Home > Key Activities > Exercises and Operations > Ballistic Missile Defense

Ballistic Missile Defense

Print-ready fact-sheet
EUCOM image

Related Topics (4)

More related topics

On September 17, 2009, President Barack Obama announced the U.S. decision to adopt a new approach to ballistic missile defense in Europe called the European Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) – a plan where EUCOM would complement NATO’s new strategic concept of incorporating missile defense as a core element of alliance security.

The plan proposes a network of sensors, interceptors and associated command-and-control structures to provide regional capability that is flexible, scalable and responsive. It consists of four phases:

Phase 1: Existing/maturing systems vs. Short Range (SR)/Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) threat. Sea-based missile defenses will be used as necessary to protect parts of southern Europe. A forward-based sensor also will be fielded to augment existing homeland defense capabilities (2011-2015 timeframe).

Phase 2: Enhanced missile defense systems vs. SR/MRBM threat. After appropriate testing, the advanced sensors and improved version of SM-3Block 1B interceptor will increase the defended area of Europe, as part of a combination of sea- and land-based configurations that includes an additional SM-3 ballistic missile defense interceptor site in Romania (2015-2018 timeframe).

Phase 3: Improved area coverage vs. MR/Intermediate Range (IR) BM threat. After development and testing are complete, the more advanced SM-3 Block IIA interceptor will be complemented by a second land-based SM-3 site in Poland as part of a combination of sea- and land-based configurations (2018-2020 timeframe).

Phase 4:  Capability vs. potential ICBM threat. Advanced missile defense technologies, including a Block IIB version of the land-based SM-3 could provide some capability against a regional ICBM threat and provide layered defense for U.S. homeland (2020 and beyond timeframe).

International partnerships are critical to this approach and vital to address this common, wide-ranging security challenge. The capabilities it offers provide increased opportunity for international partnering and will trigger cooperative solutions with regional allies and partners.

More information on NATO missile defense is available here.

Media: Ballistic Missile Defense RSS

PhotosRSS

Articles RSS

Blog Posts RSS

  • September 24, 2012

    Missiles and Pirates

    In the week ahead, I'll focus on two topics that don't always get a huge amount of attention, but are very important: piracy and missile defense.
  • August 21, 2012

    An Active Autumn Ahead

    As we wrap up high summer, it's a sensible time to look ahead at the fall and think about the big tasks facing the NATO Alliance and US European Command. The Olympics and the Jubilee fade to memory, and hopefully most folks have managed to break away for a short vacation to recharge. The autumn will be a busy time.
  • May 23, 2012

    Commitment to 2014 and Beyond

    As the North Atlantic Council finished up the 25th Summit it is clearly evident that it was a summit of commitment. The Alliance made the commitment to complete transition in Afghanistan and to support Afghans in achieving a stable future. It also made the commitment to ensuring NATO is capable of dealing with 21st century challenges, as well as the commitment to further strengthen connections with our global partners. Most importantly, the Chicago Summit demonstrated our commitment to each other - the unbreakable bond between North America and Europe, which remains the bedrock of our security.
  • April 30, 2012

    Sailing on to the NATO Chicago Summit

    We've just concluded the two big warm-up events that have brought into focus what we'll be doing at the NATO Summit in mid-May, scheduled to be held in Chicago.
  • December 20, 2011

    NATO in 2011 – Five Key Events

    As I look back on 2011, I think we had a reasonably good year in the operational sense. Lots of good “end of the year” retrospectives are appearing in various magazines and on-line sites, and I thought I’d chip in with my own top five operational moments for the Alliance this past year – and a hope that it stays at least relatively quiet between now and the end of the year.Stavridis
  • April 4, 2011

    A Pretty Good Birthday

    Along with two of the youngest members of the command, I cut a birthday cake to celebrate the moment sixty years ago, on 2 April 1951, when SACEUR Dwight D. Eisenhower activated Allied Command Europe – the predecessor to today’s Allied Command Operations – and its headquarters, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.
  • December 13, 2010

    Dr. Strangelove Strikes Again!

    Many of you know that we have a Notable Author and Film series at both my EUCOM and SHAPE headquarters, which allows us to routinely take a step back from our desk work and learn from some of the authors and artists who are observers, critics and practitioners of national security.
  • March 3, 2010

    Off to Washington!

    I’m on Capitol Hill next week to update Congress on the successes and challenges of U.S. European Command and the security environment in Europe. As you’d expect, this is a BIG deal for us, and we’ve been preparing for months.

Videos RSS

  • May 18, 2012

    USS Cole drops anchor in Rota, Spain

    It’s been almost a dozen years since the USS Cole bombing. The destroyer recently pulled into Rota, Spain, to showcase its advanced weapons systems and visitors to the ship are finding out she’s more powerful than ever. Petty Officer Ryan Seelbach has the story.
  • June 7, 2010

    Patriots to Poland

    American and Polish soldiers conduct a joint patriot missile training exercise