Officials in Moscow had hinted that they would not consider further nuclear arms cuts if the SM-3 interceptors were deployed.
The SM-3 interceptors now planned have a shorter range and fly less quickly than the rockets proposed by the Bush administration.
The SM-3 missiles are part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system.
Raytheon's SM-3 has successfully intercepted five of six missiles in tests, and Lockheed Martin's PAC-3 has succeeded in 17 out of 19 tries.
No less noteworthy is the fact that the SM-3 utilized to shoot down the target was one of the first of the production rounds to come off the manufacturing line.
For the fifth time out of six attempts, Navy ships successfully tracked, intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile in-fight, using their existing AEGIS fleet air defense systems and a new Standard Missile, dubbed the SM-3.
Cartwright did not say how much the new plan would cost compared with the old one, but pointed out that Patriot and SM-3 missiles were significantly cheaper than the interceptors the Bush proposal relied on.
One result was that Raytheon was able to develop a new version of the Standard Missile used by the Navy for air defense engagements designated the SM-3 that was designed specifically to intercept ballistic targets.
President Obama confirmed the commitment of the United States to implement the Phased Adaptive Approach to European missile defense, including basing land-based SM-3 interceptors in Poland as part of this program in the 2018 timeframe, and expressed his gratitude for the commitment by the government of Poland to host this system.
WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Meets with Polish President Komorowski
Japan has also ordered 16 Lockheed Martin ground-based Patriot Advance Capability-3 missiles to protect critical targets and get a second shot at incoming missiles if the SM-3s miss.
According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, SM makes up 3.09% of the First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas Index Fund ETF ( AMEX: FCG) which is trading relatively unchanged on the day Monday.
According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, SM makes up 3.58% of the First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas Index Fund ETF ( AMEX: FCG) which is trading lower by about 1.7% on the day Friday.
According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, SM makes up 3.51% of the First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas Index Fund ETF ( AMEX: FCG) which is trading up by about 1.3% on the day Friday.
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