BUDGETARY AX FALLS ON BUSH-ERA SYSTEMS
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has announced sweeping changes to the country's defense budget - including how much money is allocated for the defense of the nation against ballistic missile attack, and to which missile defense programs. "[I]n the area of missile defense, we will restructure the program to focus on the rogue state and theater missile threat," Gates announced in a Pentagon briefing on April 6th. "We will not increase the number of current ground-based interceptors in Alaska, as had been planned, but we will continue to robustly fund continued research and development to improve the capability we already have to defend against long-range rogue missile threats..." The changes include an elimination of future funding for programs such as the Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV) warhead program, the Airborne Laser (ABL) system, and the Ground-base Midcourse system that had been planned by the Bush administration for deployment in Europe. In all, the Pentagon's budget request of $9 billion for missile defense for the coming year "will be reduced by $1.4 billion," Gates announced.
MISSILE DEFENSE COOPERATION WITH ISRAEL: CONTINUITY...
The Obama administration is reaffirming its commitment to missile defense cooperation with Israel. According to the April 14th Jerusalem Post, Washington and Jerusalem are currently planning their biggest ever missile defense drill. The exercise, known as "Juniper Cobra," is slated to be held later this year in Israel by the Israeli Defense Forces and U.S. European Command, and will involve use of the Arrow-2 interceptor, as well as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and the Aegis ship-borne system. The notional threat against which the exercise is being planned is a predicable one: the growing nuclear and ballistic missile arsenal of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
...AND CHANGE
None of this, however, should be taken to mean that the U.S.-Israeli missile defense partnership remains unchanged. United Press International (April 9), citing Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper, reports that U.S. funding for the jointly-developed Arrow interceptor program is now in question, as the Obama White House revisits missile defense projects across the board. "Ending U.S. funding for the Arrow-3 would be consistent with President Obama's well-documented skepticism about ballistic missile defenses," UPI reports. As a replacement, the U.S. may provide Israel with money to purchase the SM-3 sea-based anti-missile system - a move that "could prove a wiser course of action" for Israel, the news agency editorializes, given that the SM-3 is a "mature technology whose costs will not rise unexpectedly."
A HELPING HAND FOR NORTH KOREA
North Korea's recent test of an intercontinental ballistic missile was carried out in large part thanks to assistance from Iran, according to news sources. Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper has reported that a 15-person delegation of Iranian scientists were in the DPRK since early March, advising the Stalinist state on ballistic missile technology. The delegation, the Times of London (March 29) reports the Japanese paper as saying, included members of Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, an Iranian satellite and rocket producer that has been sanctioned twice by the United States (in 2000 and again in 2003) for its role in contributing to the proliferation of ballistic missile technology.
"IRON DOME" INCHES CLOSER TO REALITY
Israel is moving forward with a new defense against short-range missiles and artillery rockets. Ha'aretz reports in its April 10th issue that the "Iron Dome" system, now under development by the Rafael defense firm, is expected to come online by next summer. The "Iron Dome" passed a complete system test last month, intercepting a short-range rocket in flight. Upgrades are now reportedly underway to the system's radar, which - when complete - will allow it to identify rocket launches from farther away than it does currently. The system, under discussion in Israel for years, was fast-tracked following the summer 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, which saw the Shi'a militia fire scores of rockets into the Jewish state.
Want these sent to your inbox?
Subscribe
