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投稿者 washingtonpost 日時 2001 年 6 月 09 日 11:05:00:
回答先: 米、２００４年中に迎撃ミサイル基地完成へ 投稿者 yomiuri 日時 2001 年 6 月 09 日 11:01:34:
Missile Defense Speedup Weighed Implementing System By 2004 Considered
By Steven Mufson and Mary Pat Flaherty
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 8, 2001; Page A01
The Bush administration is considering a crash effort to put into place a rudimentary missile defense system before the end of President Bush's current term in 2004, according to administration officials and a presentation by a major defense contractor.
The Defense Department has been pressing private contractors for options to speed up deployment of missile defenses. The lead contractor, Boeing Co., has given various proposals -- including one that would place five interceptor missiles in Alaska by March 2004, before a sophisticated new radar system could be built, and step up the number of flight tests to four or five a year -- far more than contractors have managed so far.
Until now, administration officials have spoken only in very general terms about the possible design, timetable and cost of missile defenses. Boeing's proposals, which officials said are under active consideration, indicate the administration wants to select a concrete plan and move quickly to build at least the first elements of a missile defense, which could be expanded over time.
A handful of interceptors, without a new "X-band" radar to guide them, is only a small part of what the administration envisions. But the rudimentary system would signal the administration's resolve, help fulfill one of Bush's campaign promises and require fundamentally changing or scrapping the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
"It is a simple question: Is something better than nothing?" a senior defense official said. "The president and the secretary [of defense] have made it pretty clear they believe that some missile defense in the near term is in fact better than nothing."
A Boeing Co. executive outlined an overall proposal and possible timetable in an April 23 presentation at the Pentagon. One innovative suggestion was that the United States could put a missile tracking radar on a movable floating platform by November 2004.
The platform, similar to an oil-drilling rig, could be deployed in international waters, reducing the need to obtain permission from U.S. allies to use radars on their territory. But because the platform would be vulnerable to attack, one official said, the idea appears unlikely to be adopted.
Boeing spokeswoman Monica Aloisio declined to comment on the details of the April 23 presentation, but said it was "one of many" options Boeing has presented. All the options were requested by the director of the Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, Lt. Gen. Ronald T. Kadish, and the missile defense manager, Maj. Gen. Willie B. Nance, in an effort to speed up deployment.
"What the Department of Defense is doing is looking at optimal ways of getting pieces in place as soon as possible," a senior administration official said. "Different companies are pitching what
they think they're best suited to do."
Boeing's proposals illustrate the difficulty in coming up with a missile defense system any time soon. To meet a 2004 deployment date, the initial handful of interceptors in Alaska would have to rely on an upgraded version of existing early warning radars, Boeing said. It would take until 2007 to deploy 50 interceptors -- about half the number the Clinton administration originally planned for that date.
Boeing's proposals would require putting the system in place piece by piece, with plans to upgrade the initial components in later years.
"It's like buying a car, and when you first get the car, it can only go in first gear," said Philip E. Coyle, formerly the Pentagon's top weapons tester.
Coyle said the approach differs from the Pentagon's normal acquisition procedure, in which requirements are spelled out in advance. "Now we're saying we won't wait until we have all the capabilities we want. We'll take each capability as we can get it, one piece at a time," he said.
The cost of speeding up deployment is unclear. Dov Zakheim, the Defense Department comptroller, said at a May 31 briefing that the budget for fiscal 2002 will include "considerably more" money for missile defense. But he did not provide a specific figure.
Preliminary decisions about the shape of a missile defense system appear to be drawing near. Yesterday, a senior Defense Department official traveling with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who was meeting with other NATO defense ministers in Brussels, said "we have moved from the initial consultations" and "are now talking about how we go forward."
One ambitious element of Boeing's proposals, and one potential obstacle for the Pentagon, is the need for increased tests, which cost about $75 million to $100 million each. A flight test planned for this month has been postponed until August, administration officials said. The most recent test took place nearly a year ago.
"It would be ambitious to try to sustain four or five tests a year for the next several years," Coyle said. "The best way to prove that is to notice how long the current one has been delayed. It was originally scheduled before the readiness review a year ago. Three or four other tests were supposed to have happened by now."
"It all comes down to the flight tests," a senior defense official added. "You get a string of successes and you can move faster. You run into problems, and there is simply no denying that it takes time to figure out what went wrong and fix it."
Boeing's presentation assumes that "treaty constraints" are "removed" -- a reference to the ABM Treaty, which prohibits testing and construction of missile defenses at multiple sites.
The Boeing presentation was made by Jim Evatt, a Boeing executive vice president and manager of its missile defense work. Major subcontractors on missile defense include TRW Inc., which makes the battle management control system; Raytheon Co., whic
h makes the kill vehicle; and Lockheed Martin Corp., which makes the launch vehicle.
Staff writer Roberto Suro contributed to this report.
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