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Cruise missiles, drones could slip past U.S. shield
Rogue nations to seek new ways to counter system, Canada warns
David Pugliese
The Ottawa Citizen
Sunday, January 11, 2004
Low-flying cruise missiles or unmanned drones
outfitted with weapons of
mass destruction could be used by other countries to slip under the Pentagon's
missile defence
shield, according to a Department of National Defence
report.
The development of the shield could also contribute
to the spread of
weapons of mass destruction as nations upgrade their missile arsenals and seek new methods to counter
the U.S. system, military analysts warn.
"Competitor states could seek to overwhelm missile defences through
qualitative
and quantitative improvements to their missile fleets, or
simply attempt to circumvent such defences through the aggressive
exploitation of cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicle technologies," states the
report, produced in March. The study,
marked secret, was declassified under
the Access to Information law.
The title of the report has been censored,
but the document states the
issue being examined is whether Canada should begin negotiations with the U.S. to participate
in the Pentagon's ballistic missile defence system.
Defence Minister David Pratt confirmed Thursday that the Canadian
government
is seeking more detailed information about the missile shield as it tries to decide whether to participate.
The study
lends support to concerns voiced by some Canadian military
officials at the North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad)
that a
terrorist group or enemy nation could hide cruise missiles or aerial drones
on a commercial freighter and launch
those once close to the shores of
North America. Such a scenario would give the U.S. or Canada little warning time of an
attack. As well, cruise missiles fly low to avoid detection.
"If you were positioned off Halifax and fired one, you
could take out that
port quite nicely because there are no defences deployed there that could
knock down a cruise missile,"
said Brian MacDonald, a defence analyst and retired Canadian Forces colonel.
Mr. MacDonald said fighter aircraft could
be used to shoot down cruise
missiles fired at coastal cities such as Vancouver or Halifax if they could
be scrambled
in time. Anti-aircraft systems could also be used if they were
set up before an attack. "But there is no structure set
up to provide that
particular defence capability at the moment," he added.
"Ballistic missile defence is designed
to deal with ballistic missiles and
only ballistic missiles."
Countering the threat of cruise missiles or drones
hidden on board
commercial vessels would be extremely expensive, as it would require
checking every ship approaching
North America, Mr. MacDonald said. The
other method around the missile defence shield would be to place a weapon aboard
a freighter, sail the ship into a U.S. or Canadian harbour, and then detonate the device, Mr. MacDonald noted.
Under
U.S. President George W. Bush's missile defence plan, interceptor
rockets will be placed in Alaska and California, as well
as on ships, to
shoot down incoming ballistic missiles as they enter the atmosphere. The
shield is designed to protect
the U.S. from attack by missiles armed with
nuclear or chemical weapons and fired from countries such as North Korea or
Iran.
The
Canadian defence department study estimated that since 1953, the U.S.
has spent $200 billion on various missile defence
programs.
The study notes the ballistic missile defence system, also known as BMD,
could provide Canadian companies
with significant contracts for high-tech
work, but only if the Canadian government supports the U.S. plan. "In other
words,
Washington for the most part is limiting industrial benefits to
those nations that actually endorse the concept of BMD
politically," it adds.
The report also emphasizes concerns in the military that Norad's role could
be diminished
if Canada decides not to join the American shield. That could
affect Canada's ability to maintain surveillance of its airspace
at a
reasonable cost, according to the report.
Norad, operated by the U.S. and Canada, is responsible for monitoring
and
protecting the approaches to the continent. The Pentagon would like to see
the missile shield operated out of that
organization.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2004
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