Poll: 54% of Pennsylvanians Believe the U.S. Already Has a Missile Defense; 80% Support BMD
May 26, 2004 :: MDAA :: News
recent poll of 600 Pennsylvania registered voters, performed by an independent polling company and paid for by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), revealed that 54 percent of the state’s residents mistakenly believe that the U.S. already has such a system in place to protect the country and its citizens., when in fact no such defense exists. Some 80% of those surveyed support the deployment of such defenses. (Article, Link)
» Details of PA survey by MDAA
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Miller on the Next Steps for Missile Defense
May 24, 2004 :: National Review Online :: Analysis
John Miller of NRO takes note of the recent debate which is sure to continue after the first missile deployment takes place later this year. The debate concerns nothing less than the future of missile defense. Miller rightly favors a space-based approach to any attempt at boost-phase interception, calling for a revival of Brilliant Pebbles over the costly and unlikely Kinetic Energy Interceptor.
Miller quotes Senator Kyl of Arizona as repudiating the notion that defensive systems in space somehow represent a fresh weaponization of that arena: “The notion that defensive space-based interceptors will somehow weaponize space is intellectually dishonest…And we shouldn’t be using the phrase ‘weapons in space.’ Space is already used by militaries and of offensive missile in space is no less using space than its defensive interceptor.” (Article, Link)
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Spring: “Cut and Delay” is Wrong Path for BMD
May 21, 2004 :: The Heritage Foundation :: Analysis
Baker Spring of the Heritage Foundation responds to the opposition the Bush administration defense budget has been receiving by Democrats in the House and Senate this week, some of whom are doing their very best to kill important parts of missile defense funding in committee.
Thus far, most of these attempts at fatal amendments have failed. Spring writes to refute two “spurious contentions”: 1) that missile defense has not had adequate testing to deploy, and 2) that missile defense is too costly.
Spring also points out—as Bush also pointed out in his December 2002 National Security Policy Directive 23 ordering the deployment—that the president is bound by the 1999 law, that makes it the policy of the United States to deploy a missile defense as soon as technologically feasible. (Article, Link)
» Text of 1999 Missile Defense Act
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Missile Defense Advocates Question KEI
May 17, 2004 :: Defense News :: News
As the Pentagon pushes for the development of the Kinectic Energy Interceptor (KEI), a system intended to shoot down missiles during the boost phase, and as the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) gave contracts to Northrop Grumman and Raytheon to develop the KEI system, staunch missile defense supporters are voicing concern over the usefulness of the system, according to Defense News.
Henry Cooper, chairman of High Frontier, a missile defense advocacy group, said last month at a Washington breakfast sponsored by the National Defense University, funding should be allocated to space and sea-based systems within the time frame provided for the development of the KEI. Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy, and James Hackett, a San Diego-based consultant, echoed similar sentiments.
Gaffney noted that the KEI, a land-based system, lacks in effectiveness against missiles in their boost phase because it is not able to be deployed near the launch site. For missile defense interceptors, the boost phase provides much better odds for taking out a missile because of the slower speed of flight right after launch and the inability to utilize decoys.
All three experts agreed that, in the long term, a space-based system is the best way forward for countering missiles in the boost phase; while, for the near term, using some KEI money for putting interceptors modeled after the Standard Missile-3 on the Navy’s Aegis cruisers is a worthwhile endeavor. (Link)
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» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI)
BMD Expert Running for Congress
May 15, 2004 :: News
An expert and advocate for missile defense, Lisa Marie Cheney, a Republican, is running for congress in Virginia, running against Democrat James P. Moran Jr. Cheney owns PSMA Inc., a government relations firm specializing in missile defense. (Article, Link)
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Union of Concerned Scientists Knocks BMD
May 13, 2004 :: UCS :: Analysis
The Union of Concerned Scientists today released a report, Technical Realities, complaining that the missile defense interceptors set to be deployed this year serve no purpose, address no real threat, and are insufficiently tested.
The charge of insufficient testing is valid, but it is important to remember that one purpose of the Fort Greely and Vandenburg AFB deployment sites is to serve as a test bed. That they would be deployed during that time to offer some minimal defense only makes sense. Reports such as these must try very hard to minimize the threat from rogue states, to say nothing of the threat from Russia and China. It is true that the limited number of interceptors set to be deployed in August—nine—are far from enough to adequately defend America. On this score, the UCS is, in a sense, correct. But the response to this charge is that they only the first installment. A more robust and layered defense is necessary to truly complete the job, and the testing conducted from Alaska and Vandenburg will aid in moving along towards that goal.
Studies such as these refuse to recognize the fairly obvious fact that, even despite the system’s limitations, some defense is better than none. (Article, Link)
» Full text of UCS report (.pdf)
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Possibility of Russian Radars, Targets, for BMD Tests
May 13, 2004 :: News
Representative Curt Weldon said that the United States is looking at Russian radars and targets as part of the U.S. missile defense program, according to today’s edition of Aerospace Daily & Defense Report. Weldon spoke of MDA’s interest in using Russia’s “very good” expertise in constructing ballistic missile-tracking radars, access to which could help the United States improve its ability to track missile threats from China and North Korea. In addition, Weldon noted that MDA may be interested in having Russia produce targets to be used in missile defense tests, but added that Russia’s cooperation is unlikely: “I don’t think the Russians really want to be in a position of having America constantly shoot down what they put up in space.” (Article, Link)
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Bush MD Plans Win in House
May 7, 2004 :: News
The Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee approved language to cut $177 million from the Bush administration’s 2005 missile defense budget request, including $75 million for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor. Republicans succeeded in keeping in funding for the second round of some 20 interceptors to be fielded in 2006 and 2007, and Democratic members’ attempts to kill preparations for space-based interceptors to begin in 2010 and for the NFIRE test in 2006 were thwarted. (Article, Link)
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MX Missiles Could be Armed with Conventional Warheads
May 7, 2004 :: Arms Control Today :: News
The Department of Defense is considering using a number of now deactivated MX or “Peacekeeper” missiles rather than destroying them altogether, possibly to arm them with conventional warheads, in an effort to both find a replacement for the aging Minuteman III force and to maintain a credible deterrent, both nuclear and otherwise. Conventionally armed missiles need not be directed at only Russia and China, but could also be used to destory targets in rogue states. (Article, Link)
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» Missile details: Peacekeeper
Marshall Policy Report: BMD Still Important
May 6, 2004 :: Marshall Institute :: Analysis
The Marshall Institute today released a policy document, “Missile Defense: A Continuing National Priority.” Among the points considered are that while terrorism is a scourge to our national security, the threat from ballistic missiles continues to grow. In a number of useful charts, they also show that increases in defense expenditures over past decades have continued while the budget for missile defense remains abysmally low. (Article, Link)
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