The new system offers a real missile defence

Last Wednesday, President Barack Obama approved the recommendations of his entire national security team to deploy a stronger and more comprehensive missile defence system in Europe. This decision came after a lengthy and in-depth review of our assessment of the threat posed by Iran’s ballistic missile programme, and the technology that we have to confront it. And it is a decision that will leave America stronger, and more capable of defending our troops, our interests, and our allies.

With the president’s decision, we will deploy missile defence sooner than the previous programme, so that we will be able swiftly to counter the threat posed by Iran’s short and medium-range ballistic missiles.

We will deploy missile defence that is more comprehensive than the previous programme, with more interceptors in more places, and a better capacity to protect all of our friends and allies in the region. We will deploy technology that is actually proven so that we do not waste time or taxpayer money, and we will preserve the flexibility to adjust our approach to the threat as it evolves.

This is a stronger and smarter approach than the previous programme. It does what missile defence is actually supposed to do – it defends America and our allies. More