By Emelie Rutherford
A key Republican missile-defense strategist applauded recently a new U.S.-Poland agreement that paves the way for President Barack Obama’s European missile defense plans.
Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), who has at times been critical of the Obama administration’s missile-shielding proposal, commended the Polish government’s decision to sign a protocol amending an agreement allowing deployment of U.S. ballistic missile interceptors on its land.
This change, announced recently, was needed to allow planning to proceed with the Obama administration’s “phased-adaptive” approach to overseas missile defense, which replaces former President George Bush’s plan for a “third site” including ground-based interceptors in Poland and radars in the Czech Republic. Obama wants to deploy ships equipped with Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system and Raytheon‘s [RTN] ship-based Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors before adapting to a ground-based setup for the SM-3 interceptors in Poland.
“I commend the Polish government for signing the additional protocol to enable Poland to host the Phased Adaptive Approach Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors to protect our deployed troops, defend European allies and augment the protection of the U.S. homeland by 2020,” said Turner, the ranking member of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee. “I hope that the Polish parliament will ratify the (Ballistic Missile Defense) BMD Agreement with this additional protocol soon.”
Turner was a vocal critic of the phased-adaptive approach when Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates unveiled it last September, and the Republican lawmaker continues to have reservations about it.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined Polish officials last Saturday in announcing the United States and Poland were signing the new missile-defense protocol.
“Today, by signing an amendment to the ballistic missile defense agreement, we are reinforcing (the) commitment” between the United States and Poland, Clinton said at a Krakow ceremony. “The amendment will allow us to move forward with Polish participation in hosting elements of the phased adaptive approach to missile defense in Europe. It will help protect the Polish people and all of Europe, our allies, and others from evolving threats like that posed by Iran.”
Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski at the ceremony hailed the phased-adaptive approach, saying it is “based on existing technology and, therefore, is more likely to be built and to be effective” and is “capable of protecting NATO and Poland and the United States, of course, from a bigger range of threats.”
Sikorski and Clinton acknowledged Russians officials remain opposed to housing U.S. missile defenses in Europe, fearing the new setup could be directed at Russia.
Clinton insisted the new setup is “purely defensive” and intended to shield from Iranian short- and medium-range missiles.
NATO and the United States have reached out to Russia seeking cooperation on missile defense. U.S. officials are talking with their Russian counterparts about collaborating on “radar development and deployment or any other aspect of missile defense,” Clinton said.
“Thus far, there has not been a willingness by Russia to respond positively, but the door is open,” she said.
Turner said yesterday that as the Obama administration proceeds with the phased-adaptive approach, he will “continue to press for a timely execution of the administration’s hedging strategy.”
Some officials in the administration and Congress have emphasized value in maintaining U.S. ground-based interceptors as a hedge in the near term. They fear Iran could develop missiles able to reach the United States before the more-advanced land-based SM-3 interceptors are developed.
Turner noted the House in May approved language saying it is U.S. policy to continue developing and testing a two-stage ground-based interceptor, part of Boeing‘s [BA] Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system for national missile defense, to keep it as a complement to interceptors in Alaska and California.
“Furthermore, GMD capability should be maintained it in case the missile threat materializes before the availability of the SM-3 interceptors or technical challenges or schedule delays that could affect any portion of the (phased-adaptive approach) PAA plan,” Turner said.
The Obama administration switched to the phased-adaptive approach in part because a threat analysis found Iran was quickly developing short- and medium-range missiles.