The commander of U.S. strategic forces said recently that the
military is studying deployment of an East Coast long-range missile
defense interceptor base that others in the Pentagon are opposing.
Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehler, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said in remarks Wednesday that the military is considering a long-range interceptor site to augment facilities in Alaska and California.
“Of course the commitment has been to deploy a limited missile defense system to protect essentially the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii against a limited threat, specifically—and the way this began—from North Korea, potentially to extend that farther if we need to,” Kehler said.
The currently deployed system can handle only a “limited threat,” he said.
“The question that we have is twofold, really; it’s really a hedge question,” Kehler said. “What do we do next if the threat either grows faster than we had anticipated or if the threat changes in some way?”
The current U.S. missile defense system—designed for long-range range and thus high-speed missiles—is primarily directed at North Korea, which recently tested a long-range missile and has nuclear arms.
The more than 30 interceptors deployed at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, do not have enough firepower to stop an Iranian missile fired at the United States.
Read more: http://freebeacon.com/east-coast-missile-fight/
Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehler, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said in remarks Wednesday that the military is considering a long-range interceptor site to augment facilities in Alaska and California.
“Of course the commitment has been to deploy a limited missile defense system to protect essentially the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii against a limited threat, specifically—and the way this began—from North Korea, potentially to extend that farther if we need to,” Kehler said.
The currently deployed system can handle only a “limited threat,” he said.
“The question that we have is twofold, really; it’s really a hedge question,” Kehler said. “What do we do next if the threat either grows faster than we had anticipated or if the threat changes in some way?”
The current U.S. missile defense system—designed for long-range range and thus high-speed missiles—is primarily directed at North Korea, which recently tested a long-range missile and has nuclear arms.
The more than 30 interceptors deployed at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, do not have enough firepower to stop an Iranian missile fired at the United States.
Read more: http://freebeacon.com/east-coast-missile-fight/
No comments:
Post a Comment