This week, President Obama spoke on the topic of North Korea in an interview with NBC. In this conversation, the President brought up the importance of missile defense in respect to its ability to guard against any miscalculation and to help contain North Korea’s anticipated provocative action over the next several weeks. The President’s remarks are as follows:

“But, you know, we have to make sure that we are dealing with every contingency out there. And that’s why I’ve repositioned missile defense systems to guard against any miscalculation on their part.”

“I’m not a psychiatrist,” “This is the same kind of pattern that we saw his father engage in, and his grandfather before that. Since I came into office, the one thing I was clear about was, we’re not going to reward this kind of provocative behavior. You don’t get to bang your – your spoon on the table and somehow you get your way.”

President Obama further stated that he would “anticipate” that “North Korea will probably make more provocative moves over the next several weeks, but our hope is we can contain it and we can move into a different phase, in which they try to work through diplomatically some of these issues so they can get back on a path where they’re actually feeding their people.”

The United States missile defense platforms in the Pacific are in place, but as this mission continues it will require more inventory and more capacity. Missile defense is an invaluable tool for President Obama that allows him to prevent conflict, contain provocation, and guard against miscalculation. The President of the United States, with missile defense, plays a vital and global role in making our world safer.

President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2014 budget request for missile defense last week. The President’s request calls for 1.739 percent of the entire $526.6 Billion defense budget to be spent on providing inventory and capacity for our nation’s missile defense systems. This percentage is down from the 1.831 percent of the $530.5 Billion Fiscal Year 2013 defense budget spent on missile defense last year.

Yesterday, Representative Michael Turner sent a highly critical letter to the President of the United States in regards to his policies, positions, and actions on missile defense.

“At a time when our missile defense system is the only defense that we have to the threat from North Korea, and the emerging threats from Iran, I am greatly concerned that your missile defense strategy is languishing, resulting in increased risk to the United States, increased cost to the taxpayer and needless alienation of our allies. Our enemies around the world have sought nuclear weapons and missile technology, yet your Administration has consistently reduced missile defense funding, abandoned previous Bush Administration strategies that sought to respond to these emerging threats and has compromised the implementation of missile defense programs, while seeking elusive Russian approval of the right of the United States to defend itself.”
- Representative Michael Turner, April 17, 2013

A link to this letter is enclosed below.

Letter from Representative Michael Turner to President Obama:http://www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org/data/images/repturnerlettertopresidentonmissiledefense-apr172013(2).pdf

Our world and nation, today and for the foreseeable future, need to prevent conflicts and need at least two percent of our defense budget in order to provide the capacity and inventory of missile defense across the world and for our nation to ensure peace from nations that continue to proliferate ballistic missiles and nuclear missiles.

The President cannot have this critical defense without the necessary spending it requires let alone reducing it from a year ago.

The ideal destruction and interception of a launched North Korean nuclear ballistic missile or missiles by current deployed United States missile defense systems is to take place in space with the precise use of kinetic energy from an intercepting vehicle at a high speed on a nuclear warhead traveling in space. Over 80 percent of a ballistic missile’s flight is in space which provides extensive time for multiple opportunities to intercept it. Identifying, tracking, and discriminating the warhead, over the course of its flight, is of absolute criticalness to the successful intercept of the ballistic missile.

In the due diligence of the U.S. Military to plan and prepare to defend against the worst case scenario of a launch of one or more of North Korea’s ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads, the United States has deployed a robust layered missile defense system to defeat and destroy these nuclear ballistic missiles in space with high confidence. The current deployed U.S. Missile Defense assets are as follows:

* The United States Defense Support Program constellation of satellites and its new GEO-1 satellite, in geosynchronous orbit, can instantly identify and track any and all ballistic missile launches anywhere on North Korean territory in any weather condition day or night and determine within seconds where those missiles are precisely targeted.

* The United States forward based AN/TPY-2 X-Band radars in Northern Japan and Guam in collaboration with its THAAD firing battery as well as an additional AN/TPY-2 X-Band radar to be deployed in Southern Japan, as announced by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on March 15, have the demonstrated proven capability to track, in the highest definition and fidelity of X-Band wavelengths, multiples of incoming ballistic missile warheads and provide exact tracking for firing solutions to each and every incoming warhead for precision interception during the warhead’s trajectory through space and in the upper atmosphere as it renters. These forward based X-Band radars provide exact queuing as well as extending the battle space and range for the deployed United States and Japanese Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) ships loaded with SM-3 Block IA interceptors in the region.

* There are 17 United States Aegis BMD ships deployed in the Pacific today and four Japanese Kongo Aegis BMD ships. Each of these ships have a minimum of 90 vertical launch tubes to hold SM-3 Block IA interceptors and each have an AN/SPY-1 phased array radar that can independently and collectively track and produce a firing solution to intercept incoming ballistic missiles that fly within hundreds of miles around each ship. These Aegis BMD Ships have the capability to form a picket fence of connected sensors across the Pacific Ocean and can provide additional cueing for U.S. Homeland Defense as well as Allied Defense.

* The Aegis BMD ships, to include their AN/SPY-1 radars and SM-3 Block IA interceptors have had 24 successful intercept tests with the last being February 12th of this year. Some of these successful tests used the tracking information from the X-Band radars including the successful intercept of the falling satellite in February 20, 2008 to extend their ranges and battle space.

* The THAAD Battery in Guam has the proven capability to intercept ballistic missiles in lower space and in the Earth’s upper atmosphere as the warhead goes through reentry. The THAAD firing battery has six reusable launchers that can fire eight interceptors per launcher. THAAD with its X-Band radar and firing control system can defend an exponential greater area than a single Aegis BMD ship. THAAD has a successful test record of 10 for 10 since 2003 with the last successful intercept in October 25, 2012 in Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

* There is a constellation of two United States low earth orbit satellites called the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) that have provided tracking and firing solutions for both the Aegis BMD system and the THAAD system. This system was last successfully tested in February 12, 2013 with the successful Aegis SM-3 Block IA interceptor and in October 25, 2012 with the THAAD successful intercept test which included the Aegis and Patriot 3 missile defense systems.

* The Sea Based X-Band radar (SBX) now deployed in the Pacific Ocean, is the most powerful radar in the world today in regards to tracking and the discrimination of ballistic missiles and their warheads to provide firing solutions. The SBX has a range of thousands of miles and will provides the best sensing information of North Korean incoming ballistic missiles and their warheads for Hawaii, United States territories in the Pacific, and parts of United States mainland. The SBX provides this information primarily to the 26 Ground Based Interceptors (GBI) deployed in Alaska and the 4 GBIs in California but can also provide this information to the Aegis BMD ships in the region to enhance and extend their battle space.

* The Upgraded Early Warning Radars in Shemya, Alaska in the far western Aleutian Islands, at Clear Air Force Station of Anderson, Alaska, and at Beale Air Force Base in California can provide tracking information to support firing information to those30 GBIs in Alaska and California in the defense of the North American Continent from North Korea.

* The 30 GBIs are a combination of first generation and second generation kill vehicles. These GBIs can shoot multiple times at the same incoming ballistic missile over the course of that ballistic missiles flight in space thus increasing its reliability. The first generation GBIs have had eight successful intercepts out of 15 tests. The last successful GBI test took place in December 5, 2008. The second generation GBI has not yet had a successful intercept test and had a successful non intercept test early this year on January 26th.

It is abundantly clear that the United States military has a robust layered missile defense capability and capacity in place today with high confidence to destroy and deny nuclear North Korean ballistic missiles in flight.

It is also abundantly clear that more capacity and more missile defense testing will need to be done by the United States and its allies to remain confident with high reliability against and ahead of the North Korean and Iranian ballistic missile threats.

It is with outstanding respect and great appreciation to the past 30 years of the resolve by the United States of America in its development and deployment of missile defense, from President Ronald Reagan to President Barack Obama, to have a system that is in place today assuring with high confidence that we can defend our country and allies from a limited nuclear ballistic missile attack.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, in a public briefing held for the release of the Fiscal Year 2014 defense budget today at the Pentagon made the statement that he has to assume that North Korea has a nuclear capable ballistic missile and that the United States military is postured and prepared to handle that threat. General Dempsey stated that the United States military’s job is to do three things, deter enemy actions, assure our allies, and prevent the attack.

“The proximity of the North Koreans to achieving a miniaturization of their nuclear device on a ballistic missile is a classified matter. But they have conducted two nuclear tests, they have conducted several successful ballistic missile launches and with the absence of concrete evidence to the contrary we have to assume the worst case and that’s why we are postured as we are.”

“The military’s job is to do three things equally well: deter enemy actions, assure our allies, and prevent. And we have options in every one of those bins to offer our senior leaders and this is no exception. As far as knowing what Kim Jong-un is about, we are having a press conference today about the defense department absorbing hundreds of billions of dollars in reductions for the good of the American people so that the United States of America can get back on a more solid economic foundation and what is Kim Jong-un doing? He is starving his people with a military first policy. It is pretty hard for us to figure that out.”

- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dempsey, April 10th, Pentagon

North Korea’s military actions are deterred by our nation’s forward deployed missile defense forces while South Korea and Japan are assured not to pre-emptively strike or react with military force against North Korea because of the deployed United States missile defense capabilities in and around their countries. If North Korea does launch nuclear ballistic missiles, deployed United States missile defense around North Korea can destroy those missiles, preventing their intended destruction of human life.

The United States missile defense capabilities deployed today, around North Korea and between North Korea and our allies, forward deployed military forces, nation, and territories are required, by General Dempsey, to perform these three objectives exceptionally well.
The Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel in the same Fiscal Year 14 defense budget briefing made the following statement on North Korea:

“The reality is he is unpredictable, that country is unpredictable if that is the reality that we are dealing with, and it is, you prepare for every contingency and we are… As to should the American people be concerned about their safety and security we have every capacity to deal with any action that North Korea would take to protect this country, the interests of this country.”

“First, this country, the United States of America, our allies, the United Nations has been very clear that North Korea has been, with its bellicose rhetoric, with its actions , they have been skating very close to a dangerous line. Their actions and their words have not helped defuse a combustible situation. It is, I believe, certainly the intent and hope of all of our allies, certainly this country, that that rhetoric be ratcheted down, those actions be neutralized, and that is in the interest of all countries. Now, in the event that that does not occur, as we have said many times, our country is fully prepared to deal with any contingency, any action that North Korea may take, or any provocation they may instigate, and we have contingencies prepared to do that.”

-Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, April 10th Pentagon

As this budget is announced, in light of the North Korean actions and of other countries such as Iran looking to become nuclear, it is absolutely imperative that missile defense funding is secured and increased.

Missile defense is a proven capability that is deployed all over the world and remains the critical element today preserving peace.

Today, the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services held an oversight hearing on the United States Pacific Command and United States Forces Korea with Admiral Samuel Locklear III, Commander of the US Pacific Command offering testimony.

Army General James D. Thurman, Commander of United Nations Command, R.O.K.-U.S. Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea, had also been scheduled to testify. However, due to the current situation in Korea, General Thurman remains at his command in the Korean Peninsula.

This hearing covered the current situation with North Korea with expertise from the Commander of the United States Pacific Command. The Pacific Command is made up of 328,000 United States Armed Forces members who account for over 52% of the globe’s surface and over half of the world’s population.

Admiral Locklear’s testimony on the North Korean threat to the Senate Committee on Armed Services and our American public is best summarized by the questioning of the most experienced and the most knowledgeable Senator in the United States Senate on the Pacific Command and their military activities, the Honorable Senator John McCain of Arizona.

Senator McCain “I was thinking this morning, I don’t know of the time a greater tension since the end of the Korean war that exists today between North Korea, South Korea and Us. Would you agree with that?”

Admiral Locklear: “I would agree that in my recollection I don’t know a greater time.”

Senator McCain: “Do you believe that we have the ability to intercept a missile if the North Koreans launch a missile as is widely reported they would do on incoming days?”

Admiral Locklear: “I believe we have a credible ability to defend the homeland, to defend Hawaii, to defend Guam, to defend our four deployed forces and defend our allies.”

Senator McCain: “Do we have the capability to intercept a missile if the North Koreans launch within several days?”

Admiral Locklear: “We do”

Senator McCain: “Do you recommend such action?”

Admiral Locklear: “If the missile was in defense of the homeland I will recommend that action, if it was in defense of our allies I will recommend that action.”

Senator McCain: “My question is: do you recommend that we intercept a missile if it is launched by North Korea no matter where the intended target is?”

Admiral Locklear: “I would not recommend that.”

Senator McCain: “Until you assure where the target is?”

Admiral Locklear: “Well, I think that if you look at the architectures that we have, you know, we will be able to sense, we will be able to understand pretty quickly where any launch from anywhere in the world but in this particular case where would it probably would be going and what we need to do about it, I’m confident that we can make that decision for our allies and their homeland.”

Senator McCain: “So in the event of a missile launch you would wait till you could determine where the missile was aimed?”

Admiral Locklear: We should hopefully have, if we have any predetermined, we should have a sense where it’s going to be aimed, if we don’t it doesn’t take long for us to determine where is it going and where is going to land.

Senator McCain: “We see that trying to make rather cautionary remarks on North Korea we should try to identify the building in Beijing where unidentified cyber-attacks have made; we also see continuous confrontational behavior on the part of China as far as its exception of sovereignty over the South China Sea. Would you agree with me that the only really restraining force North Korea would be at this time is the Chinese?”

Admiral Locklear: “I would say that the Chinese will play a key part in restraining, they are not the only one but they are a significant.”

Senator McCain: “Do they have played and efficient role in restrain of North Korea yet?”

Admiral Locklear: “I think that they could do more.”

Click here for the video of today’s testimony and question and answer period:

http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/event.cfm?eventid=2071a73cf15080ce23bf264b31d91349&autostart=true

Click here for Admiral Locklear’s opening statement:

http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2013/04%20April/Locklear%2004-09-13.pdf

The probability of a limited North Korean intentional preemptive ballistic missile strike targeting Japan, South Korea, and or the United States is at its greatest peak now than at any point during these nation’s cumulative histories.

North Korea’s quest to regionally and internationally project their status as a nuclear power has increased with North Korea’s deliberate and calculated political rhetoric. Further, they have matched their political rhetoric with their patterned history of behavior and demonstrated military and ballistic missile capabilities. Additionally, their nuclear status provides them both with the intent and capability to stand by their threat and strike against the west. North Korea has clearly placed itself, both internally and externally, into this calculated position in an effort to define their power based political objectives and back themselves into an untenable decision to demonstrate their power unless their political objectives are met.

The United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, backed by the United Nations, have made the clear and unequivocal decision not to meet North Korea’s political demands for food aid, fuel resources, and removal of United Nations Security Council Sanctions until there is a verifiable cease and reduction of their nuclear and ballistic missile development.

Historically, United States Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, along with the United Nations, have given into North Korean food and aid demands with the promise of verification of a reduction or cessation of nuclear and ballistic development. Collectively, those statesmanship attempts, over the last 20 years, have all failed and have set a precedent and history of extortion with North Korea which now has become nuclear, holding the region, the United States, and our allies hostage.

This act of a small rouge state, exerting nuclear power for political gain, is being watched by the international community, those who want to emulate this behavior, and those who will want become nuclear to prevent small state extortion. Regardless, increased proliferation of nuclear power will most likely take place if the United States and the international community give into North Korean demands.

Our President’s harsh and stark reality of choices are being made to either negotiate secretly or in the open, an aid package to North Korea in exchange for another promise to reduce its nuclear and ballistic capability or to stand firm and not give into North Korean nuclear extortion, to assure our allies, friends, nation and the world by not going to war or using a preemptive military action to destroy this threat but instead passively defending against and defeating their ballistic missile threat if it is launched thereby holding it useless to project power in the region.

The components, both defensive and offensive capabilities, are in place today to adequately defend against the ballistic missile threats of North Korea and provide the immediate offensive strike capability to defeat North Korea, by the collective alliance between the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the United States. This enables our President to stand up against nuclear extortion and prevent ballistic missile and nuclear proliferation in this region and send a strong message around the world.

A likely intermediate-range missile launch by North Korea is pending and the outcome will likely be a decisive decision by our President to intercept this threat with the real demonstrated capability deployed today around North Korea in defeating the threat and holding North Korea harmless without preemptive military action or going to war

Our nation’s newest and most comprehensive missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is being deployed to the island of Guam in protection of the American territory’s citizens and all of the United States military forces deployed on there from North Korea’s ballistic missile threat as announced today by the Department of Defense. This best in the world capability is able to detect, target, discriminate, and destroy, with kinetic energy, multiple incoming ballistic missiles during their downward flight phase in lower space as well as in the upper atmosphere. Additionally, the heat and friction of reentry into the earth’s atmosphere is used to further discriminate incoming debris and missile warheads for successful THAAD intercepts.

THAAD relies on its own X-Band Radar to detect and target with its own interceptors similar to those forward based X band radars deployed today that protect the United States, Israel, Turkey, Europe, and Japan. The THAAD system fills the gap of interceptor battle space between the higher Aegis ship based interceptors that operate in space and the lower Patriot land-based systems operating in the lower atmosphere for regional ballistic missile threats. THAAD remains the most successfully tested Missile Defense system since 2003, with a 10 for 10 intercept flight record. The system’s last intercept test was October 24,2012, in the Kwajalein Island in the Pacific where it shot down ballistic missiles alongside the Patriot and Aegis Ship BMD systems. It is also of note that in April of 2008, THAAD was put in an operational status in Hawaii while still in development for a North Korean long range ballistic missile test.

This capability protects and enhances one of our military’s largest staging areas, located in Guam, to project and deploy forces including strategic aircraft throughout the Pacific region. Protecting Guam from ballistic missile threats would further deter North Korea’s rational or irrational decision of launching ballistic missiles as well as maintain their fear of offensive retaliation. It is a necessary strategic move by the United States to assure our allies in this region, specifically South Korea and Japan, that we have our best capabilities deployed so that they do not need to take pre-emptive or reactive action against North Korea.

We give great credit and sincere appreciation to our President, Department of Defense, Pacific Combatant Commander, and to the Commander of the U.S. Army’s 94th AAMDC for making the decision to deploy the Alpha Four THAAD Battery, out of Fort Bliss, Texas, forward into Guam and making our world, nation, our men and women of our armed forces, and our citizens of the American territory Guam safer. This decision to deploy THAAD will help prevent conflict and a potential war with North Korea.

Our government is doing the right thing for the right reasons at the right time.

In the protection of Hawaii and the United States mainland, the Sea-Based X-Band radar (SBX) has been deployed from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii into the Pacific Ocean. The SBX is the world’s most capable X-Band Radar that is able to track 10s of thousands of small objects in space while following a ballistic missile in its moving cloud of debris to exactly pinpoint the re-entry vehicle or warhead of a ballistic missile amongst the countermeasures and decoys.

Simplistically put, the SBX, off the cost of California, could track the seam stich on a rotating baseball, pitched at Yankee Stadium, in New York, that is traveling 15,000 mph per hour and give you the exact spot and place to swing the bat and make contact with the ball, at the plate, before the ball’s arrival for a home run every time that you went to bat no matter what speed or type of pitch is thrown. It is an incredible capability that can exponentially increase the reliability of our 30 ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California that are protecting Hawaii and the United States homeland from a North Korean long range ballistic missile.

The SBX has been deployed out to the Pacific Ocean during previous North Korean ballistic missile tests and was the critical sensor in the 2008 successful intercept of a falling toxic satellite by a Ballistic Missile Defense Aegis ship, the USS Lake Erie (CG-70), and SM3-Block IA interceptor. A decision was made by our government and the previous Missile Defense Agency Director to put the SBX in partial mothball status at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii as it was previously planned to be in permanent placement at Adak, Alaska on the Aleutian Islands in order to provide increased capability for the protection of the United States homeland close a polar orbit flight that would be required to reach the United States mainland from North Korea. The SBX costs around 70 million dollars a year to operate and maintain and is an asset of the United States Navy but managed and crewed by the Missile Defense Agency.

It is of great appreciation and acknowledgement that we give to the Department of Defense, the Pacific Combatant Commander, and the Missile Defense Agency as they move forward with the deployment of the SBX in protection of our nation and its people from North Korea.
In addition to the SBX being deployed yesterday, the United States 7th Fleet, out of Yokosuka, Japan, which has five Aegis BMD ships attached to its overall fleet, has moved the USS John S. McCain Aegis BMD Destroyer out to sea for added protection against North Korea. The destroyer will provide both sensing and tracking data of incoming ballistic missiles as well as having the capability on board to intercept short and medium-range ballistic missiles from North Korea. The United States five Aegis BMD ships which includes the most modern BMD ship in the Navy, the USS Shiloh, a cruiser, join four Japanese Aegis BMD Kongo Class ships and three South Korea KDX ships in the ballistic missile defense of this region.

It is a true honor to have visited and recognized the men and women of the USS John S. McCain, the USS Fitzgerald, the USS Curtis Wilbur and its crew in Yokosuka, as well as the USS Shiloh at sea in the East China Sea this past year deployed in the waters protecting our allies, our troops, and the United States of America. MDAA was also honored to be on the SBX as it finished its construction in Brownsville, Texas and again a few times with its crew in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

For, in the end, it is the men and women of our joint missile defense force that make these great engineering capabilities and platforms perform the work to preserve peace and protect our lives. They indeed are the unheralded ones that represent the tip of the spear for the entire missile defense community and our nation protecting all of us and our allies in these critical times of uncertainty against a nuclear country and the leader of North Korea

As President Barack Obama continues his tour of Israel, one of the most valuable assets, for the protection and defense of Israel, is the presence of a United States forward based radar that is deployed in Southern Israel, towards Iran. It is imperative, for the security of Israel, to clearly see and define all incoming missile threats early to track, discriminate, process, cue, and target in absolute definition in order to adequately defend against them.

There are three critical tools within a missile defense system that provide the highest confidence in tracking, discrimination, and targeting volumes of sophisticated and unsophisticated missiles 1) the placement, the deployment and quality of the sensors, 2) the collection and fusion of all of the sensors to provide the best tracking to the best interceptor, and 3) the discrimination capability on the missile defense interceptor.

This invaluable United States missile defense presence is a set of eyes, protecting the over seven million people in the state of Israel today. This asset is the forward based AN/TPY-2 radar that provides quality and persistent searching and tracking to target incoming missiles far beyond the horizon and cue all of the missile defense platforms and their system sensors protecting Israel. This United States AN/TPY-2 radar enables all the current missile defense assets, in and around Israel, to perform more efficiently and effectively; from the United States Aegis BMD ships in the Mediterranean Sea, to Israel’s Arrow 2, and Patriot Advanced Capability 2 systems deployed throughout Israel.

We give great credit to our few men in the U.S. Army green of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery 13th attachment of the 10th AAMDC that command the AN/TPY-2 radar and to those brave United States civilian contractors that keep this sensor running 24/7 here in Israel. This invaluable team makes a tremendous difference in the responsibility of helping to defend the state of Israel.

It was a privilege and an honor to be amongst these soldiers and civilians earlier this month at their site to recognize what they do and give them great appreciation for this mission of peace that they help provide. To have our American citizens out there holding down the site, close to hostile territories, with the reliance of Israel’s military to defend them while they do the work to stand vigilant for all, is truly a selfless mission that is unheralded and of vital importance for the state of Israel and the stability of this region.

On the Mediterranean Sea that borders Northern Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, Southern Europe, and the entrance to the Black Sea into Eastern Europe and Russia, float the U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet ships. These ships provide stability in multi-purpose and multi-purpose platforms to provide a great asset in preserving peace, supporting international efforts, and joining with NATO forces to bring stability in this confluence of regions. The ships’ ability to steam in these international waters offers unique mobile platforms to insert where needed and leave when not needed without the challenging political efforts and diplomacy required to have both U.S. capability and presence on land.

The mixture of regional powers, non-state actors, and terrorist groups that border and are in proximity to the Mediterranean Sea are both numerous and diverse.
Of all the regions in the world, accounting for this decade and the last, this geographical area has had the greatest number of anger driven ballistic missile and rocket firings; Russia, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Hamas have all launched ballistic missiles or rockets in this time frame. This trend continues as Syria demonstrates its use of these weapons on its own people and the proliferation of these systems continue to grow as an accepted force extension and provider of a poor man’s air force to project power.
Having a constant U.S. Naval presence, with Ballistic Missile Defense capability, near these hot spots is a critical mission for NATO, the United States, and those countries that cannot defend themselves from these threats. It is so critical that the President of the United States, with the support of the leaders of the NATO alliance made a commitment to provide U.S. Aegis BMD ships in the Mediterranean at all times.
Within this commitment, Spain provides a port in Rota, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Rota, Spain will serve as the home port of four U.S. Aegis BMD ships and has current deployments of one to two U.S. Aegis BMD ships out of Norfolk, Virginia and Mayport, Florida that will support that mission until Rota, Spain is ready. These Aegis BMD Ships have AN/SPY-1 radars, SM-3 Block IA, and SM-2 missiles that provide anti-missile defense for up to a few hundred miles from where they are steaming. In addition, these Aegis BMD ships are linked into forward based AN/TPY-2 radars in Turkey and Israel that provide them with early sensing capabilities for their missile interceptors that can extend their range beyond the range of the ships radars.
In terms of defense, of all the nations that are in proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, including Israel, these U.S. Aegis BMD ships unilaterally provide the highest intercept points in space and demonstrated capability against the current missile threats to all of these countries. They are an absolute critical asset here for Europe, Northern Africa, Middle East, and Turkey and their mission continues to grow.
More Aegis BMD ships are needed here and countries such as Spain and Italy are to be commended for their support of U.S. Naval bases to enable these ships.
MDAA was honored to visit, recognize, and meet one of our Aegis BMD ships and its crew, the USS Mahan (DDG-72) at a fuel stop in Haifa, Israel during its mission. These 300 strong sailors and officers of the USS Mahan (DDG-72), led by CDR Aycock, are from all parts of our nation and are a great team that we as a nation and as a NATO member are very fortunate to have in helping to preserve peace and protection in the confluences of the countries and entities that border the Mediterranean Sea.
On behalf of our membership and of the American public great appreciation goes to the 300 on the USS Mahan (DDG-72) and all of our ships in the 6th Fleet that provide peace and security.

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Last week, over the skies of Israel and out to the Mediterranean Sea flew the first significant test of world’s newest missile defense interceptor, the Arrow 3. In the defense of Israel, the Arrow 3 will add to Israel’s quiver of capability.

This missile, built in partnership with the United States, achieved a tremendous amount of firsts with this particular test that due to risk tolerance, spiral development, and concurrent engineering unique to Israel is just a few years away from being deployed in Israel. Thus, the Arrow 3, will add to their deterrence in defeating Iranian missiles, self-protecting their nation, and providing more flexibility in preemption as well as reaction to provocative acts by Iran.

The four new technologies of the Arrow 3 missile successfully demonstrated for Israel during this test are:

- A two stage rocket engine

- A flexible skirt for stability and increased speed of the second stage

- A dual pulse propelled kill vehicle

- A Kimball designed kill vehicle that allows 90 to 180 degrees tracking of the incoming ballistic missile warhead

This test demonstrated a lighter, faster, and an exponential increase in divert capability for a missile defense interceptor.

The test was a non-intercept test that stressed these new technologies for Israel before attempting high velocity kinetic energy intercept tests in space.

Having more nations like Israel and Japan that co-produce with the United States and share technologies increases missile defense capabilities in volatile regions thereby increasing stability and peace while sharing the burdens of costs to the tax payers of the citizens they protect and defend.

It is a good thing