Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

US President Barack Obama confirmed that the plan to install elements of a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic has been abandoned.

In a televised address from the White House on Thursday, Mr Obama said that, based on new and updated intelligence concerning Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, the old missile-shield plan would be replaced with a “new ballistic missile defense program.”

The new plan will involve a “stronger, smarter and swifter defense system.”

Earlier in the day, President Obama held telephone conversations with both the Prime Ministers of Poland and the Czech Republic. “We will continue working collaboratively with the Czech Republic and Poland,” he said during his address.

Polish perspective

Prior to the US president's address, Prime Minister Tusk spoke to the Polish press about his conversation with the US president, during which Mr Obama briefed the PM about the new defense program. Mr Tusk asked if the decision was due to some mistake on the Polish side.

Mr Tusk said that the reply was that the change in plans “allows the growth of Polish security to be viewed with cautious optimism.”

The prime minister said that his government would still work together with the US on the new system. “There is an opportunity in the future to strengthen Polish-American cooperation. We have accepted this declaration with great satisfaction. Poland has a chance to get a fairly exclusive position. We will see if this works out, but I have no reason to doubt the [US] president's words,” he added.

Missile breakdown

At a separate press conference from the Pentagon, General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, went into more detail on the new program.

He said that the previous missile shield plan had been based on Cold War technology and that the new program would adapt the changing needs of the situation, “as the enemy evolves.”

The new program will involve a command center, sensors, terrestrial and airborne elements. Patriot missile technology, dispersed over the European mainland, will also be employed.

Patriot missiles, General Cartwright announced, would start being deployed in 2011.