The United States is adding to its arsenal of ground based ballistic missiles to counter threats from Iran and North Korea according to an announcement made by Secretary of Dense Chuck Hagel. The announcement was made on Friday.

Hagel pointed out that the two countries, both hostile to the United States, have made advancements in their long-range ballistic missile capabilities and so the U.S. must step up its defense capabilities in order to stay ahead of those developments.

14 more ground-based Interceptors will be added to Fort Greely as well as Vandenberg Air Force Base. This will bring the totals of Interceptors at those two sites to 44. 30 Interceptors are now deployed at those sites.

Last year, in April, North Korea showed that it may have a mobile Intercontinental missile in its arsenal. Adding to that, North Korea launched another missile test in December and followed that up with another nuclear test. North Korea has increasingly threatened the U.S. with missile attacks and stated after the last U.N. resolution, that their missile program is primarily to conduct an attack on the United States.

“The United States has missile defense systems in place to protect us from limited ICBM attacks, but North Korea in particular has recently made advances in its capabilities and is engaged in a series of irresponsible and reckless provocations,” Hagel said.

In addition to the 14 new Interceptors slated for Vandenberg and Fort Greely, Hagel announced the addition of another advanced radar system to be installed in Japan as an early warning and tracking system to further protect Japan and the United States from attack.

Another potential missile site is also in its initial stages, Hagel announced on Friday. The military is looking at three sites, one in western U.S. and two others in the eastern area of the country. Those plans are still in the environmental impact study stages.

Alaska’s Senator Murkowski released a statement after Secretary Hagel’s announcement today. “I am glad to hear the news that Alaska and America are finally being tapped to deliver a better blanket of protection for our nation, but we should not wait until voices get too loud to be ignored. We cannot afford a defense strategy that is reactionary in a new world of emerging and threats possessing swift nuclear weapons,” said Murkowski. “I realize that the Pentagon needs to undergo a thorough accounting, weighing what expenses are worthwhile against what is less necessary, but ‘providing for the common defense’ is a pretty basic threshold we need to meet for our people.”

Senator Begich commended the Department of Defense for their decision to deploy more Interceptors in Alaska and Vandenberg. “The U.S. should not stand for North Korea’s threats and I’m pleased that Sec. Hagel has made it one his first orders of business since his nomination to strengthen our GMD systems in Alaska,” said Begich. “Developing these additional interceptors will send a strong message that Alaska will not stand idly by and instead will give the outstanding members of the 49^th Missile Battalion at Fort Greely the resources they need defend us.”

Alaska’s sole Representative, Don Young, a strong advocate of the U.S. missile defense system, who helped champion the National Missile Defense Act in 1999, also released a statement after Hagel’s announcement.

“North Korea’s latest actions serve as a harsh reminder of how dangerous our world really is and how vigilant we must be to protect our great nation,” Rep. Young said. “For the last 40 years I have reminded people that General Bill Mitchell called Alaska, ‘the most strategic place in the world.’ Today’s announcement to deploy more ground-based missile interceptors is vital to maintaining our deterrence posture. Alaska is the frontline in defending the United States of America against a missile threat from North Korea.”

“From the 14 new ground-based missile interceptors, to the fish in supermarkets across the country, to gasoline in our fuel tanks, people often forgot how important Alaska is to this country. I am glad that Secretary Hagel and the Administration seem to understand Alaska’s strategic importance. Next week, I will be inviting Secretary Hagel up to Alaska to see for himself how critical Alaska’s military is to the defense of this great nation.”