Thursday, January 27, 2011

Pentagon faces 'severe problems' without defense spending bill - TheHill.com

Pentagon faces 'severe problems' without defense spending bill - TheHill.com: "A senior Pentagon official on Wednesday pleaded with lawmakers to pass a 2011 defense appropriations measure, saying failure to do so would “cause severe problems.”
Congress last year failed to pass a Pentagon appropriations bill, managing only to approve a continuing resolution (CR) for the entire federal government that runs through March 4. That means, for at least a few more weeks, the Defense Department is operating at its fiscal 2010 budget level of around $530 billion.
“Unfortunately, if the Congress leaves the [Defense] Department on a year-long continuing resolution for FY-2011 at reduced funding levels, we will likely see a drop in both effectiveness and efficiency this year,” Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn told the House Armed Services Committee."

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NATO Missile Defense for Europe





NATO has agreed to provide ballistic missile defense or BMD for all of Europe. This NATO BMD will protect NATO (European and American) military forces in Europe. It will also – for the very first time – protect the civilian population throughout Europe from ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction launched from the Middle East.
Much of this NATO missile defense for Europe – known as the European Phased Adaptive Approach – will actually be provided by the United States armed forces. This will include seaborne AEGIS missile defense on board US Navy ships in the Mediterranean, as well as land based radars and interceptor missiles.
This e-book describes how NATO missile defense for Europe will be organized and implemented.