29 June 2000 U.S. Determined to Move Forward on Missile Defense Program Defense Department spokesman Ken Bacon said that while the sixth U.S.-Russian Defense Consultative meeting held on June 27-28 went extremely well, it failed to produce any "firm progress" regarding National Missile Defense (NMD) and the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. At the regular Pentagon briefing June 29, he also said U.S. officials made a presentation on the perceived technological difficulties associated with the boost-phase interceptor program the Russians have said they favor. So far, he added, the Russians have failed to provide any details about what they may be doing about developing a boost-phase system, so "the ball is really in their court now." During the recent meetings, Bacon said participating U.S. officials made it clear that the United States will proceed with a mid-course phase interceptor system "on our schedule." He also said the Russians have not lessened their opposition to a U.S. NMD system, and "we have not changed our determination to go forward." Asked about a planned Theater Missile Defense (TMD) exercise to be held jointly with the Russians in Fort Bliss, Texas, the spokesman said the third in a series of exercises will be held in November or December. While the last two exercises were computer simulations on TMD, Bacon said, this one will be a command-post exercise involving both Russian and American teams conducting a TMD exercise in the field. He said a Russian team will travel to Washington in July to discuss the arrangements for this in greater detail. Bacon also was questioned about a June 29 letter to President Clinton from 45 leading U.S. experts on China urging Clinton to delay the decision to deploy an NMD system. The presidential decision is expected sometime in October after the results from the next interceptor test on July 7 can be analyzed, a Defense Readiness Review (DRR) submitted, and a recommendation made by Defense Secretary William Cohen. The letter says current NMD deployment plans "are likely to serve as a catalyst for China to accelerate nuclear weapons modernization." The Pentagon spokesman said the United States anticipates that the Chinese will expand and modernize militarily regardless of "whether or not we go forward with NMD." Bacon also pointed out that President Clinton said during his June 28 press conference that he has not yet decided what to do about deploying a limited NMD system and he is awaiting the results of the July test and outcome of the DRR. The spokesman also noted that Congress passed a law, the National Missile Defense Act of 1997, requiring rapid NMD deployment "if the technology is there." Asked about some of the technical aspects of NMD, Bacon said the system is being designed to protect the United States against a limited attack from a number of countries including some in the Middle East. A limited NMD system, he said, is not slated to work against a threat from only one country like North Korea; "it's designed to work against a number of countries in a number of different areas of the world." (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) Return to the Washington File