Classified Report Trashes Defense Shield Plans

Associated Press has obtained paperwork that shows the multibillion dollar missile defense shield planned for Europe may never be able to actually defend US interests from attack by missiles fired from Iran.

A briefing by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) advised lawmakers that the plan is flawed.

The four-phase shield based in selected NATO states would allow deployment of SM-3 Block IIB interceptors, that would in theory at least protect The United States and Europe from intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) threats.

The GAO investigators said that reports by the Defense Missile Agency showed that Romania was a particularly poor location for a system designed to protect the US, and that the chosen site in Poland would only be of use if the interceptors targeted an Iranian missile in the very short initial phase of powered flight, an option which the White House has opted not to pursue.

Other problems include production glitches, defects in the radar system, showing that it can’t tell the difference between missiles and other objects and massive cost inflation.

A separate report by the National Academy of Sciences recommends scrapping the fourth phase altogether and deploying the interceptors on the East Coast of the United States instead of in Europe.

Considering the spiraling costs of the project, that essentially experts say will probably not deliver the required results, Congress may have to re-think the efficiency and benefits of the system in relation to the final costs.

No comment thus far has been made by Moscow. The Russians fear that the system is intended to counter its missiles and that the aim is to undermine its nuclear deterrent, something that the White House has consistently denied. Neither Washington or NATO has yet given Moscow legally binding guarantees that the system will not be used to target Russian interests.