Missile Defense Quick Links for Friday
**Missile defense is good for the economy. According to a new study, missile defense operations in Alaska impacted the state to the tune of $246 million last year. Missile defense operations accounted for $51.7 million in payroll and $100 million in purchases and services. Defense corporation Boeing paid $9.6 million in state and local taxes. (Anchorage Daily News)
**Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s Foreign Minister, said his country will postpone a decision about the missile defense base until President-Elect Barack Obama takes office. The U.S. and Poland signed agreements a few months ago, but Poland’s parliament has yet to ratify the agreements. (Washington Post)
Will plans to build missile defense bases in Poland and the Czech Republic ever come to pass? Because of budget cuts and a less-than-enthusiastic Obama administration, there is doubt. With Obama vaguely non-committal, combined with Russia’s opposition to the bases, no one can say for certain whether Poland and the Czech Republic will get the protection they need.
**Reuters reports that on Wednesday, Japan failed to intercept a ballistic missile target. During the $55 million test, a glitch caused the warhead’s infrared seeker to lose track of its target. U.S. Rear Admiral Brad Hicks said the problem “hopefully was related just to a single interceptor” and not a problem with the Standard Missile-3 Block 1A. (Reuters)
(Photo credit: Reuters)
