By PAUL MCLEARY
WASHINGTON — The United States will spend $1 billion to deploy 14 additional missile interceptors in Alaska to guard against a possible missile attack from North Korea, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Friday in his first foray into the Pentagon briefing room.
The 14 inceptors will add to the 26 already deployed in Alaska and four in California, and will be in place by the fall of 2017.
The move is being undertaken “to stay ahead of the challenge posed by Iran and North Korea’s development of longer-range ballistic missile capabilities,” Hagel said. “North Korea in particular has recently made advances in its capabilities and has engaged in a series of irresponsible and reckless provocations,” including its third nuclear test, its display of a new mobile ICBM last year and its saber-rattling with South Korea.
The secretary also announced plans to deploy an additional anti-missile radar system in Japan to bolster the AN/TPY-2 radar the country already has.
Read the full story at DefenseNews