U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday his agency could channel additional funds to the missile defense budget if it perceives an increased threat from North Korea or any other country, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, June 1).
(Jun. 2) -
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday said the Pentagon could provide additional missile defense funding in response to overseas threats (Ted Aljibe/Getty Images).
The proposed fiscal 2010 Pentagon budget would reduce missile defense funding by $1.2 billion and cut off deployment of missile interceptors in Alaska and California at 30.
Gates said certain members of Congress have expressed heightened backing for missile interceptors following a flurry of missile tests by North Korea last week. The Stalinist state appears to be ramping up for additional launches in the near future (see related GSN story, today).
"If capabilities in one of these rogue states should develop faster or in a more worrisome way than anyone anticipates right now, then I think the way is opened in the future to add to the number of silos and interceptors up here," Gates said. "If anything, I think what the North Koreans have done has won more adherence to the importance of our having at least a unified missile defense capability."
Gates yesterday visited Fort Greely, Alaska, which is expected to house 26 silo-based missile interceptors. The other four are based at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
"If there were a launch from a rogue state such as North Korea, I have good confidence that we would be able to deal with it," the Pentagon chief said (Lara Jakes, Associated Press/Yahoo News, June 1).