21 October 2009

Missile Defense Plan Designed to Meet Growing Threat to Europe

Vice President Biden, right, shares a light moment with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk before talks in Warsaw, Poland.

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington — The new phased missile defense plan that President Obama has proposed for Europe is designed to meet a growing threat not only to the United States, but also to allies, Vice President Biden said October 21 in Warsaw, Poland.

“We now appreciate that Poland’s government agrees with us that there is now a better way, with new technology and new information to defend against the emerging ballistic missile threats,” Biden said. (See “Remarks by Vice President Biden with Polish Prime Minister Tusk.”)

“Our new phased adaptive approach to missile defense is designed to meet a growing threat not only to the United States, but first and foremost to Europe,” he said.

On the first stop of a three-nation European trip, Biden met with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on October 21.

At a joint press conference, Tusk said Poland views the new missile defense plan “as very interesting, necessary, and we are ready at the appropriate scale to participate.”

On September 17 President Obama announced he would halt plans to install an advanced radar station in the Czech Republic and 10 ground-based missile interceptors in Poland, and instead would base a simpler system using proven technology. This new configuration is designed to address the more immediate threats posed by short-range and intermediate-range missiles.

Beginning in 2011, the new missile defense architecture will feature deployments of sea- and land-based missile interceptors, primarily upgraded versions of the U.S. Navy’s existing Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), and a range of sensors in Europe to defend against the growing ballistic missile threat from countries including Iran. Current intelligence indicates that short- and medium-range missiles from Iran or other countries pose the greater threat to Eastern Europe.

The components of the new configuration that will be placed in Poland will require ratification by the Polish Parliament.

The phased adaptive system is more focused, is based on new intelligence, and is based on proven technology. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said after the president’s announcement that the proposed system can be deployed around the world on relatively short notice during crises or as a situation demands.

“Simply put, our missile plan is better security for NATO and is better security for Poland,” Biden said at the press conference. In addition, the United States is sending a U.S. Army Patriot anti-missile battery to Poland from Germany several times each year until 2012 to help Poland in upgrading its air defense capabilities.

While in Warsaw, Biden participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes that commemorates the Jewish uprising against Nazi occupation troops in 1943.

Biden travels on to Bucharest, Romania, and Prague, the Czech Republic, before returning to Washington.