US House committee approves funds for East Coast missile defense

The United States will likely include in its defense budget for next year funds for installing a missile defense system on the east coast to defend against ballistic missile threats from Iran and North Korea.

The U.S. House Armed Services Committee passed its proposal for the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a vote of 60 to 2 on Thursday (local time). The budget includes funds for building an east coast missile defense site and providing military training support for the Ukrainian government.

The U.S. has built ground missile defense bases in California and Alaska but remained reserved about an east-coast missile defense system due to budget issues.

However, the committee allocated 30 million U.S. dollars to the planning and design for the proposed base. In February, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said during the Senate hearings for his confirmation that the Pentagon would significantly strengthen the missile defense system for homeland defense against North Korea`s possible intercontinental ballistic missile threats on the east coast.

Adm. William Gortney, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, also told reporters last month that the North had deployed the road-mobile KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missile and had miniaturized its nuclear warheads, which would be carried by the missile. The KN-08 missile has a range of up to 12,000 kilometers, covering Washington and the central U.S.

ddr@donga.com