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Taiwan Wednesday defended its latest procurement of US weapons, saying the missiles would give the island more confidence in pushing for rapprochement talks with China. The Mainland Affairs Council, the island's decision-making body on its policy with China, also called on Beijing to dismantle the more than 1,000 missiles aimed at the island. "The arms build-up is necessary for our national defence," the council said in a statement. "Furthermore, it would make Taiwan have more confidence in pursuing negotiations and exchanges with the Chinese mainland." The council was reacting to remarks earlier in the day by a Taiwan affairs official...

The Kuwait Air Defense Forces successfully test fired Raytheon Company's Patriot Air and Missile Defense System against tactical ballistic missiles. The test firings were held last month at the Udairi Range in Kuwait in conjunction with other Kuwait Air Defense and Land Forces elements during a joint exercise. The test firings used a Kuwait Patriot Configuration-2 Plus fire unit with Guidance Enhanced Missiles as the interceptors, which are operated and maintained by Kuwait Air Defense brigade troops. The Patriot system successfully engaged and destroyed two Patriot-as-a-Target missiles, as well as three foreign Multiple Launch Rocket System-type targets, both configurations emulating...

The U.S. Department of Defense has purchased 253 Patriot anti-aircraft and anti-missile missiles. The U.S. Army has ten Patriot anti-aircraft missile battalions. Each Patriot battalion has 12-24 launchers (3-6 batteries). Each battery is manned by about a hundred troops, and contains a radar, plus four launchers. A battery can fire two types of Patriot missile. The $3.3 million PAC 3 missile is smaller than the cheaper anti-aircraft version (PAC 2), thus a Patriot launcher can hold sixteen PAC 3 missiles, versus four PAC 2s. A PAC 2 missile weighs about a ton, a PAC 3 weighs about a third of...

The US Defense Department has approved the sale of upgraded missile equipment to Taiwan, a Taipei-based US official said Thursday, risking the ire of the island's rival China. The sale of the Patriot missile equipment is part of a package passed by the US Congress more than a year ago, said a spokesman with the American Institute in Taiwan, the US de facto embassy in the absence of formal ties. "The US Defense Department awarded Lockheed Martin Corp the contract to provide Patriot missile defence systems to Taiwan as part of a big arms deal approved by Congress in 2008,"...

China on Tuesday again warned the United States against selling arms to Taiwan, amid media speculation that Washington could soon act on the island's request for new weapons. "We firmly oppose the US selling arms to Taiwan," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters at a regular briefing, saying Beijing has had "serious consultations" with Washington on the issue. "We urge the US to recognise the gravity of selling arms to Taiwan... cancel any plans to sell arms to Taiwan and stop selling arms to Taiwan so as not to damage China-US relations." Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou, despite warming ties...

Raytheon, the world's largest missile maker, has won a $1.1 billion order from Taiwan for new Patriot missile systems. The order covers an initial ground-system hardware contract valued at $965.6 million and a $134 million contract for spares. The order, according to a statement by Raytheon, will include advances in technology, improved man-machine interface and reduced lifecycle costs. The deal has been in the making since October 2008 when the U.S. Defense Department proposed a $6.46 billion arms sale package to Taiwan, including the most advanced Patriot anti-missile system. Raytheon said the new Patriot fire units will be produced in...

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

The Obama administration is moving toward possible new arms sales to Taiwan, including design work on diesel-electric submarines, a U.S. State Department official told Reuters on Wednesday. China strongly opposes arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a renegade province, as interference in its domestic affairs. New submarines could help challenge any Chinese seaborne assault on the self-governing island, which Beijing reserves the right to take by force. Also progressing toward notification to the U.S. Congress is the sale to Taiwan of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, said Robert Kovac, acting deputy assistant secretary of state for defense trade. In...

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

Defense: A ballistic missile launched from Alaska is shot down by an interceptor launched from California. With threats from North Korea to Iran, it's time to ignore the skeptics and fully fund missile defense.It was the most realistic and most successful missile defense test ever in a Strategic Defense Initiative that could one day save an American city from a rogue missile strike. Yet the "yeah, but" media greeted this triumph with claims the concept is still unproven. It was as if the Wright brothers had announced man's first flight, only to be greeted with cries that they hadn't built...

Announced by Government of Japan, and press story out within the last hour. Link to Japanese HERE.This is probably pretty standard, more or less expected, and of course prudent. Japan National Security Council told to be ready from tomorrow morning for the provocation and to stay ready in Tokyo.Prime Minister Aso gave the word to Chief Cabinet Secretariat Kawamura on returning from UK/G-20 earlier today. Stated to the Prefectures of Akita and Iwate--in Northern Japan--to be particularly alert but calm and ready for anything. Final quote was "chances of missile coming down toward Japanese soil are small, but if it...

From earlier today, our time:And, if you keep your eyes peeled, you may spot one of a number of Japan Self Defense manned PAC-3 Patriot missile batteries out in the open in downtown Tokyo these days.

TOKYO -- Japan's move Friday to deploy missile interceptors is the boldest challenge North Korea faces so far to its plan to launch a rocket in the next few days. Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said he ordered the deployment of missile interceptors to Japan's northern coast to prepare to shoot down the rocket and any debris that could fall on Japanese territory. It was the first such order Japan had issued, a ministry spokesman said.

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...

Yefremov: the weapons designer who outwitted the Pentagon 21:41 | 03/ 10/ 2006 MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Viktor Litovkin) - The late Veniamin Yefremov, general designer of the Almaz-Antei Air Defense Concern, developed a number of unique weapons systems that the United States, the United Kingdom and France still lack. Yefremov's trick The two-volume Large Encyclopedic Dictionary offers a brief five-line entry on Yefremov, who is referred to as a Soviet scientist in the sphere of automation, a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences since 1984 and Hero of Socialist Labor since 1976. According to the Dictionary, Yefremov...

WASHINGTON: Fears of North Korea and Iran seem to be spurring broad interest in Patriot PAC-3 missile upgrades, an executive of Lockheed Martin Corp., the prime contractor, said on Wednesday. The Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile is described by the company as the world's top defense against tactical ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear, chemical or germ weapons as well as cruise missiles and aircraft.

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...

DoD Finds Cruise Missile Defense 'Gaps' InsideDefense.com NewsStand | John Liang | August 17, 2006 A Pentagon assessment of the U.S. capability to defend the homeland against incoming enemy cruise missiles has found what it calls “capability gaps” that may not be solved until 2015. As a result, the Air Force's directorate of operational capability requirements is leading a Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System study “to determine the best approaches for mitigating high-risk joint gaps in the [Homeland Air and Cruise Missile Defense of North America] mission area,” according to an Aug. 9 request for information posted on Federal...

TOKYO - The United States plans to deploy Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missiles in southern Japan by the end of the year, a local newspaper reported Monday. The PAC-3 is designed to intercept and destroy incoming missiles and aircraft. The report comes as the U.S. and Japan are deeply concerned about signs North Korea may be preparing for an imminent test-launch of a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile. The U.S. government notified Japan earlier this month that it will deploy PAC-3 missiles at its Kadena Air Base or its ammunition storage area on the southern island of Okinawa, Japan's largest newspaper, Yomiuri...

TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwan's plan for a huge US arms purchase may finally win parliamentary approval after the military agreed to trim its cost by more than four billion dollars, officials said. The cabinet withdrew from parliament a bill calling for the purchase of 480 billion Taiwan dollars (15 billion US) worth of weaponry from the United States over a 15-year period, in what was seen as a concession to the opposition. The defense ministry said it would submit a new version of the bill to cabinet next week before it goes to parliament. Eight conventional submarines and a fleet...