US Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell said Saturday he favored deploying a national missile defense system that has already been criticized by Russia, China and some European allies of the United States.

Speaking shortly after Bush nominated him to succeed Madeleine Albright as the head of US diplomacy, Powell -- a former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff -- said the proposed system was "an essential part of our strategic force system."

"We are going to move forward" with it after discussing US plans with other nations, he said.

"We have to spend time with other nations in the world that possess strategic offensive weapons and do not yet understand our thinking in respect to national missile defense," said Powell.

"It will be tough negotiations," Powell pointed out. "It will not be easy, but they have to understand that we feel this is in the best interest of the American people."

After the failure of two out of three most recent tests of the system, US President Bill Clinton has suspended a decision on deploying it until the next administration.

But backers of national missile defense NMD see it as the best way to shield the United States from missile attacks from so-called "rogue" states such as Iran, Iraq and North Korea.