The United States/NATO has changed its position on the missile defense shield, well, modified it anyway. Rather than having radar and missile bases in Poland and the Czech Republic, the system, perhaps the result of heavy Russian opposition, is somewhat different. It’s now called the "Obama missile defense initiative" and is designed to be more flexible than before.

The flexible nature doesn't mean that the bases can be wheeled around at will but that they can be moved from one country to another with limited difficulty.

The "Obama initiative" involves marine units like the USS Monterey (missile cruiser) carrying the Aegis combat system and also the Romanian land based Raytheon and Aerojet built RIM-161 Standard missile 3 (SM-3) which they will have in place by 2015. There will also be a radar installation Fylingdales in the UK. There is a United States controlled ballistic missile system but the UK are only offering the radar in the program.

The final phase, when the newest version of a missile capable of intercepting intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) is operable, will be in service by 2020. This will increase the capability of the shield from defending against short-to-medium-range ballistic missile attack.

Russia, is building radar installations at Kalingrad (between Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic Sea) by the end of 2011, St. Petersburg (by the end of 2011), Irkutsk (in Siberia), and Krasnodar (in the south).
The "Obama Initiative" will involve the rest of the NATO members, not the US, in this project,

Though this system seems more equitable to the larger members of NATO, one hopes the small Baltic states won't get lost in the crunch.

Märkmed: