European Missile Defence

A.V.

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Europe Puts Eyes On The World

March 14, 2009: Seventeen NATO nations have agreed to contribute $1.89 billion to establish the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system. This will consist of eight U.S. built Global Hawk UAVs, equipped with spy satellite grade surveillance equipment (cameras and radar), fifteen ground stations and software to get the data to any NATO member quickly. The late model (Block 40) Global Hawks will be able to get to any part of the globe (the U.S. has flown them across the Pacific, on automatic) quickly, and put eyes on the trouble spot.
Germany has already pledged $400 million for AGS, which is supposed to be operational in three years. AGS has been in the planning and discussion stage for over a decade
 

shiv

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i dont get it???

whats the freaking use of it???

use those 1.89 billion in infrastructure to revive this global crisis instead of wasting it on defense contractors.....
 

yang

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i dont get it???

whats the freaking use of it???

use those 1.89 billion in infrastructure to revive this global crisis instead of wasting it on defense contractors.....
I can't agree you more.Today,the crisis is the major problem,and after the crisis,the world wide power may have qualitative changes .And rising from the strenghening defences is not a good idea,on the contrary,they may lose their strengh even more quickly.
And on the other side,European Union is a complex organisation,it include not only some superpowers like Germany,England,France,but also some week countries,like Iceland...So,on its surface ,it is a great union that nobody can destory,but if you see it on the other side,it is also a union with a lot of internal contradictions.Several symbols indicated that:1.In the crisis,many big countries felt they were burdened with the small countries,(not long before,the small countries are so rich because of the financial industry)2.the president of France mistake his own strength,dreaming of being the leader of EU,then England ,Germany won't be happy,3.they have different views on many incidents,such as the relationship between China and EU.
And the views of the countries are still like the old-fashioned gentle man,they are rarely try to understand what the other people think.
As these goes on,EU won't be a good friend.
 

EnlightenedMonk

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At approximately 2 billion dollars, such a technology is a STEAL if you ask me. Very high return on investment. You can snoop around on everybody else and at the same time possibly use the same cameras for land and resource planning (if they're dual purpose).

I'd like to play the Devil's Advocate and actually say that this has been a very sound investment as far as the EU is concerned.
 

EnlightenedMonk

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i dont get it???

whats the freaking use of it???

use those 1.89 billion in infrastructure to revive this global crisis instead of wasting it on defense contractors.....
To be very frank with you, I think it's a steal at such a price. Europe has already invested many billions of dollars into bailing out their banks and it hasn't exactly paid off too much, has it??? Another extra 2 billion isn't going to make too much of a difference to the banks IMHO.

Good place to invest, and I'm surprised that such an advanced system costs only 2 billion dollars. Maybe we should also invest in such a system if it is indeed that cheap...
 
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this a move of desperation NATO wants to be able to project power but in reality a 40 nation NATO coalition is losing to a so called underdeveloped third world country Afghanistan and has to figure out a way to leave and save face, what good is it to see the hot spots if you can't go and do anything like Iran and north korea, and spy atellites already do this anyway, a redundancy and a total waste of money.
 
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Russia weighs Cuba, Venezuela bases for bombers:

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_weighs_Cuba_Venezuela_bases_for_bombers_report_999.html




Russia weighs Cuba, Venezuela bases for bombers:
by Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) March 14, 2009
Russia could use bases for its strategic bombers on the doorstep of the United States in Cuba and Venezuela to underpin long-distance patrols in the region, a senior air force officer said Saturday.

"This is possible in Cuba," General Anatoly Zhikharev, chief of the Russian air force's strategic aviation staff, told the Interfax-AVN military news agency.

The comments were the latest signal that Moscow intends to project its military capability in far-flung corners of the globe despite a tight defence budget and hardware that experts consider in many respects outdated.

Zhikharev indicated that Russia was looking only at occasional use of the facilities -- not setting up permanent bases in the region.

He noted that the Venezuelan constitution prohibited establishment of military bases of foreign states on Venezuelan territory and described the Russian possibile use of the facility there as "we land, we complete the flight, we take off."

Zhikharev said Cuba had a several air bases equipped with the long runways needed by the heavy bombers and said the facilities there were "entirely acceptable" for use by the Russian aircraft during long-distance patrols.

"If the will of the two states is there, the political will, then we are prepared to fly there" to the bases in Cuba, the agency quoted Zhikharev as saying.

The general also said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had offered to let Russian strategic bombers use a military airfield on La Orchila island, a military base off the west coast of the country.

"Yes, there has been such a proposal from the Venezuelan president," Zhikharev said.

"If a relevant political decision is made, this is possible," he added.

Russia resumed patrols by its long-distance strategic bombers in August 2007 after a 15-year hiatus, noting at the time that it was mirroring the United States which never suspended its global bomber patrols after the Cold War.

Last year, Russia temporarily based a pair of Tu-160 bombers at an airbase in Venezuela in a carefully-choreographed display of force regarded by as a warning message to the United States.

A Russian flotilla led by the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great also joined Venezuelan navy vessels for manoeuvres in the Caribbean late last year, timed to coincide with a visit to the region by President Dmitry Medvedev.

The previous US administration of George W. Bush officially shrugged off the Russian aviation and naval moves in Latin America, characterising them as more for show than anything representing a military worry for the United States.

Last July however, a top US air force officer warned that Russia would cross "a red line" if it were to base nuclear capable bombers in Cuba.

"If they did, I think we should stand strong and indicate that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America," said General Norton Schwartz said on July 23.

The Interfax report said there were three types of Russian aircraft capable of long-distance bomber patrols: The Tu-95MS, the Tu-160 and the Tu-22.

It was Tu-160 strategic bombers that were sent to Venezuela for temporary basing last year. Each aircraft of this type is capable of carrying 12 cruise missiles that can be fitted with nuclear warheads.
 

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Russia says missile shield agreement with U.S. possible

MOSCOW, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Moscow and Washington are ready to progress on such thorny issues as the U.S. missile defense shield and the reduction of strategic arms, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

"In theory, we have every opportunity to agree on the missile defense issue," spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told a press conference.

Russia welcomed the Czech Republic's decision to put off a vote in parliament on the approval of a deal to deploy a radar on its territory as part of the U.S. missile defense system, Nesterenko said.

The strategic arms reduction is another key issue that will soon be discussed in a dialogue with the United States, the spokesman said.

"We believe that the mechanical extension of the existing treaty, which is to expire soon, would be counter-productive," he said.

Russia strongly opposes plans by the former U.S. administration of George W. Bush to base a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying the move poses a threat to its security.

Both Russia and the United States have expressed willingness to reset bilateral relations since U.S. President Barack Obama took office in January.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov agreed on a work plan aimed at renewing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which committed both parties to cutting their arsenals.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/19/content_11037132.htm
 

A.V.

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thread for all news updates and discussions on EUROPEAN MISSILE DEFENCE
 

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Russia, NATO may start discussing European security treaty in September

Kyiv Post. Independence. Community. Trust. » Homepage » World » Russia, NATO may start discussing European security treaty in September


Moscow, June 29 (Interfax) - Russia and NATO may start negotiations on a new European security treaty in September, Russian Permanent Representative to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said in a TV link-up from Brussels on Monday.


"I believe we will start the dialog in Brussels in September," Rogozin said.

In contrast to other international organizations, the Russia-NATO Council is the only structure on the European continent constantly considering military and political security, he said.

"The Russia-NATO Council is the right place to discuss prospects of the European security treaty," he said.
 

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Russia warns US over missile shield

By STEVE GUTTERMAN – 4 days ago

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's foreign minister warned Tuesday that the U.S. would jeopardize progress toward a new treaty with Russia on nuclear arms cuts if it decides to create a global missile defense system.

Sergey Lavrov spoke a day after the Russian and U.S. presidents reached a preliminary agreement setting targets for further reductions of the world's largest offensive nuclear arsenals.

Lavrov's message was that Russia will not agree to the cuts — which both countries say they want to codify in a treaty before the existing START I agreement expires in December — if the U.S. fails to assuage Moscow's concerns over missile defense plans.

He said Russia had won agreement from the U.S. that the new treaty would acknowledge a link between offensive and defensive weapons.

"If our partners (the U.S.) make a decision to create an American missile defense system with global reach, then that will doubtless place a big question mark over the prospects for further reductions in strategic offensive weapons," he said.

Russia wants Obama to abandon the previous administration's plans to deploy missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Lavrov praised President Barack Obama for placing those plans under review and said he hoped the review would end with "an understanding of the counterproductivity of unilateral actions" on missile defense.

The planned START replacement pact calls for each side to reduce strategic warheads to a range of 1,500 to 1,675, and strategic delivery vehicles to a range of 500 to 1,100. Current limits allow 2,200 warheads and 1,600 delivery vehicles.

A limit at the low end of that range would be better for Russia, which is already well below the 1,100 figure.

"We favor the maximum possible limitations on delivery vehicles," Lavrov said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the agreement Tuesday, saying it would make "a significant contribution to the process of nuclear disarmament as well as nuclear nonproliferation" ahead of next year's Vienna conference of countries that signed the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Lavrov also said an agreement allowing the U.S. to ship weapons to Afghanistan across Russian territory applies only to shipments by air, not by land, and that it gives Russia the right to inspect the shipments. A senior U.S. official said the agreement allows for ground transit but that the U.S. does not want it.

Russia is already allowing the U.S. to ship non-lethal goods by land across its territory, and the U.S. has conducted such shipments by rail this year.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The Associated Press: Russia warns US over missile shield
 

youngindian

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US mulling European missile defense alternatives

31/07/2009

WASHINGTON — A senior Defense Department official said Thursday that the United States is considering options for European missile defense other than current plans for a system based in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow told lawmakers in the House of Representatives at a hearing on relations with Russia that the Obama administration is looking at various configurations as part of its review of missile defense plans.

"The site in Poland and the radar in the Czech Republic are among the options that are being considered, together with other options that might be able to perform the mission as well," Vershbow said.

The administration has been seeking better relations with Russia, which adamantly opposes the U.S. plans made by the former Bush administration to install 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic. Russia has said continuing with the employment would undermine talks launched by the U.S. and Russian presidents on renewed cooperation.

While ordering a review of the plans, the Obama administration has maintained the Bush administration's argument that the European missile defense plans are aimed at countering a threat from Iran and pose no threat to Russia. The administration also has been sensitive to the possibility that canceling the plans in Poland and the Czech Republic will harm relations with those two allies.

Vershbow said the missile defense review will look at a range of options, but will not take Russia's objection into account.

"We are reviewing these internally; we are not engaged in a discussion with the Russians about alternative options at this point," he said. "Our conclusions will be based exclusively on the threat from Iran, the effectiveness of the systems and the cost."
 

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Obama Lied About USA's Missile Defense System Plans?

31.07.2009

The politics of the US administration in the field of the ballistic missile defense will not be changed much, Brad Roberts, an official with the US Defense Department said. The Pentagon does not exclude alternative locations for the deployment of the missile defense system in Europe, but the United States will not take account of Russia's concerns at this point."I don't see much likelihood of significant departure from the continuity of policy of the last 20 years of the United States," Brad Roberts, the deputy assistant defense secretary for nuclear and missile defense policy said in an interview with Global Security Newswire.

The official did not specify, how the new missile defense policies of the United States are going to affect the plans to deploy a radar station and interceptor missiles in Eastern Europe. Mr. Roberts only said that the discussion was underway.

In the meantime, another official representing the US Defense Department stated that the US was considering options for European missile defense other than current plans for a system based in Poland and the Czech Republic.

"The site in Poland and the radar in the Czech Republic are among the options that are being considered, together with other options that might be able to perform the mission as well," Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow told lawmakers in the House of Representatives, The Associated Press reports.

Vershbow said the missile defense review will look at a range of options, but will not take Russia's objection into account.

"We are reviewing these internally; we are not engaged in a discussion with the Russians about alternative options at this point. Our conclusions will be based exclusively on the threat from Iran, the effectiveness of the systems and the cost,” The AP quoted Vershbow as saying.

The US Missile Defense Agency has recently conducted a successful test of a sea-based component of its missile defense shield. An interceptor missile successfully destroyed the test target fired from Hawaii on Thursday night. It became the 19th successful test of the Aegis sea-based missile defense system.

However, the United States has been trying to dispel Russia’s apprehensions regarding the US missile defense system in Europe. A group of American military experts is visiting Moscow to negotiate the establishment of the early prevention center which would analyze the ballistic missile threat, The Washington Post wrote.

It seems that the new US administration does not even intend to do at least something to justify Russia’s hopes. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in the beginning of June that the Pentagon had plans to deploy missile defense system elements on Russia’s territory. Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry responded that Moscow did not consider an opportunity to host the system on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Patrick O’Reilly, the director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said that the deployment of the US missile defense system components in the Czech Republic could be finished within four and a half years, and in Poland – in five years.


Obama Lied About USA's Missile Defense System Plans? - Pravda.Ru
 

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Report: U.S. to Scrap E. Europe Missile Shield Bases

WARSAW, Poland - Washington will scrap plans to put anti-missile bases in Poland and the Czech Republic and is looking at alternatives including Israel and Turkey, a Polish newspaper reported Aug. 27, citing U.S. officials.

The U.S. plan, intended for defense against attacks from Iran, has met with fierce objections from Russia, which regarded the eastern European bases as a threat to its own security.


Leading Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza cited administration officials and lobbyists in Washington in support of its story.

Pro-missile shield lobbyist Riki Ellison said the signals from the Pentagon were "absolutely clear," with U.S. authorities scouting for alternatives sites, the paper reported.

No immediate comment was available from U.S., Polish or Czech officials.

Gazeta Wyborcza said Washington was now considering deploying anti-missile interceptors on naval vessels and at bases in Israel and Turkey, as well as potentially in the Balkans.

Ellison told the paper that a conference last week, U.S. generals "never once" mentioned the plan, which was initiated by the previous U.S. administration of President George W. Bush.

After taking office this year, Bush's successor, Barack Obama, launched a review of the controversial system.

Gazeta Wyborcza cited a source at the U.S. Congress, whom it did not identify, as saying that Washington had been "testing the water" among lawmakers for weeks about scrapping the eastern European part of the plan.

In 2008, Warsaw and Washington struck a deal on deploying 10 U.S. long-range interceptor missiles in Poland as part of a global air-defense system.

The system, which was meant to be operational by 2013, also foresaw a radar base in the Czech Republic, Poland's southern neighbor.

Washington said the goal was to ward off potential Iranian attacks, pointing to Tehran's nuclear program.

But Moscow condemned what it said was a U.S. threat on its doorstep and threatened to train nuclear warheads on Poland and the Czech Republic.

Warsaw and Prague broke from the crumbling communist bloc in 1989 and joined NATO 10 years later.

Report: U.S. to Scrap E. Europe Missile Shield Bases - Defense News
 

youngindian

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U.S. to relocate missile defense system

Aug. 27, 2009

WARSAW, Poland, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- 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.

U.S. to relocate missile defense system - UPI.com
 

RPK

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US to shelve Europe missile shield plans: Report - US - World - NEWS - The Times of India

WASHINGTON: The White House will shelve US plans to build a missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, a move likely to ease tensions
with Russia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The decision will be based on a US "determination that Iran's long-range missile program has not progressed as rapidly as previously estimated, reducing the threat to the continental US and major European capitals," the paper said.

It said the findings were expected to be completed as early as next week following a 60-day review ordered by President Barack Obama.

The paper cited unnamed current and former US officials for the report.

US Vice President Joe Biden, who is visiting Baghdad, declined to comment when asked about the report.

The Bush administration had pushed for the defense shield to defend against what it said was the possibility of Iran developing nuclear warheads to put on its long-range missiles.

Washington insisted the plan was not directed against Russia, which said the system was a threat to its own missiles.

Iran denies Western charges that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, and says its missiles are for defense.

Iran and six world powers -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- are due to start wide-ranging talks on Oct. 1.

The Journal said the Obama administration's assessment would order a shift toward the development of regional -- and less controversial -- missile defenses for Europe. It said the administration "was expected to leave open the option of restarting the Polish and Czech system if Iran makes advances in its long-range missiles in the future."

The Obama administration has said it wants to "reset" relations with its Cold War foe, strained by issues such as Russia's 2008 war with Georgia and proposals to expand NATO to include former Soviet republics Georgia and Ukraine.

The Journal said the decision to shelve the missile shield plans would raise alarm in Eastern Europe, where officials have expressed concern that US efforts to improve relations with Russia would come at the expense of US allies in the former Soviet bloc.

"The Poles are nervous," it quoted an unnamed senior US military official as saying.
 

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U.S. Shelves Nuclear-Missile Shield

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

WASHINGTON -- The White House will shelve Bush administration plans to build a missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, a move likely to cheer Moscow and roil the security debate in Europe.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Thursday that the plan was changed to better protect U.S. forces and allies in Europe from Iranian missile attacks.

The U.S. based its decision on a determination that Iran's long-range missile program hasn't progressed as rapidly as previously estimated, reducing the threat to the continental U.S. and major European capitals, according to current and former U.S. officials.The findings, expected to be completed as early as next week following a 60-day review ordered by President Barack Obama, would be a major reversal from the Bush administration, which pushed aggressively to begin construction of the Eastern European system before leaving office in January.

Mr. Obama is expected to make a public announcement later today.

Russia on Thursday welcomed the news, but said it saw no reason to offer concessions in return. At one point earlier this year, Russia President Dmitry Medvedev threatened last November to station tactical Iskander missiles on Poland's border if the U.S. system was deployed.

"The Bush plans on the missile defense as we knew them until now were nothing more than a provocation of security in the European region," said Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in a phone interview.

The Obama administration's move was confirmed by the Czech Republic interim prime minister. "Just after midnight I was informed in a telephone call by President Barack Obama that [his] administration has decided to pull out from the plan missile defense shield installations" in the Czech Republic and Poland, said Jan Fischer said at a news conference Thursday.The Polish government doesn't plan to make an immediate statement on its Thursday meeting with U.S. officials on the missile shield, Foreign Ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski said.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the U.S. decision is a positive step and would improve the involvement of all NATO nations. Mr. Fogh Rasmussen said he had talks with the U.S. top envoy to the alliance on Thursday morning, adding the full alliance will be debriefed later in the day.

The Bush administration proposed the European-based system to counter the perceived threat of Iran developing a nuclear weapon that could be placed atop its increasingly sophisticated missiles. There is widespread disagreement over the progress of Iran's nuclear program toward developing such a weapon, but miniaturizing nuclear weapons for use on long-range missiles is one of the most difficult technological hurdles for an aspiring nuclear nation.

The Bush plan infuriated the Kremlin, which argued the system was a potential threat to its own intercontinental ballistic missiles. U.S. officials repeatedly insisted the location and limited scale of the system -- a radar site in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland -- posed no threat to Russian strategic arms.

The Obama administration's assessment concludes that U.S. allies in Europe, including members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, face a more immediate threat from Iran's short- and medium-range missiles and will order a shift towards the development of regional missile defenses for the Continent, according to people familiar with the matter. Such systems would be far less controversial.Critics of the shift are bound to view it as a gesture to win Russian cooperation with U.S.-led efforts to seek new economic sanctions on Iran if Tehran doesn't abandon its nuclear program. Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, has opposed efforts to impose fresh sanctions on Tehran.

Security Council members, which include the U.S. and Russia, will meet with Iranian negotiators on Oct. 1 to discuss Iran's nuclear program.

Current and former U.S. officials briefed on the assessment's findings said the administration was expected to leave open the option of restarting the Polish and Czech system if Iran makes advances in its long-range missiles in the future.

The decision to shelve the defense system is all but certain to raise alarms in Eastern Europe, where officials have expressed concerns that the White House's effort to "reset" relations with Moscow would come at the expense of U.S. allies in the former Soviet bloc. "The Poles are nervous," said a senior U.S. military official.

Earlier, a Polish official said his government wouldn't "speculate" on administration decisions regarding missile defense, but said "we expect the U.S. will abide by its commitments" to cooperate with Poland militarily in areas beyond the missile-defense program.

Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he expected the Obama administration to drop the missile-defense plans. He said that Moscow wouldn't view the move as a concession but rather a reversal of a mistaken Bush-era policy.

Still, the decision is likely to be seen in Russia as a victory for the Kremlin. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with Mr. Obama at next week's meetings of the U.N. General Assembly and Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations.Although a center-right government in Prague supported the Bush missile-defense plan when it was first proposed, the Czech Republic is now run by a caretaker government. A Czech official said his government was concerned an announcement by the White House on the missile-defense program could influence upcoming elections and has urged a delay. But the Obama administration has decided to keep to its original timetable.

European analysts said the administration would be forced to work hard to convince both sides the decision wasn't made to curry favor with Moscow and, instead, relied only on the program's technical merits and analysis of Iran's missile capabilities.

"There are two audiences: the Russians and the various European countries," said Sarah Mendelson, a Russia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The task is: How do they cut through the conspiracy theories in Moscow?"

The Obama administration has been careful to characterize its review as a technical assessment of the threat posed by the Iranian regime, as well as the costs and capabilities of a ground-based antimissile system to complement the two already operating in Alaska and central California. Those West Coast sites are meant to defend against North Korean missiles.

The administration has also debated offering Poland and the Czech Republic alternative programs to reassure the two NATO members that the U.S. remains committed to their defense.

Poland, in particular, has lobbied the White House to deploy Patriot missile batteries -- the U.S. Army's primary battlefield missile-defense system -- manned by American troops as an alternative.

Although Polish officials supported the Bush plan, U.S. officials said they had indicated their primary desire was getting U.S. military personnel on Polish soil. Gen. Carter Hamm, commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, said Washington has begun talks with Polish officials about starting to rotate Europe-based American Patriot units into Poland for month-long training tours as a first step toward a more permanent presence.

"My position has been: Let's get started as soon as we can with the training rotations, while the longer-term stationing...is decided between the two governments," Gen. Hamm said in an interview.

For several years, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency has been pushing for breaking ground in Poland and the Czech Republic, arguing that construction must begin so the system would be in place to counter Tehran's emerging long-range-missile program, which intelligence assessments determined would produce an effective rocket by about 2015.

But in recent months, several prominent experts have questioned that timetable. A study by Russian and U.S. scientists published in May by the East-West Institute, an international think tank, downplayed the progress of Iran's long-range-missile program. In addition, Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an expert in missile defense and space-based weapons, said in a speech last month that long-range capabilities of both Iran and North Korea "are not there yet."

"We believed that the emergence of the intercontinental ballistic missile would come much faster than it did," Gen. Cartwright said. "The reality is, it has not come as fast as we thought it would come."

It is not an assessment that is shared universally. Eric Edelman, who oversaw missile-defense issues at the Pentagon as undersecretary of defense for policy in the Bush administration, said intelligence reports he reviewed were more troubling.

"Maybe something really dramatic changed between Jan. 16 and now in terms of what the Iranians are doing with their missile system, but I don't think so," Mr. Edelman said, referring to his last day in office.

There is far more consensus on Iran's ability to develop its short- and medium-range missiles, and the administration review is expected to recommend a shift in focus toward European defenses against those threats. Such a program would be developed closely with NATO.



U.S. Shelves Nuclear-Missile Shield - WSJ.com
 

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US to deploy ships with interceptors to Europe

WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday the United States would initially deploy Aegis ships equipped with missile interceptors to help defend European allies and U.S. forces against threats from Iran and others under a revamped missile shield program.

He said negotiations were under way with Poland and the Czech Republic about deploying land-based interceptors later.

Gates said deploying ships in the near term with SM-3 interceptors, made by Raytheon Co., would provide the flexibility to move U.S. missile defense capabilities as may be needed.

Marine Corps General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Pentagon envisioned keeping three ships at any given time in and around the Mediterranean and the North Sea to protect "areas of interest," with the possibility of "surging" additional ships to the region as needed.

A second phase of the system, Gates said, involved deploying upgraded, land-based SM-3s starting in about 2015.

"We have now the opportunity to deploy new sensors and interceptors in northern and southern Europe that near term can provide missile defense coverage against more immediate threats from Iran or others," he said.

He said consultations on deploying land-based SM-3s had begun with Poland and the Czech Republic. (Reporting by Adam Entous; Editing by Phil Stewart and Jackie Frank)

UPDATE 1-US to deploy ships with interceptors to Europe By Reuters
 

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Obama scraps Bush's European missile shield

Associated Press


Thursday, 17 September 2009

President Barack Obama phoned the Czech prime minister and reportedly told him he will scrap the programme

President Barack Obama today shelved a Bush-era plan for an Eastern European missile defence plan that has been a major irritant in US relations with Russia. He said a redesigned defensive system would be cheaper, quicker and more effective against the threat from Iranian missiles.

"Our new missile defense architecture in Europe will provide stronger, smarter and swifter defenses of American forces and America's allies," Obama said in an announcement from the White House. "It is more comprehensive than the previous program; it deploys capabilities that are proven and cost effective, and it sustains and builds upon our commitment to protect the U.S. homeland."

The missile defense system, planned under the Bush administration, was to have been built in the Czech Republic and Poland. Obama phoned Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer on Wednesday night and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Thursday to alert them of his decision.

Obama said the plan was scrapped in part because, after a review, the U.S. has concluded that Iran is less focused on developing the kind of long-range missiles for which the system was originally developed, making the building of an expensive new shield unnecessary. New technology also has arisen that military advisers decided could be deployed sooner and more effectively, he said.

Anticipating certain criticism from the right that he was weakening U.S. security, Obama said repeatedly that this decision would provide more — not less — protection.

"I'm committed to deploying strong missile defense systems that are adaptable to the threats of the 21st century," the president said.

He said the US would continue to work cooperatively with what he called "our close friends and allies" — the Czech Republic and Poland, which had agreed to host the Bush-planned shield at considerable cost in public opinion and their relations with Russia.

He also made a pointed reference to Russia and its long and heated objections to the shield. "Its concerns about our previous missile defense programs were entirely unfounded," Obama said.

Still, the decision could — and mostly likely will — be read as at least in part as an effort to placate Russia at a time when its support against Iran's suspected nuclear program has not been forthcoming and is sorely needed.
Obama to scrap European missile shield - Worldnews.com
 

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