The United States defence department yesterday anticipated approval for its controversial plan for a national anti-missile shield - including upgrading the early warning radar station at Fylingdales in north Yorkshire - by presenting a $2bn (£1.25bn) budget for the project.
William Cohen, the defence secretary, has said President Bill Clinton would not make a decision without further consultations with Washington's European allies, most of which fear that the project could threaten their security and encourage a new arms race.
However, Mr Cohen made it
clear at a conference on international security in Munich, Germany, last weekend that it was a question of when, not whether, the US would go ahead.
Geoffrey Hoon, Britain's defence secretary, told journalists at the conference that he had received "no requests yet" from the US to use British facilities. Any decision would be "considered on its merits".
However, Pentagon officials said the budget would allow "the bulldozers to roll" and "concrete to be poured" - prohibited under the 1972 anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty - for what their budget proposal calls "worldwide unspecified locations".
They are known to include Fylingdales and another early warning station at Thule in Greenland. The US missile defence project will also include Menwith Hill, in north Yorkshire, one of the US national security agency's largest eavesdropping centres.
The defence procurement minister, Baroness Symons, told Lord Judd last month that Menwith Hill would be the base for a new "European relay ground station designed to provide early warning of ballistic missile launches". She said it was part of the space-based infrared system "deemed by the US to be necessary, irrespective of of any decision that may be taken on [US proposals for] national missile defence".
The US plans to build 100 ground-based interceptors at a site in Alaska, a decision that will require amending the ABM treaty. Washington insists that it is designed to deter "rogue" states such as North Korea, Iran, Iraq and Libya.
The Russians, whose large missile arsenal could break through the proposed system, are indicating that they could reach a compromise with the US on changes to the treaty. However, the US project is strongly opposed by China
which has far fewer long-range missiles and is concerned about the implications for its security and Beijing's relations with Taiwan.
France and Germany have publicly warned that the move could unleash a new arms race. Rudolf Scharping, the German defence minister, told the Munich conference that the US should consider the "political price" of the project and its effect on Russia, China and India.
Dan Plesch, director of the the British American security information council, said yesterday: "The Pentagon's unilateral preparations are needlessly dividing Nato."
Dave Knight, the chairman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, urged Mr Hoon to consult parliament on the American project.
"Any delay will only encourage the US in their belief that they can press on regardless of any implications for international relations," he said.
