General Obering Says U.S. Should Welcome Missile Defense Race
April 24, 2008 :: Analysis
Air Force Lt. Gen. General Obering said on Wednesday that the U.S. should be comfortable in welcoming a global missile defense race. Obering, head of the Missile Defense Agency, has told Senate appropriators that in the absence of such defenses, a race for offensive missiles has already exploding all over the world due to easy access to certain kinds of offensive systems.
According to Obering, the kind of layered defense the U.S. is pursuing through the Bush Administration and allies would likely deter enemies and potential enemies from building arsenals of offensive missiles.
In a hearing on the MDA’s 2009 budget request, Obering confidently told appropriators that if Washington, its NATO allies and countries like Russia could come together to develop and field missile shields around the world, hostile regimes in Tehran and Pyongyang will certainly “think twice about [fielding] offensive missiles,” as history has shown that these sorts of defensive systems are “hard to defeat.”
Obering’s report comes as Pentagon and administration officials are in talks with European allies and Warsaw attempting to come to agreement over a proposal to install roughly one dozen missile interceptors in Poland. Additionally, the U.S. has already reached a preliminary agreement with the Czech Republic to put an advanced radar suite there.
Negotiations with Polish officials halted earlier in the year when a new government took over in Warsaw and made clear that its desire for greater American military and security support before agreeing to host interceptors. More recently, U.S. officials have been optimistic about the prospects of linking a deal with Poland.
Obering told the Senate appropriators that he is hopeful that an accord can be reached “by the end of the year,” which would allow the MDA to begin the competition for the European shield work. The agency hopes to select a contractor soon enough to start work in Europe by the end of next year.
Meanwhile, Obering has reported that the Airborne Laser (ABL) effort, geared towards installing a laser weapon on board a Boeing 747 jet, is scheduled for a missile shoot-down test in mid-2009. Following this test, Obering said, agency officials will apply lessons provided by the test, during a “transition period” during which the agency will “try to figure out how to make the third and fourth planes as affordable as possible.”
With the ABL program progressing, Army Lt. Gen Kevin Campbell, chief of the Army Space and Missile Defense and Army Strategic Forces commands argues that the ground force is in talks with Air Force officials about the latter’s Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) program. These two bodies are working to integrate certain AHW technologies with the Air Force’s Prompt Global Strike program aimed at fielding a next-generation weapon capable of striking fleeting targets around the glove faster than today’s munitions. Additionally, MDA is working on doubling the size of its forthcoming SM-3 missile fleet over the next five years.
The Pentagon’s recently completed Joint Capability Mix II Study was meant to study the cocktail of missile defense weapons and sensors to handle threats that may occur in the 2015 time frame. The examination concluded that more SM-3 missiles would be needed. General Campbell has said that MDA plans to scatter the doubled SM-3 fleet across the “out years” of the future years defense strategy.
(Article, Link)
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» Missile system details for: Airborne Laser (ABL)
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Expresses Support for European Defenses
January 27, 2008 :: Xinhua :: News
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas announced his country's support of the United States' plan to station missile defense systems in Eastern Europe. The announcement came while the Foreign Minister was meeting with the Czech Republic's Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg on January 25. Vaitekunas said Lithuania would support incorporating the system with NATO defense. Russia strongly opposes the U.S.'s plan, believing it is intended to blunt Moscow's influence in the region. As a former republic of the Soviet Union, Lithuania's expression of support for the American-sponsored defenses is likely to irritate their Russian former masters. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, NATO, European Missile Defenses
NATO 'Must Prepare to Launch Nuclear Attack'
January 22, 2008 :: News
A group of senior defense and military officials from various NATO countries issued a report analyzing the trans-atlantic alliance and making several policy recommendations. The report stresses that to stem further nuclear proliferation, the alliance should not rule out first-strike use of nuclear weapons. "The risk of further proliferation is imminent and, with it, the danger that nuclear war fighting, albeit limited in scope, might become possible... The first use of nuclear weapons must remain in the quiver of escalation as the ultimate instrument to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction.... To tie our hands on first use or no first use removes a huge plank of deterrence." The report also proposes the alliance scrap consensus decision making, to speed the process when fast action is necessary. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: NATO, Policy, Nuclear Weapons
Obering: Dependence on Radar in Azerbaijan Would be Inadequate
September 18, 2007 :: News
On September 18 a delegation of U.S. missile defense experts toured the Russian Gabala radar facility in Azerbaijan. A current U.S. plan to house ten Ground Based Interceptors in Poland and an X-band radar in the Czech Republic as part of a limited missile defense system has angered Russia, which believes it is intended to challenge its own nuclear deterrent and fears the proximity of the system to its border. Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a counter-proposal in July that would allow the U.S. to share the use of its radar facility in Azerbaijan instead of building one in the Czech Republic. However, the director of the Missile Defense Agency, Lieutenant General Henry Obering, stated that "we do not anticipate, and cannot see, that what they are proposing can take the place for what we are proposing for Poland and the Czech Republic." Obering added, that based on current assessments of the Russian system, it is "not capable of performing the functions" of the radar proposed for the Czech Republic. The Russian radar in Azerbaijan has a broad view of the horizon and is useful for early warning, while the system proposed for the Czech Republic is designed to have a quite narrow view, but one that is very detailed and exact, as required for tracking and targeting individual missiles. The Russian system could be useful as a way to alert the rest of the missile-defense system in Europe to a missile attack but the Russians have maintained that the Gabala radar facility is intended to be an alternative to the U.S. plan and not a supplement. (Article, Link)
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NATO Secretary General Criticizes Russia's Stance on Third Site
September 6, 2007 :: News
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer criticized Russia's stance on the U.S. missile defense to place an X-band radar system in the Czech Republic and ten Ground Based Interceptors in Poland. "Let me speak openly. Russia's sharp criticism of U.S. plans attached a counterproductive and useless coloring to the NATO-Russia dialogue... Russia's warnings addressed to our Czech and Polish allies are inappropriate in today's Europe."
The Secretary General did find Russia's counter-proposal, suggesting the joint use of Azeri radar base, heartening. "I would not judge the specific advantages of this proposal but I think it point out to three nuances. First, Russia recognized the existence of potential rocket menace; second, Russia seeks for joint solutions; third, pragmatic compromise on missile defense shield can be found," Scheffer said. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: European Missile Defenses, NATO, Russia
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer: "There is Every Reason to Strive for Preserving the CFE Treaty"
July 24, 2007 :: Interfax :: News
Interfax interviewed NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer about NATO-Russian relations and Russia's recent suspension of its obligations under the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty. Scheffer reiterated NATO's disappointment with Russia's suspension, and voiced his hope that NATO and Russia could find common ground on the landmark treaty for the sake of European security.
[The] Allies did express disappointment and concern with the unilateral decision of Russia. They also reiterated their full commitment to the CFE regime and called upon all signatories to continue implementing fully all the obligations under the CFE Treaty and associated documents. At the same time we have invited Russia for a constructive and creative dialogue on this important issue. The NATO-Russia Council (NRC) framework—that has served us so well over the last five years— can also play a helpful role... the CFE Treaty is such an important document and represents years of extensive negotiations and discussions that there is every reason to strive—on all sides—for preserving this landmark Treaty and bringing the Adapted CFE Treaty into force. Don't forget also that the Adapted Treaty reflect not the realities of the bygone, bloc to bloc era, but those of the new cooperative security situation in Europe.
(Article, Link)
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Merkel Open to Missile Shield Due to Iran
July 18, 2007 :: News
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she did not oppose U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Europe to counter a possible missile attack from Iran. "I am not against Mr Putin but also not against the idea," Merkel said at a semi-annual news conference in response to a question about the U.S. shield plan. "I have always said that one cannot say there's no threat coming from Iran." While the U.S. plan, which would place ten Ground Based Interceptors in Poland and an X-band radar facility in the Czech Republic, has angered Russia, Chancellor Merkel thought Russian President Vladimir Putin's latest counterproposals were an encouraging sign of possible reconciliation. "Thanks to the Russian proposals we no longer talk about whether we have to have a missile shield, but how can we do it together," she said. Chancellor Merkel also stressed that any plan must cover all NATO and European countries: "We in Europe will have to think again about whether we need to fully cover Europe. Southern Europe won't be covered and this will have to be discussed in NATO and in the NATO-Russia Council." (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, NATO, European Missile Defenses
Russia Rejects NATO Offer but Rules Out 'New Cold War'
July 18, 2007 :: Spacewar.com :: News
Russia rejected a NATO proposal for consultations over the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty from which it said it would withdraw. Russia added, however, that it would consider talks the U.S. later. "I don't see much point in holding such a meeting since the position of NATO on the CFE treaty has not yet changed," said General Yevgeny Buzhinsky, a top defense ministry official, in Itar-Tass. The Russian general said the CFE treaty should either be changed or renegotiated. Buzhinsky added that if NATO countries do not ratify the treaty by December, Russia will withdraw. The CFE treaty regulates the deployments of tanks and troops in NATO and former Warsaw Pact countries in Europe. NATO countries insist they will only ratify the treaty once Russia withdraws its remaining forces in Georgia and Moldova.
Buzhinsky also emphasized his country's interest in converting the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty into a multilateral agreement, and in renegotiating the Strategic Offensive Reductions treaty which expires in 2009. The INF treaty bans ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometers, but currently only applies to the U.S. and Russia. The 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions treaty reduces warheads in Russia and the U.S. by two thirds, to between 1,700 and 2,200 deployed warheads each. (Article, Link)
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McNamara on Dodd Amendment
July 13, 2007 :: The Heritage Foundation :: Analysis
Sally McNamara of the Heritage Foundation recently criticized an amendment by Senator Christopher Dodd to cut $225 million from building a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. The amendment ignores the pressing strategic need for the system, McNamara suggests, as well as our broader interests in European security and the U.S.'s relationship with Poland and the Czech Republic.
The emerging threat of a ballistic missile attack from a rouge state or terrorist organization is a danger to Europe and the U.S. alike. North Korea's Taepo-Dong 2 missiles and Iran's Shahab 3 ballistic missiles in particular, could threaten the security of Europe. Accordingly, "ten long-range, ground-based missile defense interceptors in Poland and a mid-course radar in the Czech Republic will strengthen transatlantic security and counter the evolving... ballistic missile threat. The Dodd amendment, however, will delay the proposed construction date of 2008 and the operational target date of 2012."
In addition to the military significance of the system, the placement of the interceptors and radar in Poland and the Czech Republic respectively would be a symbol of both transatlantic solidarity and a special relationship between those countries and the U.S.
For Warsaw and Prague, this would mark a milestone in their integration into the transatlantic security community. They would be providing a significant contribution to NATO and making a powerful statement in support of the alliance's principle of mutual defense. Hosting missile defense facilities would also offer Poland and the Czech Republic a special defense relationship with the United States. The project entails genuine cooperation between Washington and new, solid allies who have expressed an interest in building more enduring alliances with the United States.
The success of the Dodd amendment however would not only weaken Polish and Czech confidence in the U.S.'s commitment to their security, but would embolden Russia to meddle in European affairs. McNamara concludes, "Congress must display resolve and leadership by providing adequate funding to take this step toward solidifying the transatlantic security alliance." (Article, Link)
» More stories on: European Missile Defenses, NATO, Analysis
