Unphased

During a teleconference call today on the Senate Armed Services Committee's mark-up of the fiscal year 2012 defense authorization bill, panel Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) was asked whether the conclusions of an as-yet-unpublished Defense Science Board report critical of the phased adaptive approach to European missile defense was reflected in the legislation.

His answer, in a word: "No."

Levin added that "there was nothing that -- as far as I know -- was explicitly reflective of it."

As InsideDefense.com reported on June 15:

The Pentagon's two-year-old plan to establish by 2020 the ability to shoot down Iranian ballistic missiles flying toward Europe or the U.S. eastern seaboard is "not credible," a lawmaker said today, citing the conclusion of an unpublished report from an influential Pentagon advisory board.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee today that findings of a Defense Science Board task force on the feasibility of early intercept ballistic missile defense raise question about a key element of the Obama administration's plan to defend Europe against medium- and short-range ballistic missiles.

"The report's unclassified conclusion is that the Missile Defense Agency's plans to achieve an early intercept capability as part of the Phased Adaptive Approach are simply not credible," Shelby said during a hearing on the Pentagon's fiscal year 2012 budget request. "Now it looks like the nation may be left with an inadequate defense in Europe and no boost-phase intercept capability."

During today's conference call, though, Levin said:

NATO made a decision. I think most people think it was the right decision -- it gives us much greater capability against the Iranian threat, which is really maybe the main purpose of it. We view that as the main threat. That's what that phased adaptive approach gives us much greater capability against, and there was no . . . indication that I've heard of any move away from that.