Sputnik News:
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Iranian nuclear framework agreement will not alter the course of the United States’ plans for ballistic missile defense, US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Deputy Director Kenneth Todorov told Sputnik on Tuesday.
“For MDA, I don’t think it changes a thing,” Todorov said of the framework agreement reached between the P5+1 group of nations and Iran to set parameters on the Iranian nuclear program. “I think we forge ahead with the work we’re doing.”
The United States has repeatedly stated that its missile defense architecture is primarily aimed at defending its homeland as well as its allies against a potential ballistic missile attack from Iran or North Korea.
Todorov noted that if a successful nuclear agreement with Iran leads to a change in US policy at the higher levels of the Defense Department, “we’ll adjust accordingly.”
However, he added, the MDA at present will continue “full speed ahead on our program.”
Based on the 2016 MDA budget, the United States is on course to add an additional 14 Ground Based Interceptors to its homeland defense by the end of 2017.
The United States will also move ahead with phases 2 and 3 of the European Phased Adaptive Approach program, and will complete Aegis Ashore sites in Romania and Poland in the coming years.
The MDA has reported that it has the capability to adequately defend the US homeland against a North Korean or a potential Iranian intercontinental ballistic missile attack.
