Need for Missile Defence Shield Hyped, Congress Told
A former Pentagon official said on the 16th April that the US had wasted billions of dollars in developing its Missile Defence Shield.
Philip Coyle worked at one time at the Department of Defense, where he headed the Operational Test and Evaluation division.
Speaking at a Congressional hearing held in Washington, Mr Coyle said yesterday that the threat referred to as the basis for the Shield's implementation and need was an overblown one.
Another figure present at the hearing said that the shield was unlikely to be able to protect the US if an actual attack was launched.
North Korean, Iranian Missile Launches
The US has previously said that the shield is designed to thwart missiles launched by "rogue" states such as North Korea or Iran. The US has proposed basing elements of the system in Poland and in the Czech Republic - plans that Russia has strongly opposed.
"Missile defence is the most difficult development the Pentagon has ever attempted", Mr Coyle stated.
The threat element, he added, has been hyped, "and if it were real the proposed missile defence systems couldn't deal with it anyway."
The Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security Program's Lisbeth Gronlund, meanwhile, told those present at the hearing that the US was no nearer to being capable of defending "against long-range ballistic missiles than it was 25 years ago."
Other witnesses, however, highlighted how the Missile Defence Shield's capability would become better once additional research and development had taken place.
Missile Defence Funding
According to reports, President Bush is seeking over $13 billion in missile defence funding for next year - expanding to $60+ billion up to 2013.
Source - Armed Forces International's US Correspondent
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