Missile Defense Briefing Report: No. 326

IS CANADA BACK AT THE MISSILE DEFENSE TABLE?
Rising concern over the threats from Iran and North Korea is spurring some in Canada to urge a reconsideration of the government’s stance on participating in U.S. missile defense plans. Recently, two former Canadian defense ministers, Bill Graham and David Pratt, came forward to advocate for Canada’s involvement in the U.S. BMD program. The move marks a significant development; back in 2005, then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin rejected the Bush Administration’s offer to partner on missile defense.

That opposition, according to Pratt, was driven primarily by political reasons – namely, the Bush administration’s general unpopularity with the Canadian people. However, over the course of the past few months, the Canadian government appears to have begun to reverse course on the issue, and current Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced that a reexamination of Canadian missile defense policy is now underway. (Toronto Globe & Mail, May 26, 2014; Reuters, June 5, 2014)

PLANS FOR U.S.-ROK COOPERATION CAUSE JITTERS IN BEIJING
China has warned the U.S. over its plans to strengthen missile defense cooperation with South Korea. Although the proposed cooperation - in the form of the deployment of a $950 million battery of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system - will be geared toward defending against North Korea, China has declared that the program will create regional instability. “We believe that the deployment of antimissile systems in this region will not help maintain stability and strategic balance in this region,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang stated. “We will by no means allow tensions at the doorstep of China.” (Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2014)

TAIWAN AND U.S. MISSILE DEFENSE
As part of its emerging focus on stepped-up cooperation on missile defense with Asian nations, the U.S. has advocated for an expanded missile defense relationship with Taiwan. Congressman Randy Forbes (R-VA), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee’s sea power and projection forces subcommittee, has emerged as an advocate for the deployment of a more advanced radar system in Taiwan in order to monitor Chinese long-range missile developments, and championed the inclusion of language for the deployment of such a system in row 2014 NDAA. But such a move faces significant hurdles, not least in Taiwan itself. According to Taiwanese officials, the government of Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou is facing significant domestic opposition to the deployment of “long-range early warning radars” on the island nation, which is steadily drifting into closer political and economic alignment with Mainland China. (Washington Times, June 5, 2014)

A STEP FORWARD FOR GMD
After failing three consecutive tests, the Ground Based Midcourse (GMD) system’s Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle Capability Enhancement II (EKV CE-II) has made a successful intercept. The EKV CE II, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, hit an incoming dummy missile launched from the US Army's Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Following the successful, Vice Admiral James Syring, Director of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, stated that "This is a very important step in our continuing efforts to improve and increase the reliability of our homeland ballistic missile defense system.” (Washington Times, June 23, 2014)