WASHINGTON - A group of 49 retired U.S. generals and admirals is urging President Bush to postpone the scheduled deployment this year of a multibillion dollar missile shield and spend the money instead on securing potential terror targets.

In a letter to be released at a news conference Friday, the officers, including retired Admiral William Crowe, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1985 to 1989, described the complex technology as untested and a poor use of scarce defense dollars.

"As you have said, Mr. President, our highest priority is to prevent terrorists from acquiring and employing weapons of mass destruction," said the letter made available to Reuters.

As the "militarily responsible course of action," the signers urged funds earmarked for missile defense go instead to bolster nuclear weapons depots and protect U.S. ports and borders against terrorists.

Bush has asked Congress for $10.2 billion for missile defense in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, a 13 percent increase from the year before. Over the next five years, the administration plans to spend $53 billion on the project.

The shield's initial goal is to protect against one or two warheads that could be launched by North Korea. But in their letter the retired brass said the United States already was able to pinpoint the source of a ballistic missile launch.

"It is, therefore, highly unlikely that any state would dare to attack the U.S. or allow a terrorist to do so from its territory with a missile armed with a weapon of mass destruction, thereby risking annihilation from a devastating U.S. retaliatory strike," they wrote.

A spokeswoman for Bush, Claire Buchan, had no immediate comment on the letter, which included among its signers Gen. Joseph Hoar of the Marines, a former commander of the U.S. Central Command, and Gen. Alfred Hansen, who headed the Air Force's logistics command.

The Pentagon's top space planner told Congress on Thursday that a key part of the planned missile defense shield would cost more and take longer to field than currently scheduled.

The Space-Based Infrared System built by Lockheed Martin Corp. "is in a fluid situation right now," said Air Force Under Secretary Peter Teets.

The system is meant to detect enemy missile attacks and collect a range of technical intelligence. It involves a network of four satellites in geosynchronous orbit and two in highly elliptical orbit.

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