From the Washington Post: Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, director of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, defended that decision Wednesday, saying that the linking of U.S. and allied radar systems with satellites and other sensors would allow officials to follow the path of launched missiles throughout their flight.

“This capability did not exist five years ago,” O’Reilly said at a symposium sponsored by the Atlantic Council, a nonpartisan think tank.

He said the first elements of the system would be operational aboard some warships by 2011. By 2015, he added, the goal is to base additional SM-3 interceptor missiles on land…

The undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, Ellen Tauscher, appearing at the same event, said discussions are already underway with Poland to base missiles there, and talks have begun with the Czech Republic about making it the headquarters for command and control elements associated with the system…

“Remember, this is a NATO-wide European missile defense system as opposed to a bilateral missile defense system,” she said. Audio (photo: Atlantic Council)