Brussels, 03/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - How can European synergies be promoted to develop a ballistic missile defence capability with maritime component? Political and industrial officials sought to answer this question during a conference organised last week in the context of the 19th international exhibition on naval forces, Euronaval, held from 25 to 29 October at the Parc des Expositions, Paris-Le Bourget. All participants rapidly came to the conclusion that, although the necessary technological capabilities exist within the European Union, political resolve is lacking for developing a joint project despite the presence of threats.
Although there is said to be general consensus within the western world on the need to ensure theatre defence, the same is not true for territorial defence, General Bernard Libat of the Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) of the French Defence Ministry, explained. While the United States is on the point of deploying its missile shield to protect US territory, "there is no joint project" for ensuring defence of European territory, even if some countries - such as France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands - are cooperating on the issue. This "goes beyond the national sphere" and will above all require enormous investment, General Libat continues. It is therefore imperative for the EU to define a common approach to threats and needs to develop a European capability approach and then launch studies and projects showing that it has the technological means required to set a ballistic missile defence capability in place, General Libat went on, concluding that "it would be wrong not to cooperate with the United States given the costs that this entails".
Such cooperation could be beneficial given US experience in the field. The US has committed itself to ten-year research into anti-ballistic defence, which will take the form of a missile shield soon to be operational, and in which it has asked its allies to participate, Dominique Klein, French Defence Minister, explained.
An analysis is underway within NATO on the relevance of such participation. For Europeans, however, the system is not a "cure-all" remedy as threat prevention also requires the use of political tools including nuclear deterrents. "If we were to decide one day to give a collective and positive response to the United States, our feeling is that it would be necessary to confirm the central role of nuclear deterrents", Mr Klein explained. Also, several issues are outstanding such as the architecture of the system, as "American strategic needs are not the same as European needs", and the organisation of decision-making for deployment of the shield. Mr Klein considers it necessary to set up a mechanism for political and military consultation as, in the event of threat, decisions "should be taken collectively and not just in the United States". In short, European participation in the US shield is "far from acquired", he concluded.
As far as the ballistic defence system is concerned, the European industry is not to be outdone but shares the same analysis as General Libat. The EU has technological tools for giving itself a ballistic missile defence capability but lacks the necessary political resolve to develop a joint project on the matter. At the present time, short range missiles (around 300 km) are the greatest threat facing the EU, Philippe Clar of EADS explained. Missiles, such as the SKUD B, that one finds in Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran or Syria, which are all regions close to maritime zones, justify development of a naval ballistic missile defence system. At the present time, the only naval system in the world allowing protection against these missiles is the SM3, an American system that will be operational early 2005, Mr Clar continued. On the European side, things are taking time. "Technologies allow for such systems to be set up but there is a problem of funding and European control" of the projects which hinders their development, he added.
Jérôme Maffert of the MBDA company, specialised in missile systems, noted the same thing. Today, Europe has an air and land counter ballistic missile defence capability, the ASTER 30 Block 1, which "can intercept nearly 95% of existing ballistic missiles, other than those of the large countries" such as the United States. Although this missile is sufficient to counter current threats, the "ballistic threat is developing and will require systems to be developed". From henceforth, development of the current defence systems, such as the PAAMS, is being contemplated. The PAAMS is composed of radar and missiles including the ASTER, with the addition of an extra missile allowing defence to be extended to modern missiles, namely short or long range missiles which are difficult to intercept, Mr Maffert explained. Once again, "it is quite foreseeable that a system of this kind will be developed with European cooperation", from the technological point of view, but "there is not much European consultation" for developing such projects. The same is true for the early space warning system, Pierre Faucoup of EADS Astrium explained. This system allows detection of missiles launched, allows the launching position to be estimated and gives information on its trajectory while predicting the point of impact. To develop such a system, there must be a European programme. "European countries have different ways of perceiving the threats" and some of them "do not feel there is a need" for the system. (source: our publication Atlantic News).