General: Missile defense for Europe on track - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

General: Missile defense for Europe on track

PODGORICA, Montenegro — The U.S. Army’s commander in Europe says American forces are now manning a new radar defense site in Turkey that could help defend Europe from a potential Iranian ballistic missile attack.

Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling told The Associated Press that “we have the forces in place ... at a radar site in southern Turkey.”

The radar is a key element in a planned ballistic missile defense system that also would put other land- and sea-based radars and anti-missile interceptors in several European locations over the next decade.

Tensions between the West and Iran have risen in recent months over Tehran’s nuclear program. The U.S. says the missile defense shield it plans to build in Europe is designed to counter the Iranian missile threat.

“I think we are well on track to conduct missile defense,” Hertling said.