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Facing the worst barrage of rockets from Palestinian militants since 2009, Israel is getting a boost from a new interceptor system that destroys missiles in midair before they fall on population centers. The "Iron Dome" missile system has provided an added layer of security for Israel's homeland by downing dozens of rockets in the past four days, buying more time for the country's leaders to confront militants with less citizen pressure to stem hostilities. The system underlines Israel's shifting doctrine of emphasizing defense capabilities in addition to its offensive firepower, and offers a preview of how Israel will handle any...

The advanced air defense weapons Russia has provided to Syria's regime would make it difficult to establish a no-fly zone there as part of an effort to help the rebellion, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East told senators Tuesday. Marine Gen. James Mattis, head of U.S. Central Command, declined to detail any military options the Pentagon has developed for action against the regime. But he told the Senate Armed Services Committee that it would take a significant military commitment to create even safe havens in Syria where aid could be delivered, as Sen. John McCain suggested Monday. Mattis...

It was recently announced that the new Russian anti-aircraft/anti-missile system, the S-500, will be further delayed. Apparently the S-500 won't enter service until the end of the decade. Last year it was admitted that the S-500 was a full two years behind schedule, with prototype testing not taking place until 2015 and deliveries in 2017. It was explained that much of the delay was due to the fact that this system uses a lot of new technology. There also seems to be a problem deciding exactly what the S-500 should do. Senior government officials are apparently demanding that the S-500...

The Finnish authorities have impounded an Isle of Man-flagged ship bound for China with undeclared missiles and explosives, officials say. Police are questioning the crew of the MS Thor Liberty after what were described as 69 Patriot anti-missile missiles were found aboard. Interior Minister Paivi Rasanen said the missiles were marked "fireworks". The MS Thor Liberty had docked in the Finnish port of Kotka after leaving Germany last week. Dock workers became suspicious after finding explosives poorly stored on open pallets, and the missiles were then found in containers marked "fireworks". The managing director of the ship's owner, Thorco Shipping,...

Shooting down enemy aircraft over American soil is an event U.S.-based alert pilots train for. They run exercise scenarios on a constant basis, preparing for that call to scramble. But all the dry runs in the world can't prepare a pilot for that moment when a live missile is released from the jet. That's why the 148th Fighter Wing out of Duluth, Minn., is spending two weeks here working with the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group. "We came here to shoot missiles and drop live ordnance to be better prepared for our Air Sovereignty Alert mission," said Lt. Col. Reed Bowman,...

Defense: While America has stopped production of its stealth fighter, China prepares to challenge U.S. air supremacy in the Western Pacific with its own. China is on another Long March, one it hopes will lead to military supremacy over the U.S. at least in the Western Pacific. It is deploying a carrier-killing mobile missile, the Dong Feng 21D, and is expected to launch its first aircraft carrier this year, the refurbished ex-Soviet carrier Varyag. China is also conducting preflight tests on a fifth-generation stealth fighter expected to challenge the best the U.S. has to offer. Photographs reportedly showing China's J-20...

The Russian Ground Forces' Air Defense Force will become part of a united aerospace defense system, the Air Defense Force's chief has said. "In the course of the creation of a united aerospace defense system, the Russian Ground Forces' Air Defense Force will become one of its most important parts which together with other aerospace defense elements will be responsible for air defense and non-strategic missile defense at infrastructure and military facilities and troop deployment sites," Major General Alexander Leonov told journalists in Moscow on Saturday. The Russian Ground Forces' Air Defense Force includes such air defense systems as S-300,...

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...

The Israeli military revealed that its new Iron Dome anti-rocket system was not meant for defending towns and villages, but military bases. For years, politicians touted Iron Dome as a means of defending civilians living close to rockets fired from Gaza in the south and Lebanon in the north. But it turns out that it takes about 15 seconds for Iron Dome to detect, identify and fire its missiles. But most of the civilian targets currently under fire from Gaza are so close to the border (within 13 kilometers) that the rockets are fired and land in less than 15...

The recent cancellation of a billion dollars worth of Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran has left the manufacturer with lots of unsold gear. So now Russia is hustling to find new customers, offering attractive prices. Venezuela was given a $4 billion line of credit, part of it going to pay for S-300 systems. Now Kazakhstan has been persuaded to make a purchase (for $150 million). Kazakhstan has oil and gas, and can be expected to pay cash. Despite all that, about a third (the older models) of the S-300 systems used by Russia are in storage. Russia currently...

A top US general said Thursday it was unclear why an interceptor meant to knock out incoming ballistic missiles failed in a test for the second time in a row. General James Cartwright, the military's second highest ranking officer, said he had no doubts that the country's missile defense system could fend off potential threats, despite Wednesday's failed test. "I'm not the least bit concerned that we don't have a capability to defeat, should we need to, that rogue threat that the system's been designed against," Cartwright told reporters. In the test on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, an...

New generations of enemy missiles, and a willingness to use them, could put air bases under siege like never before. Operating from air bases under threat of missile attack may become one of the most important keys to projecting US airpower in the years ahead. For all its expeditionary experience, it has been decades since the Air Force has so intently focused on this problem. Now, top leadership is again taking it seriously. "The attack against the naval base at Pearl Harbor was recorded in history as a day which will live in infamy," said Air Force Chief of Staff...

For months, military leaders and commentators have been warning Israelis their cities face an unprecedented threat of missile attacks even as the country invests heavily in developing air-defense systems experts say cannot provide adequate protection. This uncharacteristically downbeat theme was summed up by Maj. Gen. Amod Yadlin, the outgoing chief of Military Intelligence, in a Nov. 21 briefing to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Cabinet. "Tel Aviv will be a front line in the next conflict," he warned. A few days earlier, he'd told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that "future wars … will be much bigger, much wider...

Well, only a few months after Russia decided not to sell the advanced S-300 surface to air missile system to Iran, spinsters in Tehran are touting a homegrown version of that very missile. From the AP: Iran has successfully tested a newly developed air defense missile system during the country’s biggest ever air defense drill, the country’s military announced Thursday. Iran’s state television said the test was Tehran’s response to Moscow’s refusal to deliver the advanced Russian S-300 air defense system amid U.N. and international sanctions on the country. Gen. Hamid Arjangi, a spokesman for the five-day exercise, said the...

A senior Iranian military commander says his country has conducted defense drills at its sensitive nuclear facilities ahead of planned aerial war games taking place over the country this week. The Mehr state news agency quoted air force commander Gen. Ahmad Mighani saying that "tactical drills that resembled real combat" had been carried out in Fordo, Tehran, Natanz, Bushehr and Isfahan where Iran's nuclear reactors are located.

The first fly out of Israel's new Arrow-3 anti-ballistic missile interceptor will be performed by mid-2011. Israel Aerospace Industries, which is developing the Arrow-3, is currently performing ground testing of the new missile, which will intercept incoming ballistic missiles using kinetic kill instead of proximity warhead detonation as with the operational Arrow-2. Israeli sources say the Arrow-3 will be the most advanced ballistic missile interceptor in the world. They say it will be "very energetic" and have "super manoeuvrability", enabling it to change its trajectory to engage another target that was detected after launch. The sources say the Arrow-3 will...

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...

Iran has conducted defence drills at its sensitive nuclear facilities, a senior commander told media on Sunday, adding that fresh aerial war games will be launched across the country next week. "This year, we carried out tactical drills which resembled real combat in Fordo, Tehran, Natanz, Bushehr and Isfahan," where the country's nuclear plants are located, the Mehr news agency quoted Ahmad Mighani as saying. Mighani did not specify when exactly the exercises were conducted.

The Japanese Air Self Defense Forces (JASDF) successfully concluded its annual training exercise at Fort Bliss, Texas. The exercise included target engagement and successful test firings of the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System in tactical mission configurations. Raytheon Company provided operational support for JASDF's Annual Service Practice (ASP). "It's a great team effort by JASDF, Mitsubishi Heavy Industry (MHI) and Raytheon, focused on mission success," said Sanjay Kapoor, vice president for Patriot Programs at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). "The success of this year's exercise speaks volumes to the results this team delivers." Patriot fire unit crews operating Raytheon's...

Iran is to test its own homemade S-300 ground-to-air missiles, built in defiance of ally Russia which backed out of a deal to supply the device, a top Iranian military commander said on Wednesday. "Very soon we will test long-range aerial defence missiles, including Iranian S-300s," Brigadier General Mohammad Hassan Mansourian told the state news agency IRNA. In September, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree banning supplies of S-300 missiles and other arms to Iran. Russia came under strong US and Israeli pressure not to go ahead with the sale of the weapons system which was seen as complicating...

With Caracas set to sign an agreement to purchase the system, Israel is concerned that Teheran will eventually obtain the anti-aircraft system. Israel has warned Russia of the possibility that an advanced air defense system it is planning to sell to Venezuela could eventually make its way to Iran, according to defense officials. The system, the S-300, is one of the most advanced multi-target anti-aircraft-missile systems in the world, with a reported ability to track up to 100 targets simultaneously while engaging up to 12 at the same time. It has a range of about 200 kilometers and can hit...

Recently, for the first time, the S-300B anti-aircraft missile systems that defend Russian Army units, shot down ballistic missiles. The S-300B was moved around, as it would to support a mobile army, before going into firing position and knocking down two ballistic missile warheads. Two years ago, army S-300 units were transferred to the air force, which now controls all S-300/400 systems (except for a few belonging to the navy.) The air force S-300/400 units are mobile, but are rarely moved, except for those assigned to the army. The S-300B is modified a bit for army use, but there are...

South Korea and the United States kicked off a joint air force training exercise Friday to increase interoperability among the airmen of the two allies. About 50 fighter jets, including F-15Ks and KF-16s from South Korea as well as F-16 Fighting Falcons and KC-135 Stratotankers from the U.S., are participating in the eight-day drill, the South Korean Air Force said in a news release. More than 250 pilots from the allies will be mobilized for the drill, named "Max Thunder," to be staged over the western airspace of the Korean Peninsula, it said. "This air readiness exercise is aimed at...

The American island of Guam is getting bomb proof shelters for aircraft, fuel and ammo supplies and vital equipment. Apparently believing that China and North Korea could, and under the right conditions, would, fire ballistic missiles, using conventional (non-nuclear) warheads, the concrete protection is being discreetly constructed on military bases. This hardening also provides protection against typhoons (Pacific hurricanes) and less frequent earthquakes. This is all part of a larger construction effort. This is because the United States is in the process of moving 8,000 marines from Okinawa to Guam, which means new facilities to house these troops and their...

Long-range ballistic missile are a new threat to Europe, but Israeli defense planners are more concerned about the rapid growth in lower-end rocket threats. The biggest growth comes from the fact that regional adversaries are being equipped with inexpensive, but effective guidance systems that have tightened targeting errors to within 100-200 meters. That is high accuracy compared to Iraq’s rain of Scuds in 1991 that could predictably hit only large cities like Tel Aviv, Dhahran or Riyadh. They created public fears and political pressure, but had virtually no effect on the military conflict. China also is participating in the exchange...

Russia's S-300 air defense systems, which Moscow refused to deliver to Iran following a new round of UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic, could be sold to Venezuela instead, a Russian arms trade expert said on Friday. Russia signed a deal to deliver five battalions of S-300PMU-1 air defense systems to Iran in 2007 but banned the sale in September, saying the systems, along with a number of other weapons, were covered by the fourth round of sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council against Iran over its nuclear program in June. "Russia is looking for a buyer of five...

Russia plans to pay back a $166.8 million advance payment from Iran for S-300 air defense missiles after canceling the sale to comply with UN sanctions, a top Russian official said Thursday. President Dmitry Medvedev banned the delivery of the high-precision air defense system last month, saying it would violate sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council in June. The United States and Israel had urged Moscow to scrap the deal, fearing Iran could use the system to protect nuclear facilities that they suspect are part of a weapons program. "We received an advance on this contract of $166.8 million,"...

Israel will deploy in November its anti-missile system designed to combat threats from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, the defence ministry said on Monday. "The Iron Dome interceptor, in conjunction with air force and anti-aircraft systems, successfully downed a large number of threats in fully operational mode," the ministry said in statement. "The first two batteries will become operational in November 2010," it said adding that "the defence ministry will soon place orders for additional batteries." The system is designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells, of which Hamas and the Hezbollah have fired thousands at Israel in the...

The Russian air defense system is designed so that it responds to all aircraft approaching the state's airspace, a high ranking Defense Ministry source has said. "That is perhaps its basic difference from the American system," the source said commenting on recent remarks by a senior U.S. military official. Adm. James A. Winnefeld, Jr., head of the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), said in an interview Russia continued "to fly strategic nuclear bombers near U.S. and Canadian airspace because the Russian military is seeking to maintain the illusion of power." He said jet interceptors are not ordered to...

The contract on supplying S-300 air defense systems to Iran has not yet been canceled, Rostekhnologii head Sergei Chemezov said on Thursday. Chemezov said the final decision on signing or dropping the contract "must be made by the president." On June 9, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1929 imposing a fourth set of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, including tougher financial controls and an expanded arms embargo. The sale of S-300 air defense systems is believed to fall under the sanctions, though earlier Russia said the delivery would not be affected since the weapons are not included...

Israel inched a step closer recently to deploying a missile defense system along the border with the Gaza Strip after the Iron Dome system successfully intercepted a number of missile barrages in tests. The tests were overseen by the Defense Ministry, the Israel Air Force and the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. which developed the Iron Dome, slated to be declared operational in the near future. Israel inched a step closer recently to deploying a missile defense system along the border with the Gaza Strip after the Iron Dome system successfully intercepted a number of missile barrages in tests. The...

Japan has gone ahead and decided that airspace above Yonaguni island, the westernmost island in all of Japan, is indeed entirely Japan’s responsibility. That may sound like a no-brainer, but during the 1950s, the United States controlled Yonguni and the rest of the Ryukyu islands and decided to split control of the airspace with Taiwan. Taiwan is not happy. On June 26, Japan unilaterally extended the ADIZ [Air Defense Identification Zone--JSW] line westwards by 22 kilometers. As a result, Taiwanese and Japanese AIDZs now overlap. That Tokyo seems willing to put up with the prospect of doing damage to Taiwan-Japan...

Iran enjoys a high level missile technology" and S-300 would not be the end point to Iran's efforts in acquiring or developing advanced missile defense technologies, Rapporteur of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Kazzem Jalali told reporters. Moscow signed a contract with Tehran in 2007 to supply the powerful S-300 missiles to Iran but it has refrained from delivering the system to the county due to the US and Israeli pressures. The S-300 surface-to-air system, known as the SA-20 in the West, can track targets and fire at aircraft 120 kilometers (75 miles) away. It also features...

U.S. troops are conducting training exercises with Iraqi divisions, emphasizing teaching the Iraqis to work with air power. The U.S. is using F-16s, which the Iraqis are negotiating to buy. In the meantime, the U.S. Air Force will apparently stand by (possibly in Kuwait, but perhaps in Iraqi air bases) to provide air defense and ground support capabilities. All this is because, while U.S. combat troops are scheduled to be out of Iraq by 2011, the Iraqis point out that they have an army and navy, they still don't have much of an air force. Currently, the Iraqi Air Force...

<p>The United States will deploy SM-3 interceptor missiles in Poland between 2015 and 2018 under its plan to defend NATO allies in Europe from possible Iranian attack, a Polish official said on Thursday.</p> <p>The interceptors, which target short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, are part of President Barack Obama's revamped missile defence system.</p>

JERUSALEM—Iran has sent Syria a sophisticated radar system that could threaten Israel's ability to launch a surprise attack against Iran's nuclear facilities, say Israeli and U.S. officials, extending an alliance aimed at undermining Israel's military dominance in the region. View Full Image Any sharing of radar information by Syria could increase the accuracy of Hezbollah's own missiles and bolster its air defenses. That would boost Hezbollah defenses, which U.S. and Israeli officials say have been substantially upgraded since 2006, the last time Israel fought the southern Lebanon-based group. The mid-2009 transfer was described in recent months by two Israeli officials,...

By the middle of this decade, a new command and control system will provide U.S. Army air defense forces with an extended view of the airspace over a battlefield. The capability will integrate the service’s sensors and weapons into a single network, allowing each platform to perform to its maximum abilities while minimizing operational weaknesses. Commanders will be able to access data quickly from any sensor on the network and order any weapon to engage a target. The Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) program will connect Army forces with a network-centric architecture for air defense...

Iran has provided Syria with an advanced radar system which could provide it with early warning of an Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, quoting Israeli and US officials. According to the report, information gathered by the radar could also be used by Hizbullah to increase its defenses and improve missile accuracy. Iran and Syria denied the occurrence of any radar transfer. "Iran is engaged in developing Syrian intelligence and aerial detection capabilities, and Iranian representatives are present in Syria for that express purpose," the IDF Spokesperson's Unit told the paper. "Radar assistance is...

A major fire broke out Wednesday in Moscow at a building belonging to Russian missile manufacturer Almaz, the maker of air defence weapons including the S-300 missile system, officials said. The fire at the company's design bureau had spread over an area measuring 800 square metres (8,500 square feet) and dozens of firefighters had been sent to the scene, a spokesman for the Emergency Ministry, Yevgeny Bobylev said. State television pictures showed a huge cloud of grey smoke rising into the sky from the area affected in the north of Moscow. Its cause was not immediately clear

Taiwan deployed a surface-to-surface version of its Sky Bow 2 air defense missile on Dongyin, an outlying island near mainland China. Taiwan has held several islands near the mainland since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Taipei has a Sky Bow (Tien Kung) missile battery on the island outfitted with Sky Bow IIB surface-to-surface missiles. These missiles have a range of 600 kilometers, enabling them to strike targets as far away as Shanghai. Now, Taiwanese legislators are considering withdrawing troops from Dongyin in an effort to improve relations with China. Taipei could withdraw these missiles to convince...

Terma and Lockheed Martin have jointly developed a Ballistic Missile Defense C4I system called BMD-Flex. The system is based on Terma's T-Core C4I framework, fielded in several European Army, Navy, and Air Force systems. Lockheed Martin provides modular Command and Control (C2) products for decision support and battle management as well as system-of-systems expertise to extend BMD-Flex capabilities. A classic ground-based air defense C2 system built in a modern service-oriented architecture and in an open-architecture framework has the ability to give legacy systems a second life cycle by adding specific content and enabling a growth path for enhancements needed to...

Russia, in wake of its support for United Nations sanctions, was expected to deliver long-range air defense systems to Iran. A leading Russian analyst said the Kremlin would launch efforts to supply the S-300PMU1 air defense system to Teheran. The analyst said the United States has agreed not to block the S-300 and other Russian defensive exports to Iran. "Clearly, there is realization that this contract will take place," Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said. On June 10, Pukhov said Russia's defense industry has been pressing the Kremlin to implement the S-300...

Russia is ready to participate in a tender to offer Turkey S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, the state-controlled arms exporter said on Wednesday. "The Turkish military has a great need for S-300 and S-400 long-range missile defense systems," Rosoboronexport CEO Anatoly Isaikin said. "Russia has expressed its readiness to participate in a tender for the delivery of such systems." He said leading SAM manufacturers from Western countries would participate in the tender "on a par with Russia." He gave no indication as to what specific SAM modifications would be offered or the timeframe for the tender. Turkish military experts...

Russia signalled on Friday it was scrapping the controversial sale of S-300 missiles to Iran in a major shift the Kremlin said was needed after fresh UN sanctions over Tehran's nuclear programme. "S-300 supplies to Iran fall under UN sanctions," a Kremlin source said in Tashkent where President Dmitry Medvedev was attending a summit of a regional security body led by Moscow and Beijing. "Thus this type of weapon cannot be delivered to Iran," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. In a flurry of statements, a number of other senior Russian officials made clear that Moscow was changing...

The U.S. State Department said on Friday that the delivery of Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran is not against the recently imposed UN sanctions. The Resolution 1929, adopted on Wednesday, imposes the fourth round of sanctions against Iran, including tougher financial controls and an expanded arms embargo. It also imposes an asset ban and a travel freeze on more than three dozen companies and individuals. "The [Resolution] 1929 prohibits the sale and transfer of items on the U.S. Register of Conventional Arms, which does not include the S-300. That said, this is a sale that Russia concluded with...

On June 9, the United Nations Security Council voted to approve sanctions that target Iran's defense and nuclear industry. But the Security Council resolution does not list defensive weapons, such as air defense systems, as part of the UN ban on Tehran.Specifically, the sanctions do not block Iran's efforts to acquire the S-300PMU1 air defense system from Russia. "This resolution will put in place the toughest sanctions ever faced by the Iranian government, and it sends an unmistakable message about the international community's commitment to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons," U.S. President Barack Obama said. Officials said UN members...

Japan’s government may have lost a prime minister, but it has gained a stellar reputation for political theater. “Someone had to lose face,” says a veteran U.S. analyst of Japan’s defense programs. “The prime minister had to go against the popular [desire to get the Marines out of Okinawa]. He went with the U.S., [in a reversal of a campaign promise] and then he had to resign.” Part of the reason for Yukio Hatoyama’s about-face was his realization that the U.S. military is building up an air-launched missile defense capability in Okinawa with the introduction of additional F-22s and F-15s...

The United Arab Emirates plans to host a four-day parley that would focus on air and missile defense. The second annual conference, titled "Annual Air and Missile Defence Summit," was scheduled to begin on May 30 in Abu Dhabi and include senior U.S. and other military commanders. "With the Middle East region being key to the global security, this summit aims to bring together all the key players to discuss the roadmap towards an integrated air defence strategy." conference director Grace Chng said. Organizers said the conference would focus on technology, interconnectivity and interoperability between military and industry. They said...

By backpedaling on a campaign promise to move a U.S. Marine Corps airbase from Okinawa, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama may have nonetheless secured additional airborne cruise missile and tactical ballistic missile defenses for Japan. China is seen as the cruise missile threat since it has developed a new, faster, long-range weapon that can be launched from its Su-27MKK strike fighter fleet. North Korea has the greater fear factor, however, because of its suspected nuclear ballistic missile capability and its government’s erratic behavior and apparent aggressions, such as the alleged sinking of a South Korea warship. Okinawa is already home...

Two key Russian parliament members said on Friday proposed UN sanctions on Iran would not affect Russia's controversial sale of S-300 missiles to Tehran, the Interfax news agency reported. The possible sanctions would not hurt "current contracts", said Mikhail Margelov, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament: "As far as Russian economic interests are concerned, this draft does not deal a blow to current contracts existing between Russia and Iran," he told journalists. "We need to remember that Russia is a responsible seller of any of its products on external markets...