7 June 2002
Pentagon eyes cooperation with Europe on missile defense projects
AFP

While downplaying a Wall Street Journal report on the prospective collaboration as nothing new, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Lehner -- a spokesman for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency -- said "a proposal and a plan is being worked within the Department of Defense" regarding possible cooperation with Britain, France, Germany and Italy, as well as Japan.

The Journal said the proposal could include some level of involvement by foreign governments and their defense contractors, including Britain's BAE Systems PLC, France's Thales SA and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company.

Lehner declined to comment on the types of items that would be sought, noting that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the US Congress had not yet been briefed on the subject. Rumsfeld's approval would be needed before the plans could go through, the daily pointed out.

"It's a work in progress. ... I don't even know what specifics or details have been discussed" with the potential partners, Lehner said.

But he stressed that the path had been followed before.

"A lot of weapon systems that we have in the United States have European or other foreign manufacturers or vendors or suppliers," he said.

US miltiary weapons of European origin range from the Marine Corps' AV-8 Harrier attack jets, a British design made under contract in the United States, to the M-9 pistols used by US army troops, which are made by Italian arms maker Beretta.

Lehner was unable to specify how much of the eight billion dollars budgeted for missile defense in 2002 could be involved in the project.

Russia and other nations have criticized Washington for its withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in order to pursue a missile defense system, arguing that it could spark a fresh arms race.

Washington has countered that it would be a defensive system, aimed at preventing a limited attack from "rogue states" like North Korea and Iraq.

Asked whether any of the potential partners had expressed reluctance or opposition to involvement in missile defense projects, Lehner said he was not aware of any such sentiment, adding that he believes most of them feel it would offer a "mutually beneficial defense of their country, as well."