The U.S. wants to strengthen its ground-based interceptor missiles system to counter any intercontinental ballistic missiles North Korea may develop. Washington has announced its plans to build up the GBI system by 2017 and is now thinking of bringing in additional reinforcements. Pentagon official James Miller said in a seminar hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association in Washington on Wednesday that the U.S. is considering expanding its GBI missiles to over 44 due to the growing threat from North Korea. Currently, the U.S. has 30 -- 26 in Fort Greely, Alaska, and four at the Vandenberg Air Force base in California.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in March said his aim is to increase the number of GBIs to 44 by 2017. Miller on Wednesday said this is still being debated and added that the U.S.' missile defense system needs to be maintained at a superior level to the North Korea's ICBMs.
The same day, Missile Defense Agency director James Syring told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee that his agency views North Korea as the largest missile threat to the U.S.
| It's purely a coincidence but boosting the number of interceptors would also tend to degrade any confidence the Chinese might have that they could carry out a first strike against us. Given the tension in the region I'm sure that's a comforting thought in Beijing. We'll pro'ly hear about this at some point in the NYT and it will be cast in as negative light as possible... |