|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Bush National Missile Defense System Will Lack Missiles At Start By David Ruppe WASHINGTON — The U.S. Missile Defense Agency will probably have deployed only a few of the 10 ground-based missile interceptors planned for its Oct. 1 deadline to implement President George W. Bush’s directive to field a national missile defense capability in 2004 (see GSN, Feb. 2). In addition, budget documents released yesterday indicated that the agency has reduced the number of sea-based interceptors it plans to deploy by the end of fiscal 2005 from 20 to 10, citing “a moderate risk approach” (see GSN, Dec. 12, 2003). In December 2002, Bush directed the agency to have in place “a set of initial missile defense capabilities beginning in 2004” (see GSN, Dec. 17, 2002). That order, Pentagon officials have said, would be implemented by placing six interceptor missiles at Ft. Greely, Alaska and four at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., by the end of fiscal year 2004, which is Sept. 30. During his 2000 election campaign, Bush vowed to deploy a missile defense system by that date, less than two months before the next presidential election. In a briefing document released yesterday, however, the agency said, “In the fall of 2004, we anticipate the United States will have on alert several interceptors at Ft. Greely, Alaska.” Missile Defense Agency spokesman Richard Lehner said the agency does not know how many interceptors will be in their silos by Oct. 1. He said, though, that it expects at least nine interceptors will in place by the end of this year and the 10th missile “should be operational in early January.” The document did not explain the delay. It did say the program suffered a setback resulting from problems with constructing one of the two alternative missile boosters that were scheduled for use in the first set of interceptors, but said the problems did not affect the schedule. The Washington Post reported this week that the agency was seeking authority to begin operating the missile defense system prior to the Sept. 30, as early as July when it expects the first missiles to be in the ground and an upgraded radar ready to operate. Bush’s order has been criticized in General Accounting Office reports and by outside critics who said the planned system will lack key systems that remain in development, such as a satellite sensor network and sophisticated radar, and that the number of missile interceptor tests, which have not simulated realistic conditions, have been reduced. U.S. defense officials previously have downplayed expectations about the system’s initial capabilities, calling them “limited” but saying they would be “better than nothing” and improved over time. Critic John Isaacs, president of the Council for a Livable World arms control organization, said that having fewer missiles ready-to-fire would reduce the system’s chances for success. “If you have a smaller number, it makes this idea of a second or third shot that much more challenging,” he said.
| ||||||||||
Back to top
