The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. James Winnefeld, said Wednesday persistent North Korean provocations could lead to an expansion of missile defenses in the Asia-Pacific region and that the United States, Japan and South Korea must continuously cooperate to address the threat.
“We’re encouraging our allies and partners to acquire their own missile defenses and to strengthen regional missile defense cooperation that will result in better performance than individual countries acting alone,” Winnefeld said at a conference hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington.
Winnefeld noted the U.S. Army quickly deployed the
Lockheed Martin [LMT] Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, also known as THAAD, to Guam last year as tensions were rising with North Korea. He said expanding the capabilities could be part of future plans, although he stopped short of confirming a story in the Wall Street Journal this week that said the Pentagon was working on a plan to deploy THAAD to South Korea.
THAAD is a mobile ballistic missile defense system designed to take out short-and intermediate-range threats.
Winnefeld said that with reductions in defense spending, the United States will have to look to other countries to contribute more to their defense while also working closely with Washington in the development of the required systems.
“In a world of declining budgets, it’s likely we’ll come to rely more on those partners to resource the means for their defense as we work more closely together on the ways,” he said. Winnefeld acknowledging there are sensitivities about missile defense, but said cooperation “in this area would only increase our confidence in the face of persistent North Korean provocations.”
Winnefeld also expressed confidence about the ground-based interceptor (GBI) system the military has deployed in bases in Alaska and California to counter potential long-range ballistic missile threats from North Korea and Iran. The GBI system is gearing up for a key test this summer that could impact the future of a program under scrutiny for multiple failures during testing in recent years.
The Pentagon has not had a successful intercept test with GBI since 2008, with two failures having occurred since. But in appearing to get on the right track, in January 2013, the GBI system engaged in what was called a successful flight test but did not involve in intercept target.
Winnefeld said the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency has done a “terrific” job in taking a comprehensive approach to identifying the causes behind the failures and correcting them, and said he was confident that this summer’s test will be successful.
“They have taken their time and they have done it right,” Winnefeld said of the MDA, later adding: “I think we have dramatically raised the odds that it is going to succeed next month.”
Winnefeld acknowledged there is pressure to score a hit given the recent past, but said even if there is a failure the Pentagon will remain committed to the program and get it right.
“I personally don’t think it’s going to fail, and I personally think that any failure that does occur we will get though just as we have in the past,” he said. “We have had success with this program. We are committed.”