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Include us in Defence shield says senior Russian lawmakerUS Anti-missile test successful
"And any attempt to build them without Russia (which is not only an interested party but also geographically and technically the most suitable place for an effective antimissile defense) automatically means they are being built against Russia" said Mr Kosachev Russia has repeatedly criticised the United States' plans to place missile defence equipment in countries that were once part of Moscow's orbit. The United States has asked the Czech Republic to host a radar system and Poland to host interceptor rockets as part of its missile defence plans. Washington insists the anti-missile shield is intended as protection against attacks from "rogue states" such as Iran and points out that the proposed system would be useless against Russia's vast weapons arsenal. Kosachev argued building an antimissile shield without Russia wouldn't be effective and counterproductive as Moscow would view it as a threat. "Our colleagues in Europe should understand this basic principle: Any attempt to build a security system without Russia by definition cannot be comprehensive or effective," he wrote. "Instead of security for Europe's people we will have a new division and new targets on our densely populated Continent," Kosachev noted, echoing warnings by other Russian officials that Moscow would be forced to target the anti-missile shield. On Friday, the lower house of the Russian parliament warned that the antimissile shield risks triggering a new international arms race. "Such decisions, which are useless in terms of preventing potential or imaginary threats from countries of the Middle and Far East, are already bringing about a new split in Europe and unleashing another arms race," read the declaration, which was approved unanimously by deputies in the State Duma. Missile Test Successful A ship off Kauaihad fired a target missile before 9 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time Thursday. Three minutes later, soldiers with the U.S. Army's 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade launched an interceptor missile from Kauai that destroyed the target over the Pacific, according to the agency. The military says it already can shoot down missiles in their last stage of flight by using Patriot anti-missile batteries. But the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system would be able to protect larger areas than the Patriot system because it intercepts targets at a higher altitude, said agency spokeswoman Pam Rogers. The new system had its first successful test last year at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. It had another successful test Jan. 27 at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai. A September test at White Sands failed when the target missile failed after launch. The Missile Defense Agency moved its testing for the Terminal High Altitude Defense system to Hawaii because the New Mexico range was not large enough for the military to do the testing it wanted, Rogers said. The military also uses the Pacific Missile Range Facility to test Aegis technology that's designed to shoot down ballistic missiles midway through their flight. See also: Star Wars UK Opposition to US bases Chinese missile destroys satellite in space Isareli missile defence |
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