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U.S. officials secretly visited N. Korea ahead of rocket launch: report SEOUL (Kyodo) -- U.S. officials secretly visited North Korea last month days before its April 13 long-range rocket launch in an unsuccessful bid to get Pyongyang to call off the launch, a local news report said Friday. The officials flew into Pyongyang around 8 a.m. on April 7 and left later the same day, according to Reset KBS, an online broadcasting channel. The U.S. side and the South Korean government did not notify South Korea's air force of the flight, which passed through South Korean airspace. As a result,...

Continuing its tirade against the successful launch of Agni V missile, Chinese state media accused New Delhi of buckling under NATO pressure to cut down the missile's range from 9000 km to 5000 km. The state-run Global Times which derided the missile even before it was launched saying that Chinese nuclear power is "stronger and more reliable and India had no chance" to catch up and said today in yet another scathing write-up that "India has little to celebrate" as China has raced ahead and outclassed India in development." "The Manmohan Singh government, because of pressure from NATO member countries,...

India successfully launched its first domestically developed long-range intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday morning, joining a handful of nations that possess ICBM technology. The Agni V missile, capable of carrying a one-ton nuclear warhead, was launched this morning from Wheeler Island, off the coast of the state of Orissa, after a bad-weather delay yesterday. The Agni V was launched just after 8:00 a.m. local time and flew for 20 minutes before hitting its designated target in the Indian Ocean. Officials were thrilled with the smooth operation. “With this missile launch, India has emerged as a major missile power,” V. K....

How failed North Korea rocket could lead to a fresh nuclear test The UN Security Council is likely to rap North Korea for its rocket launch, and a defiant North Korea could respond with a nuclear test – following By Don Kirk, Correspondent / April 12, 2012 North Korea’s vaunted long-range Unha 3 rocket roared off its launch pad early Friday, broke into several pieces and plunged into the Yellow Sea between South Korea and China slightly more than one minute later, South Korean defense officials said. /snip North Korea is also expected to remain defiant while the United Nations...

North Korea is building a missile that is even bigger than the long-range missile it is preparing to launch this month, sources claimed Monday. South Korean and U.S. officials believe the North will unveil the missile at a military parade on April 15, nation founder Kim Il-sung's centenary, or on April 25, which marks the founding day of the North's Army. A government source here said U.S. reconnaissance satellites recently spotted a 40-m missile at a research and development facility in Pyongyang that is larger than the existing Taepodong-2 missile. "It remains uncertain whether this missile is functional or is...

North Korea has begun fuelling a rocket for a launch that the West considers a missile test, a Japanese newspaper reported on Thursday, citing a source "close to the government" in Pyongyang. "The launch is coming closer. The possibility is high that the launch date will be set for April 12 or 13," the source said according to the Tokyo Shimbun in a report from Seoul. It cited the source as saying that North Korea had begun injecting liquid fuel into the rocket. The paper also said a diplomatic source had confirmed that North Korea has moved the rocket to...

In the Pacific, saber rattling is done with missiles. North Korea has announced that it will launch a Taepodong ballistic missile to celebrate the birthday of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung, on April 15. The country claims this will be a satellite launch, but most observers agree the test is meant to demonstrate a weapon delivery system. Either way, it violates a fresh agreement that North Korea signed just one month ago pledging not to test long-range missiles. In a notice to the International Maritime Organization, North Korea says the missile stages will splash down near the west coast...

President Obama promised on Monday to pursue yet another controversial agreement with Russian officials to further slash both governments’ nuclear arsenals, saying the United States already controls more than enough atomic weapons. Speaking ahead of a global “security” summit in Seoul, South Korea, Obama also blasted the regimes ruling North Korea and Iran. Despite several high-profile disagreements in recent years, outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev praised the Obama administration, saying relations between the two governments had reached their “best level” in a decade. Obama, meanwhile, thanked Medvedev for his “cooperation” and said he could not have asked for a “better...

President Barack Obama offered a private request Monday to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for some “space” on missile defense ahead of November’s elections. “On all these issues, particularly on missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space,” Obama said, referring to incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a TV pool reporter who heard audio recorded by a Russian reporter who was in the room moments before the two leaders spoke to reporters after their 90-minute meeting. “Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you,” Medvedev responded. A...

Full title: President Obama Asks Medvedev for ‘Space’ on Missile Defense — ‘After My Election I Have More Flexibility’ SEOUL, South Korea — At the tail end of his 90 minute meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev Monday, President Obama said that he would have “more flexibility” to deal with controversial issues such as missile defense, but incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to give him “space.” The exchange was picked up by microphones as reporters were let into the room for remarks by the two leaders. The exchange: President Obama: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this,...

National Security: The president tells his Russian counterpart to give him space until November when, if re-elected, he'll be able to give away missile defense and the rest of the store without political consequences. It seems President Obama has a space program after all, one in which the Russians cool it on the dismantling of U.S. missile defenses until the least transparent administration in history can razzle-dazzle, smoke-and-mirror and divide-and-conquer its way into a second term. One of the subtexts of the 2012 campaign has been the fear of what a second-term Obama will do unfettered by the need to...

resident Obama, under mounting political pressure following disclosure of comments to Russia’s president about future flexibility in missile defense talks, told reporters on Tuesday he is not “hiding the football” regarding secret talks on the issue. The president was overheard Monday through an open microphone in Seoul having a private conversation with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. The president said Moscow should give him “space” from political pressure during the reelection campaign. In exchange, he promised more “flexibility” in addressing Moscow’s opposition to planned missile defenses in Europe, comments widely viewed as offering additional concessions on U.S. strategic defenses. Medvedev said...

President Obama just gave the world a glimpse into his future foreign policy plans this week, should he win a second term. On tap for Obama II: more faith in our adversaries, more betrayal of our traditional allies and more unilateral indulgence in nuclear abolition fantasies. Monday, President Obama told Russian President Medvedev that “This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.” Medvedev responded that he would dutifully report that tidbit to Vladimir Putin back in the Kremlin. The men apparently did not realize their discussion was being caught by a live microphone. Given that the...

For a man so in love with the technology of image, the camera, the microphone and the teleprompter, the leader of the increasingly less free world has a natural tendency to put a little too much faith in it. This is the second time that an open microphone has let Obama down, the first time it recorded him stabbing an ally in the back, the second time it recorded him stabbing a few dozen more in the back. Medvedev, whose bosom buddy just managed to cling to power with a stolen election and brutal suppression of protests, surely understands how...

President Obama made light Tuesday of the hot microphone moment he had the day earlier with Russian President Medvedev, where he said that after the November election, he'd have more "flexibility" on the issue of missile defense. Just as leaders were greeting one another and about to sit down at the opening session of the Nuclear Security Summit, Obama spotted Medvedev, looks over at him, puts his hands over the microphone in front of him with a big smile, and then goes to greet the Russian president. Obama was asked about the "flexibility" statement later while making remarks to the...

President Obama's explanation today of his private request yesterday, captured on an open microphone, of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev for some "space" and "flexibility" until after November's election, simply compounds the problem. "The only way I get this stuff done is if I'm consulting with the Pentagon, with Congress, if I've got bipartisan support and frankly, the current environment is not conducive to those kinds of thoughtful consultations," Obama told reporters. And Obama insisted his comments to Medvedev were "not a matter of hiding the ball—I'm on record" about wanting to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles. Obama is being disingenuous: His...

After a day of spin from the White House didn’t tamp down outrage over Barack Obama’s sotto voce conversation with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, the President himself addressed the controversy. Earlier today, Obama insisted that nothing he told Medvedev was out of the ordinary, and that he wasn’t “hiding the ball� on missile defense: A defensive President Obama said Tuesday he wasn’t guilty of “hiding the ball” when an open microphone caught him pleading with the president of Russia to delay missile shield talks until after this year’s elections.“The only way I get this stuff done is If I’m consulting...

Barack Obama explained his secret plans to sell out America and her allies that were caught during an open mic discussion with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Obama told Medvedev to wait until after his reelection to sell out American security. Politico reported, via Lucianne: President Barack Obama offered an extended explanation here Tuesday of the hot mic moment that caught him asking Russia’s president for some “space” and “flexibility” until after November’s election. “The only way I get this stuff done is If I’m consulting with the Pentagon, with Congress, if I’ve got bipartisan support and frankly, the current environment...

President Barack Obama’s open mic comments to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, asking for “space” on missile defense until after the US presidential elections in November when he believes he will have more “flexibility” to negotiate have the White House in full damage control mode. Obama’s request that the Russians hang tight until after the election is not in itself all that surprising. This is an election year and something as vital to US security as missile defense should not be negotiated in a partisan atmosphere. But the key word in the president’s comments is “flexibility.” And the key question is:...

An open microphone captured US President Barack Obama assuring Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he will have "more flexibility" to deal with missile defense after this year's US presidential election.

Newt Gingrich, the first candidate to campaign in Delaware, came here Monday night pushing his $2.50-per-gallon-of-gas energy plan and jabbing President Obama about comments caught on an open microphone with outgoing Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Gingrich said that Obama’s suggestion that he would have more flexibility to negotiate on nuclear arms after winning the 2012 election, was “destructive of American interests.” “This is a president who is amazingly destructive of American interests, something by the way of which we were reminded of today, when he didn’t know there was an open microphone,” he said to meeting of local Republican groups....

The United States is seeking to build regional shields against ballistic missiles in both Asia and the Middle East akin to an emerging bulwark in Europe, a senior Pentagon official disclosed Monday. The effort may complicate US ties with Russia and China, both of which fear such defenses could harm their security even though the United States says they are designed only to protect against states like Iran and North Korea. The US push for new regional bulwarks includes two sets of trilateral dialogues - one with Japan and Australia and the other with Japan and South Korea, said Madelyn...

The military is mulling ordering the deployment of missile interceptors to shoot down any debris that could fall on South Korean territory in the event that a satellite bearing North Korean rocket strays from its planned trajectory. The Stalinist regime recently announced that it would launch a satellite from a long-range rocket sometime between April 12 and 16 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the April 15 birth of its founder Kim Il-sung. “We are preparing measures to track the missile's trajectory and shoot it down if by any chance it deviates from the planned route and falls into...

The United States does not need to protect itself from the threat of ballistic missiles right now. At least that is what President Obama suggests with his recent exchange between himself and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul. The exchange was as follows: President Obama: “On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space.” President Medvedev: “Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you.…” President Obama: “This is my last election. After my election I have more...

It is a fundamental trust the American people put in a President that he will do all within his power to defend them against foreign military threats. This trust is no less applicable to threats posed by ballistic missiles. President Obama, however, apparently thinks very little of his responsibility to honor this trust. In an unguarded comment to outgoing Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in Seoul, South Korea, on March 26, President Obama made it clear that he will exhibit more “flexibility” in accommodating Russian objections to the U.S. expanding its missile defense capabilities after he is re-elected. What President Obama...

South Korea is preparing to shoot down a North Korean rocket if it strays into the South's territory during a launch planned for next month, the defence ministry said Monday. The South Korean and US military are closely monitoring activity at the Tongchang-ri base, a ministry spokesman said, a day after Seoul confirmed the main body of a rocket had been moved to the site in the North's northwest. Seoul is concerned that the first stage of the rocket, scheduled to drop into the Yellow Sea between South Korea and China, may fall onto the South's territory, the spokesman said....

DPRK ready to launch a "satellite" 08:27 25 MAR 2012 (AGI) Tokyo - Satellite images show that a long-range DPRK missile part, housing a satellite, has been moved to the country's NW. According to the Japanese agency Kyodo, which quotes Seoul diplomatic sources, the component has been moved by train to the launching base in Tongchang-ri, in the northern section of the Phyongan province. On 16 March, the North Koreans announced their intention to launch the Earth observation satellite Kwangmyongsong-3, triggering the alarm and the protests of countries such as South Korea, the US and Japan. It is widely feared...

A US official says a North Korean rocket due to be launched next month may affect an area between Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines. US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is reported to have asked the three countries to condemn the launch. North Korea says the rocket will take a new southern trajectory instead of a previous route east over Japan. Japan is readying anti-missile defences around the southern islands of Okinawa, which could be under the flight path. North Korea says the rocket is intended to put a satellite in space, but the US and others say the...

N.Korean Rocket Launch 'Long and Carefully Planned' South Korean and U.S. officials now believe that North Korea has set its sights since last year on test firing a long-range missile on the centenary of nation founder Kim Il-sung on April 15, and that its pledge of a moratorium on missile launches in an agreement with Washington in February was a cynical ploy to extract aid. The officials at first thought the announcement of what the North claims is a satellite launch was the result of pressure by hardliners in North Korea's military, who were opposed to the agreement with the...

North Korea announced plans Friday to blast a satellite into space on the back of a long-range rocket, a provocative move that could jeopardize a weeks-old agreement with the U.S. exchanging food aid for nuclear concessions. The North agreed to a moratorium on long-range launches as part of the deal with Washington, but it argues that its satellite launches are part of a peaceful space program that is exempt from any international disarmament agreements. The U.S., South Korea and other critics say the rocket technology overlaps with belligerent uses and condemn the satellite program as a disguised way of testing...

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un has inspected the country's military control center for nuclear weapons and missiles. North Korea's state-run central news agency carried a report with photos of Kim visiting the Strategic Rocket Force Command with the chief of the Korean People's Army General Staff Ri Yong Ho and other officials on Friday. This is the first time the center has been shown in the North Korean media. The photos show Kim checking meters and conical-shaped objects that looked like warheads. The report said he told his commanders to attack North Korea's enemies without mercy if they show...

Recent satellite images show that China is setting up launch units for its newest road-mobile Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) in central China. Several launchers of the new DF-31/31A appeared at two sites in the eastern part of the Qinghai province in June 2011. This is part of China’s slow modernization of its small (compared with Russia and the United States) nuclear arsenal. An image taken on June 27, 2011 , shows two DF-31/31A launchers on the launch pads of a small launch unit near Haiyan (36°49’37.12″N, 101° 6’22.97″E). One is positioned in a circular pad with support vehicles surrounding it....

Are U.S. nuclear forces on “hair trigger” alert? Not exactly, a Department of Defense official told Congress recently. “Although it is true that portions of the U.S. nuclear triad are capable of rapid execution upon authorization from the President, a robust system of safeguards and procedures is in place to prevent the accidental or unauthorized launch of a U.S. nuclear weapon,” said James N. Miller, Jr., Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, in newly published responses to questions for the record from a May 2011 hearing. Moreover, he added, “The United States continues the practice of open-ocean targeting...

In the 1970s, the Air Force launched a Minuteman ICBM launched from a C-5 Galaxy. Hold on, what!?!? That was my reaction upon learning that the above sentence is true. In 1974, the Air Force decided that it could turn C-5 Galaxy airlifters into flying SSBNs. Yup, Air Force planners thought the missile would be tougher for the Soviets to take out with a preemptive strike if it was already aboard a moving target like a C-5 versus sitting in a stationary missile silo. So, they loaded a Minuteman into a C-5 that parachute-dropped the 60-foot tall missile out of...

Israel believes that within 2-3 years Iran will have intercontinental missiles able to hit the United States, an Israeli minister said in remarks aimed at raising awareness of the threat it believes a nuclear Iran would pose to the world. Analysts now estimate the longest range of an Iranian missile to be about 2,400 km (1,500 miles), capable of reaching Tehran's arch-enemy Israel as well as Europe. But Israel has also been keen to persuade any allies who do not share their view of the risk posed by Iran that an Islamic Republic with atom bombs would also threaten the...

Putin Pledges 400 ICBMs for Russia in Ten Years Russia’s armed forces will receive over 400 modern intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), more than 100 military spacecraft and over 2,300 new tanks within the next ten years, Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin said. Earlier media voiced fears that by 2020, Russia’ ICBM arsenal could reduce by more than half as over 400 missiles would go beyond their maximum service life without timely replacement. “Within the next decade, the armed forces will receive more than 400 modern ground- and sea-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, eight ballistic missile submarines, about 20 general...

MOSCOW -- A ballistic missile that is to be a cornerstone of Russia's nuclear arsenal has completed its rocky test program and will be commissioned by the military, President Dmitry Medvedev announced Tuesday during a meeting with military officers. The Bulava ICBM, intended to arm a new generation of nuclear submarines, is a three-stage missile that can carry up to 10 individually targeted warheads at a range of 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles).

Today this route occurred a traffic jam. The traffic was paralyzed in the direction of the village Plishkino towards Irkutsk. It was found that the cause of congestion has become a column of soldiers moving a missile. For anybody in the Irkutsk region, it is no secret that in the forests of Angara on active duty are nuclear missiles - more than twenty "Poplars." Mobile launchers are in constant motion, making it difficult for a potential enemy detection and tracking. Often the movement of military equipment is found in the area and the so-called Kachug Plishkinskogo tracts. This has got...

The brother of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander killed in a suspicious explosion in Tehran last week has told the media that the incident took place during the testing of an intercontinental missile. Various news agencies are reporting that Mohammad Tehrani Moghaddam, brother of the late general Hasan Tehrani Moghaddam, has told a government-run newspaper that "the dead man was testing an intercontinental missile" and died when "the weapon exploded during testing." A short time later, however, Mohammad denied the report, Telling the semi-official Fars news agency that "We didn't know what my brother was doing" while he died....

"The last of the nation's most powerful nuclear bombs — a weapon hundreds of times stronger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima — is being disassembled nearly half a century after it was put into service at the height of the Cold War. The final components of the B53 bomb will be broken down Tuesday at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, the nation's only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility. The completion of the dismantling program is a year ahead of schedule, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, and aligns with President Barack Obama's goal...

Could the Nuclear Triad Become a ‘Bi-ad?’ Now is not the time to discuss removing one leg from the three-legged stool known as the nuclear triad, the head of U.S. Strategic Command said Oct. 18. “I continue to stand by a need for a triad,” Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehler, Stratcom commander, told reporters in Washington, D.C. The prospects for budget cuts have prompted some pundits to question the need to fund all three parts of the nation’s methods of delivering nuclear weapons — land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, bombers and submarines armed with sea-launched missiles. Wouldn’t it be better...

In his speech on defense and foreign policy at South Carolina’s Citadel Military Academy on October 7, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said: “I will begin reversing the Obama-era missile defense cuts and prioritize the full deployment of a multilayered national ballistic-missile defense system.” If conservatives hold him to this promise, it will be a significant step towards fulfilling the goal of making nuclear weapons “impotent and obsolete” that Ronald Reagan laid out in his famous March 1983 “Star Wars” speech. The key word that Romney pronounced, which heartened missile-defense advocates and almost certainly disturbs the opponents of such defensive...

With Russian help, India to join ICBM big league soon Saturday, 08 October 2011 01:00 Moscow to provide ‘seeker’ tech for Agni-V, capable of hitting target beyond 10,000 km India is all set to join the select group of nations capable of launching nuclear strikes across continent. With Russia ready to provide the cutting-edge “seeker” technology for India’s Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the country is ready to flaunt its nuclear might in a big way by year end when the ICBM will undergo its maiden launch. The development of the ICBM had been delayed because no country was ready...

North Korea tested missile engines last October: source 2011-07-24 19:51 North Korea had tested the rocket engines for its intercontinental ballistics missile ahead of the deadly attack on Yeonpyeong Island in 2010, according to a high-ranking source on Sunday. “In October of last year North Korea tested the rockets for its intercontinental ballistics missile at its Dongchang-ri base,” said the high-ranking government official. “We believe they conducted the test as a direct show of force when the U.S. satellites could take aerial photos of the site.” What the government suspected as long distance rocket engines were tested before at the...

10,000-km ICBM on cards June 19, 2011 6:18:55 PM Rahul Datta | New Delhi India is seriously contemplating to enhance the reach of its strategic missiles. The Defence Ministry is considering a proposal to develop intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting targets 10,000 km away. At present, there is a voluntary cap on developing missiles beyond 5,000-km range and the ICBM capabilities will propel India into the elite league of nations possessing the deterrent with nuclear warheads — China, the US, Russia and the UK. The proposal for developing ICBM capabilities was moved by the Defence Research and Development...

Russia is introducing a fourth generation automated control systems for its Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) with triple-redundant communication links, a media report said. Izvestia newspaper quoting SMF Commander Lt. Gen. Sergei Karakayev said, the new automated control systems are based on digital alert transmission systems. "The RSVN is currently introducing fourth generation automated control systems. Each system will have guaranteed triple communications redundancy," he was quoted as saying. The strategic nuclear launch systems are ageing hence the importance of command and control links, he added. The Strategic Missile Forces reportedly have a total of 538 ICBMs, including 306 SS-25 Sickle...

North Korea will likely develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads within the coming decade, the chief U.S. military officer said Thursday. "There's little doubt in my mind, unless North Korea is deterred, that sometime in the next, I'm not sure but, five to 10 years, the provocations ... will continue at a much higher threat level, which could include a nuclear-capable ICBM," Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview with Financial Times, according to a transcript released by the Pentagon. "That's what I believe we're looking at. I can't be...

Russia is developing a replacement for the world's most devastating intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in a move that risks reviving a global nuclear arms race. Work on the new missile, which has yet to be given a name, started in Moscow in 2009 and could be wrapped up as early as 2017, the head of the secretive military industrial corporation helping develop it has revealed. In comments to Russian news agency ITAR-TASS that went largely unnoticed, the head of Rosobshemash said the new missile would be capable of overcoming any nuclear missile shield that the Americans or indeed anyone else...

The ruling United Russia faction has revealed in the Duma the amendments it will attach to the new START III arms control treaty. The ratification draft will contain several points that mimic two US Senate non-binding resolutions approved together with the ratified treaty, requiring the spending of $85 billion over ten years to modernize the US nuclear arsenal and a pledge to continue unrestricted development of ballistic missile defense (BMD). The Duma draft is lengthy, but not precise: it demands the “upholding of Russia’s strategic nuclear potential on a level, sufficient for safeguarding national security,” calls for the “development, testing,...

Russia is developing a replacement for the world's most devastating intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in a move that risks reviving a global nuclear arms race. the head of Rosobshemash said the new missile would be capable of overcoming any nuclear missile shield that the Americans or indeed anyone else might build. "This applies in the fullest sense to the USA's anti-missile defence system and to Nato's (planned) European missile defence system," said Artur Usenkov. Russia is developing the new missile despite recently negotiating a new landmark Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the United States which will see both countries make...