E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

US assesses interceptor sites in Europe
From Jane’s Weekly
The US is discussing with European allies the possibility of basing anti-missile interceptors in Europe later this decade to counter long-range ballistic missiles in countries like Iran and North Korea that could threaten the European continent and eastern part of the US. US Air Force Lt Gen Ronald Kadish, who heads the Missile Defense Agency within the Department of Defense, said his current activities remain focused on establishing an initial, rudimentary shield by the end of this year to protect the US homeland from intercontinental-range missiles. This defensive system will feature interceptors based at two sites on the US West Coast, along with satellite sensors and terrestrial-based radar, that are optimised to protect all 50 US states from a limited attack from North Korea. At the same time, Gen Kadish revealed that the US is considering erecting a third interceptor site in Europe beginning in 2006 to protect the European continent and add redundancy to the capabilities shielding the US by that time.
We’ll see who in Europe wants to be protected ... and if they’ll base the system in order to do so, or continue to free ride ....
"The location of this site is still subject to negotiation with no final architecture defined nor investment committed until [Fiscal Year] 2006," he told US lawmakers on 21 April. The interceptor site would probably consist of 10 three-stage ground-based interceptors (GBIs), the anti-missile missile of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense element that will form the core of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). One knowledgeable source told JDW that Poland remains a promising candidate for the third GBI site. The Polish defence industry has entered into partnerships with Boeing and Lockheed Martin, two of the leading US missile defence contractors, and has been supportive of US policy (JDW 11 February). Polish officials could not be reached for comment at press time. At the same time, this source said: "Don’t count the Brits out," noting that there may be more than one GBI base in Europe.
depends on Brit + French + German courtship dance probably
The UK signed a memorandum of agreement with the US in 2003 on BMD co-operation and granted the US permission to upgrade the latter’s early-warning radar at Fylingdales in northern England to serve in a BMD role.
The UK radar sites are pretty valuable to us for polar tracking.
Those upgrades are expected to be complete in 2005, giving the US an enhanced capacity to defend itself against missiles from the Middle East, even without a GBI site in Europe. The US is also looking at other measures to improve its umbrella of protection against missiles approaching the US homeland from the east. It remains in consultation with Denmark regarding the upgrade of the early-warning radar at Thule in Greenland. As a potential measure, it has plans to procure a second sea-based X-band (SBX) radar that could be stationed near there. Already Raytheon is building one SBX that will be stationed off the coast of Alaska in 2005. Gen Kadish told reporters on 28 April that he is confident that the US will have the BMDS operational around September, although he acknowledged that the system will not have as many interceptor missiles and other assets available initially as originally planned. He said he expects to have five GBIs operational in silos at Fort Greely, Alaska, around September, with a total of three or four additional interceptors in place by the end of the calendar year at Fort Greely and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

While the Aegis cruiser-based Standard Missile 3 most probably will not be available by the end of the year to shoot down short- and medium-range missiles, several Aegis ships are expected to be ready as surveillance platforms to track missiles of all ranges. The delivery of the prototype Airborne Laser aircraft has also been postponed indefinitely due to developmental delays. The agency had hoped to have it ready to provide a limited capability to shoot down missiles in their boost phase. However, engineers are still trying to integrate the system’s megawatt-class laser onto its host 747 platform. Boost phase is the right time to catch them if you can.
It’s one of the hardest parts of BMD, as even small errors in early measurement cause big errors in estimated trajectories / targets.
Nonetheless, Gen Kadish said the BMDS that will go online this year will still be robust enough to make any potential adversary "think more than twice" before challenging it.
Posted by: rkb 2004-05-03
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=32157