The North Atlantic Treaty Organization announced this week that it would push forward with political discussion on whether to build a missile defence shield to protect continental Europe from long-range missile threats. Canada, as a member of the 26-nation alliance, fully endorsed the decision.

The NATO plan is almost identical to the Pentagon's planned shield for North America -- one that proved to be a major political headache for the previous Liberal government and that Canada opted out of after much opposition from left-wing Liberal ranks and Quebec.

The resurrection of ballistic missile defence (BMD) may pose a major political challenge for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative minority because a significant number of Liberals, as well as the full NDP and Bloc Quebecois, were adamantly opposed to Canada's participation. Public opposition was strongest in Quebec, where Mr. Harper is trying to make inroads to win a majority government in the next election.

It is unknown, however, how many of those same critics would oppose this missile-defence plan, since it is spearheaded by NATO instead of the United States.

This political tempest was unleashed quietly and with little fanfare at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, when a NATO military panel delivered a 10,000-page report to the North Atlantic Council, the alliance's governing body, titled NATO Missile Defence Feasibility Study.

Marshall Billingslea, NATO's assistant secretary general for defence investment, told a news briefing it would be up to the political leadership within NATO to pursue BMD for Europe, and said the report was intended to stimulate "informed discussion" in member countries.

The study outlines how a ground-based system of interceptor rockets in tandem with ground sensors and orbiting satellites would be used to identify and shoot down an incoming long-range missile attack.

Mr. Billingslea did not identify which countries posed a threat to Europe.

When the United States was developing its system and trying to persuade Canada to participate, such rogue states as North Korea and Iran were often cited as the main threats.

Iran's pursuit of nuclear power, which many in the West suspect is a plan to develop its own nuclear bomb, plus its program to develop long-range missiles, is also a leading concern in Europe.

"There is a growing threat of long-range missile attack on NATO territory, and it is timely to examine ways and means of addressing that threat," Mr. Billingslea said.

The study, he added, "marks a significant milestone in the effort to protect our publics from the menace of long-range ballistic missiles. It opens the way for an informed political dialogue in the North Atlantic Council and relevant NATO bodies."

Mr. Harper and his fellow NATO leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush, will have to consider this new BMD proposal at their annual summit this fall in Latvia.

"The United States is a crucial member of the alliance, of course, and the United States Missile Defence Agency has been a key part of the whole process within the alliance discussion," Mr. Billingslea said. He noted "there would inevitably be a logical interface between the two systems" in Europe and the United States.

"Each nation and the publics of each nation will look at this, and they may look at it in different perspectives," he added.

In Canada, the relative merits of BMD have already been the subject of heated debate.

The United States tried unsuccessfully for years to persuade Canada to join its shield for North America, saying it would go ahead with or without Canadian participation. The United States was seeking political support and did not make a financial request or ask Canada to base interceptor rockets here.

Paul Martin's ruling Liberal party opted out in February, 2005, because of political pressure inside Canada. Former U.S. ambassador Paul Cellucci later blamed the Martin government for sending mixed signals over its intentions, and said Canada was compromising its sovereignty by not joining the project.

The Harper government has sent out strong indications it would be willing to revisit the decision to participate in the U.S. plan, even though the Pentagon has moved ahead without Canada.

During the election campaign, Mr. Harper said he would be willing to put the matter to a free vote in Parliament, but only if Washington asked, which does not appear likely. Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor reiterated that position in February.

Critics have questioned the scientific viability of the system, often described as a bullet-to-bullet approach, in which ground-based interceptor rockets, called kill vehicles, hit an incoming missile in outer space and destroy it before it re-enters the atmosphere.
 

"I cannot give you the estimates of the total costs because it will be determined by which set of options will be selected," he said The NATO summit in Riga, Latvia, in November is expected to decide whether to approve or reject the missile system for Europe.
 

In 2002, the ASG and the Armament Directors of all NATO nations were tasked by NATO Heads of State and Government at the Prague Summit to develop and examine options for protecting Alliance territory, forces, and population centre against the full range of missile threats. This effort was in tandem with work on building an NATO Active Layered Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD) for the protection of deployed NATO forces.

The Feasibility Study signed today marks nearly four years of detailed technical analysis by NATO’s armaments community. It is a detailed assessment of how to defend NATO population centres, forces and territory from all types of ballistic missile threat. The 10,000-page study was developed by an international consortium of industries, led by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). In response to a series of threat scenarios, developed by NATO military authorities, detailed defence architectures were designed and modelling conducted to ensure that incoming ballistic missiles could be intercepted successfully.

Under the supervision of NATO’s Missile Defence Project Group, and Brigadier General Robert Dehnert, the study was completed by industry and validated by missile defence experts from all NATO nations.

For further information please contact Mr. Bernd Kreienbaum, NATO HQ, Tel: 0032-2-707 4291 or Mr. Loic Langot Tel: 0032-2-707 7346

Missile Defence: http://www.nato.int/issues/missile_defence/index.html