Watertown Daily Times:
The military will hold off picking a preferred East Coast site for missiles, potentially Fort Drum, until the end of the year at least as it launches a new review of all of its missile defense systems.
Leah Garton, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, said a decision about a new missile site will be tied to the new review, and no additional information will be available until after the review is complete.
Fort Drum is under consideration for the placement of missiles, along with Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center, Ohio, and Fort Custer Training Center, Michigan.
The Department of Defense said Friday that it is launching a ballistic missile defense review, a process that will culminate in a final report delivered to the president by the end of the year.
Pentagon chief spokeswoman Dana W. White said the review will “strengthen missile-defense capabilities, rebalance homeland and theater defense priorities and provide the necessary policy and strategy framework for our nation’s missile defense systems.”
A decision about the preferred site was originally expected in November.
The missile defense review could determine whether any East Coast site is necessary.
