NATO declared its missile defense system operational May 20, culminating a plan launched in 2010 to protect the alliance’s partner nations from ballistic-missile and cyber attacks. When fully complete, the missile-defense system will link allies’ satellites, ships, radars, and interceptor assets, under NATO control. “It will allow us to defend against threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic area,” said Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO’s secretary general, during a Chicago news conference announcing the system’s debut. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the United States all agreed to acquire 14 unmanned aerial vehicles and their command-and-control stations, to support the system. All of the alliance’s 28 members will help fund the project.
