Pentagon Could Make Decision on Europe-Based GMD Interceptor by April, Official Says

The U.S. Defense Department’s decision on a possible third Ground-based Midcourse Defense interceptor site in Europe could be made by April, Inside Missile Defense reported Wednesday (see GSN, Oct. 7).

“We’ve got money loaded in (fiscal year 2006) to begin to do further work in that regard, so I think that this is going to start solidifying in the next … maybe four to five months,” Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, head of the Missile Defense Agency, said on Nov. 15.

Obering said that “only like about $10 million to $30 million” had been allocated for the project in fiscal 2006.

“It’s not a lot of money, but it’s enough that it gets us started on the more detailed site surveys and everything else. We still have several countries that are very interested; now it’s a matter of working the decision package through our department,” he said.

Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are among the countries interested in hosting such a site, Arms Control Today has reported (John Liang, Inside Missile Defense, Nov. 23).

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