Cohen Set to Urge Missile Shield Funds

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary William S. Cohen is expected to recommend by the end of this week that President Clinton approve limited steps to begin construction of a national defense system to shield against a missile attack, Pentagon officials said Saturday.

Cohen has not yet made a formal decision and is scheduled to meet later this week with his senior advisors to shape his recommendation to Clinton. But an official familiar with recent Pentagon discussions said that those advisors--Undersecretary of Defense Rudy de Leon, Undersecretary for Acquisition and Technology Jacques Gansler, and policy officials Walter B. Slocombe and James Bodner--generally agree that the president should approve letting contracts this winter in order to keep alive the possibility of beginning construction of the system next year.

The “limited green light” recommendation would postpone into the next administration the major decision about whether to go forward with building such a defense system. “My sense is that this is the consensus everybody’s come down to,” the official said. “I think everybody [involved in the Pentagon discussions] agrees that this makes sense.”

Separately, the Pentagon has concluded that the high-profile test of the missile-interceptor system July 7 failed because a 10-year-old circuit board on a booster did not operate properly, a senior official said.

The Pentagon is expected to disclose that finding Thursday.