US 'will have missile defence by year-end'

The US expects to be totally protected from a North Korean missile attack by the end of 2004, but failures in two tests could mean “big problems” for the controversial programme.

Air Force Lieutenant General Ron Kadish, director of the Missile Defence Agency, said a decision on when to put the first missile interceptors on alert has not been made, but that plans call for several to be ready to fire by September.

By the end of the year, close to 10 interceptors are expected to be on alert at two sites: Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. They will be linked to a specialised radar able to track inbound missiles over the Pacific Ocean.

But the interceptors face two tests of their ability to find and destroy incoming ballistic missiles, the first expected in late spring or early summer.

“If they both fail, we’ve got big problems,” Kadish said. “We expect them to be successful.”

He stopped short of saying two failures would delay deployment of the first interceptor missiles in Alaska. Officials note those first interceptors will serve a dual role: as subjects of further testing, as well as actual defences in an emergency.

The Bush administration has made the deployment of missile defences a key aspect of its national security policy, saying it is vital to defend the country against missiles launched by hostile nations.

Critics charge the technology is neither ready nor affordable, and say it fails to address the greater threat of weapons of mass destruction brought into the country by terrorists or other means.

A recent report said that missile defence programmes will cost €45.1bn between 2004 and 2009.

Despite the apparent elimination of Iraq and Libya as future long-range missile threats, Kadish said the danger from ballistic missiles is growing.

He pointed to North Korea's and Iran’s missile programmes as the most worrisome, although he declined to describe any recent intelligence on developments in either country.