Japan:  Pentagon Forming Team to Help Joint Missile Defenses

The U.S. Defense Department is establishing a support team to help Japan cooperate with the United States on missile defense, Defense Daily reported today (see GSN, Aug. 5).

The joint service team will not negotiate an agreement on international cooperation, but will work to establish the official links needed to develop Japan’s missile defense systems.  A similar support team has been working with British officials for a year, Defense Daily reported.

The team will likely have a large percentage of Navy personnel because Japan is interested in a sea-based missile defense system, according to an industry official.  The unit “will gradually come online,” the official added (Kerry Gildea, Defense Daily, Aug. 11).

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U.S. Plans:  Army Missile Defense Division Will Work With STRATCOM

The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command will expand its role within the U.S. Strategic Command in October, Aerospace Daily reported today (see GSN, Aug. 7).

SMDC is set to address global missile defense as part of its integration into STRATCOM, according to Lt. Gen. Joseph Cosumano, SMDC commander.

Army officials plan to begin operating with STRATCOM in October and will be fully operational by January, Aerospace Daily reported.

Cosumano said one of his highest priorities is the establishment of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System at Fort Greely, Alaska.

“We have to be operational at the end of September ’04,” he said.  Cosumano said Army space and missile defense personnel are “providing the ground floor of all that, standup and operations.”

“Colorado National Guard will have the brigade unit that’s stationed here for command and control; the Alaska National Guard will have the unit that’s on the ground at Fort Greely, the actual operators.  All that’s moving very quickly,” he added (Rich Tuttle, Aerospace Daily, Aug. 11).

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India:  Washington, New Delhi Agree to Hold Missile Defense Workshop

The United States and India have agreed to hold a missile defense workshop in India within the next six months, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Jan. 21).

The two countries agreed to hold the workshop during a two-day meeting of the Defense Policy Group this week in Washington, according to AFP.  The Indian delegation to the meeting was headed by Defense Secretary Ajay Prasad while the U.S. delegation was led by Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith.

“The two sides reaffirmed the shared view that missile defense enhances cooperative security and stability,” said a statement released after the meeting (Agence France-Presse, Aug. 8).

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U.S. Plans:  Defense Officials to Brief Bush on Missile Defense Progress

U.S. Defense Department officials are scheduled to visit vacationing President George W. Bush at his Texas ranch this month and brief him on the developing national missile defense system, Defense Daily reported today (see GSN, Aug. 6).

Bush is not faced with any imminent missile defense decisions, but the Pentagon delegation will most likely bring the president up to speed on construction at Fort Greely in Alaska and flight test plans.

Construction on the first Ground-based Midcourse Defense System interceptor silo is set to be finished this month, and the sixth is due to be completed by February.  The Missile Defense Agency intends to station four interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.  The system is scheduled to be deployed by the end of next year.

Defense officials have not yet fixed a firm date to visit the ranch (Kerry Gildea, Defense Daily, Aug. 7).

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