General Warns That Delaying Missile Defense Such As In Europe Would ‘Severely Hurt’ Ability To Defend United States, Allies Against Enemies

U.S.-European Missile Defense Scheduled To Be Operational By 2013, Just Before Iran To Have Ability To Strike U.S. Cities By 2015

The departing leader of U.S. ballistic missile defense (BMD) programs said he is "encouraged" that President-elect Barack Obama has become more welcoming toward missile defense programs.

Two separate Iranian tests of new, longer-range missiles able to strike European cities shows there is no time to lose in developing missile defense systems, and any congressional move to "walk away" from supporting those programs would "severely hurt our ability to defend our deployed [U.S.] forces and our friends and allies" in Europe "from an emerging threat," the missile defense leader said.

Lt. Gen. Henry A. "Trey" Obering III, director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), made his comments in response to journalists’ questions during his final news conference as Missile Defense Agency director, before he turns over leadership of the agency to Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly next Friday.

First, Iran on Tuesday test-launched a new missile, the Samen, in Mirivan, Iran, near the Iraqi border.

And yesterday, Iran tested another missile, warning that the United States and other nations that Iran is poised to defend itself.

If Iran now is wielding a 2,000 kilometer (1,243-mile) solid-propellant, multi-stage missile, that just shows that Iran is doing just what it has threatened to do in developing ever-longer-range, more sophisticated missiles, Obering said.

He also warned that if the United States waits to develop operational, capable systems to defeat enemy missiles until Iran finally begins flying intermediate range or intercontinental ballistic missiles, it will be too late.

MDA staff members "are open" to answering any questions from the Obama transition team, Obering said. "Our primary objective is to educate them" about realities of the U.S. multi-layered missile defense shield — and about the growing threat of enemy missiles proliferating around the globe.

Obama months ago, during his election campaign, had said he would favor continuing missile defense programs, but wanted to have them proven to work first. Also, some Democrats on Capitol Hill have said missile defense programs could be in line for major cuts or delayed development, as Democrats are poised next year — for the first time since 1994 — to control all three power centers: the White House, the Senate and the House.

Obering warned against delaying missile defense programs, such as the planned U.S. European Missile Defense system slated for the Czech Republic (radar) and Poland (interceptors in ground silos).

Stretching out BMD development programswould be unwise, he said, noting that with Iran moving toward possession of missiles with a range sufficient to hit U.S. cities in 2015, "there is some urgency in this" move to install U.S. missile defense systems.

Any major delays in BMD development programs would "severely hurt" U.S. efforts to erect a protective shield against enemy missiles and thereby "defend our deployed forces, friends and allies in the region from the emerging threat."

The general said he is "very concerned" with the nuclear and missile-development actions of both Iran and North Korea, saying that both nations have "very aggressive missile development programs."

One harsh opponent of the EMD is Russia, which has alleged that the U.S. interceptors could knock down Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles, or replace the interceptors with nuclear-tipped missiles aimed at Russia.

"I have a hard time believing that the Russians believe that’s a threat to them," Obering said. First, the United States isn’t going to install offensive missiles in the ground silos in Poland intended to house interceptors ready to kill incoming Iranian missiles, he said.

But even if the United States wished to install offensive missiles in the silos, they would be ill positioned, being too close to attack Russia easily, he said.

Rather, the silos are precisely positioned to counter Iranian missiles. If the United States were to move the interceptors to far back, away from Iran, the EMD wouldn’t protect some allied countries, he said.

Separately, Obering was honored by the Czech Republic.

He received the National Defense Cross of the Defense Minister of the Czech Republic during a ceremony held in Prague Oct. 31.

Czech Republic Defense Minister Vlasta Parkanova presented the medal, citing Obering’s role in negotiations leading to an agreement between the United States and the Czech Republic to place a radar on Czech soil to support a missile defense capability against a limited ballistic missile attack on Europe and the United States from the Middle East.

The European Missile Defense element is scheduled to be operational in 2013, and will include the radar in the Czech Republic and ten long-range interceptor missiles at a single site in Poland.