Gates Backs Missile Defense Plans

Defense Secretary-designate Robert Gates plans to continue Pentagon support for deploying U.S. missile defenses before they are completely tested, the Washington Post reported this week (see GSN, June 26).

The United States has fielded Ground-based Midcourse Defense missile interceptors in Alaska and California before testing them, depending on a strategy of testing the systems while deploying them (see GSN, Sept. 5).

“North Korea and Iran continue to develop longer range missiles and are determined to pursue weapons of mass destruction,” Gates said in documents he has prepared for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“In this regard, defenses with a limited operational capability, at least initially, are better than no defenses,” he added (Thomas Ricks, Washington Post, Nov. 29).

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