Report: U.S. Missile Defense Will Not Stop A North Korean Missile Strike

A flight test of the exercising elements of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system is launched by the 30th Space Wing and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency at the Vandenberg AFB, California June 22, 2014. REUTERS/Gene Blevins

L.A. Times: U.S. missile defense system is 'simply unable to protect the public,' report says

The system designed to defend American cities and towns against a nuclear attack by North Korea is “simply unable to protect the U.S. public” and will remain ineffective unless Congress exerts rigorous oversight, according to a new report.

The report, to be released Thursday by the Union of Concerned Scientists, recommends that the Obama administration halt the expansion of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, known as GMD, until its technical problems have been solved.

“The story of this system is a cautionary tale about how the lack of appropriate oversight of a politically charged missile defense program has led to a system in tatters,” said the report, written by three physicists with expertise in missile defense.

“Despite more than a decade of development and a bill of $40 billion, the GMD system is simply unable to protect the U.S. public,’’ the authors wrote.

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Update #1: Science group warns of shortcomings in U.S. missile defense (Reuters)
Update #2: US Missile Defense System Unable to Shield Nation From North Korea Strike (Sputnik)

WNU Editor: The Hudson institute has a different view .... Obama Admin Letting China, Russia Gain Missile Edge (Washington Free Beacon).