May 22, 2006 :: Washington Times :: News
NATO plans to study ways to integrate existing European theater missile defense systems, writes James T. Hackett in
The Washington Times. The goal will be to create an “alliance shield” that will allow data from land-, sea- and space-based sensors to be consolidated through a unified command system and provided to available interceptors. The integration is planned to start this year. At present, several European countries possess limited theater missile defenses. Germany, the Netherlands, and Greece have Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) interceptors. Spain plans to get the PAC-2 soon, and the Dutch are upgrading to the PAC-3. Germany, Italy, and the U.S. are jointly developing the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), which will use an enhanced PAC-3 interceptor. U.S. Aegis-equipped warships in the seas around Europe are equipped with SPY-1 early-warning radars, and some will soon carry SM-3 interceptors. Spain and Norway will soon own Aegis-equipped frigates as well, and Germany plans to develop a sea-based BMD for some of its own frigates. Great Britain, Italy, and France are developing the Aster-30, a sea-based air defense system that is being upgraded to a BMD capability. Turkey has just allocated $1 billion to purchase a missile defense system.
(Article)
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