March 23, 2004
SDI lives!
US to deploy destroyer as missile defense ramps up
The U.S. Navy said it would deploy a guided missile destroyer in the Sea of Japan in September as part of a U.S. effort to deploy an anti-missile shield to protect against attacks from countries like North Korea by the end of 2004. Navy Secretary Gordon England said the destroyer -- equipped to track potential enemy missiles -- would remain in the Sea of Japan "on a virtually continuous basis" as "part of the president's directive to accelerate the fielding of a ballistic missile defense operational capability." Chris Taylor, spokesman for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency (MDA), said a total of seven Navy destroyers -- including the one in the Sea of Japan -- would be equipped with long-range missile tracking and surveillance capability by the end of 2004. Fifteen would be equipped by early 2006. By the end of 2005, the Navy would have three Aegis cruisers equipped with the Standard Missile 3 system to shoot down short- or medium-range missiles launched against U.S. or allied targets, Taylor said at a conference sponsored by MDA and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. (Al-Reuters)
Here's a big shout out to all of you in the U.S. Navy who are a part of this one...accompanied by a big Thank You to our president for getting the job done!
America thanks you and so do millions of other people in Asia.
And as for Homeland defense:
Missile defense milestone[...]
In about 90 days, the first interceptor will be lowered into its silo at Fort Greely, Alaska, and shortly thereafter will be put on alert to begin defending the country. By the end of the year, six interceptors will be on duty in Alaska and four at Vandenberg AFB in California.
President Bush ordered an initial defense to be ready by Oct. 1, but the Missile Defense Agency plans to put the system on alert as soon as the capability exists to defend against a single missile, probably sometime this summer.
[Thank you, President Bush! Excellent news!--Jen]
Ten more interceptors will be added in Alaska next year, plus 10 ship-based interceptors. Another 10, perhaps at a third site yet to be determined, are in the 2005 budget to be operational in 2006.
In less than one term, President Bush has gone from zero missile defenses to a system that will grow to more than 40 interceptors over the next three years. If he wins a second term, the system will be improved steadily in block upgrades to become a layered complex of land- and sea-based defenses, supported by space-based sensors and communications, to stop missiles in any phase of flight.
[And if J. F'in Kerry a/k/a Lurch wins the White House, look for this whole program to be mothballed in favor of more "health care" and "jobs" programs.--J.T.]
With oceans on both sides of the country, sea-based defenses are important but could not even be considered under the ABM treaty. President Bush's withdrawal from that treaty made sea-based defenses possible.
['member how the Dims raked President Bush over the coals for that one?]
Next year, the big ABM radar now being installed on a seagoing platform on the Texas Gulf coast will sail around Cape Horn to the North Pacific, where it will operate near Adak Island, Alaska. Such a floating radar can go where the threat is greatest and avoids the need for another country to approve a radar base. A second sea-based radar is to be added later, probably in the North Atlantic.
In addition, the SPY-1 radars on up to 20 Aegis cruisers and destroyers are being upgraded for missile defense duty. The Navy plans to have five SM-3 interceptors on three Aegis cruisers "on alert" by early next year. Ten more interceptors will be added by the end of 2005, and 40 more over the next two years.
The SM-3 is a 3-stage interceptor that can stop the kind of missiles North Korea has tested. Aegis ships will play an important role in a worldwide network of missile defenses on land and sea. And allies that often dragged their feet, ranging from Japan and Taiwan to Canada, Australia and India, are now lining up to join the effort.
But why is all this necessary, considering the Soviet collapse and Russia's change to a friendly nation? In the 1990s, a new threat emerged as China, India, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea tested ballistic missiles of increasingly greater range. India and Pakistan also tested nuclear weapons, and North Korea, Iran and Libya were secretly developing them.
Finally, North Korea's launch of a three-stage missile that could be modified to reach the U.S. mainland brought home the danger even to many opponents of missile defense.
Yet, President Bill Clinton continued embracing the ABM Treaty and declined to deploy defenses. When President Bush took office, he reversed that policy and began explaining the need for missile defenses to Russia and the allies.
Then September 11, 2001, showed the U.S. homeland was no longer safe. And three months later, Mr. Bush announced his withdrawal from the ABM treaty.
Since then, military action has enhanced diplomatic efforts to control the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Iraq has been forcibly disarmed, and this helped Libya decide to end its weapons programs. Libya's cooperation has revealed a global black market in nuclear technologies.
Iran and North Korea are now negotiating, but both have missiles and nuclear programs, and both are unpredictable. Russia still has thousands of aging nuclear weapons and missiles that may fail (as three did in a recent exercise), and which are vulnerable to theft or diversion. China keeps producing missiles and threatening war over Taiwan.
The dangers remain. But missile defenses will protect this country and its allies, while reducing the value of such weapons to those who seek them. Ronald Reagan was right when he started the SDI program 21 years ago. And George W. Bush is right in making missile defense a reality.
I think I need to include the U.S. Air Force in on that shout out---We love you guys, too!
I spent my 5th and 6th years of life worrying if I'd be bombed out of my little bed by the Soviets and I don't think that fear has ever left me.
Only the enemy has changed and the technological ease that rogue states now have to make that a reality.
SDI is an absolute must and it's yet another reason to praise President Bush's superb leadership!
He should make a big deal in the press of these systems going online in his latest campaign ads, at the GOP Convention, whenever and whereever.
This will give Americans a much greater sense of security and also give the enemies of this country a warning: "Don't even think about it. We can shoot down your missiles and you'll be 'outed' as a bad guy and targeted for punishment!"
[Tip of the hat and a deep bow to Rantburg,my home away from blog home! Get there or be square!]
