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It's always interesting when two apparently unrelated elements of the political world collide to shed light on a third, also seemingly unrelated element. That's what happened last weekend during the missile strikes against Assad's nerve-gas network. For the past several months, speculation has been rampant in political and military circles concerning new superweapons developed by the Russian Federation, presumably for use against its Main Enemy, the U.S. Information on these systems did not emerge by accident or by means of intelligence efforts. It was intentionally released by the Russians themselves, for purposes that would not be immediately evident to anyone...

There's this strange sense in the zeitgeist that robotic warfare is somehow disreputable. If you read the news, hardly a day goes past without some deprecatory reference to the use of drones by the United States in its ongoing war against al-Qaeda and affiliated groups. The sense that there is something amiss with the deployment of drones in combat permeates popular media. Indeed, thinking off the top of my head, I can't think of a single example in recent popular culture where the deployment of a drone has been positively portrayed. I believe that this is madness -- the sort...

DARPA's HELLADS (High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System) will be light enough to fit on a fighter jet or drone aircraft, and yet powerful enough to fire a 150 kilowatt beam of energy. Star Wars laser cannon may be closer than you think. High energy laser weapons already in development are powerful enough to bring down missiles (see MTHEL - Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser). However, their very large size has precluded placement on any but the largest planes. The main weight problem comes from the cooling systems needed. HELLADS makes use of a unique cooling technique to save...

I have created a public register of "bump lists" here on Free Republic. I define a bump list as a name listed in the "To" field used to index articles. Free Republic Bump List Register

The European consortium Uranium Enrichment Company (Urenco) appears to be the origin of the international nuclear network recently exposed by the reported confession of top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 17). Urenco was established in 1970 by Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to ensure that their nuclear power industries would have a fuel source independent of the United States. According to documents and experts, though, security at the firm was poor. For example, Khan, who worked for a Urenco subcontractor in the early and mid-1970s, was given access...

U.S. officials today urged Malaysia to increase export controls, just as a businessman suspected of supplying nuclear components to Libya went missing from Kuala Lumpur (see GSN, Feb. 17; Agence France-Presse/al-Jazeera, Feb. 19). President George W. Bush in a speech last week called Buhari Sayed Abu Tahir, a Sri Lankan businessman living in Malaysia, the “chief financial officer and money launderer” of a nuclear smuggling operation headed by the Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. According to the Associated Press, Tahir sat on the board of a company owned by the Malaysian prime minister’s only son, Kamaluddin Abdullah (Rohan Sullivan...

China today sought to reduce concerns over its planned purchase of a German plutonium processing facility, saying the facility would only be used for “peaceful purposes” (see GSN, Dec. 8). The unused facility, constructed by the German firm Siemens, is designed to convert plutonium into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for use in nuclear reactors, according to the Associated Press. “This fuel in China will be used for peaceful purposes I would like to emphasize that,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. China and Germany are currently “having discussions” on Chinese assurances over the planned use of the facility, Liu...

China developing `paralysis warfare'By Brian HsuSTAFF REPORTER Wednesday, Oct 08, 2003,Page 1 China's military is changing its strategy from deterrence to pre-emption, planning to use "paralysis warfare" against Taiwan in the future, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report delivered to the legislature's defense committee yesterday. "Paralysis warfare features Web-based information warfare, saturation ballistic missile attacks, joint precision strikes and seizure of the enemy's capital city by special operations units," the report says. "Such tactics will become a major option for the Chinese military in its choice of modes of attack against Taiwan in the future," it says....

<p>The Pentagon's pursuit of a new kind of nonnuclear super-weapon has sparked a behind-the-scenes revolt among its elite scientific advisers, some of whom reject the scheme as pseudoscience.</p> <p>The military's goal is to develop a bomb that might be far more powerful than existing conventional weapons of the same size. Precisely targeted, such a weapon could take out targets -- such as underground caverns that conceal weapons of mass destruction -- without posing the severe political risks of using nuclear bombs.</p>

WASHINGTON — The United States has imposed sanctions against a Chinese firm for alleged missile technology sales, according to a notice published today in the Federal Register (see GSN, July 30). Last month, the United States determined that the state-owned China North Industries Corp. (Norinco) had engaged in missile technology proliferation activities, according to the notice (see GSN, July 3). Under the sanctions, which take effect today, Norinco will be prohibited from importing items controlled by the Missile Technology Control Regime annex or the Export Administration Act of 1979 and from entering into contracts with Washington relating to such items...

The U.S. Senate yesterday approved the Bush administration’s full request for research into new types of nuclear weapons, rejecting a Democratic effort to eliminate funding for those and other nuclear weapon activities (see GSN, Sept. 16). The Senate voted 53-41 to reject an amendment offered by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) that would have eliminated $21 million requested by the Bush administration to explore earth-penetrating and low-yield nuclear weapons. Their amendment would also have delayed site selection for a new plutonium “pit” production facility and ended an effort to reduce the time needed to prepare for resuming...

Dear Freeper prayer warriors, please keep Ernest_at_the_Beach and his wife in your prayers. From Ernest_at_the_Beach | 08/28/2003: Just to let you know that my wife (Kathy ) is now in her final days. Her pain in the last few months from the cancer was constant and unrelenting . The last several months had been very difficult as she was unable to eat well and not able to eat at all for the last several weeks. God will be merciful soon and relieve her of the misery of the dreaded disease! Prayers would be appreciated!

US vs Pyongyang: Watch RumsfeldBy Phar Kim Beng HONG KONG - As talks finally get under way between the United States and North Korea, the latter, which has made obstinacy and diplomatic misbehavior an art form, would do well to keep in mind the growing influence and staying power in Washington of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. With the US victory in Iraq all but declared, barely a year after a previous triumph in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld's influence has increased by several notches. Together with other neo-conservatives who urged the Iraq war, "Rummy", as he is affectionately known in Washington, is...

It's the Big OneBy David A. Fulghum The U.S. Air Force has tested its new 10-ton Massive Ordnance Air Blast Weapon to much fanfare, but the service purposefully left the impression that it was a bomb to be dropped only from cargo aircraft for special operations missions. In fact, the 21,500-lb, all-weather, precision-guided bomb, called MOAB or sometimes the "mother of all bombs," has been sized for carriage by the B-2 stealth bomber and is equipped with stubby wings at mid-body and four large lattice fins as part of its tail kit. The fin design was first used extensively by...

[...]Unsettling signs of al Qaeda's aims and skills in cyberspace have led some government experts to conclude that terrorists are at the threshhold of using the Internet as a direct instrument of bloodshed. The new threat bears little resemblance to familiar financial disruptions by hackers responsible for viruses and worms. It comes instead at the meeting points between computers and the physical structures they control.By disabling or taking command of floodgates in a dam, for example, or of substations handling 300,000 volts of electric power, U.S. analysts believe an intruder could use virtual tools to destroy real-world lives and property....

A lot of long pdf downloads, only posting the link for anyone who might be interested. Very fact-loaded. Very interesting if heartbreaking reading even with a cold analytical writing style. A point it makes is that both 767's banked steeply right before impact, hence widening the damage to more floors. I wonder if the flight schools with the trainers save session tapes or disks; it would be interesting to see if the hijackers practiced this move. A good bit of vicious brainpower seems to have gone into it.

<p>A new type of ballistic technology that can fire more than 1 million rounds per minute from a 36-barrel weapon is one of the reasons Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has canceled the $11 billion Crusader artillery system.</p> <p>The technology is known as "Metal Storm," which is also the name of the Australian research and development company that owns it.</p>

WASHINGTON, May 12 (UPI) -- EXCLUSIVE A new ballistic technology that can fire burst rates in excess of one million rounds per minute from a 36-barrel weapon was one of the reasons Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld canceled the $11 billion Crusader artillery system. The technology is known as "Metal Storm," which is also the name of the Australian research and development company that owns it. The fastest weapons today are mechanical Gatling gun styles that can fire at the rate of some 6,000 rounds per minute. Infantry rifles average 600 rounds, which is the firing rate for a magazine of...

The tactical component network could be a great leap forward in linking warfighting forces—if given a chance. Our warfighting admirals are at risk of losing a dramatic technological innovation. Using advanced information networking concepts and Internet-age technology, the tactical component network (TCN) outperforms the cooperative engagement capability (CEC) device by sharing radar-tracking data while allowing more participants to function within the network. Unfortunately, CEC product champions, arguing that the Navy already has invested more than $2 billion in CEC over 15 years, have dismissed TCN from consideration.1 The Navy instead will rush to install the CEC system as soon...

The cooperative engagement capability nets together sensors and fire control systems to counter both aircraft and increasingly capable missiles today—and offers the potential for a joint tracking network to enable a single integrated air picture in the future. Operating in the littoral, often amid merchant and civilian shipping, with sensors masked by landmasses and urban environs, will pose an enormously complex warfighting challenge. The proximity of land, with its opportunities for cover and deception, will afford an adversary the advantage of surprise and short ranges and times of flight. Battle space and engagement timelines will be reduced, response times...