The sources think that statements by Pentagon officials that a "territorial" ABM system is needed to protect the United States from a possible attack by North Korea, Iran or Iraq are less than honest. "Those countries are not likely to have any time soon reliable delivery systems capable of reaching the United States," they said.

"At first glance, the United States intends to deploy a limited ABM system in one area, as required by the treaty. The point is that the system will have control and detection tools, some space-based, enabling it to expand to a national scale by a mere increase of the number of anti-missile missiles," the sources said.

The system will have a range of 1,500 kilometers and be capable of protecting all the 50 states while the treaty allows only a system with a range of up to 150 kilometers, they said.

The United States want Russia to agree to revising the ABM Treaty so as to be able to deploy 100 more interceptor missiles and a new warning system, foreign media report.

The 1972 treaty bans deploying an anti-missile system that would protect the whole of the country. It allows only a ground-based system in one area.

In Russia, the legal successor to the USSR, this is Moscow region and in the United States it is Grand Forks, North Dakota. Either system must not include more than 100 launching systems or more than 100 anti-missile missiles.

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MILSPACE
State Department Official Says Missile Shield Inevitable
by Matthew Lee
Washington (AFP) May 11,2000 - A senior State Department official said Thursday that eventual deployment of a proposed anti-missile defense shield is almost inevitable despite vehement opposition from China, Russia and some US allies in Europe.