Congressman Seeks to Speed U.S. Missile Defense Work After North Korean Nuclear Test

A senior U.S. lawmaker has urged the Bush administration to accelerate missile defense spending in the wake of the reported North Korean nuclear test this week, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 28).

In a letter to President George W. Bush, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) called for speeding up work on the Aegis radar-based missile defense systems, including the Standard Missile 3 interceptor (see GSN, Sept. 12).

“I recommend strongly that the executive branch submit to the Congress a proposal that states what steps are necessary to accomplish such acceleration and a request to reprogram the necessary funds,” says his letter.

“I also believe that the United States must take immediate steps to develop and deploy systems that are capable of addressing the full range of North Korean missile-based threats to the United States, our deployed forces and our allies,” Hunter said (Reuters I/Yahoo!News, Oct. 10).

One developmental system has already been moved to Hawaii, closer to North Korea, from its initial testing grounds in New Mexico, a top missile defense official said Monday.

The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system has been moved to permit testing to take place over a larger area than New Mexico allows, said Col. Charles Driessnack.

Asked if the system could defeat North Korean missiles, Driessnack said tests had proven the interceptors could hit enemy missiles (see GSN, Sept. 14), and the system was now positioned “where it could do an operation.”

A program official, however, cautioned that the system would not be deployed for some time.

“The system is still in development and it will be several years before it’s operational,” said spokeswoman Pam Rogers.

Driessnack said the system could be placed on some level of alert while testing continued.

He said one last New Mexico test is planned for December before 11 more tests are scheduled from Hawaii (Reuters II/Yahoo!News, Oct. 10).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.