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American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, DC
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PENTAGON EXPLORES EUROPEAN BASING OPTIONS The government of Tony Blair could soon dramatically expand its profile in the Bush administration’s emerging international missile defense architecture. London’s Evening Standard (May 7) reports that Britain is currently being considered by the United States as a potential basing site for up to ten missile launch pads, interceptors and supporting technologies. London, however, faces stiff competition from Warsaw, which has already publicly offered to host American defenses. The new movement follows recent remarks to Congress by Lt.-Gen. Ronald Kadish, during which the outgoing Missile Defense Agency Director aired plans for a European basing location for anti-missile interceptors – one oriented against emerging threats from the Middle East and intended as a supplement to U.S. defenses – in two year’s time. NORTH KOREA’S MISSILE MOVES On the heels of news that North Korea is building two new ballistic missile bases, fresh reports further indicate that North Korea is nearing formal deployment of its Taepo-Dong 2 missile – a 6,000-kilometer range rocket capable of hitting the United States. Citing South Korean sources, Channel NewsAsia (May 6) reports that the DPRK is gearing up to test engines for the long-range ballistic missile, and has installed the supporting machinery necessary to fuel them at a recently-reconstituted 30-meter missile launch pad in its North Hamgyong province. At the same time, the Kim Jong-Il regime appears to be attempting to expand its missile sales to the Middle East. Worldtribune.com (May 5) cites Western intelligence sources as saying that Iran has been negotiating with North Korea to purchase its newest export commodity, the Taepo-Dong 2, and associated space launch technologies. According to the analytical website, Pyongyang has also offered the long-range rocket to both Syria and Libya over the past year, although neither country has pursued the acquisition. MISSILE TECHNOLOGY TAKES STRIDES IN SEOUL Seoul has boosted is missile capabilities with the completion of a new, “cold launch” missile technology. China’s Xinhua News Agency (May 10) reports that South Korea has become the second nation after Russia to successfully perfect the vertical launch and mid-air firing of a missile. The technology is designed to complicate intercept efforts by anti-missile systems during the rocket’s vulnerable boost phase, and will “greatly strengthen the South Korean military’s force improvement program,” South Korean experts say. "NAUTILUS" SCORES ANOTHER DIRECT HIT In a follow-on to its successful April 30th test, the “Nautilus” anti-missile system has achieved a ground-breaking intercept of a long-range, large-caliber rocket, the May 7th edition of Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper reports. The directed energy system, jointly developed by Israel and the United States, succeeded in downing the sophisticated missile during a May 7th trial at the White Sands Testing Range in New Mexico. According to Israeli officials, the intercept represents a milestone for the “Nautilus” – demonstrating the system’s versatility in countering an array of air-breathing threats, ranging from ballistic missiles to cruise missiles. Israel is expected to field the “Nautilus” by 2007. CHINA’S MIDDLE EASTERN CLIENT Amid growing American pressure on Syria for its support of terrorism, Middle East Newsline (May 13) reports that the regime of Bashar Assad is tightening its missile ties to China. According to diplomatic sources cited by the news agency, Beijing has sent several official diplomatic and technical delegations to Damascus in recent months in a bid to increase the Ba’athist regime’s missile capabilities. “The Chinese effort is meant to provide Syria with technical assistance that it has not been able to receive from other countries,” Middle East Newsline cites a diplomatic source as saying. “The focus is to extend the Scud from short-range to medium- and even intermediate-range.” The PRC push is seen as an effort to supplant North Korea as the principal supplier of know-how and hardware for Syria’s ballistic missile program. |
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