US missile move 'changes nothing'
defencemanagement.com
September 17, 2009
Barack Obama’s decision to drop plans to put missile interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic won’t affect RAF Fylingdales and RAF Menwith Hill, the Ministry of Defence has said.
A spokesman said: “For us, everything is normal. The announcement doesn’t affect the UK position at all. The bases in North Yorkshire will continue to provide an early warning system that the United States taps into, as it currently does. That agreement still stands. In addition, the UK will continue to work on a missile defence plan as part of an overall Nato agreement, whatever those plans might be.”
Around two years ago RAF Fylingdales was upgraded for missile defence with early-warning radar equipment. This was around the same time that the Prime Minister said the satellite ground station at Menwith Hill would monitor satellite warnings of potentially hostile missile launches.
