U.S.-Russia:  Russian Official Hopeful For Missile Defense Cooperation

A senior Russian official said yesterday he has “cautious optimism” that Moscow will cooperate with the United States to build a missile defense system (see GSN, May 15).

“It is still too early to talk about the prospects for cooperation, but I can take the risk of expressing very cautious optimism in this regard,” said the official, who is in Washington for meetings with U.S. officials.

Moscow has submitted several proposals to the United States for missile defense cooperation.  “We are hoping for a U.S. response very soon,” the senior official said (David Sands, Washington Times, May 23).

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United States:  Electromagnetic Radiation Affected Patriot Performance

U.S. military investigators believe that electromagnetic interference played a role in a friendly fire incident involving Patriot missile interceptor batteries during the war in Iraq, the Wall Street Journal reported today (see GSN, May 8).

One of the two friendly fire incidents that occurred during the war  involved the downing of a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet by a Patriot interceptor.  The U.S. Army’s investigation into the incident has so far indicated that two Patriot batteries were placed too close to each other, according to the Journal.

While the Patriot’s radar systems are designed to operate somewhat near each other, the two batteries’ proximity caused increased amounts of electromagnetic interference which investigators believe played a role in the incident, the Journal reported.

High-tech military equipment, such as the Patriot interceptor, is tested to determine the effects of electromagnetic interference prior to deployment, according to the Journal.  One person familiar with the investigation described the interference where the F/A-18 incident occurred, however, as “very, very intense.”

“If you look at the intensity of the radiation in that battlefield area, I don’t believe anyone would say that particular environment had been duplicated before,” the source said.

The Army and U.S. defense contractor Raytheon, which produces the Patriot system, are determining whether changes can be made to the interceptor’s computer system to prevent against such an incident in the future, U.S. and industry officials said (Anne Marie Squeo, Wall Street Journal, May 23).

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U.S. Plans:  Missile Defense Justification Released by White House

In a policy paper released yesterday, the White House described its rationale for developing a national missile defense network, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, May 19).

The National Policy on Ballistic Missile Defense Fact Sheet lays out U.S. President George W. Bush’s desire to protect the United States against missiles carrying chemical, biological or nuclear weapons with defenses that will cost more than $8 billion per year and will probably top $9 billion in fiscal 2004 alone, according to the Post.

The White House directive was also intended to provide a more formal and complete account of Bush’s missile defense push, administration officials said.  Last year, Bush signed a classified version of what was fundamentally the same document prior to his missile defense announcement in December (see GSN, Dec. 17, 2002).  Administration officials have kept close hold on the directive, known as National Security Presidential Directive 23, while developing plans for its release (Bradley Graham, Washington Post, May 21).

The document does not provide any significant deviation from previous administration statements, but it does note that U.S. missile defenses will be continuously upgraded, the New York Times reported.

“The United States will not have a final, fixed missile defense architecture,” but will develop an “initial set of capabilities that will evolve to meet the changing threat,” the directive said.

The White House also expressed its desire to provide missile defenses to allies, according to the document.

“The defenses we will develop and deploy must be capable of not only defending the United States and our deployed forces, but also friends and allies,” the directive says.

Russian Collaboration

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ivanov repeated his country’s offer to collaborate on a missile defense effort.  He said, however, that cooperation would require “the preservation of each side’s intellectual property, the demilitarization of space and total transparency regarding missile defense” (see GSN, May 15; David Sanger, New York Times, May 21).

Ivanov is scheduled to visit the United States this week to meet with U.S. officials, Agence France-Presse reported (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 21).

“We are prepared to talk with the United States on the theme of cooperation in the field of anti-missile defense, but attached to the fulfillment of a number of conditions,” he said.

He also warned that developing a system would take “decades.”

“Tangible results cannot be expected within a year or two,” Ivanov said (Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News, May 21).

Export Controls May Be Eased

U.S. officials are also investigating the possible easing of export controls on missile technology, according to the Associated Press.

“As part of our efforts to deepen missile cooperation with friends and allies, the United States will seek to eliminate impediments to such cooperation,” the report says.

Under existing rules, it is difficult to share missile technology with most U.S. allies, AP reported.

“We will review existing policies and practices governing technology-sharing and cooperation on missile defense, including U.S. export control regulations and statutes,” according to the White House policy statement.

A Bush administration official said the effort was “far from a decision.”  Arms control proponents, however, criticized the proposed move.

“It is a silly trade-off.  It shows the administration is willing to compromise international controls to transfer missile technology” to further its missile defense goals, said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association (Tom Raum, Associated Press/Newsday, May 21).

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U.S. Plans:  MDA Will Test Missile Defense Systems at Night

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is planning to conduct a nighttime intercept test with its Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, Aerospace Daily reported today (see GSN, May 16).

Missile defense officials do not believe that testing the system at night will present serious challenges, but they say they want to test it nonetheless.

“I would think that at the least, you’d want to know that the system could work at night,” said Philip Coyle, former Defense Department director of operational test and evaluation, who pushed for the nighttime test along with several experts, according to Aerospace Daily (Marc Selinger, Aerospace Daily, May 19).

Officials also said that money and staffing shortages forced the agency to suspend a planned June 2004 missile intercept test and instead test a radar component of the system.  The agency is still deciding whether the intercept test will be conducted at all, according to System Executive Officer Patricia Sanders.  The Senate Armed Services Committee added $100 million to the fiscal 2004 budget to pay for the test, Bloomberg.com reported (Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg.com, May 19).

Boosters Tested Soon

Agency officials have also decided on more specific timeframes to test its prospective boosters.  The agency plans to test the Orbital Sciences booster in late July and the Lockheed Martin booster in late August at California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base.  Full flight tests of the boosters with a variety of sensors involved are scheduled to take place between September and November (Selinger, Aerospace Daily).

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