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Japan shoots down 'ballistic' missile in interceptor test WHITE SANDS, New Mexico, Sept. 17 KYODO Japan's Air Self-Defense Force successfully shot down a mock ballistic missile Wednesday in Japan's first test of a U.S.-developed land-to-air missile interception system since the country started deploying it late last year, ASDF officials said. The firing of two Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors the ASDF said was a success marked the end of a series of tests on key capabilities of a nearly 1 trillion yen missile shield Japan is trying to complete by around fiscal 2010. The ASDF conducted the test at the White...

WASHINGTON - U.S. officials say the Pentagon is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March. This is the U.S. military will use a missile to destroy a satellite in space, NBC News reports. The spy satellite has lost all power and is expected to crash back on earth in early March, spreading debris and potentially hazardous fuel over several hundred miles.

The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard have expressed interest in the 30-ft.-long Protector, which comes mounted with a machine gun and could be retrofitted for commercial use. Robots versus pirates -- it's not as stupid, or unlikely, as it sounds. Piracy has exploded in the waters near Somalia, where this past week United States warships have fired on two pirate skiffs, and are currently in pursuit of a hijacked Japanese-owned vessel. At least four other ships in the region remain under pirate control, and the problem appears to be going global: The International Maritime Bureau is tracking a 14-percent increase...

Soldiers Defend Body Armor FORT BELVOIR, Va. - Soldiers are volunteering dramatic personal accounts of lives saved and injuries avoided thanks to the Army's body armor. Their first-hand accounts of what happens demonstrate confidence in what the Army is doing to protect them. Interceptor Body Armor is a modular system that features an outer tactical vest with hard protective plates. Spc. Gregory T. Miller, 101st Airborne Division, told Congress at a hearing last month that this body armor saved his life while he was on patrol in Kirkuk in preparation for Iraqi elections in December 2005. He was hit in...

Hot Air: NBC's 'Emotional Terrorism' Following 'Bogus' Armor Report Posted by Dave Pierre on July 4, 2007 - 10:43. Via Bryan Preston at Hot Air: On May 17, NBC reported a blockbuster exclusive on the superiority of Dragon Skin body armor over Interceptor, the body armor that the US Army issues to soldiers in combat zones. But NBC’s story has a major flaw: It’s wrong about nearly everything. Watch the latest installment of Hot Air's Vent and actually hear an Army official, Brigadier General Mark Brown, conclude that NBC News possibly committed "emotional terrorism" after airing an "exclusive" segment on...

NBC Accuses Pentagon of Using Less Safe Body Armor… But is it? Posted by Warner Todd Huston on June 18, 2007 - 10:16. Back on May 20th, the NBC News Investigative Unit excitedly reported that US Armed forces and the Pentagon may be forcing our soldiers to use body armor that is not as effective as newer models being produced. In an alarming TV report called "Are U.S. soldiers wearing the best body armor?", NBC intimated that the Pentagon was sending our troops substandard bullet proof vests when they knew there was a better product out there suggesting that our...

ONE OF THE RECURRING themes of press coverage of the Long War, and particularly the conflict in Iraq, is that soldiers are victims. According to this trope, soldiers and Marines are sacrificing themselves in a cause already lost, by an administration that cares little for the men and women in uniform. The proof of this last proposition was demonstrated to the media's satisfaction long ago, and confirmed for them in former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's proclamation that we went to war with the force we had rather than the one we'd liked to have. Exhibit number one in the press's...

The technical expert solicited by a major news network to certify its tests of Dragon Skin body armor admitted Wednesday that the controversial vests weren't "ready for prime time." In an investigative report broadcast by NBC May 20, the network used the expert opinion of Dr. Phillip Coyle - the former director of test and evaluation at the Pentagon during the Clinton administration - to certify results of side-by-side tests conducted at NBC's expense in Germany. In testimony submitted to the House Armed Services Committee during a June 6 hearing in the issue, Coyle stated Dragon Skin - manufactured by...

WASHINGTON | A manufacturer of body armor is under criminal investigation for possibly making false claims, Pentagon officials said Wednesday. Lawmakers are pressing for an independent test to determine whether the company’s vests are better than the ones U.S. troops in Iraq are wearing. Air Force investigators said they had been investigating Pinnacle Armor of Fresno, Calif., for a year, looking into allegations the company lied about having its vests certified as safe. Pinnacle made the claim nine months before it received the federal certification, officials said. Lawmakers from both parties accused Pinnacle’s president, Murray Neal, of hyping his product,...

The Marine Corps wants its Marines and sailors to know that the body armor it issues is the best available for combat despite recent inquiries concerning replacement gear. The armor the Marine Corps issues has met government test standards, and in many cases, the standards exceed civilian testing, said Maj. Bradford W. Tippett, infantry advocate for Headquarters Marine Corps in a recent interview with reporter Lance Cpl. David Rodgers.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- The Boeing Company Friday announced the successful test of a Ground-Based Interceptor against an incoming, or long range, ballistic missile. The interceptor was launched from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska at 1:22 p.m. Eastern time Friday. At 1:39 pm, an interceptor was launched from from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. "After flying into space, the interceptor released its exo-atmospheric kill vehicle, which proceeded to track the target warhead. ... ," Boeing said. "Although not a primary objective of the test, the kill vehicle intercepted the warhead and destroyed it. This was the first intercept...

High Frontier Strategic Issues Policy Brief July 14, 2006 “Six Scuds and a Dud” – Why should we care? By Henry F. Cooper 1 (Stanton Coalition Presentation) On Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume referred to North Korea’s intrusion on our July 4 celebration with their launch of “Six Scuds and a Dud,” and implied this was not a particularly significant event. I beg to differ. The Dud Problem First, the “dud,” their failed test of a Taepodong-2, involved a three stage rocket presumably intended to deliver a modern nuclear weapon to Hawaii, Alaska or the Northwestern continental United States. And...

Colonel Thomas Spoehr is annoyed with New York Times reporter Michael Moss, for what I think is a good reason. Spoehr is the director of materiel for the Army staff. He had a good news story to tell Moss, which Moss converted into a bad news story. Here is the story as Spoehr tells it: Last year, senior leaders of the Army became aware of technological developments which make it possible to improve the "Interceptor" body armor worn by our troops.` The "Interceptor" consists of a vest, two SAPI (small arms protective insert) plates worn in the front and the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The military will install a long-range missile interceptor in a silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., next Tuesday, the Pentagon said. The interceptor is part of the Bush administration's missile defense program, designed to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles fired from North Korea or elsewhere in eastern Asia. It is the first interceptor to be placed at Vandenberg. Six other interceptors are already in place at the primary site in Fort Greely, Alaska; the Vandenberg site will receive a second missile this month. The multibillion-dollar system is still being tested. The military has no date set...

Hoaxes Propped Up CBS's Fraudulent Memos (Part II) Dan Rather's CBS' 60 Minutes Hit Piece on President Bush's ANG Record based on Left-Wing Media Hoaxes. By Col. John H. Wambough, Jr. USAF (Ret.) October 25, 2004 Bush and Uncommon Valor and Stolen Honor (Let our POWs be Heard) Coward/Draft Dodger Hoax Left-Wing Media (LWM) treachery, deception and distortion laid a solid foundation for Dan Rather's CBS' 60 Minute fabricated story and fraudulent memos. Thousands of communications misled the American people about George W. Bush's (GWB's) service in the Air National Guard (ANG). LWM fraudulently orchestrated so many hoaxes on President...

In defense of Lt. Bush By Charles D. Youree, Jr. President Bush's military service is being unjustly vilified. I feel a sense of anger and frustration when I hear that instead of volunteering for Vietnam, Mr. Bush "hid out" flying fighter/interceptor jets in the Air National Guard (ANG) for four years. As a former Air Force pilot with 6,000 hours of flying time, including more than 3,000 hours in jet fighters, I know that whenever you strapped yourself into a jet fighter and took off, you were in harm's way. Your life was on the line. As fighter pilots, we...

ASTRONOMY/SPACE ALERT FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Brian Webb Ventura County, California E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net Web Site: http://home.earthlink.net/~kd6nrp Reaching more than 2,200 e-mail addresses worldwide 2003 August 14 (Thursday) 06:02 PDT ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SATURDAY MISSILE LAUNCH A prototype anti-missile interceptor booster is scheduled for launch this Saturday from Vandenberg AFB. Launch will probably occur at, or shortly, after 11:00 PDT, the start of a 6-hour launch window. This launch was originally scheduled for tomorrow, but it appears to have slipped to Saturday. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a news media advisory from the Missile Defense Agency. It has been reformatted for publication. MISSILE DEFENSE ROCKET...

Ballistic missile defense has undergone fundamental changes over the past few months. Global politics, technology, budgets and inter-service rivalries are all playing their part in shaping the new landscape. Some-where in this mixture are the needs of the military forces and civilian populations that face an increasing threat, writes Mark Hewish In a series of recent interlinked moves, the US has reshuffled the cards in its ballistic missile defense (BMD) pack. The outcome is still uncertain, with shifts in direction occurring almost daily. In January 2002, the country's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) was redesignated the Missile Defense Agency (MDA)....