President Donald Trump and the Department of Defense plan to release on Thursday a document that lays out the administration’s missile defense strategy, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.The Missile Defense Review comes as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea pursue development work on ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles that could pose a threat to U.S. forces and allies in Asia and Europe.
“We are expanding the scope of what we’re postured to defend against,†a senior administration official told reporters in a call Wednesday.
Sources told the publication the review aims to encourage the development of technology prototypes that could be assessed beyond the standard procurement process to accelerate deployment and set up a third U.S. site to counter possible attacks with ground-based missile interceptors.
The document will recommend ways on how the U.S. could help forces and allies protect themselves from regional missile threats, according to the report.
John Rood, defense undersecretary for policy; Michael Griffin, defense undersecretary for research and engineering; and Air Force Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, director of the Missile Defense Agency; will hold a press briefing on the review on Thursday at the Pentagon.
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