WASHINGTON, April 26 (UPI) -- The House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee has eliminated funding for a third National Missile Defense site in Europe, the committee's Democrats said Wednesday.
The cut is part of an overall effort to slow spending on longer-term missile defense programs in favor of missile defense programs that promise a near-term capability. The Bush administration has requested $9.3 billion for missile defense in 2007. The subcommittee's changes to the 2007 defense authorization request are subject to the approval of the full committee and then Congress.
The subcommittee also fenced $200 million for the ground-based interceptor program until tests prove two separate direct hits, they said.
"Democrats on this committee have long advocated a "fly before you buy" discipline for missile defense. We need to make sure the technology works before pouring more money into an experimental system," said South Carolina Rep. John Spratt.
The bill adds $140 million to upgrade the Patriot missile battalions from the PAC-2 to PAC-3 configurations. Patriot battalions are tactical systems, protecting deployed troops from enemy ballistic missiles. Ground-based interceptors are meant to protect the United States from long-range nuclear missiles.
The committee also reduced funding for the Navy's program to replace some nuclear Trident missile warheads with conventional warheads; funding for Multiple Kill Vehicle and Kinetic Energy interceptor programs, both of which would operate through space; and prohibited the use of the Advanced Optics and Laser Technology project in anti-satellite weapons.
