Various Uses Seen for Czech Radar

The head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said failure to come to terms with Poland on housing missile interceptors would not necessarily eliminate the value of a missile defense radar in the Czech Republic, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 31).

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has appeared more reserved about the U.S. plan than his counterpart in Prague.  Warsaw has demanded security assurances and support for upgrading its military as part of any deal.  U.S. officials have remained publicly optimistic about sealing deals with both nations in coming months.

A radar in Europe could have a number of uses within the U.S. missile shield, even if not tied to the interceptors, according to Lt. Gen. Henry Obering.  It could provide information for U.S. and NATO missile defense systems outside the continent, he said.

“The radar itself is a tremendous capability,” Obering said during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee (Associated Press I/Washington Post, April 1).

Meanwhile, U.S. leaders expressed optimism yesterday that they could overcome Russian opposition to the missile defense plan for Europe, AP reported.

A scheduled Saturday meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin could result in a deal that would include measures intended to assure Moscow that it would not be the target of the system.  Proposed provisions include giving Russian officials access to the sites and keeping the installations nonoperational until an Iranian missile threat is proven.

The system is now scheduled for limited operations by 2011 and full capability by 2013.

“Obviously, we’ve got a lot of work to do to allay suspicions and old fears, but I think we’re making pretty good progress along those lines,” Bush said yesterday.

“The need for missile defense in Europe is real and it is urgent,” he added.  “Iran is pursuing technology that could be used to produce nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles of increasing range that deliver them.”

Missile defense is likely to be addressed in a “strategic framework” of issues on which the two nations agree (see related GSN story, today).  Inclusion, though, would not be an immediate sign that the dispute had been resolved, as Moscow is not expected to state its support for the program in the document.

“The Russians are probably never going to like missile defense,” said U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.  “But I think the assurances that we have provided and the mechanisms that we have proposed give them assurance that it is not aimed at them, and my hope is that that will lead to positive outcomes” at this week’s NATO summit in Romania and the subsequent Bush-Putin meeting.

NATO members are likely to publicly back missile defense during the summit, Gates said (Robert Burns, Associated Press II/Las Vegas Sun, April 1).

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.