Missile Defense Quick Links for Tuesday
Last Saturday, Iran launched a new missile called Nasr-2 in the Gulf of Oman near the Pakistan border. The missile, launched from a warship, hit its target 19 miles away. RIA Novosti quotes Iranian Deputy Navy Commander Adm. Qasem Rostamabadi, who said the launch’s goal was to “increase the level of readiness of Iran’s naval forces and also to test and to use domestically-made naval weaponry…[and] enhance the country’s deterrence capability.”
Given Iran’s determination to upgrade and improve its missile systems, it’s imperative that the U.S. moves ahead with its plans to install missile defense bases in Poland and the Czech Republic. (RIA Novosti)
More blustering from Russia. On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that U.S. plans (and NATO’s approval of the plans) to build missile defense shields in Poland and the Czech Republic leads Russia to conclude that “the so-called ‘integrated’ European missile defense network will be aimed against Russia.” Despite Russia’s paranoia and threats to install missiles near the Polish border in retaliation, NATO wants to assure it otherwise. (RIA Novosti)
Last week, Russia successfully test-fired a multiple warhead-carrying, sea-based missile. Fired from a submarine in the White Sea, the Bulava missile hit its target on the Kamchatka Peninsula near the Pacific Ocean. Russia recently announced that it has approved “full-scale production” of Bulava missiles. (UPI)
