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Navantia Prepares Spanish Navy Fifth Frigate for Sea Trials (Source: Navantia; issued January 16, 2012) On 9th January, the F-100 class frigate “Cristóbal Colón”, under construction in Navantia for the Spanish Navy, left the shipyard dry dock after a period of dry docking for hull and platform readiness for sea trials, that will take place in March 2012. During this month, Navantia will proceed to the completion of the Combat System integration functional trials, in order to have the sea trials in May. The frigate is now in the final phase of construction, and after the sea trials it is...

The game is on. The U.S. Navy and South Korean Navy task forces are moving into position, the South Korean Military is on its highest peacetime alert and the North Korean military is moving fresh batteries of Surface to Air and Ground to Sea missiles into place… fresh artillery fire near Yeonpyeong Island which it brutally attacked earlier in the week. In the South popular protests are rising against soft treatment of the North

Spain’s Aegis Frigates Could Join Europe’s Missile Defense Shield Lajos F. Szaszdi October 13, 2011 at 12:58 pm A week ago, the Spanish government of Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero agreed to Spain’s participation in NATO’s European missile defense system by allowing four U.S. Navy Aegis guided-missile destroyers of the Arleigh Burke class to be stationed at the naval base of Rota, in southwestern Spain. These destroyers are armed with the Standard SM-3 surface-to-air missile (SAM) designed to intercept short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. The U.S. Navy destroyers will be based in Rota beginning in 2013, along with...

If it's true the Navy has been shooting down scud missiles over Libya from sea, and for whatever reason Navy information never reported this, it's time to cut the Navy Information budget by 75%.

Lockheed proposes $5bn Aegis ships sale to Saudi Arabia By Bloomberg Thursday, 26 May 2011 1:08 PM Lockheed Martin Corp has proposed selling to Saudi Arabia eight Littoral Combat Ship hulls outfitted with its Aegis radar in a package that may be valued at $5bn, a company executive said. “What we are offering is the Aegis SPY 1F system on the Littoral Combat Ship,” Paul Lemmo, vice president of business development at Lockheed’s Mission Systems and Sensors unit, said in an interview today in Arlington, Virginia. The Aegis SPY-1F is a smaller, lighter version of the air and missile defense...

A heavy duty LCS for foreign navies. Maybe. Lockheed Martin says its second littoral combat ship, the USS Fort Worth, is 87 percent complete. It’ll start work on its third and fourth ships over the coming year. The U.S. Navy wants at least 55 LCSes. From the defense contractor’s standpoint, Lockheed’s return to shipbuilding looks like a success: It is moving toward steady production of a stable design and will likely be able to book many hundreds of millions of dollars over the life of the program. (Lockheed’s first LCS, the Freedom, didn’t go so smoothly, and it cost much,...

Austal eyes Saudi market for more LCS sales Published: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 By Dan Murtaugh, Press-Register Press-Register MOBILE, Ala. -- Austal USA is eyeing Saudi Arabia as a potential buyer for its littoral combat ship, company officials said. Reuters news service reported last week that the Saudi government has asked the United States for prices on surface warships that integrate air and missile defenses. The Saudis also inquired about helicopters, patrol craft and shore infrastructure. Executives with Lockheed Martin Corp., which along with Austal builds LCS for the U.S. Navy, told Reuters that the first wave of the Saudi...

The US is sending a special radar-equipped warship to the Mediterranean Sea next week, in the first step to develop a broad anti-ballistic missile system to protect Europe against a potential Iranian nuclear threat, the Pentagon said. The move marks the first of the Obama administration's four-phase plan to put land and sea-based radars and interceptors in several European locations during the next decade. Endorsed by Nato during a summit in Lisbon last year, the missile shield has triggered opposition from Russia and set off lengthy negotiations over the future expanded ability to shoot down ballistic missiles in the region....

ROK(South Korea) Navy's 3rd and last KD3 class Aegis destroyer ROKS Ryu,Sung-Yong(DDG-993) has been launched today at Hyundai Heavy Industries, Ulsan city. KD3 class Aegis destroyer has been equipped with 128 VLS cells: 80 Mk41 VLS cells for SM-2 Block 3A/3B, 48 KVLS(Korean VLS) cells for 32 Sky Dragon Land Attack Cruise Missiles and 16 Red Shark ASROC. photos by KDNphotos by kidlmy from KDNCapt. Lee, Sang-Gap, DDG-993 first KD3 class Aegis destoyer ROKS Sejong The Great(DDG-991) photo by ROKNphoto by Shin, In-Kyun from KDNphotos by Jager from KODEF ROKS Sejong The Great video

Raytheon Company and Aerojet, a GenCorp company, completed a kinetic warhead system integration test for Standard Missile-3 Block IB. The test verified the ability of the warhead to detect, track and intercept a moving ballistic missile target in a zero-gravity environment. During the test, a fully operational, flight-weight kinetic warhead operated on an air-bearing test stand and performed in a high-altitude chamber at Aerojet’s Sacramento, Calif., facility. The kinetic warhead’s seeker tracked a simulated target while the guidance computer sent information to the new Throttleable Divert and Attitude Control System. Once the TDACS received the information, the system fired its...

The U.S. Navy has successfully completed a tracking exercise using the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system during Atlantic Trident 2011, which runs through Jan. 25. The guided missile cruiser USS Monterey and destroyers USS Ramage and USS Gonzalez tracked the short-range ballistic missile target launched from NASA’s Wallops (Va.) Flight Facility, the service said Jan. 21. The missile fell harmlessly into the Atlantic Ocean. Monterey and Ramage took turns tracking and simulating engagement of the target while Gonzalez, a guided-missile destroyer, tracked the target, the Navy says. All three ships tracked the missile, and Monterey and Ramage provided simulated...

Norwegian Navy Receives Last of Five Fridtjof Nansen-Class Frigates Navantia Delivers HMNS Thor Heyerdahl to the Royal Norwegian Navy 10:42 GMT, January 20, 2011 defpro.com | The delivery of HMNS Thor Heyerdahl to the Royal Norwegian Navy by the Spanish shipbuilder Navantia on 18 January marked a significant milestone for the service: it represents the end of the Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate procurement programme after almost two decades of planning, development and construction. Further, it is Norway’s largest defence acquisition and a key element of the Scandinavian country’s naval capabilities, replacing the Oslo-class frigates, which have been in service with the...

Modernizing The Aegis Fleet Is Smart Move By The U.S. Navy 17:42 GMT, January 12, 2011 With all the attention being given to reducing the cost of national defense, it is important to acknowledge the value of upgrading current platforms to provide them with additional capability and, hopefully, longer service lives. The Army has a program to upgrade its fleets of Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and Stryker wheeled vehicles. The Air Force is modernizing its fleet of A-10 ground attack aircraft and, according to Secretary Gates, will modernize its fleet of aging F-15s with new radars. One of the...

Japan-U.S. missile project canceled BY KUNIICHI TANIDA SENIOR STAFF WRITER A joint U.S.-Japan research program to develop software for a ship-borne ballistic missile defense system has collapsed after the two sides failed to agree on conditions for exporting the technology, sources said. Tokyo's insistence that the United States obtain prior consent from the Japanese government before selling the software to a third country caused the breakdown, the sources said. The United States has decided to continue with the project alone. The software on which the two countries were working is meant to improve the ship-board Aegis guided missile system, which...

Congress wants the U.S. Navy to submit a report by March 31 to show how the service plans to incorporate its ship-based ballistic missile defense requirements with its force structure needs, according to the recently passed defense authorization legislation. The report should include : • An analysis of whether the requirement for sea-based missile defense can be accommodated by upgrading Aegis ships that exist as of the date of the report or by procuring additional combatant surface vessels. • A discussion of whether such sea-based missile defense will require increasing the overall number of combatant surface vessels beyond the requirement...

Littoral Combat Ship Miracle Bids Likely To Be Accepted By Congress 20:26 GMT, December 15, 2010 Recent testimony by senior officials of the U.S. Department of the Navy before the Senate Appropriations Committee reveal the source of their new-found enthusiasm for buying both variants of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Apparently both bidders, Lockheed Martin and Austal, came in with bids one-third lower than the price being charged for the initial set of four vessels. At $440-460 million a copy for the sea frame, the opportunity to acquire a mixed fleet of LCS is almost irresistible. Moreover, these “miracle bids”...

A Dangerous Gap in Our Defenses?An EMP attack is a terrible threat, but countering it is affordable. For several days in early November, a series of U.S. government agencies were either unable or unwilling to explain what had produced a vapor trail that had illuminated the Southern California skies. Public speculation abounded, first that it was a missile, then that it was in fact the condensation trail (contrail) of a plane. Controversy continues in the blogosphere and elsewhere. The absence of a cogent official explanation reveals a dangerous gap in our defenses, specifically in our warning systems. Our surveillance systems...

late October, a Japanese Kongo class destroyer shot down a ballistic missile off Hawaii, using its Aegis anti-missile system. That makes three successful Aegis tests for Japan's Aegis equipped destroyers, out of four attempts. Overall, Aegis has been successful in 85 percent of its test firings. Currently, the U.S. Navy has 20 ships with the Aegis anti-missile system. Within three years, the navy will have 27 such ships. But in the meantime, the Aegis ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile)s are in high demand by U.S. commanders, seeking some protection from hostile missiles in their area of operation. Japan has six Aegis ABM...

Northrop Grumman is highlighting its deep experience on early intercept of ballistic missile threats to compete for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) next-generation ballistic missile interceptor currently planned for fielding in 2020. The company announced that it has submitted a proposal for the Next Generation Aegis Missile's (NGAM) concept definition and program planning phase set to get underway in 2011. The new interceptor will be designed to provide early intercept capability against some short range ballistic missiles, all medium range ballistic missiles, all intermediate range ballistic missiles and non-advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced the successful completion of an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) intercept flight test, in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, off the coast of Kauai in Hawaii. The event marked the fourth time that a JMSDF ship has engaged a ballistic missile target, including three successful intercepts, with the sea-based midcourse engagement capability provided by Aegis BMD. The JFTM-4 test event verified the newest engagement capability of the Japan Aegis BMD configuration of the recently upgraded Japanese destroyer, JS KIRISHIMA. At approximately 5:06 p.m. (HST), 12:06...

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress today of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Australia of 17 SM-2 Block IIIB STANDARD Warhead Compatible Telemetry missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $46 million. The Government of Australia has requested a possible sale of 17 SM-2 Block IIIB STANDARD Warhead Compatible Telemetry missiles, including AN/DKT-71 Telemeters and assembly kits, spare and repair parts, technical data and publications, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support. The...

combat system-equipped Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Orlando Carvalho, president of Lockheed Martin's MS2 division, told reporters at Euronaval in Paris that the Saudi Navy was looking at the purchase of eight LCS-variant ships, called Surface Combat Ships, equipped with the lightweight SPY-1F Aegis system as part of an expansion of the oil-rich state's naval forces. They have also shown an interest in the ballistic missile defence (BMD) capabilities of Aegis. Both Austal USA and Lockheed Martin are awaiting the outcome of the LCS programme. Lockheed Martin is offering its Freedom-class single hull vessel, while Austal is competing with its Independence-class...

Euronaval 2010: Saudi naval expansion examines LCS variant October 26, 2010 The Saudi Arabian government is in discussions with the US Navy about the purchase of the Aegis combat system-equipped Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Orlando Carvalho, president of Lockheed Martin's MS2 division, told reporters at Euronaval in Paris that the Saudi Navy was looking at the purchase of eight LCS-variant ships, called Surface Combat Ships, equipped with the lightweight SPY-1F Aegis system as part of an expansion of the oil-rich state's naval forces. They have also shown an interest in the ballistic missile defence (BMD) capabilities of Aegis. Both Austal...

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he has ordered the deployment of a new missile defense system and a sophisticated tracking radar to respond to any North Korean missile launch that threatens Hawaii. Meanwhile, America's top military officer says the U.S. Navy is prepared to try to stop North Korean ships suspected of carrying weapons banned by a new United Nations Security Council resolution. Secretary Gates says the United States is watching North Korea's missile launch preparations "very closely" and he has ordered a new high-altitude missile interceptor system deployed to Hawaii, along with a floating radar system to provide...

South Korea and the United States will stage large-scale anti-submarine drills in the Yellow Sea after the United Nations takes action against Pyongyang for sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, Yonhap news agency said. "The joint drills will be carried out after the U N Security Council takes measure against North Korea," the agency quoting Col. Lee Bung Woo said. The United States’s 97,000-ton USS George Washington, an Aegis-equipped destroyer, and a nuclear-powered submarine are reportedly participating in the joint naval drills and a 4,500-ton destroyer, a submarine and F-15K fighter jets will take part from the South Korean...

National Security: The administration is ready to sign a treaty stripping us of our ability to defend ourselves against enemy nuclear missiles, including Iran's and North Korea's. In space, no one can hear you surrender. On Monday, the ground-based Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, part of the U.S. missile defense shield, successfully shot down a ballistic missile launched from a ship's deck off Kauai, Hawaii. The test simulated an Iranian SCUD launched from the deck of a ship off the U.S. coast, which, if armed with a nuke, could devastate the American heartland. The simulated Scud was launched from...

In a high-threat environment, the Navy’s AEGIS vessels have a problem. They cannot be re-armed. AEGIS cruisers have 122 vertical launch system (VLS) cells, while the destroyers have 96. Each magazine is “multi-use,” composed of specialized land attack and self-defense weapons, so a desired missile may not be available in sufficient numbers. Complicating matters, AEGIS vessels sometimes sail with a partially-filled magazines, and missile reliability rates aren’t often anywhere near 100%. CSBA expert Jan Van Tol, in his recent AirSea Battle monograph ,is the latest to highlight this vulnerability, and pointedly suggests that, given the way high-end warfare is likely...

Raytheon's Standard Missile-6 begins sea-based flight testing this month, paving the way for initial operational capability (IOC) in 2011. "With its over-the-horizon protection, SM-6 increases the surface Navy's battlespace against air and cruise missile threats and offers protection for coalition forces ashore," said Frank Wyatt, Raytheon's vice president of Air and Missile Defense Systems product line. "These sea-based flight tests clear the way for Raytheon to deliver a critical capability to the warfighter by 2011." SM-6 takes full advantage of the legacy Standard Missile airframe and propulsion elements while incorporating advanced signal processing and guidance control capabilities of Raytheon's Advanced...

next-generation missile interceptor being co-developed by Japan and the United States would not be able to take out U.S.-bound North Korean long-range ballistic missiles flying over Japan, senior Defense Ministry officials said Sunday. This is because the range of the interceptor, dubbed the Standard Missile 3 Block 2A, would not allow an Aegis-equipped ship deployed off Japan to target high-flying missiles, the officials told Kyodo News. The outlook could affect debate in Japan over whether to exercise the constitutionally banned right of collective self-defense so as to shoot down U.S.-bound missiles flying over the country. With an estimated range of...

Raytheon Company's Standard Missile-6 begins sea-based flight testing this month, paving the way for initial operational capability (IOC) in 2011. "With its over-the-horizon protection, SM-6 increases the surface Navy's battlespace against air and cruise missile threats and offers protection for coalition forces ashore," said Frank Wyatt, Raytheon's vice president of Air and Missile Defense Systems product line. "These sea-based flight tests clear the way for Raytheon to deliver a critical capability to the warfighter by 2011." SM-6 takes full advantage of the legacy Standard Missile airframe and propulsion elements while incorporating advanced signal processing and guidance control capabilities of Raytheon's...

Raytheon is on track to execute its first flight test intercept attempt with an SM-3 Block IB missile early next year, according to Ed Miyashiro, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems. The sea-based SM-3 Block IB will feature a new divert-and-attitude-control system as well as a two-color infrared sensor, both improvements over the SM-3 Block IA now in use. These missiles are designed for use with the Aegis ship-based defensive system. The IB is a linchpin for the Obama administration’s phased adaptive approach plan to field regional missile defenses in Europe to protect from an Iranian ballistic missile attack. Land-based...

The Aegis weapon system, installed on board the US and Spanish naval warships, has successfully exhibited its combat capabilities during a recent trial. The Combat System Ship Qualification Trials were conducted in the waters near Pt. Mugu, California last week. US Navy’s recently commissioned guided missile destroyer USS Dewey (DDG 105) along with USS Wayne E Meyer (DDG 108) took part in the trial. Spanish Navy’s Alvaro de Bazan (F-101) frigate was also a part of the exercise. The Aegis integrated naval weapon system, fitted on the ships, was evaluated for combat-readiness through comprehensive surface, subsurface and anti-air warfare exercises,...

The Navy commissioned the newest guided-missile destroyer, the USS Dewey, to its fleet March 6 at a ceremony steeped in naval symbolism and tradition. At the Naval Weapons Station here, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered remarks to a crowd of thousands before the admiral's wife Deborah Mullen, the ship's sponsor, called the order that brought the $1 billion warship to life. "You're getting a true gem: a ship as well built and well-tested as they come and manned by performance-proven, highly motivated sailors. May you deploy Dewey to the tip of the spear."...

The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $160 million follow-on contract for technical and engineering support of its land-based test facility for the Aegis Ballistic Defense (BMD) Weapon System. Known locally as the "the Cruiser in the Cornfield" for its ship-like exterior appearance, the Navy's Vice Admiral James H. Doyle Combat Systems Engineering Development Site (CSEDS) develops, integrates and delivers sophisticated computer software that allows the Aegis Weapon System to constantly evolve to meet the world's emerging threats. CSEDS incorporates highly-integrated, classified, real-time networks that connect numerous contractor and U.S. government facilities. In addition to ongoing support for CSEDS, the...

The final installment of Missilethreat's synopsis of the 2010 BMDR will focus on the last sections of the report—dealing with international cooperation and the missile defense bureaucratic organizational structure. International Cooperation As a broad statement of intent, the report reiterates a U.S. commitment to the fielding of "robust, pragmatic, and cost-effective" regional missile defenses as well as a commitment to "international cooperation." Regional deterrence and a re-tooling of export controls will be key aspects of the future U.S. approach to deployed missile defense abroad. In Europe, NATO will dominate any missile defense processes. The expansion of missile defenses from the...

Romania has agreed to base American anti-missile systems on its territory. These will probably be land based Aegis systems. So far, Aegis has achieved an 83 percent success rate during live test firings. So now everyone wants an Aegis ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) ship for protection. The Aegis system was designed to operate aboard warships (cruisers and destroyers that have been equipped with the special software that enables the AEGIS radar system to detect and track incoming ballistic missiles). However, there is also a land based version that Israel is interested in buying. The development version of AEGIS was land based,...

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is accelerating the deployment of new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf, placing special ships off the Iranian coast and antimissile systems in at least four Arab countries, according to administration and military officials. The deployments come at a critical turning point in President Obama’s dealings with Iran. After months of unsuccessful diplomatic outreach, the administration is trying to win broad international consensus for sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, which Western nations say control a covert nuclear arms program. Mr. Obama spoke of the shift in his State of...

Taiwan plans to buy eight second-hand Perry-class frigates from the United States despite improved ties with once-bitter foe China, a local newspaper reported Monday. The island hopes to arm them with a version of the advanced Aegis Combat System, which uses computers and radar to take out multiple targets, as well as sophisticated missile launch technology, the Taipei-based China Times said. The defence ministry said in a reaction to the report that ageing frigates now serving the navy needed to be phased out, but that it had not yet decided on the type of vessels that would replace them. "The...

A new direction for missile defense will continue to evolve in 2010, as what was once regarded as the stuff of fantasy becomes accepted as an essential component of defense and security. One trend will be the fusion of defense against aerodynamic and ballistic targets into a common network. While missiles and other weapons—such as short-range guns and lasers—are tailored for effectiveness against different targets, sensors and sensor platforms gather information on both and pass it through a battle-management system, which activates the shooters that are in the best position to engage. This trend can be seen at work in...

The second generation of Lockheed Martin's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, BMD 4.0.1, successfully detected, tracked and conducted simulated engagements against a variety of different ballistic missile targets during a series of tracking exercises in the Pacific. The key feature of the new system is a new integrated signal processor designed to improve the system's discrimination capability to defeat sophisticated ballistic missiles and their countermeasures. During a series of four tests, the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie - upgraded with the BMD 4.0.1 Weapon System - successfully detected, tracked and guided simulated Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IBs to...

The latest generation of anti-missile software for the Aegis radar (version BMD 4.0.1) successfully tracked, in several tests, incoming missiles using decoys and other deceptive measures. Another year of tests will continue until the new software is ready for installation in the 92 Aegis equipped warships worldwide. These ships have already fired, in tests or combat, over 3,500 Standard anti-aircraft and anti-missile missiles. The U.S. Navy has 18 ships with the Aegis anti-missile system. Japan has six Aegis equipped warships. Earlier this year, for the 19th time, a U.S. Navy Aegis equipped ship used one of its SM-3 missiles to...

Lockheed Martin missile defense systems achieved several key milestones in 2009, including five successful intercepts and numerous other major accomplishments, further solidifying Lockheed Martin as a world leader in air and missile defense. With 20 successful Aegis BMD intercepts, six successful Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) intercepts and 26 successful Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile intercepts since the inception of those programs, Lockheed Martin continues to build on its unmatched legacy as the pioneer of hit-to-kill technologies. "Lockheed Martin is proud to continue to lead ballistic missile defense efforts for the United States and allied nations," said John Holly,...

The second generation of Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, BMD 4.0.1, successfully detected, tracked and conducted simulated engagements against a variety of different ballistic missile targets during a series of tracking exercises in the Pacific. The key feature of the new system is a new integrated signal processor designed to improve the system’s discrimination capability to defeat sophisticated ballistic missiles and their countermeasures. During a series of four tests, the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie – upgraded with the BMD 4.0.1 Weapon System – successfully detected, tracked and guided simulated Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block...

In conjunction with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), U.S. Pacific Fleet ships and crews successfully completed a series of exercises to test the second generation Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) weapon system, Aegis BMD 4.0.1. This set of four exercises, designated FTX-06 Events 1-4, involved the tracking and simulated engagements of a variety of ballistic missile targets launched over the past several months from the Kauai Test Facility, co-located on the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), Barking Sands, Kauai. The Aegis BMD system is a critical component of the nation’s overall Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). FTX-06 Event 1, conducted...

Japanese naval forces successfully shot down a medium-range missile off Hawaii in a test of Tokyo's missile defense weaponry, the US military said on Wednesday. A Japanese destroyer detected, tracked and knocked out the missile in mid-flight with an SM-3 interceptor rocket, the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said in a statement. The missile was launched on Tuesday at 6:00 pm Hawaii time (0400 GMT) at a missile range site off Kauai in Hawaii and at 6:04, an SM-3 interceptor was fired in response, the MDA said. "Approximately three minutes later, the SM-3 successfully intercepted the target approximately 100 miles...

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Japan last week to export a new type of ship-based missile interceptor under joint development by Tokyo and Washington to third countries, presumably European, sources close to Japan-U.S. relations said. Gates' request could lead to a further relaxation of Japan's decades-long arms embargo and spark a chorus of opposition from pacifist elements in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and one of its coalition partners, the Social Democratic Party. Gates made the request concerning Standard Missile-3 Block 2A missiles during talks with Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa on Wednesday, the sources said. The SM-3 Block...

Navy to Build 6 Mini-Aegis Destroyers By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The Navy plans to launch six 5,600-ton ``mini-Aegis'' destroyers between 2019 and 2026 in an effort to help facilitate coastal and blue-water operations, the service said Tuesday. The plan was unveiled in a report submitted to a National Assembly inspection of the Navy at the Gyeryongdae military compound in South Chungcheong Province. The medium-sized KDX-IIA destroyers equipped with SPY radar and close-in weapon systems will be a core part of the Navy's strategic mobile fleet led by 7,600-ton KDX-III destroyers, it said. The mobile fleet is to consist of...

Israel and the US are in talks regarding the possibility that America will leave several Patriot 3 missile defense systems behind, following a joint missile defense exercise that will begin next week, defense officials said Monday. The Juniper Cobra exercise will begin next week in southern Israel, where US and Israeli forces will run simulations on various threat scenarios involving missile attacks against Israel. Ahead of the exercise, some 15 US Navy ships have arrived in Israel, in addition to about a dozen transport planes that brought equipment to air force bases in the Negev. This year's drill is being...

The U.S. government, encouraged by the high success rate (83 percent) of U.S. Navy Aegis equipped ships using SM-3 missiles to shoot down ballistic missiles, has decided to expand the number of SM-3 equipped ships. Just this year, the navy completed equipping 18 ships with the Aegis anti-missile system, and that number may soon more than triple. This is part of a larger trend. Last year, the navy cancelled its expensive new DDG-1000 class of destroyers, partly because these ships were built to support amphibious and coastal operations, and did not have a radar that could easily be converted to...

(10-01) 21:19 PDT Washington -- Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher today defended President Obama's new plan for missile defenses in Europe, saying it provides more protection to the United States and its allies from potential Iranian attacks and does not abandon previous security commitments in the region. Tauscher, a former seven-term Democratic member of the House from Walnut Creek, told the House Armed Services Committee that Obama's plan is better adapted to the current state of the Iranian threat. New intelligence shows that Iran is developing short- and medium-range missiles faster than expected and long-range, intercontinental ballistic missiles more slowly,...