US officer says defense maneuvers with Israel could help shape future European missile shield

October 20th, 2009 US and Israel stage major air defense exerciseJERUSALEM — The Israeli and U.S. militaries were set to begin a major joint air defense exercise Wednesday, highlighting military ties between the two allies at a time of heightened tensions over Iran's nuclear program.

October 15th, 2009 Reports: Russia warns US on missile defenseMOSCOW — A top Russian diplomat suggested Thursday that the U.S. should not talk with non-NATO nations about a prospective missile shield, Russian news agencies reported.

September 18th, 2009 Turkey to buy 4 missile defense systemsANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's military says it is planning to spend $1 billion (euro680 million) on four long-range missile defense systems. Brig. Gen. Metin Gurak, the Turkish military spokesman, says the procurement is not directed at any specific country.

September 17th, 2009 NATO chief hails missile defense "positive step"BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says a U.S. decision to shelve plans for a missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland "is a positive step." Fogh Rasmussen says he had talks with the U.S.

September 17th, 2009 Obama expected to shelve missile defense planPRAGUE — President Barack Obama phoned the Czech prime minister to discuss a controversial missile defense system, a spokesman said Thursday, and Czech media reported that Obama told the premier he will shelve the plan that has so angered Russia. Government spokesman Roman Prorok declined to report what Obama told Prime Minister Jan Fischer, saying only that Fischer later informed Czech President Vaclav Klaus.

September 17th, 2009 Gates: US intelligence caused change in plansWASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the decision to abandon the Bush administration's plans for a land-based missile defense system in Eastern Europe came about because of a change in the U.S. perception of the threat posed by Iran.

July 30th, 2009 US mulling European missile defense alternativesWASHINGTON — A senior Defense Department official said Thursday that the United States is considering options for European missile defense other than current plans for a system based in Poland and the Czech Republic. Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow told lawmakers in the House of Representatives at a hearing on relations with Russia that the Obama administration is looking at various configurations as part of its review of missile defense plans.

July 27th, 2009 TEL AVIV - The Israeli navy has successfully tested its Barak anti-missile system, the military announced Sunday. The test included a version of the missile system with improved rocket-interception capabilities, the military said.

July 23rd, 2009 Israeli missile-defense test abortedJERUSALEM — Tests of a missile-defense system meant to shield Israel from Iranian attack were aborted over the past week on three occasions because of various malfunctions, Israeli defense officials said Thursday. In the latest case, an upgraded version of the Arrow II — a system being developed by state-run Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd.

July 16th, 2009 Reports: test of Russian missile Bulava failsMOSCOW — News agencies says Russia's latest test of the advanced ballistic missile Bulava has failed, with the missile self-destructing. It's the sixth failure in 10 test launches for the Bulava — a major setback for Russia's efforts to upgrade its aging missile arsenal.

July 6th, 2009 Medvedev: "Reasonable compromise" with US on nukesMOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says a preliminary deal with the U.S. to reduce stockpiled nuclear weapons is a "reasonable compromise" on the crucial issue.

May 14th, 2009 Gates supports missile defense despite budget cutsWASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates is defending his plans to trim more than a billion dollars from the planned system to build a broad missile shield for the U.S. and its allies.

April 1st, 2009 LONDON - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his US counterpart Barack Obama Wednesday admitted that there were still differences between the two nations over the issue of US-proposed missile shield in Central Europe. 'While acknowledging that differences remain over the purposes of deployment of missile defence assets in Europe, we discussed new possibilities for mutual international cooperation in the field of missile defence,' the two leaders said in a joint statement after their meeting in London.

March 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Friday successfully tested an indigenous interceptor missile that destroyed an incoming 'enemy' ballistic missile at an altitude of 80 km, an official said. During the test, an 'enemy' missile which was a modified version of the Dhanush surface-to-surface missile was fired from a naval ship in the Bay of Bengal to simulate the terminal phase of the flight of a ballistic missile with a range of 1,500 km.

March 4th, 2009 MADRID - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Tuesday rejected media reports that Washington had pledged to drop its Central European missile shield plans if Moscow helped resolve Iranian nuclear standoff. 'We are in correspondence, but no tradeoffs have been discussed, I assure you,' Medvedev, who is on an official visit to Spain, told a news conference in Madrid.