Israel already used US-made Patriot missiles to defend against missile attacks
US plans Israel missile shield
The US House of Representatives has adopted a measure aimed at weaving closer US and Israeli defences against ballistic missiles of the type that could be fired by Iran.
The measure, part of a $504 billion defence spending bill passed on Thursday, would redirect $205m in defence department funds toward projects already underway in Israel.
It would provide $25m more for Arrow missile co-production and integration, $45m for a US-Israeli short-range missile defence system dubbed “David’s Sling” and $135m to buy a Theater High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, fire unit.
All three projects involve interceptors rockets designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in the terminal phase of their flight paths.
Source: MWZ News.
U.S. experts end exploration of Brdy Czech military district
Prague- A team of 38 U.S. experts ended today the exploration of the Brdy military district, southwest of Prague, where the United States wants to station a radar within its anti-missile shield, the Czech Defence Ministry has announced.
The experts mainly studied the hydrological and geological conditions, the quality of infrastructure and transport accessibility.
The team was headed by Julian Savage from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
Czech military chief of staff Vlastimil Picek said on Wednesday that the radar will be located at least five kilometres away from the closest housing facility, and that the training of the Czech artillery brigade in the district will have to be halved, which he said is no problem. Another group of five U.S. experts looked into whether the radar would reduce television and radio broadcasts, for instance.
Recently, Czech and U.S. negotiators held two-day consultations on the legal status of the radar base personnel. On May 22, the two countries’ negotiators will discuss a treaty defining the conditions of the functioning and operation of the possible radar station, its precise location, access to it, possibilities of visits and logistics.
Negotiations between Prague and Washington will last several months and it will depend on their outcome whether the radar will really be built in the Czech Republic. Another element of the anti-missile shield, a base with ten missile interceptors, is to be built in the neighbouring Poland.
A majority of Czechs are against the radar, and politicians are not united on it either.
Author: ČTK
Source: Ceske Noviny