Interceptor shield

SOURCE: Times Of India
December 28, 2005

BALASORE (ORISSA): India on Wednesday successfully test fired its nuclear-capable ballistic missile Dhanush from a warship in the Bay of Bengal, defence ministry sources said. Dhanush, which is a naval version of India’s surface-to-surface Prithvi missile, has a range of 250 km and is capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The missile was launched from INS Rajput that was anchored 40 km offshore between Paradeep port and the test range Chandipur in Orissa’s Balasore district at about 1.58 p.m., the sources said.

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SOURCE: Interfax
December 21, 2005

MOSCOW. Dec 21 (Interfax) - The strategic submarine Dmitry Donskoy incorporated in Russia’s Northern Fleet successfully launched a latest ballistic missile Bulava from the White Sea on Wednesday morning, a Russian Defense Ministry source told Interfax.
“It was an underwater launch,” the source said.
Russian Navy commander’s aide Cap. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo later told Interfax that the missile’s reentry vehicle hit a target at the Kura range on the Kamchatka Peninsula at a calculated time.
“This was the first underwater launch of a Bulava missile and the second launch conducted as part of the series of the missile’s tests,” he said. Russian Navy Deputy Commander Adm. Mikhail Zakharenko, who leads an ad hoc state commission for the Bulava trials is present onboard the Dmitry Donskoy now, Dygalo said.

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SOURCE: RIA Novosti
December 19, 2005

MOSCOW, December 19 (RIA Novosti) - A ceremony to put Russia’s fifth missile regiment armed with silo-based intercontinental Topol-M missiles on combat duty will take place in the Saratov region in south European Russia December 24, the Strategic Missile Forces’ press service said Monday.
The ceremony will be attended by First Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Belousov, Colonel General Nikolai Solovtsov who commands the Strategic Missile Forces, and senior officials. The deployment will be part of the modernization plan for the missile forces.

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SOURCE: Prnewswire
December 19, 2005

Press Release

TUCSON, Ariz., Dec. 19, 2005 /PRNewswire/ — A Raytheon Company Precision Attack Air-to-Surface Missile (PAASM) was successfully launched Dec. 13 from a rotary-winged, unmanned aerial vehicle (UH-1) at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The missile was fired from a standard M299 digital launcher and met planned test objectives. Upon receiving the launch command, the PAASM missile successfully ignited and separated from the M299 launcher and transitioned into stable flight. The demonstration validated the capability of the Raytheon team to configure and integrate the missile system onto a standard, digital single rail M299 launcher and satisfy standoff range and environmental requirements for a helicopter/UAV extended-range, precision air-to-surface missile.

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December 14, 2005

The MDA “Missile Defense Agency” Announced late Tuesday night the successful completion of an important test involving the launch of an operationally-configured Ground-based Interceptor missile. The interceptor missile was launched at approximately 3:04 P.M (local time, December 14); (10:04 p.m. Easter Time, December 13) from the Ronald Reagan Test Site, Republic of the Marshall Islands, in the central Pacific Ocean. For this exercise, there was a simulated launch of a target missile from the Kodiak, Alaska using data from the previous launches.

The MDA also stated that the test also successfully tested a wide variety of components and subcomponents as part of the evaluation of system performance. Including improved missile silo support equipment, booster/kill vehicle separation. Kill vehicle cryogenic sensor cooling and kill vehicle orientation and positioning. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense System has seven interceptors deployed at Ft. Greely and two at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Two additional interceptor missiles are scheduled for deployment at Ft. Greely over the next two years.

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SOURCE: The Sydney Morning Herald
December 14, 2005

LONDON: Britain has secretly bought dozens of sophisticated Russian surface-to-air missiles - some of which are believed to have fallen into terrorist hands - to develop counter measures against them. It is feared the missile, which can be packed into a golf bag and assembled and fired very rapidly by one person with minimal training, will be targeted at civil and military aircraft. British defence experts have spent the past year experimenting with the shoulder-launched missile in order to protect British aircraft and service personnel. The weapon has reportedly been bought by Libya in a multi-million dollar deal. Syria and Iran are in negotiations to buy hundreds, and Vietnam, Brazil, India and Ukraine already have it in their armouries. But there are fears the missile has already fallen into the hands of Iraqi insurgents who could use it to devastating effect against coalition transport planes carrying hundreds of troops.

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SOURCE: Reuters
December 13, 2005

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pentagon acquisitions chief Kenneth Krieg has decided to continue a Lockheed Martin Corp. missile-warning satellite program after a restructuring that will cut two satellites from the multibillion-dollar plan, according to a copy of his letter to Congress. Krieg told the Senate Armed Services Committee the Space Based Infrared System High program was “essential to the national security,” there were no cheaper alternatives, and new cost estimates for the program — which has been over budget for years — were reasonable. A copy of the December 12 letter was obtained by Reuters, which reported the expected restructuring last week. Krieg’s office last month told Congress the SBIRS program, meant to provide early warning of missile attacks, was nearly 11 percent over budget, with costs now expected to reach $10.6 billion. Krieg’s letter did not explain the impact of the restructuring on that cost estimate. The program, initially planned to cost $3 billion to $4 billion, has had myriad problems over the past years. Under the restructuring, Krieg said SBIRS would include completion of the development program, which calls for two high-earth, or geosynchronous, satellites, two highly elliptical orbit payloads and associated ground systems. Krieg’s letter said the government would procure one additional geosynchronous satellite, instead of the three initially planned following the development phase.

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SOURCE: Reuters
December 13, 2005

OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Conservative government would be open to co-operation between Canada and the United States on missile defense, but would still not send troops to Iraq, party leader Stephen Harper said on Tuesday. Harper also pledged to buy new strategic transport aircraft for the Canadian military, create a new airborne battalion and double the size of the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART). The Conservative leader has long been critical of what he considers needless antagonism of the Bush administration by the current Liberal government, but he is also trying not to sound too close to U.S. foreign and domestic political policy. President George W. Bush is not popular in Canada and Ottawa refused to participate in the U.S.-led war in Iraq. “If I were prime minister, we would not be involved in Iraq. I would encourage the Americans and hope they’re successful, but our government would not be there,” he told a news conference. While that mirrors the position of Prime Minister Paul Martin, Harper’s stance on missile defense would be a reversal. He said that if the United States made a proposal for Canadian participation in that project, he would listen. If it were judged to be in the Canada’s interest, he would submit a proposal to Parliament.

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SOURCE: Boeing
December 12, 2005

Press Release

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 tests included more than 70 separate lasing events. The laser has been operated at simulated altitude, and achieved steady state operations under full optical control. In July 2005, the ABL team completed the year’s first knowledge point, which was flight testing of the system’s passive mission payload at Edwards Air Force Base. During those tests, the team demonstrated the stability and alignment of the two Beam Control and Fire Control optical benches with the turret. That test also demonstrated the system’s pointing and vibration control functions, as well as its ability to acquire targets as directed by the battle management segment. With the completion of the above milestones for 2005, the program now proceeds to integrated systems testing. The ABL YAL-1A aircraft has transitioned to Boeing’s Wichita facility to undergo final aircraft modifications for installation of the High Energy Laser modules and to begin Low Power System Integration-Active ground and flight testing. During active testing, the kilowatt-class illuminator lasers will be integrated and tested to demonstrate target acquisition, fine tracking, pointing and atmospheric compensation. Upon completion of active testing, the YAL-1 will return to Edwards Air Force Base for installation of the High Energy Laser, which will be removed from the System Integration Laboratory. This will be followed by extensive weapon systems testing on the aircraft — both ground and flight.

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SOURCE: The Jerusalem Post
December 12, 2005

Iran has successfully tested surface-to-sea missiles with a range of 110 kilometers (68 miles), Iranian state television reported Monday. The testing of the Silkworm missiles was the most important project of Monday’s military maneuvers in southern Iran, the television said. It said the Silkworms have a speed of 290 kilometers per hour and a range of 110 kilometers. They can detect targets from a distance of 15 kilometers and have the capacity to destroy a warship. The report did not say whether the missiles could carry nuclear warheads. Iran’s armed forces began their biggest military maneuvers Friday in national waters in the Sea of Oman and Indian Ocean, close to Pakistan. The drills involved submarines, warships, missiles, jet fighters and gunships. On Sunday, Iran commissioned its second domestically-built submarine, a vessel that can fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously.

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