The Czech Republic Senate, 40-31, approved a plan for the United States to install a radar on Czech territory as part of the envisioned European Missile Defense (EMD) system.

Because the Czech administration already approved the deal, that leaves only the lower parliamentary chamber having to approve the plan before the Czech Republic is fully on board.

A vote in the lower chamber, which is expected to be close, isn’t expected before year-end, The International Herald Tribune reported.

The U.S. Congress required approval by both the Czech and Polish parliaments before the EMD system can be built to guard Europe against missiles from Iran, a rogue nation that has become more worrisome to United Nations inspectors. (Please see separate story in this issue.)

In Poland, the administration already has approved the EMD plan, meaning only parliamentary approval is required now before the United States can build in-ground silos and equip them with 10 interceptors.

However, Congress also has demanded testing of the EMD interceptor, a move that could take perhaps two extra years, even though the EMD interceptor is basically the interceptor in the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) with one stage removed. The Boeing Co. [BA] is the prime contractor for both the GMD and EMD.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee strategic forces subcommittee, in an interview with Space & Missile Defense Report, has strongly questioned the EMD system. (Please see Space & Missile Defense Report, Monday, Nov. 17, 2008.)

Israeli intelligence estimates see Iran building nuclear-tipped missiles before the EMD could be deployed. Currently, Iran is moving rapidly to produce ever more nuclear materials.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Israel should be wiped from the map, and that Israel soon shall cease to exist.

Iran already possesses a 1,200-mile missile that could strike Israel or southeastern Europe.

The Czech Senate voted approval of both the main agreement permitting the United States to build the EMD radar on Czech land, and a companion agreement concerning the status of U.S. troops to be stationed at the radar site.

The Tribune quoted an EMD opponent as seeing the Senate approval vote as "a major setback."

Another major factor in U.S. moves to install the EMD system is the adamant hostility of Russia to the plan.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has vowed to deploy Iskander missiles in an enclave near Poland if the EMD system is built, and to use missiles to demolish the U.S. defensive capability.

His predecessor, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, also threatened to demolish any EMD system if it is built.

In what Medvedev apparently thought would be seen as moderation, he said Russia wouldn’t deploy the Iskanders and annihilate the European defensive system until the United States began moving to build it.

This presents a difficult situation for President-elect Obama. While Obama has said he supports missile defense, he wants first to be sure it works before building it, placing him somewhat in line with some House Democrats.

But Medvedev’s threats mean that if Obama drops plans for the EMD, he will be seen as caving to bullying by Russians, in Obama’s first major test on an international and military issue.

Moscow claims that the EMD interceptors could be used to take out Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

But Russia also has conducted tests recently of new ICBMs that it claims can elude any U.S. missile defense interceptors, including those in the EMD. (Please see separate story in this issue.)

As far as the Iskander threats, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates termed Medvedev’s public comments a day after Obama was elected "provocative … unnecessary and misguided," according to Pravda.