Australia Set to Join U.S. Missile Defense Program

Australia said it would sign on to participate in the U.S. missile defense program next month, Agence France-Presse reported Sunday (see GSN, March 26).

“We intend to sign the [memorandum of understanding],” Defense Minister Robert Hill said in a statement released Saturday. “This is a long-term commitment to securing our future and strengthening the alliance,” he added.

The memorandum would provide for a 25-year framework for broad cooperation before more specific projects were formulated, according to Hill.

Initial cooperation would involve research, development, testing and evaluation of technologies (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 20).

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