Senior U.S. defense officials underscored the importance of
ballistic missile defense modernization efforts requested in the fiscal
2014 budget proposal citing disturbing trends in Iran, North Korea,
Syria and elsewhere around the globe.
"The threat continues to
grow as our potential adversaries are acquiring a greater number of
ballistic missiles, increasing their range and making them more complex,
survivable, reliable and accurate," Navy Vice Adm. J.D. Syring,
Director of the Missile Defense Agency, told the Senate Armed Services
Committee during a testimony on Thursday.
"The missile defense
mission is becoming more challenging as potential adversaries
incorporate [ballistic missile defense] countermeasures," he reported.
Syring
said the Missile Defense Agency "is engaged either bilaterally or
multilaterally with nearly two dozen countries and international
organizations," including NATO and the Gulf Cooperation Council. He
reported "good progress in our work with our international partners."
The
budget requests $9.2 billion in fiscal 2014 and $45.7 billion over
future years to develop and deploy missile defense capabilities.
Madelyn
Creedon, Assistant Secretary of Defense for global strategic affairs,
told the panel that these capabilities would both protect the U.S.
homeland and strengthen regional missile defenses.
The
administration remains committed to developing proven and cost-effective
missile defense capabilities through the phased advance approach to
regional missile defense, Creedon noted in her written statement.
"This
approach puts emphasis on a flexible military toolkit with forces that
are mobile and scalable. They underwrite deterrence in peacetime, but
can be surged in crisis to meet defense requirements," she said.
Creeden reported on progress on three policy priorities: sustaining a
strong homeland defense, strengthening regional missile defense and
fostering increased international cooperation and participation.
She
emphasized the importance of continually improving the Ground-based
Midcourse Defense system in place to protect the U.S. homeland against
potential limited intercontinental ballistic missile attacks.
The
budget request, she said, supports this effort as well as enhancement of
ground-based interceptors and deployment improved sensors, she said.
The proposal also includes funding to implement regional missile defense
approaches that Creedon said would be tailored to the unique deterrence and defense requirements of Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific regions.
While
promoting these efforts, the United States is striving to build
stronger relationships with allies and partners to cooperatively address
the ballistic missile threat, and to help build partner capacity to do
so, she said.
The fiscal 2014 budget request reflects DoD's goals
of retaining the flexibility to adjust and to enhance its defenses as
the threat and technologies evolve, Creedon said.
"Our most vital
security commitments - the defense of the United States and the
protection of our allies and partners and our forces around the world -
demand nothing less," she added.
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