Officials of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) declined Dec. 1 to address press reports that Iran had obtained 19 intermediate range ballistic missiles from North Korea.
"I don't want to speak to intelligence assessments in open session, either to confirm or deny information," James Miller, a top Pentagon policy official.
The press report indicates the BM-25 missiles may give Iran the ability to strike at Western European capitals, including Berlin, as well as Moscow.Miller had been asked by Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, ranking member of the House Strategic Forces Subcommittee, about the need to accelerate development of the Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA), the Obama administration's plan to develop a ballistic missile defense system for Europe, in light of a secret State Department cable released by the WikiLeaks group and reported on by the New York Times.
MDA director Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, testifying alongside Miller, also declined to comment on intelligence matters in the open-forum session. But he strove to assure Congress that the agency plans to test a new missile in the spring with the ability to defeat missiles with the range to hit Europe from Iran.
"We have a very high confidence level to meet these milestones," O'Reilly added.
MDA is developing a new missile, the Standard SM-3 Block IIB interceptor, specifically to provide an early intercept capability in Europe against medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
The missile also is intended as a "hedge" for U.S. homeland defense against future potential intercontinental ballistic missiles, but isn't likely to be operational before 2015, Miller said.source
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