The White House opposes creating a site for Korean and Iranian ballistic missile interceptors on the East Coast

A conflict is brewing in the United States over the creation of a third site for the deployment of land-based missile interceptors on the East Coast. The presidential administration opposes the idea.

Here's What We Know

At the moment, there are two sites in the US that house ground-based interceptors designed to protect the country from North Korean and Iranian ballistic missiles. They are located in Alaska and California.

The Joe Biden administration is strongly opposed to building an additional continental interceptor base by 2030, even though it is called for in the National Defence Authorisation Act for fiscal 2025. The preferred site is Fort Drum, New York.

In favour of the project is the US House of Representatives Armed Services Commission. It states the need to strengthen the defence of the country's territory against long-range ballistic missiles possessed by DPRK and Iran.

In addition, the Commission instructed the Missile Defence Agency to start providing an annual report on the project by the end of the current calendar year. The cost of the programme has not yet been specified, but we are talking billions of dollars.

For the Pentagon, the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) programme is the priority at the moment. Its cost is estimated at almost $20 billion. It is expected that in 2028 the first interceptors will be deployed in 20 silos in Alaska. The White House believes two NGI sites will be enough to provide protection for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Source: White House