MISSILE SHIELD IS STILL VITAL TO WORLD SAFETY

The military battlefields of the future will be in outer space, where satellites are the backbone of communications, spying and control of our fighting forces. This is the scenario envisioned by Vice Adm. Thomas R. Wilson, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who last week testified at the U.S. intelligence community's annual world-threat briefing to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Meanwhile, attention to the satellite-based missile defense system has been reinvigorated by the Bush administration. Donald H. Rumsfeld, defense secretary, told a European security conference last week that the president's plan for a national missile defense won't be a threat to allies who are worried they will be vulnerable to attack if the United States successfully deploys its so-called Star Wars system.

Both reports indicate the need for full implementation of the space-based defense system first envisioned by the Reagan administration. At the time, critics considered the notion about as silly as the movie "Star Wars" concept with which it quickly became associated. In light of last week's developments, it appears the Reagan plan was both practical and prescient.

In his report on world threats, Wilson, a three-star admiral, emphasized that both Russia and China have full-blown programs under way to develop the capability of attacking the satellites that are so vital to both civilian and military technology. Moreover, smaller nations who can't be counted as our friends are gaining technological expertise to be players in any space-based confrontation.

Wilson testified: "Our adversaries well understand U.S. strategic dependence on access to space. Operations to disrupt, degrade or defeat U.S. space assets will be attractive options for those seeking to counter U.S. strategic military superiority."

Some European nations are concerned that successful U.S. deployment of its missile-defense system would encourage our enemies to target our less-well-defended allies. Rumsfeld made clear that the U.S. program isn't intended to disable any missiles except those that pose a threat to our security.

One point Rumsfeld could have mentioned was the pledge made by then-President Reagan regarding his push for a strategic defense initiative: Once developed, it would be shared, even with our likely aggressors. If the U.S. can be safe from missile attack, why not give that same level of comfort to everyone?

If that pledge is still part of U.S. policy, no nation need worry about technology that could, in effect, preclude any of the outer-space wars envisioned by Admiral Wilson.