Pentagon applies for permit for key Star Wars site

The US mililary have applied for permission to begin construction at Eareckson Air Station on Shemya Island is Alaska. The development will involve preparing to upgrade the facility. Test equipment will also be introduced for a new "X band" radar system. The US is expected shortly to seek permission for similar developments to be made at the Ballistic Missile Early Warning Station in Yorkshire. Work on the Alaska site is expected to start in the summer.

Work is also expected to go ahead at two other sites in Alaska. A test missile complex is to be built at Fort Greely and a facility for shipping missile components built at Eielson Air Base.