US Missile Defense Agency announced that a comprehensive study for a new ground-based missile defense site on the East Coast of the United States is being conducted.WASHINGTON, December 16 (Sputnik) A comprehensive study fora new ground-based missile defense site onthe East Coast ofthe United States is being conducted toaddress the potential threat ofattacks fromNorth Korea and Iran, the USMissile DefenseAgency (MDA) has announced.
Through what MDA Director Vice Adm. James Syring described as "a very deliberative process" ina Monday speech, the agency narrowed downthe list ofpotential missile defense sites tojust four.
"The four locations are inMichigan, Ohio, Fort Drum, New York, and inPortsmouth, Maine," Syring stated ina speech he delivered atthe Center forStrategic International Studies onMonday.
According tothe MDA head, the new east coast site would focus onhomeland defense fromlong-range ballistic missile attacks byrogue nations likeNorth Korea and possibly Iran. Syring explained that the new interceptors would be linked upto the existing US network that includes three major west coast missile defense sites inAlaska, California, and Colorado.
The MDA study intothe possible locations foran east coast missile defense site was mandated bythe US Congress in2013.
Syring said that while the study is onschedule tobe completed bythe end of2015, "no decision has been made bythe [US] Department [of Defense] onthis, butthe prep-work has gone onto be ready forthe decision [to build the system] if it is made".
The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act passed bythe US Congress late last week does not authorize funding forthe actual planning and design ofan east coast missile defense site. The MDA has toreport its findings onimproved missile defense bythe end ofMay 2015.
By Sputnik News
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