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U.S. military planners are working on how to deal with another round of major cutbacks, in terms of budgets and manpower. This is because one of the major candidates for Commander-in-Chief (president of the United States), Barak Obama, has a video in circulation, of a short speech he gave earlier this year, about how he planned on handling the Department of Defense. His major points were; "I'm the only major candidate who opposed this war from the beginning; and as president, I will end it. "Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending. I will cut...

A missile has hit an errant spy satellite about 140 miles above Earth, a U.S. official says Breaking

<p>A HIT! A missile launched from a U.S. Navy ship in the Pacific hit the decaying U.S. spy satellite it was targeting 130 miles above Earth's surface..... Developing...</p>

REDZIKOWO, Poland - Among the people living around this disused Polish air base, there is little enthusiasm for the missile interceptor station likely to be built here as part of a U.S. missile defense system. Poland's new government is sounding increasingly skeptical about the plan, arguing that it won't boost Polish security, and that sentiment is echoed throughout this farming region near the Baltic Sea coast. The main fear is that the area will become a target for retaliation by Russia, which vigorously opposes President Bush's plan. "If they build the missile defense base here, it'll be a magnet and...

NEW DELHI (AFP) — India announced a final successful test of the surface-to-air Akash missile before starting mass production under an ambitious plan to build a national missile defence shield. The missile blasted off from the Chandipur-on-Sea testing site, 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of Orissa state capital Bhubaneswar and hit an unmanned flying target, defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar told AFP. "The Akash missile has successfully hit the bull's eye for the fifth time in a row in the past 10 days and the last trial successfully took place today," he said. The 700-kilogram (1,540-pound) Akash, meaning "sky" in...

Everyone who goes to medical school hears this story at some point.Graduation day comes and the new doctors assemble to get their diplomas. The dean gazes out and announces sheepishly: "I'm sorry to tell you that half of what we taught you is wrong. The problem is, we don't know which half."Nowhere has this been more evident than in genetics.The rules of inheritance, and hints of the biological mechanisms behind them, were first elucidated by Gregor Mendel in the 1860s. Over the ensuing 130 years, scientists gained insight at a molecular level into how biological information is recorded, preserved, used...

Russia's President Vladimir Putin drew a parallel on Friday between U.S. plans for a missile shield in Europe and the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, widely regarded as the closest the world came to nuclear war. "I would remind you how relations were developing in an analogous situation in the middle of the 1960s," he said when asked at a news conference about Washington's plans to station elements of a missile defense shield in eastern Europe.

Japanese Police Raid Naval Centre Over Aegis Data Leak by Staff Writers Tokyo (AFP) May 19, 2007 Japanese police and naval officials raided a training centre for seamen Saturday in connection with the leaking of secret information on the US-developed high-tech Aegis combat system. Investigators searched the facility in Hiroshima prefecture, where sailors are put through specialised training in gunnery and torpedo operations. Earlier this year it emerged that authorities had questioned a 33-year-old petty officer for allegedly obtaining the confidential data on the Aegis system without authorisation. The case has unfolded since the officer's Chinese wife was arrested in...

MISSILE DEFENSE Missile Defense Funding Reaches Compromise Point by Martin Sieff UPI Senior News Analyst Washington (UPI) May 14, 2007 Was last week's congressional compromise on U.S. ballistic missile defense funding a disastrous defeat for the program, or was it a resounding victory for ensuring the survival and continued funding of key programs? Was it a bitter, short-sighted bipartisan fight of the kind that gives Congress a bad name? Or was it a triumph for constructive bipartisanship that forged a new and likely lasting consensus for the visionary program between Republicans and Democrats? On one hand, the program slashed overall...

Serious Dollars for AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense Modifications Posted 01-Mar-2007 11:08 Related stories: ABM, Americas - USA, Contracts - Awards, IT - Software & Integration, Lockheed Martin, Missiles - Surface-Air, Protective Systems - Naval, Radars, Surface Ships - Combat Also on this day: 01-Mar-2007 » AEGIS-BMD: CG-70launches SM-3(click to view full) Feb 28/07: Lockheed Martin Maritime Sensors and Systems in Moorestown, NJ received a $979.2 million cost-plus-award-fee contract modification to continue design, test, and deliver the AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Block 2006/2008 (Consolidated) Weapon System capability (BMD Baseline 4.0.1). Updates will include an improved signal processor, and continue...

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- U.S. plans to extend its ''star wars'' missile-defense program to Europe, which once dismissed the technology as unproven and unneeded, are gaining acceptance among governments here. Despite Russia's mounting opposition, the Czech Republic, Poland, and -- as of Friday -- Britain have all expressed serious interest in hosting parts of the shield. Other countries traditionally cool to the idea have been notably quiet. The trigger: concern about a nuclear Iran. ''This is all a result of Iran,'' says Tim Williams, a European security analyst. ''Governments see that Iranian missiles can hit Europe, and suddenly they are...

Japan plans to speed up anti-missile system Financial Times 10/26/2006 , Author: Michiyo Nakamoto Japan will bring forward its programme for setting up a missile defence system following heightened tensions in the region caused by North Korea's nuclear test, the Japanese defence minister said yesterday. "Japan does not have the power to defend itself against a missile attack," Fumio Kyuma, the new head of Japan's Defence Agency, said yesterday. "We should try to bring forward the timing (of missile defence deployment)," he said. Mr Kyuma also said the JDA could be upgraded to a ministry as early as January, highlighting...

U.S. Must Move to Full Missile Defense by Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.Posted Oct 09, 2006This week, HUMAN EVENTS begins an occasional series of exclusive articles in which leading conservatives who served in the Reagan Administration explain how they believe the principles of Reagan conservatism ought to be applied today and in the coming years. This week, Frank Gaffney, who served in Reagan’s Defense Department, addresses the issue of missile defense. Ronald Reagan is now esteemed around the world for having the vision and the leadership skills to bring about the demise of the Soviet Union. He is less widely appreciated...

Aslam said the North Korean test was not linked to Pakistani nuclear technology that was delivered to the Pyongyang regime by disgraced Pakistani nuclear programme founder A.Q. Khan. ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Foreign Ministry on Monday criticized North Korea for conducting a nuclear test, calling it a ``destabilizing development for the region.'' ``It is regrettable that the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) chose to ignore the advice of the international community not to test a nuclear weapon,'' ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a news conference in the capital, Islamabad. Aslam said Pakistan, which is also a nuclear-armed state, supported the six-party...

Week of September 27, 2006 WASHINGTON — Iran has adopted North Korea's war strategy against the United States. U.S. intelligence sources said Iran has invested in the production of North Korean command and control systems for a missile war against the United States. Iranian engineers and military officers have been training in Pyongyang to wage a nuclear war against a much stronger opponent. __ Full Text, Subscribers

CONTROVERSIAL SHIELD By W.Z. 6 September 2006 The location of part of the U.S. National Missile Defense (NMD) system in Poland, known as "the shield," remains an open issue. Although politicians of the governing coalition stress that the project would bring Warsaw even closer to Washington, voices opposing the construction of such military structures in Poland are equally vocal. According to the Pentagon, the shield is meant to defend the United States and their allies against a limited missile attack by any of the so-called "rogue states," such as North Korea and Iran. The system consists of ground-based radar and...

The news about the successful missile defense test conducted Friday by the Defense Department came at an opportune moment. Not only do we have constant reminders from North Korea and Iran of the importance of this program, but the program itself has been in real need of a boost, because congressional appropriations have been lagging.

Lost in Space By Henry F. Cooper and Robert L. Pfaltzgraff Jr.,The Wall Street Journal, reprinted in Missile Threat.com in toto, August 31, 2006 Consider the implications of North Korea's July 4 missile tests. While the Taepondong-2 failed, Pyongyang has already demonstrated (in 1998) that it can launch long-range rockets. Meanwhile, the six short- and medium-range missiles it successfully tested can be sold to other rogue states and terrorists -- who could launch them at us from ships off our coasts. When North Korea launched its missiles in July, what President Bush has properly termed our "modest" missile-defense system was...

Symposium: Star Wars DefenseBy Jamie GlazovFrontPageMagazine.com | August 25, 2006  The critical issue of Missile Defense now confronts our nation. The key questions remain: How mandatory is it? What is the threat that we need to protect ourselves against? What kind of system do we need? Is the one that is in the plans effective enough? How expensive will it be and how long will it take to build? And do we have the political will and leadership to get it done?   To discuss these issues with us today, we have assembled a distinguished panel. Our guests are: Thomas Karako, the Director of Programs...

US to double anti-missile ships in Pacific Reuters News, Wed Aug 16, 2006 By Jim Wolf HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (Reuters) - The United States, concerned about North Korea, will double to six by the end of the year the number of its ships in the Pacific capable of shooting down enemy ballistic missiles, the head of the Pentagon missile-defense project involved said on Wednesday. "I think it gives the nation more options," Rear Adm. Alan Hicks, program manager for Aegis ballistic missile defense, told reporters here after speaking to a conference on the fledgling U.S. shield. In coming years, a growing...

Report Supports Sea-, Space-Based Missile DefensesGlobal Security Newswire, August 4, 2006 The United States should focus on developing sea- and space-based missile defenses rather than expanding ground-based systems beyond the interceptors already deployed in Alaska and California, according to a experts’ report issued last month (see GSN, May 11).“Near-term options exist for developing viable sea-and space based defense within the next decade resulting in a comprehensive, global layered missile defense system,� says the 202-page report from the Independent Working Group on Missile Defense, the Space Relationship and the 21st century.“This option would complement the [Ground-based Midcourse Defense] system currently being...

General Yury Baluyevsky-Russia's #2 man in Defense-is unhappy over the American's missile defense system. What good is it to have 927 ICBMs if they can be destroyed in flight ? Details at: http://insidestraight.typepad.com/the_inside_straight/2006/08/us_and_russia_h.html

On the Fourth of July, North Korea's Kim Jong Il tested a series of ballistic missiles. Two days later, when questioned about the test, President Bush acknowledged that America's missile defenses were "modest and new." That they are new is understandable, since only in the last year has America begun to field missile defenses. The modest part, however, is of greater concern, since they are likely to remain modest by design throughout the administration's tenure.

Experts debate space-based BMD assets [More Usual Suspects] By JESSICA TAYLOR UPI, July 25, 2006 WASHINGTON, July 21 (UPI) -- A new report claims U.S. anti-ballistic missile defenses must be deployed in space to be effective, but critics disagree. Several analysts say the study is based on false pretenses and the deployment of defense mechanisms into space is not in national security interests. The Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, a Washington think tank, has issued a study saying the implementation of plans for space missile defense is critical for U.S. national security and an effective system against at least some...

Going on Offense for Missile Defense Defending ourselves has never made more sense. by Fred Barnes 08/07/2006, Volume 011, Issue 44 SENATOR CARL LEVIN of Michigan had a grim and unhappy look on his face. For years, he had led Democrats in an effort to slash funding for missile defense. He had planned to seek a cut of $68 million. But with North Korea poised to launch missiles and Iran's relentless drive to go nuclear, the situation had changed. So much so that Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama proposed to boost spending on the missile defense program, now more than...

Defanging Hezbollah: A Directed Energy Defense Could Help by James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., and David D. Gentilli WebMemo #1169 July 20, 2006 | Hezbollah’s Katyusha rocket attacks have killed and wounded dozens of Israelis, destroyed property, and sent thousands to bomb shelters. They threaten to plunge the entire region into conflict. There is a way to shoot these missiles out of the sky, limiting the danger to innocents and mitigating the serious threat of one of the region’s most dangerous terrorist groups. The U.S. Army and Israeli Defense Ministry have a joint program that has developed a high-energy laser that...

: Report: China Won't Curb North Korean Missile Program Defense Daily International 07/21/2006 Author: Dave Ahearn Even as the United States implores China to use its leverage to restrain North Korean ambitions to develop nuclear-tipped long-range missiles, China has no intention whatever of wielding its influence to that end, a new report states. In other words, the United States is left to its own devices, forced to erect its own missile defense when confronted by a rogue regime bent on acquiring awesome military powers. While China postures by voicing "concern" that North Korea on July 4 fired a series of...

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...

[An 8 megabyte PDF download at the link.]Summary OverviewThis report provides an assessment of missile defense requirements beyond the limited ground-based system currently being deployed, together with opportunities to benefit from existing and new technological opportunities. More specifically, it is intended to provide a greater understanding of proven technology options that should form the basis for deployment of an innovative missile defense that draws upon the legacy of technologies developed during the Strategic Defense Initiative program of the Reagan administration and the first Bush administration. The Report provides the necessary vision to exploit existing and future technologies, with space as...

American military experts have arrived in the Czech Republic to examine potential sites for a new missile defence base. During a week-long mission they will inspect three training military grounds. The United States is said to be considering either the Czech Republic, Poland or Hungary for the base. Its purpose will be to shoot down long-range missiles before they reach their targets in the US or Europe. The visit of the 22 American experts is the last stage in two-year long talks between defence officials of both countries, the deputy spokesman of the Defence Ministry in Prague, Jan Pejsek, told...

South Korea is seeking to buy 48 sophisticated defensive missiles from the United States and install them in the country's Aegis-equipped KDX-III destroyers, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said on Monday (July 3). According to a DAPA spokesman, negotiations are underway to buy the Raytheon Systems' SM-2 Block IIB Tactical missiles in a deal worth some $111 million. SM-2 missiles are effective against cruise and airborne missiles and for striking aircraft. The Navy has built three 3,000 ton-class KDX-I destroyers and five 4,000 ton-class KDX-II destroyers. It plans to build one more KKDX-II this October. Three 7,000 ton-class KDX-III...

Korea will spend 151 trillion won ($150 billion) over the next five years to boost its independent defense capacity and secure advanced capabilities to counter any military threats, the country's top defense official said Tuesday (July 11). "President Roh Moo-hyun encouraged the ministry to carry out its plan as scheduled," Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said in a press conference. Earlier in the day, Yoon reported a five-year military reform plan to Roh at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, and the president gave orders to use it to strengthen the country's self-defense posture and military forces. Korea's aggregate defense spending...

CHINA has sent the North Korean crisis back into Washington's court, implying the US should consider lifting financial sanctions that have squeezed the flow of cash to Kim Jong-il's regime. North Korea has been fuming since the US in effect froze $US24 million ($32 million) of its assets last November at a Macau bank. Pyongyang blames the US sanctions for stalling the six-party talks on nuclear weapons, but Washington says the sanctions are aimed at stopping North Korean counterfeiting of US currency and money laundering, and are independent of the nuclear issue. Yesterday, as the rift among regional powers over...

To counter North Korea's short and medium-range ballistic missile arsenal, South Korea seeks to develop a sophisticated, long-range cruise missile with a firing range of over 300 kilometers, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said. “We are considering the development of the long-range cruise missile and the United States is already aware of the plan,” Yoon said in a meeting with reporters at the ministry last Friday (July 7). He expects the missile to have a clear advantage in terms of accuracy compared with the North's. Last December, the military announced it has succeeded in developing a sea-skimming, anti-ship missile, with a...

Starting on the Fourth of July, North Korea launched a salvo of seven short-, medium- and long-range missiles. Despite the failure of the single long-range missile, the Taepo Dong-2, the launches confirmed that North Korea is seeking to advance its missile arsenal in order to threaten both the United States and its allies in Asia. The short- and medium-range missiles, the Scud and No Dong respectively, all flew in the direction of Japan, so it seems that North Korea is focused on achieving a military capability to threaten Japan in particular. It remains unclear at this point whether North Korea...

A PROGRAM of clandestine action against nuclear and missile traffic to North Korea and Iran is to be intensified after last week's missile tests by the Pyongyang regime. Intelligence agencies, navies and air forces from at least 13 nations are quietly co-operating in a secret war against Pyongyang and Tehran. It has so far involved interceptions of North Korean ships at sea, US agents prowling the waterfronts in Taiwan, multinational naval and air surveillance missions out of Singapore, investigators poring over the books of dubious banks in the former Portuguese colony of Macau and a fleet of planes and ships...

"North Korea’s threatening spate of missile launches — including an unsuccessful try with an advanced version of its Taepodong 2 Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile that is capable of hitting the United States — has sparked a cacophony of talk from leaders and foreign policy experts around the world. As they debate and discuss various options at the United Nations and in capitals around the globe, the rudimentary U.S. missile defense system is poised to shoot down anything launched from North Korea that threatens the American homeland or the critical interests of our regional allies like Japan and Australia. Noticeably absent are...

Reprinted from NewsMax.com Hit or Miss: Grading U.S. Missile Defense Dave Eberhart, NewsMaxFriday, July 7, 2006 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On July 5, just hours after the provocative North Korean test-launch of seven missiles, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stated that the threat remained clear and present. The communist country's launch included a missile capable of hitting the U.S. Northwest. Critics charge that U.S. missile defense remains a long way from being a reliable sentinel against that clear and present danger. Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) revealed after the North Korean launches, "Each and every...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Wednesday reiterated its concerns over the US-India civilian nuclear cooperation deal, following the approval of a draft bill on the agreement by the American House of Representatives of International Relations Committee. In response to a question about the approval of the draft, the Foreign Office spokesperson said Pakistan's position, especially its concerns on the US-India agreement, were well-known. "We have cautioned the international community about the consequences of this agreement for the shared objectives of stability in South Asia and a strong global non-proliferation regime," the spokesperson Ms Tasnim Aslam, said. "We have already stated that the objective...

Ten Years Later, a Successful Demonstration of a Sea-Based Terminal Defense Against Ballistic Missiles by Baker Spring, Heritage Foundation WebMemo #1125 June 13, 2006 | | In 1995, The Heritage Foundation’s Missile Defense Study Team proposed to Congress a comprehensive plan for developing and deploying an effective global defense against ballistic missiles.[1] The panel was chaired by the former director of the Strategic Defense Initiative, Ambassador Henry F. Cooper, and among its recommendations was a proposal to evolve the existing AEGIS weapons systems onboard Navy surface ships for air defense into a missile defense system. Last month, the Navy...

Sea-Based Missile Defense System Works, but Will Congress Fund It? by Baker SpringPosted Jun 16, 2006In 1995, The Heritage Foundation’s Missile Defense Study Team proposed to Congress a comprehensive plan for developing and deploying an effective global defense against ballistic missiles. The panel was chaired by the former director of the Strategic Defense Initiative, Ambassador Henry F. Cooper, and among its recommendations was a proposal to evolve the existing AEGIS weapons systems onboard Navy surface ships for air defense into a missile defense system. Last month, the Navy demonstrated the wisdom of this approach by successfully testing modified versions of...

Report: Poland tops Pentagon list for US missile defence site Mar 4, 2006, 13:58 GMT Warsaw - Pentagon experts favour NATO member Poland as a potential location for the overseas portion of the United States National Missile Defence (NMD) project, Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported Saturday quoting sources in Washington. The US-based NMD plan is designed to protect it and fellow NATO defence alliance members plus Japan from a potential nuclear missile attack by rogue states. Washington is now expected to make a political decision on the location of a large anti-missile base in Europe to serve as the overseas...

<p>The Pentagon's testing office has less confidence today than it did a year ago in the nation's fledgling missile defense system.</p> <p>A new report from the office says testing of the rudimentary system in place in Alaska and California "suggests" — but doesn't demonstrate that it "may have some inherent defensive capability" to intercept North Korean missiles. Last year's report was less tentative, saying the system "should have some limited capability."</p>

Airborne Laser Completes Laser Ground Tests ST. LOUIS, Dec. 12, 2005 -- The Boeing-led [NYSE: BA] Airborne Laser team announced today the successful completion of a series of tests involving its high energy laser at the Systems Integration Lab at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. During this test series, lasing duration and power were demonstrated at levels suitable for the destruction of multiple classes of ballistic missiles. This is the second of two program significant knowledge points planned for 2005. Airborne Laser's (ABL) megawatt-class Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) is designed and built by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC). Lasing...

The United States took the "unusual step" of sharing highly classified intelligence data on Iran's alleged efforts to develop a nuclear-capable missile to secure India's support for the International Atomic Energy Agency resolution against Tehran's controversial atomic programme, an American expert has claimed. The maturity of the deepening Indo-US relationship is being tested by the contentious issue of Iran and Washington was "pleased and relieved" that New Delhi finally backed it in taking a tough stance in dealing with Tehran, John E Carbaugh, a policy analyst who advises the US administration and major American multinational firms, said in his latest...

Nuclear-armed India introduced a bill into parliament yesterday intended to codify New Delhi's policy to prevent the spread of its nuclear weapons and missile technology to non-nuclear states. The introduction of the weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems bill comes almost seven years to the day that India defied international pressure and tested a nuclear weapon. Pranab Mukherjee, defence minister, said: “The provisions of the act apply to export, transfer, re-transfer, transit and trans-shipment of material, equipment or technology relating to weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery.” Defence analysts say the bill has long been...

(Warning! Strong coarse language follow) (Flips the bird) **** Canada! So Canada joins New Zealand as the biggest free riders of the English speaking nations. Tossing aside sixty years of common defence of North America they've now refused to join the US missile defence programme. They'll get the protection for free of course. Like New Zealand they can always rely on a bigger more serious country to do the heavy lifting for them. It's sickening what's happening to the western democracies. I blame the emancipation of women. God help us if Australia or the US ever give the girls the...

Washington was rudely awakened on September 11, 2001. The attacks on the World Trade Centers showed just how vulnerable America really was. The country had no defense against an ultimate attack. Bush had already resumed defense concerns when he took office. After 9/11 he revived the Star Wars concept, reasserting that defense outweighed aggression. He has worked to reduce nuclear proliferation, and, more importantly, to create an anti-ballistic missile system. Rumsfeld announced in June, 2001 that America would build such a system. The following year (December 2002) Bush announced that the system would be operable by 2004. We’re not there...

Reprinted from NewsMax.com Russia Beefing Up Missile ForcesPhil Brennan, NewsMax.comMonday, Dec. 13, 2004 Is there a new Cold War and arms race underway? A new force of the Topol-M Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM)- described by Russian Defense officials as a "21st-century weapon" unrivaled in the world and allegedly capable of defeating U.S. anti-missile defenses - is due to be created in 2005, posing a deadly threat to the U.S. According to Russian Missile Force Commander Nikolai Solovtsov a fifth missile regiment armed with Topol-M ICBMs will be added next year. Today's RIA Novosti quoted Solovtsov as telling a Moscow news...

The Lompoc RECORD First missile interceptor to be installed at VAFBBy Janene Scully - Associate Editor12/5/04 Countdown clocks ticking off minutes, hours and days will hit zero with this week's installation of the first missile defense interceptor at Vandenberg Air Force Base.On a remote section of northern Vandenberg early Tuesday morning, crews expect to begin lowering the first missile defense interceptor to its underground home.Rain or heavy wind could force the crews to postpone their work, officials warned.The missile, and a second to be added this month, join six already in place in silos at Fort Greely, Alaska, for the...