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Bush moves toward `star wars` missile defense
Washington, Feb 03: US President George W. Bush is planning to put the first weapons in space despite broad international opposition, budget papers sent to Congress showed.
Washington, Feb 03: US President George W. Bush is planning to put the first weapons in space despite broad international opposition, budget papers sent to Congress showed.
Bush's spending plans for the fiscal year starting October 01 include an unspecified sum for developing and testing ''advanced, lightweight, space-based (missile) interceptor components,'' the Pentagon's missile defense agency said.
In its budget overview, the agency said it was seeking 47 million dollars to start ''technology development'' of such weapons and others that could be phased into a multi-layered US Missile shield starting in January 2012.
In the two years thereafter, the Pentagon aims to base a handful of missile interceptors in orbit for testing, the agency said.
Any such setup, whether space-based lasers or interceptor rockets in orbit, could give the United States the means to attack enemy satellites as well as incoming warheads.
China, an emerging space power, has voiced strong objections to such ''weaponization'' of space as have Russia and some US European allies.
Although the heavens are already home to spy satellites and other military and intelligence sensors that help weapons work, no offensive or defensive arms are known to be in orbit yet.
Last year, the missile defense agency obtained an initial 14 million dollars for research on a space-based interceptor ''test bed,'' but no decision has been made yet to deploy it.
The fiscal 2005 budget is the first to set aside funds to start developing the kind of weapons president Ronald Reagan had in mind when he called for a space-based strategic defense initiative on march 23, 1983. Critics decried Reagan's vision as ''star wars'' for fear it would launch an arms race in space.
Bureau Report
In its budget overview, the agency said it was seeking 47 million dollars to start ''technology development'' of such weapons and others that could be phased into a multi-layered US Missile shield starting in January 2012.
In the two years thereafter, the Pentagon aims to base a handful of missile interceptors in orbit for testing, the agency said.
Any such setup, whether space-based lasers or interceptor rockets in orbit, could give the United States the means to attack enemy satellites as well as incoming warheads.
China, an emerging space power, has voiced strong objections to such ''weaponization'' of space as have Russia and some US European allies.
Although the heavens are already home to spy satellites and other military and intelligence sensors that help weapons work, no offensive or defensive arms are known to be in orbit yet.
Last year, the missile defense agency obtained an initial 14 million dollars for research on a space-based interceptor ''test bed,'' but no decision has been made yet to deploy it.
The fiscal 2005 budget is the first to set aside funds to start developing the kind of weapons president Ronald Reagan had in mind when he called for a space-based strategic defense initiative on march 23, 1983. Critics decried Reagan's vision as ''star wars'' for fear it would launch an arms race in space.
Bureau Report