NATO
Q: What is NATO’s role in developing missile defense?
A: NATO has been actively examining options for protecting Alliance forces, territory and populations against short, medium and long range of missile threats since the 2002 Prague Summit.
The United States seeks substantive cooperation with both Russia and NATO on missile defense. At the same time, the U.S. underscores the importance of preserving diplomacy, deterrence, and arms control as means of responding to the proliferation of WMD and ballistic missiles. (more)
The Alliance is conducting three missile defense related activities:
- Theatre missile defense (TMD) capability: the Alliance has launched a program, and signed the first contract for the development by 2010 of a capability to protect deployed troops against short and medium range ballistic missiles by intercepting them in the boost, mid-course and final phases;
- Missile defense for the protection of NATO territory: NATO also has approved the results of a study to examine options for protecting Alliance territory, forces and population centers against the full range of missile threats, providing a technical basis for political and military discussions regarding the desirability for a such a capability;
- TMD cooperation with Russia: under the auspices of NATO-Russia Council, work is ongoing to create the conditions for NATO and Russia to conduct joint TMD operations during crisis response missions.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has underscored the vulnerability of the Alliance to the ballistic missile threat as well as the need to pursue greater missile defense capabilities. Expressing his appreciation for the unique capabilities the U.S. technology and experience with respect to intercepting long-range missiles during a May 21, 2007 meeting with President Bush, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said, “There will be a NATO system which complements, which will be bolted in the U.S. system so that everybody and everything will be covered for the long-range threats, the medium-range threats, and the short-range threats.”
Even the radar alone adds to the capabilities of shorter range NATO missile defense systems. The information it obtains can be communicated in real time to NATO assets such as Aegis ships or Patriot units operating around Europe. When the United States first proposed expanding missile defense to protect U.S. allies in Europe, MDA designers knew the command and control structures would have be interoperable with NATO defenses. This interoperability has already been tested and will again feature in NATO simulations in 2008.
As members of NATO, the safety and security of Czech citizens is guaranteed by collective defense. Working together, the Czech, Poles and U.S. would be essential to protecting the Alliance from long-range attacks launched from southwest Asia, with other members providing defense against the short and medium range threats.
