating in a test mode. The Armavir radar has been built to monitor any potential missile attacks in the south and southeast of Russia in place of the early warning facilities in Mukachevo in western Ukraine and Sevastopol in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
Russia terminated a 1997 agreement with Kiev on the use of both Ukrainian radars in February 2008 on the grounds that they had become obsolete.
With an effective range of 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) the Voronezh-type radar has capabilities similar to its predecessors, the Dnepr and Daryal, which are currently deployed outside Russia, but uses less energy and is more environmentally friendly.
Russia has offered the U.S. use of radar stations at Armavir and Gabala in Azerbaijan as alternatives to a planned U.S. missile shield deployment in Central Europe, which Moscow has fiercely opposed as a security threat.
Washington has since shown little interest in the Russian proposal, but with the arrival of a new administration, led by President Barack Obama, has frozen its plans to open a missile interceptor base in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic.
During his visit to Moscow in July, Obama pledged to consider Russia's concerns and review the U.S.'s European shield plans.
October-November as part of the country's missile warning system, a military official said on Thursday.
"The station will be put into operation...in October-November this year," said Gen. Nikolai Abroskin, head of the Federal Agency for Special Construction, which builds radar sites and space launch centers.
The station is currently operating in a test mode. The Armavir radar has been built to monitor any potential missile attacks in the south and southeast of Russia in place of the early warning facilities in Mukachevo in western Ukraine and Sevastopol in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
Russia terminated a 1997 agreement with Kiev on the use of both Ukrainian radars in February 2008 on the grounds that they had become obsolete.
With an effective range of 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) the Voronezh-type radar has capabilities similar to its predecessors, the Dnepr and Daryal, which are currently deployed outside Russia, but uses less energy and is more environmentally friendly.
Russia has offered the U.S. use of radar stations at Armavir and Gabala in Azerbaijan as alternatives to a planned U.S. missile shield deployment in Central Europe, which Moscow has fiercely opposed as a security threat.
Washington has since shown little interest in the Russian proposal, but with the arrival of a new administration, led by President Barack Obama, has frozen its plans to open a missile interceptor base in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic.
During his visit to Moscow in July, Obama pledged to consider Russia's concerns and review the U.S.'s European shield plans.
Friday, July 24, 2009
DTN News: Israeli Missile-Defense System Hits Snag
DTN News: Israeli Missile-Defense System Hits Snag
*Source: DTN News / AP
(NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - July 24, 2009: A joint U.S.-Israeli missile defense system meant to shield Israel from Iranian attack hit a snag when a series of tests were aborted because of malfunctions, defense officials said Thursday. 
This file photo, taken on Friday Dec. 2, 2005, released by Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd., shows an Arrow missile being launched at an undisclosed location in Israel. Israeli defense officials say three tests in the U.S. of the missile defense system meant to shield Israel from Iranian attack have been aborted over the past week. (AP Photo/Israel Aircraft Industries, File)
The Arrow, a joint project between state-run Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. and Chicago-based Boeing Co., is part of a multilayered missile-defense system Israel is working on to protect it from all forms of attack, ranging from short-range rocket fire from Lebanon and Gaza to longer-range missiles from Iran.
Israel sees Iran as its biggest threat because of its nuclear program and development of medium-range ballistic missiles. Those fears have been compounded by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's persistent anti-Israeli rhetoric.
Israel's concerns were heightened this week when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. would extend a "defense umbrella" over its Gulf Arab allies to prevent Iran from dominating the region "once they have a nuclear weapon."
The comments raised eyebrows in Israel.
"I was not thrilled to hear the American statement from yesterday that they will protect their allies with a nuclear umbrella, as if they have already come to terms with a nuclear Iran," Dan Meridor, Israel's minister of intelligence and atomic energy, told Army Radio. "I think that's a mistake."
Hours after Meridor spoke, Clinton clarified her remarks, saying she was "not suggesting any new policy" on Iran and continued to believe that "Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons is unacceptable."
Israeli officials and analysts played down the glitches in the Arrow tests, saying they were expected in such a complicated project and would not affect the long-term development of the system.
A statement from the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said the mission was an interception test and also exercised the Arrow system's interoperability with other elements of the U.S. ballistic missile defense system.
The tests of the Arrow II system took place over the past week off the coast of California, most recently on Wednesday, the defense officials said. But communication glitches between the missile and the radar led U.S. defense officials to abort the test before an intercepting missile could be fired, they said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details of the tests.
The Pentagon said the target missile was dropped from a C-17 aircraft. It said the radar system detected the target, but "not all test conditions to launch the Arrow Interceptor were met, and it was not launched." It said the results were being analyzed.
An operational version of Arrow II is partially deployed, and the U.S. and Israel are in the preliminary stages of developing an upgraded Arrow III.
The homegrown "Iron Dome" system is designed to bring down short-range rockets of the kind Palestinian and Lebanese militants use. Last week, Israeli officials reported a successful live test of the system.
The Arrow project was spurred largely by the failure of the U.S. military's Patriot missiles to intercept Iraqi Scud rockets that struck Israel in the 1991 Gulf War.
Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said tests of the same Arrow system in Israel earlier this year were "very successful." He said the recent tests were carried out in the U.S. because that would allow for greater distances than would be possible in Israel.
He said malfunctions of systems still in their experimental stage were to be expected and said other tests were called off on Friday and Monday.
The defense officials said the improved Arrow II was meant to intercept a dummy Iranian Shihab missile, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. But U.S. officials blocked the launch of an intercepting missile because of the communications glitch, the Israelis said.
Iran's Shihab-3 has a range of up to 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers), putting Israel well within striking distance.
Isaac Ben-Israel, a retired general and weapons expert, said the interceptor wasn't fired because it is too expensive to use in a test that isn't expected to go according to plan. He said such glitches are common when developing new systems and he did not consider it a significant setback.
"I expect that within a short period of time, after they determine exactly what happened, they will repeat this experiment and then we will know if it works or not," Ben-Israel said.
This file photo, taken on Friday Dec. 2, 2005, released by Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd., shows an Arrow missile being launched at an undisclosed location in Israel. Israeli defense officials say three tests in the U.S. of the missile defense system meant to shield Israel from Iranian attack have been aborted over the past week. (AP Photo/Israel Aircraft Industries, File)
The Arrow, a joint project between state-run Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. and Chicago-based Boeing Co., is part of a multilayered missile-defense system Israel is working on to protect it from all forms of attack, ranging from short-range rocket fire from Lebanon and Gaza to longer-range missiles from Iran.
Israel sees Iran as its biggest threat because of its nuclear program and development of medium-range ballistic missiles. Those fears have been compounded by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's persistent anti-Israeli rhetoric.
Israel's concerns were heightened this week when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. would extend a "defense umbrella" over its Gulf Arab allies to prevent Iran from dominating the region "once they have a nuclear weapon."
The comments raised eyebrows in Israel.
"I was not thrilled to hear the American statement from yesterday that they will protect their allies with a nuclear umbrella, as if they have already come to terms with a nuclear Iran," Dan Meridor, Israel's minister of intelligence and atomic energy, told Army Radio. "I think that's a mistake."
Hours after Meridor spoke, Clinton clarified her remarks, saying she was "not suggesting any new policy" on Iran and continued to believe that "Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons is unacceptable."
Israeli officials and analysts played down the glitches in the Arrow tests, saying they were expected in such a complicated project and would not affect the long-term development of the system.
A statement from the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said the mission was an interception test and also exercised the Arrow system's interoperability with other elements of the U.S. ballistic missile defense system.
The tests of the Arrow II system took place over the past week off the coast of California, most recently on Wednesday, the defense officials said. But communication glitches between the missile and the radar led U.S. defense officials to abort the test before an intercepting missile could be fired, they said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details of the tests.
The Pentagon said the target missile was dropped from a C-17 aircraft. It said the radar system detected the target, but "not all test conditions to launch the Arrow Interceptor were met, and it was not launched." It said the results were being analyzed.
An operational version of Arrow II is partially deployed, and the U.S. and Israel are in the preliminary stages of developing an upgraded Arrow III.
The homegrown "Iron Dome" system is designed to bring down short-range rockets of the kind Palestinian and Lebanese militants use. Last week, Israeli officials reported a successful live test of the system.
The Arrow project was spurred largely by the failure of the U.S. military's Patriot missiles to intercept Iraqi Scud rockets that struck Israel in the 1991 Gulf War.
Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said tests of the same Arrow system in Israel earlier this year were "very successful." He said the recent tests were carried out in the U.S. because that would allow for greater distances than would be possible in Israel.
He said malfunctions of systems still in their experimental stage were to be expected and said other tests were called off on Friday and Monday.
The defense officials said the improved Arrow II was meant to intercept a dummy Iranian Shihab missile, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. But U.S. officials blocked the launch of an intercepting missile because of the communications glitch, the Israelis said.
Iran's Shihab-3 has a range of up to 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers), putting Israel well within striking distance.
Isaac Ben-Israel, a retired general and weapons expert, said the interceptor wasn't fired because it is too expensive to use in a test that isn't expected to go according to plan. He said such glitches are common when developing new systems and he did not consider it a significant setback.
"I expect that within a short period of time, after they determine exactly what happened, they will repeat this experiment and then we will know if it works or not," Ben-Israel said.Thursday, July 16, 2009
DTN News: European Missile Shield Not Set In Stone ~ Pentagon Says
DTN News: European Missile Shield Not Set In Stone ~ Pentagon Says
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - July 16, 2009: A senior Pentagon official said Tuesday the Obama administration may be open to tweaking its plans for a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe.
The missile shield, proposed under President Bush to counter a threat from Iran, would locate 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland and a series of missile radar sensors in the Czech Republic.
The move has long angered Moscow, which perceives the development of the missile shield in its backyard as a hawkish move on the part of the US. Meanwhile, American officials have long maintained that the missile system is designed to defend the region against an Iranian missile threat.
But Mr. Obama has said that differences between Moscow and Washington over the European missile-defense system may be worked out through compromise.
That could mean that the architecture or location of the missile-defense system could look different if it is ever completed.
On Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, director of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, said that alternatives to the current plan are under consideration as part of an overall review of ballistic missile defense.
General O'Reilly says the US would work "very closely" with the Polish and Czech governments to make any potential changes to the current plan. "There would not be any surprise," he told reporters.For their part, the legislatures of Poland and the Czech Republic have yet to ratify the plan.
Obama has said the US review should be complete by the end of summer. It will look at "different courses of action," O'Reilly added Tuesday.
American officials could alter the current plan that relies on the ground-based interceptors in Poland, potentially exchanging them for sea-based interceptors or other kinds of missile-defense technology, defense officials said.
But critics of the plan say the issue goes beyond technology to the more fundamental issue of arms control.
"Missile defense has always been an issue for a small cadre of ultraconservative, ultraparanoid people who see the threat of ballistic missiles from places like Iran as a real threat to US security interests," says Chris Hellman, an analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington.
Recent saber rattling by North Korea has brought missile defense to the fore, forcing the Obama administration to grapple with the European missile-defense plan.So far, Obama has resisted the effort to link negotiations about the missile-defense system to arms-control talks. He has said he believes the US and Russia can find common ground in defending against missile strikes from a "third source" - namely Iran.
"I think we can arrive at those kinds of understandings, but it's going to take some hard work because it requires breaking down some long-standing suspicions," Obama said at a news conference with President Medvedev July 6 in Moscow.
Obama and Russian Mr. Medvedev issued a joint statement July 6 indicating the two countries were prepared to work with one another on missile defense.
Obama has said he wishes to "reset" US-Russian relations that have, he has said, "suffered from a sense of drift."
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
DTN News: Russia Still Opposes US Plan For Missile Shield In Eastern Europe
DTN News: Russia Still Opposes US Plan For Missile Shield In Eastern Europe
*Sources: DTN News / VOA By Andre de Nesnera
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - July 2, 2009: Russia strongly opposes the U.S. plan to station a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. That issue will be discussed during the upcoming summit meeting in Moscow between U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev.
Four Patriot interceptor missiles like the one shown here can be fired from this mobile launcher between loadings.
The Bush administration was wholeheartedly behind a proposed missile defense system made up of 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar facility in the Czech Republic. U.S. officials said the system was needed to defend Europe and the United States against potential threats from countries such as Iran.
However, Daryll Kimball, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association - a private research firm - says Iran does not pose an immediate danger.
"Iran does not have the capability of hitting Europe with a long-range missile," he said. "It does have some medium-range missile capabilities that could hit the eastern flanks of continental Europe." "But we also have to keep in mind that Iran does not have a payload, particularly a nuclear payload that would make those missiles a real strategic threat.
What's more, is that Iran also understands that if it were to strike another country, it opens itself up to retaliation. And if it is going to be hitting any NATO country, that opens it up to retaliation from all of the NATO partners, including the United States," he added.
Kimball and other experts say the new Obama administration is not as committed to the missile defense shield as was President Bush.
"The Obama administration has been quite clear that it will pursue effective ballistic missile defenses," he said. "They have also said, however, that they are not going to move forward and deploy systems and spend billions of dollars on systems that have not been proven effective through flight testing." "And the particular system that the Bush administration was rushing to try to deploy in Poland and the Czech Republic had not even been tested. It involves a two-stage interceptor that is scheduled to be flight tested three times in the next two and a half years - but that has not yet happened," he continued.
The missile defense shield will be discussed at the upcoming Moscow summit between presidents Obama and Medvedev. The Russians have been strongly critical of the system, saying it is targeted against Moscow - a view rejected by U.S. officials.
David Kramer was a former senior U.S. State Department official in the Bush administration. He is now with the German Marshall Fund in the United States.
"When I was working in the Bush administration, I can tell you definitively that that was not the design or plan or intent of putting 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar facility in the Czech Republic. That was designed to confront the possibility of a nuclear weapons threat emanating from Iran. It had nothing to do with Russia," he said.
Robert Legvold from Columbia University says the Russians see the missile shield as the first step in a grandiose plan.
"The Russians are not all that concerned about the immediate practical, military, strategic threat of these systems in central Europe, but see it as the camel's nose under the tent and believe that it's connected with other plans for deploying national missile defense in Alaska, potentially other missile sites in Europe that have been mentioned - toward the Balkans - conceivably a national missile or theater missile component, ballistic missile component in the Far East - in Taiwan or other areas. So I think the Russians believe that this may be potentially a building block," he said.
David Kramer says there have been attempts to get Russia to participate in the missile defense shield.
"There is interest in cooperating with Russia in Armavir, in southern Russia as well as in Gabala, in Azerbaijan, with the radar facilities in both places," he said. "But Russia is insisting that cooperation there would obviate the need to establish sites in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Bush administration's policy was no, those could complement what we have in mind for Poland and the Czech Republic. The Obama administration's position on this is a little less clear."
Experts say it will be interesting to see if during the July Moscow summit presidents Obama and Medvedev will be able to narrow the differences and not allow the missile defense shield to be a major obstacle to better relations between Washington and Moscow.
Four Patriot interceptor missiles like the one shown here can be fired from this mobile launcher between loadings.
The Bush administration was wholeheartedly behind a proposed missile defense system made up of 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar facility in the Czech Republic. U.S. officials said the system was needed to defend Europe and the United States against potential threats from countries such as Iran.
However, Daryll Kimball, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association - a private research firm - says Iran does not pose an immediate danger.
"Iran does not have the capability of hitting Europe with a long-range missile," he said. "It does have some medium-range missile capabilities that could hit the eastern flanks of continental Europe." "But we also have to keep in mind that Iran does not have a payload, particularly a nuclear payload that would make those missiles a real strategic threat.
What's more, is that Iran also understands that if it were to strike another country, it opens itself up to retaliation. And if it is going to be hitting any NATO country, that opens it up to retaliation from all of the NATO partners, including the United States," he added.
Kimball and other experts say the new Obama administration is not as committed to the missile defense shield as was President Bush.
"The Obama administration has been quite clear that it will pursue effective ballistic missile defenses," he said. "They have also said, however, that they are not going to move forward and deploy systems and spend billions of dollars on systems that have not been proven effective through flight testing." "And the particular system that the Bush administration was rushing to try to deploy in Poland and the Czech Republic had not even been tested. It involves a two-stage interceptor that is scheduled to be flight tested three times in the next two and a half years - but that has not yet happened," he continued.
The missile defense shield will be discussed at the upcoming Moscow summit between presidents Obama and Medvedev. The Russians have been strongly critical of the system, saying it is targeted against Moscow - a view rejected by U.S. officials.
David Kramer was a former senior U.S. State Department official in the Bush administration. He is now with the German Marshall Fund in the United States.
"When I was working in the Bush administration, I can tell you definitively that that was not the design or plan or intent of putting 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar facility in the Czech Republic. That was designed to confront the possibility of a nuclear weapons threat emanating from Iran. It had nothing to do with Russia," he said.
Robert Legvold from Columbia University says the Russians see the missile shield as the first step in a grandiose plan.
"The Russians are not all that concerned about the immediate practical, military, strategic threat of these systems in central Europe, but see it as the camel's nose under the tent and believe that it's connected with other plans for deploying national missile defense in Alaska, potentially other missile sites in Europe that have been mentioned - toward the Balkans - conceivably a national missile or theater missile component, ballistic missile component in the Far East - in Taiwan or other areas. So I think the Russians believe that this may be potentially a building block," he said.
David Kramer says there have been attempts to get Russia to participate in the missile defense shield.
"There is interest in cooperating with Russia in Armavir, in southern Russia as well as in Gabala, in Azerbaijan, with the radar facilities in both places," he said. "But Russia is insisting that cooperation there would obviate the need to establish sites in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Bush administration's policy was no, those could complement what we have in mind for Poland and the Czech Republic. The Obama administration's position on this is a little less clear."
Experts say it will be interesting to see if during the July Moscow summit presidents Obama and Medvedev will be able to narrow the differences and not allow the missile defense shield to be a major obstacle to better relations between Washington and Moscow.
Friday, June 19, 2009
DTN News: U.S. Orders More Protections For Hawaii In Case North Korea Launches Test Missile
DTN News: U.S. Orders More Protections For Hawaii In Case North Korea Launches Test Missile
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - June 19, 2009: Reacting to reports that North Korea may be preparing to test-fire a missile toward Hawaii, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today that he had ordered that defense of the islands be shored up.
South Korean kindergartners play near displays of models of North Korea's mock Scud-B missile, right, and South Korea's other mock missiles at Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, June 18, 2009. North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July, a Japanese news report said Thursday, as Russia and China urged the regime to return to international disarmament talks on its rogue nuclear program.
Gates ordered deployment of a powerful sea-based radar system that can help closely track the path of intercontinental ballistic missiles and also sent terminal-phase missile interceptors to Hawaii.
The comments may be meant to deter North Korea from attempting another long-range missile launch and to reassure allies that the United States is willing to act to prevent a successful test by Pyongyang.
According to reports in Japanese media, the North Koreans appear to be preparing for their next long-range test for around July 4. Experts believe that because the last long-range missile test failed, Pyongyang has more to prove and may see another test as necessary.
Although Gates did not explicitly say the United States would try to shoot down a test missile aimed in the direction of Hawaii, he noted that interceptor missiles in California and Alaska were ready.
“The ground-based interceptors are clearly in a position to take action,” Gates said. “So without telegraphing what we will do, I would just say, I think we are in a good position, should it become necessary to protect American territory.”
Victor Cha, a scholar at the Center for International and Strategic Studies, said Gates’ comments could be meant as a deterrent.
“It is probably to let the North Koreans and the world know we are going to prepare a response if they are going to continue to launch missiles, particularly if they are going to launch it in the direction of Hawaii,” said Cha, who was President George W. Bush’s top adviser on North Korea.
This week, Marine Gen. James Cartwright, the vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that he was “90% plus” confident the United States could shoot down a North Korean missile.
Cha said Gates’ more assertive language shows a deeper confidence by the military and government in the missile defense system.
“We are just more capable now,” Cha said. “We are much more willing to say we are preparing missile defenses if we are confident we would be able to take something out either in the boost phase or on a ballistic path.”
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missiles that Gates deployed to Hawaii are meant to shoot down missiles minutes before they strike their target. Meant for short-range missiles, they have not yet been tested on long-range rockets.
The sea-based radar, known as the SBX, had been docked in Hawaii for maintenance and repairs and was not deployed when the North Koreans shot a Taepodong 2 rocket in April.
The SBX was due to deploy anyway to participate in planned missile defense tests this summer. But by linking the deployment to the prospect of another North Korean test, Gates appeared to be sending a signal that the United States might try to shoot down Pyongyang’s missile.
Today, he said the Defense Department was watching the North Korean situation and missile preparations closely.
“We do have some concerns, if they were to launch a missile to the west, in the direction of Hawaii,” Gates said.
Military officials are also tracking a North Korean ship that has been involved in transporting weapons in the past. The Kang Nam left North Korea on Wednesday.
A new United Nations resolution allows other nations to ask permission to search North Korean ships or inspect them when they make port calls to refuel if they are suspected of smuggling arms or nuclear material.
At a news conference, Adm. Michael Mullen wouldn’t provide details about the Kang Nam, but said if such a vessel refuses a search it would be directed to a port. “We expect compliance,” Mullen said.
Mullen said with the resolution the international community had made a commitment to halt North Korean weapon proliferation.
“It’s not just the United States. It’s a lot of other countries as well,” Mullen said. “And the North taking steps to further isolate itself, to further non-comply with international guidance and regulations, in the long-run, puts them in a more difficult position.”
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