U.S. Plans:  British Legislators Decry Support for U.S. Radar Upgrade

British Labor Party members of Parliament reacted strongly to signs the United Kingdom will approve a U.S. request to upgrade U.S. radars on British territory, the Independent reported today (see GSN, Jan. 15).

Looking to placate members of his own party, Defense Minister Geoffrey Hoon said an agreement to upgrade software at the Fylingdales radar base would not mean that the United Kingdom would join the U.S. effort.  Conservatives, however, supported the move, the Independent reported.

“This slavish devotion to American policy in this area adds further to global destabilization,” said Labor Member of Parliament Peter Kilfoyle, a former defense minister.  “In the government’s gathering rush to embrace every crackpot notion hoisted upon us by the ideologues in Washington, I’d like you to point out where the independence of thought and the independence of policy is in the British government reflecting true British needs,” he said.

The missile defense system is “potentially so very destabilizing for the whole world,” said Labor Member of Parliament Tony Lloyd, a former Foreign Office minister (Ben Russell, London Independent, Jan. 16).

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Russian Plans:  Moscow to Develop National Defense System, Ivanov Says

Russia plans to develop an extensive missile defense system, which could include space-based components, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 10).

“We will definitely develop theater missile defense systems, as well as space defenses,” Ivanov said during a tour of Moscow missile defenses.

The development plan began “more than a year ago,” Ivanov said.  Russia has “technologies in the missile defense sphere that no one else in the world has,” he added (United Press International, Jan. 15).

Russia is free to develop advanced missile defenses because United States withdrew last year from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which limited research, Ivanov said (see GSN, June 13, 2002).  “Formally, Russia is also free from the limits that were placed on strategic missile defense systems, by that document,” he said.

Ivanov indicated yesterday that immediate work on missile defense systems might be hindered by Russia’s economic situation, according to DAWN.  Russia might also cooperate with the United States on missile defense development, he said.

“Of course, we will be basing (our decisions) on common sense and technical feasibility, as well as economic realities,” Ivanov said.

Russia is currently developing several advanced missile interceptors, such as the S-500, but they might not be operational for seven to 10 years, said Ivan Safranchuk of Moscow’s Center for Defense Information (see GSN, Oct. 2, 2002).  “Russia wants to prove to the Americans that missiles can be defended with conventional weapons” that are scheduled to be updated in the next several years, he said (Agence France-Presse/DAWN, Jan. 16).

The Russian Air Force is expected to fund the completion of the S-400 air defense system this year, Air Force Chief of Staff Boris Cheltsov said (People’s Daily, Jan. 16).

Washington Indicates Support

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday did not criticize Russia’s missile defense plans. 

“The Russians look at the world, just like we do, and they see countries that are developing longer-range ballistic missiles,” Rumsfeld said during a press conference.  “They see the proliferation of chemical and biological and nuclear capabilities to countries that it is extremely worrisome that they have them,” he added.

The United States has already begun cooperating with Russia on missile defense, through such measures as U.S-Russian exercises, said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, adding that another exercise is being planned.  There have also been several U.S-Russian planning conferences as well as U.S. offers of technical assistance, Myers said (Federal News Service transcript, Jan. 15).

For further information, see:

ABM Treaty Text and Associated Documents (U.S. Defense Department)

U.S. Fact Sheet on Withdrawal from ABM Treaty

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U.S. Plans:  British Defense Minister Supports U.S. Radar Request

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — British Defense Minister Geoffrey Hoon today announced his government’s “preliminary conclusion” to approve a U.S.-requested radar upgrade at the British air base Fylingdales.

“Based on the analysis and discussion which we have undertaken so far, I have therefore come to the preliminary conclusion that the answer to the U.S. request must be yes, and that we should agree to the upgrade as proposed,” Hoon said.

Speaking before the House of Commons, Hoon did not specify when a final announcement would be made but indicated it would occur following a parliamentary debate next week on defense issues.

Hoon’s comments represent a victory for the Bush administration, which has asked both Britain and Denmark to allow upgrades to U.S. radars on their territories.  Washington is seeking to enable U.S. missile defenses to address potential ballistic missile threats from the Middle East.

Hoon said the decision would not necessarily commit Britain to deeper involvement in the expensive U.S. program and he did not announce a decision on whether to allow the United States to deploy missile interceptors at Fylingdales.

Labor Party parliamentarian Malcolm Savidge disagreed with that assertion.

“The hints are coming out that what we’re really talking about is also involvement in the interceptor missile systems and [we’re] probably being expected to buy into a phenomenally expensive … protection against what our own defense and intelligence regards as an extremely remote risk.”

The United Kingdom will, however, agree to a memorandum of understanding with the United States that would offer the United Kingdom “the opportunity for U.K. industry to reap the benefits of participation,” Hoon said.

Nigel Chamberlain, an analyst with the arms control organization BASIC and a critic of the missile defense program, called Hoon’s statement a “positive development.”

“I’m actually quite pleased that Geoff Hoon has come out in favor of it,” he said.  “In my view, it is much better to have the government formally out front defending the arguments as opposed to saying we can’t say anything yet because we don’t know.”

Concerns About Further Debate

The remarks were viewed as a disappointment to some members of Parliament, largely from Prime Minister Tony Blair’s own Labor party, who believe the Blair government has made its decision without parliamentary debate.

“The thing that I demanded in the chamber today was that we ought to have the opportunity to have a debate and a vote on it, and I was refused that,” said Savidge.

He said Hoon today explicitly rejected the idea of further debate before announcing a final decision.

“They have claimed that because there is a general debate on defense and the world next week that that’s sufficient debate.  But of course, that won’t give us any opportunity to vote on the issue,” Savidge said.

BASIC’s Chamberlain said Hoon indicated the government would not curtail debate with an announcement.   Chamberlain noted the Defense Ministry plans to continue taking written comments on the proposed upgrade through the end of February.

“I think that we’ll see warmer statements of support through January and February, but my feeling is that they will wait before moving to stop parliamentary debate before the defense committee report has been published which is about a month from now and before they have a chance to look at all of the written submissions,” he said.

Hoon previously has said the government will not make its decision until a thorough public debate is conducted in the public and in Parliament.

“The decision on [the] Fylingdales upgrade will be an important one, and the government is keen for it to be informed by public and parliamentary discussion.  We shall ensure that this house has appropriate opportunities to debate the issues in the New Year,” he said Dec. 17, when announcing the formal U.S. request.

Hoon today said a scheduled parliamentary debate next week on the full range of defense issues would be the appropriate forum for such a debate.

“Next week’s defense debate is a very timely further occasion for the house to discuss the challenges that the United Kingdom faces in the new international security environment, including those posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile technology,” he said.

Defining a Threat

Hoon told Parliament that the radar upgrades could help protect the United Kingdom against emerging threats.

There was not yet such “an immediate threat to us as of today,” he said, but “there is a distinct possibility that this threat could materialize in the relative near future.”

Critics have charged a missile defense system is unnecessary to the United Kingdom because neither Iraq nor North Korea is likely to risk the massive retaliation that would occur were they to launch a missile at the United States or Europe.

Hoon asserted that North Korea and Iraq were developing missile systems to attack Western countries, stating the missile defense system would help protect the United Kingdom against ballistic missile programs that “are being developed in order to threaten the delivery of mass destruction.”

Echoing a phrase coined and repeated by senior Bush administration officials, Hoon said, “It is the combination of ballistic missiles and the possession of these weapons of mass destruction, together with the demonstrated willingness to use these capabilities, that makes Iraq the most immediate state threat to global security.”

He added, “If North Korea ends its moratorium on flight-testing, it could flight-test a missile with the potential to reach Europe or the United States within weeks.”

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Israel:  Country to Hold Joint Exercise with United States

The Israeli air defense command is scheduled to conduct a joint missile defense exercise this week with U.S. forces, according to Ha’aretz (see GSN, Jan, 3).  The exercise, Juniper Cobra, will involve two U.S. Patriot missile interceptor batteries deployed in the southern Negev desert and assistance from the U.S. Sixth Fleet’s radar units, Ha’aretz reported.

The joint exercise, one of several scheduled, raises “the level of preparedness to that of a possible transition from exercise to operational situation,” a senior Israeli defense source said. “It's good for the Americans, and good for us as well,” the source added (Aluf Benn, Ha’aretz, Jan. 14).

Meanwhile, as of tommorow, Israel will be on a higher state of alert, according to the Associated Press.  Zalman Shoval, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, confirmed the new “Red Hail” alert level, adding that the change had been planned in advance and was not releated to any possible U.S. attack on Iraq (Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Jan. 14).

For further information, see:

MDA Terminal Defense Segment

Federation of American Scientists Background on Arrow

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U.S. Plans:  Kwajalein Lease Negotiators Fail to Close Deal

The United States and the Marshall Islands have failed to reach an agreement on the long-term U.S. use of the Kwajalein missile testing facility, ABC Radio Australia News reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 4, 2002).   Kwajalein landowners rejected a U.S. offer of $14 million annually to lease the range and are instead asking for $19 million per year.  Further negotiations will take place soon, Marshallese Foreign Minister Gerald Zackios said (ABC Radio Australia News, Jan. 13).

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U.S. Plans:  Navy Chooses Raytheon to Develop Missile Interceptor

The U.S. Navy has chosen Raytheon over Lockheed Martin to develop a missile interceptor meant to fulfill the Scud-intercepting requirement of the canceled Navy Area missile defense program, Defense Week reported today (see GSN, Aug. 22, 2002).

The Naval Sea Systems Command announced last week that Raytheon would be given a sole-source deal to develop the Extended Range Active Missile.  The missile will be the first naval-based interceptor able to guide itself to targets more than 200 miles away without the aid of a warship’s radars and will also be able to engage enemy aircraft and cruise missiles, according to Defense Week.  The ERAM program could be worth about $10 billion, according to an industry executive.

In its announcement, the Navy said Raytheon is the only company that could fulfill the missile program’s requirements by fiscal 2010.  “Award to any other source would likely result in substantial duplication of cost to the government that is not expected to be recovered through competition,” the service said (Donnelly/Hodge, Defense Week, Jan. 13).

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U.S.-Russia:  Moscow Proposes Joint Missile Defense Effort

Moscow has proposed a joint effort on missile defense with the United States, the Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 20).

Russian officials have sent a draft “political agreement” to U.S. officials, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko.

The Russian plan would “strengthen, not weaken the strategic stability,” Yakovenko said.

A high-ranking Russian military official said, however, that the two countries have not agreed on joint missile defense efforts.

“We believe that we should work together to develop a joint product,” said Col.-Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, the first deputy chief of the General Staff.  “But the Americans would like to establish direct contacts with our industries to get a ‘product’ they need and forget about them,” he added.

Baluyevsky also said that a U.S. missile defense shield threatens Russia.

“I absolutely disagree with the claim that the (U.S.) missile defense is not a threat to Russia,” he said (Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press/Island Packet, Jan. 9).

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