From Michaela Bendikova, the Heritage Foundation:  The French Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Armed Forces recently released a report called “Ballistic Missile Defense: Military Shield or Strategic Challenge?” This report urges France to take a strong role in the NATO missile defense program and to develop a space-based (exoatmospheric) ballistic missile defense interceptor. This would be a great step in the right direction for NATO and the French defense industry—one the United States should learn from. . . .

The French see the missile defense program as a way to protect the country from being outdistanced by the United States in missile technology and a means to protect France from a ballistic missile threat. For the United States, concerns are somewhat different. The primary task of the ballistic missile defense system is to protect the U.S. homeland from North Korean and eventually Iranian ballistic missiles as well as accidental launches. The ballistic missile threat to the United States, its forward-deployed troops, and allies is growing, as more than 30 countries around the world have the technology and capabilities to deliver lethal payloads.  (graphic:  NATO)

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