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Updated Links to Air and Missile Defense Articles From News Media Website

Friday
31 July 2009

US Lawmakers Concerned About 'Reset' of US-Russia Relations
(Voice of America)
Questions about where the U.S.-Russia relationship is going are many, ranging from arms control, missile defense and nonproliferation and Iran's nuclear program, to cooperation in counter-terrorism and U.S. concerns about human rights and media freedom in Russia.

Lockheed Martin Aegis BMD Weapon System Intercepts Ballistic Missile Target, Successfully Tests New Capabilities
(PR Newswire – Press Release)
The Missile Defense Agency and the US Navy are jointly developing Aegis BMD as part of the United States' Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS).

Latest US Missile Defense Test in Hawaii a Success
(ABC News)
The latest U.S. missile defense test, conducted Thursday evening in Hawaii waters, was deemed a success as tensions continue with North Korea over that country's missile program.

Security and Defense: Ticking... and Talking
 (Jerusalem Post)
Iran is seeking to tighten security collaboration with the Gulf states, in an apparent attempt to curb Western influence, achieve regional hegemony and prevent its neighbors from agreeing to be used as launching pads for a strike against its nuclear facilities.

New Jersey Congressman Rothman Votes for Defense Bill (newjerseynewsroom.com) "These important collaborative missile defense programs not only help the United States prepare for future threats to our homeland, but they allow the State of Israel, our most important ally in the Middle East, and one of our most important strategic partners in the world, to posses the ability to defend itself against its adversaries," Rothman said.

Missile Defense System Passes Test (CNN) The United States successfully tested a sea-based component of its missile defense shield Thursday evening, intercepting a ballistic missile with a dummy warhead over the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said.

 Thursday
30 July 2009

U.S. Set to Resume Missile Defense Tests in Hawaii
(AP)
The latest US missile defense test in Hawaii is expected to come as tensions continue with North Korea over that country's missile program.

Iraq Lacks Air Defense Once U.S. Pulls Out
(UPI.com)
The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq

says the Middle Eastern country won't be able to defend its airspace when U.S. combat forces pull out by the end of 2011.

Raytheon
Second-Quarter Profit
Gains 15%; 2009
Forecast Raised
(Bloomberg.com)
 Raytheon Co., the world’s largest missile maker, said second-quarter profit rose 15 percent on higher sales of air-defense systems to the U.S. and allies. Full-year profit will exceed the company’s prior forecast.

Robin Smith Endorses 4% For Freedom Pro-Defense Initiative
(The Chattanoogan)
 Entitled “4% For Freedom,” an initiative founded by the Heritage Foundation, seeks the support of the American people to urge Congress to maintain the defense budget at a minimum of 4% of the United States Gross Domestic Product (not including war funding) and calls upon the Congress to fully equip military personnel to complete their missions and to restore research and deployment funding for a national ballistic missile defense system.

Obama to Largely Preserve Missile Defense Policies, U.S. Defense Official Says
 (Global Security Network)
The Obama administration will likely sustain the missile defense policy framework that the nation has pursued for the last two decades, a key U.S. Defense Department said.

U.S. Mulling European Missile Defense Alternatives
(AP)
A senior Defense Department official said Thursday that the United States is considering options for European missile defense other than current plans for a system based in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Wednesday
29 July 2009

Johnstown Missile Defense Project Raises Eyebrows On Capitol Hill
(WJACtv.com)
"The Pentagon got rid of three programs in Missile Defense Agency that were radically underperforming," said Laura Peterson of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "They really plucked some of the lowest hanging fruit."

Funding for Defense Programs Face Possible Cuts
(KHON2-Hawaii)
Another missile defense milestone could be reached Thursday off Kauai. Funding for such programs could be cut while threats from rogue nations rise. Missile defense advocates say this is no time to let federal budget cuts get in the way of protecting places like Hawaii, since as recent events show we could be vulnerable to North Korean threats.

Missile Test Set
(Honolulu Observer)
A Pearl Harbor-based destroyer tomorrow will try to shoot down
a simulated short-range ballistic missile launched from Barking Sands on Kaua'i as part of the ongoing development of
a U.S. missile
defense system.

Gates Encouraged by Iraqi Accomplishments, Goals
(American Forces
Press Service)
Gates visited Talil, Iraq, yesterday, meeting with U.S. and Iraqi troops and commanders. It was his chance to see the soldiers of the 1st Armored Division's 4th Brigade work with their Iraqi counterparts in the new security environment. The Fort Bliss, Texas-based brigade is the first advisory and assistance brigade in Iraq,
 forging a new way of dealing with Iraqi security forces.

Lawton to Host 'Spirit of Survival' Marathon in October
(NewsOK.com)
October 3rd and 4th will be the 4th annual “Spirit of Survival Marathon,” located on Fort Sill and ran through one of the nation's 547 wildlife refuges.

U.S. Military Handles Pandemic Flu
(America's North Shore Journal)
The Texas bases for all services are experiencing the pandemic. The San Antonio region is especially feeling the effects, and the Rio Grande river valley is the hotspot for Texas as a whole. Fort Bliss near El Paso is reporting 208 cases.

Wednesday
22 July 2009

Soldiers Develop Tactics for Use of Possible Future Technologies
(Defense Talks)
Soldiers took possession of system parts (unattended ground sensors, unattended urban sensors, small unmanned ground and air vehicles, and network integrated humvees) which were designated for the  brigade combat team modernization effort, formerly known as Future Combat Systems.

Friday
17 July 2009

Pentagon Looks to Use Drones For Missile Defense
(Global Security Newswire)
The United States' top missile-defense official said Tuesday that within two years the military could deploy drone aircraft to monitor ballistic missiles shortly after launch.

Proposed Defense Budget Cuts Spur Boeing to Lay Off 130
(The Huntsville Times)
Boeing is laying off about 130 employees in Huntsville in response to proposed cuts and changes in the 2010 defense budget.

Guest Blogger: Congressman Bill Shuster (R-PA) on Missile Defense
(Heritage.org)
The administration needed to cut something to silence their left wing and they chose missile defense. The implications of this $1.4 billion cut in funding will be long lasting and dangerous for our security. A quick read of the headlines is all it takes to realize that the world remains a dangerous place. North Korea and Iran represent clear and present dangers to our national security.

Meet America's Top Missile-Defense Cheerleader
(Wired News)
By now, most Danger Room readers are familiar with Riki Ellison, the onetime NFL linebacker who hung up his cleats to become the one of the most prominent U.S. advocates for missile defense.  “Sometimes you play zone defense, other times you play man-to-man, the key is to layer your defense so you can protect your goal line no matter how they attack you,” Ellison told Bloomberg’s Curtis Eichelberger. “That’s essentially how a missile defense system works.”

Gates Defends Pentagon Budget Shifts
(Global Security Newswire)
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday defended funding shifts in the Obama administration's $663.8 billion Pentagon budget request as necessary measures aimed at more effectively countering modern-day threats.

Thursday
16 July 2009

Reaper Eyed As Missile Defense Sensor
(Aviation Week)
The Pentagon could begin to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles suitable to track ballistic missiles early in flight into the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) layered system within two years, says agency director U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly.

Israel to Test Arrow 2 Missile Defense in U.S.
(Global Security Newswire)
The exercise would be the first Arrow 2 test to target a mock enemy missile capable of traveling 625 miles. This would be the third time the United States has hosted an Arrow exercise, as the geography around Israel is less amenable to long-range missile intercept tests.

Russia: Missile Malfunctions Again
(New York Times)
Russia's new nuclear-capable Bulava missile has failed once again, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Gates: Future Jet Supporters are Risking Today's Troops
(Wired News)
At a speech today in Chicago, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates lashed out at members of Congress, at the “defense and aerospace industry,” and at the “institutional military itself” for trying to keep ultra-expensive, often-useless weapons programs in the Pentagon budget.

A Warning to US About a 'Revisionist' Russia
(New York Times)
The deep concern among America’s Eastern European allies over improved relations between Russia and the United States spilled into the open on Thursday when 22 prominent figures, including Poland’s Lech Walesa and the Czech Republic’s Vaclav Havel, published an open letter to the Obama administration begging not to be forgotten. Abandoning the missile-defense plan or giving Russia too big a role in it could “undermine the credibility of the United States.

Boeing Announces 250 Cuts In Missile Defense Program
(WHNT - Huntsville,AL)
Boeing has announced it will cut approximately 250 workers at various sites involved in missile defense work.

JV To Begin $100M Freedom Crossing
(GlobeSt.Com)
After three years of planning, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service and ServiceStar Development Co. are ready to begin construction on the 455,875-square-foot Freedom Crossing at Fort Bliss. The $100 million, 52-acre project will be the first on-base retail project under development.

Soldiers Support Filming of Transformers Sequel
(U.S. Army – Press Release)
About 20 Soldiers from the 5th Brigade, 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, Texas, traveled to White Sands Missile Range, N.M., last fall for two and a half weeks to help director Michael Bay with the battle scenes for the film which opened June 24.

U.S. Shifts to Advisory Role in Iraq Deployments
 (Stars and Stripes)
The Pentagon has designated four new "advisory and assistance brigades" among 11 units representing 30,000 troops that will begin deploying to Iraq in the fall, the next step in the phased U.S. military withdrawal from a nation trying to transition from war to stability.

One of a Kind Shopping Center
(Free Press Release-PRNewswire)
Today marked the ceremonial groundbreaking of Freedom Crossing at Fort Bliss, a first-of-its-kind retail development located on Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) and ServiceStar Development Company have teamed in a public/private venture to create the first-ever shopping center to be located on a United States military installation.

Irregular Army: The Rise of Gangs in the US Military
(The Comment Factory)
Gang-bangers know a lot about war – it’s their raison d’être. But until the ‘war on terror’ that expertise had never wholesale shifted from the inner city to the U.S. military, from South Central to Baghdad. The situation got so bad in 2008 that when the military planned to transfer 10,000 troops to Fort Bliss, Texas, the FBI feared a turf war between “members of the FolkNation gang… [and] a criminal group that is already well-established in the area, Barrio Azteca.”

Groundbreaking is Friday for New Fort Bliss Mall
(KVIA.com - El Paso)
Around this time next year construction crews will be putting the finishing touches on a new mall at Fort Bliss.

.

Wednesday
15 July 2009

Boeing Job Cuts Hit Missile Defense, Future Combat
(Reuters)
Boeing will trim staff on its missile defense program and future combat systems by about 1,000 -- about 1.4 percent -- because of U.S. Defense Department budget cuts, the company said on Wednesday.

Super Bowl Linebacker Ellison Moves to Front Lines of Star Wars
(Bloomberg)
Riki Ellison spent 10 seasons swatting down passes as a linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Raiders. Today, his interest isn’t defending against National Football League quarterbacks. Rather, it’s nuclear warheads launched at the U.S. So after a 10-year NFL career that included three Super Bowl championships, Ellison started the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance.

Guest Blogger: Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO) on Shooting Down Missile Defense
(Heritage.org)
Meanwhile in Washington, Democrats in the White House and in Congress are dramatically cutting funds from our national missile defense system.

Weapon Billed to Save Russia's Military Is in Need of Rescue
(New York Times)
Officials claim that weapons like the Bulava are aimed against modern threats like the missile defense shield the United States might deploy in Eastern Europe.

Northrop Gains From Pentagon's Shifts
(Wall Street Journal)
Northrop has taken hits, the heaviest being the cancellation of a missile-defense program that could have brought in billions of dollars over several years.

 Missile Defense and Arms Control: Are They Linked?
(Voice of America)
Russia continues to strongly oppose the US plan to station a ballistic-missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

Israel Anti-Missile System Passes Live Fire Test
(AP)
A homegrown Israeli missile defense system performed well in its first live trial, bringing down a short-range rocket similar to those used by Palestinian and Lebanese militants, an Israeli Defense Minister official said Wednesday.

AtHoc's Network-Centric Mass Notification System
(Defense Professionals)
AtHoc, Inc., the pioneer and leader in network-centric emergency notification systems, today announced a deal with the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss to deploy a network-centric emergency alerting system. Located in Texas and New Mexico, Fort Bliss is the U.S. Army’s largest training center.

Signed Covers: 1948 Fort Bliss Centennial
This stamp marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas and salutes its role as a rocket testing area. It is also the first US stamp displaying rockets and spacecraft.

Tuesday
14 July 2009

National Defense Starts at Home: Lufkin's Lockheed Martin Plant Makes Key Components for THAAD Missile
(Lufkin Daily News - Lufkin, TX)
Halfway around the world a missile takes aim at the United States. Answering its call, a newly-developed interceptor missile blasts off from an American base. The two collide miles above the Pacific Ocean and the crisis is averted. Lockheed's newest air defense product, the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile, uses hit-to-kill technology to destroy targets, and is the only weapon system that takes on threats both inside and outside the earth's atmosphere.

Tuesday
7 July 2009

Russian Defense System Sale to Iran Undermines Military Balance in Middle East
 (New Blaze)
Western politicians are increasingly worried about a significant change in Russia's position regarding the possible sale of S-300 air defense missiles to Iran.

Top US Military Officer Sees 'Narrow Window' to Stop Iran's Nuclear Program
(Voice of America)
The top U.S. military officer says there is a narrow window of time in which to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and also to avoid a military strike on its nuclear facilities.

Russia Warns U.S. Over Missile Shield
(AP)
"If our partners [the U.S.] make a decision to create an American missile defense system with global reach, then that will doubtless place a big question mark over the prospects for further reductions in strategic offensive weapons," said Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov.

What Can Be Done Now on DADT
(Huffington Post)
"Don't ask, don't tell" is fast becoming the buck that never stops. It's passed from Congress to the Pentagon to the White House and back again. And again. And again. The gift that keeps on giving?

Military Transport Plane Should Be Dumped
(New York Times)
After a delay of almost four years, and cost overruns that are digging into profits, European Aeronautic Defense & Space must be starting to wonder whether it should pull the plug on this $28 billion project, and let its customers buy American.

New Report Just Published: World Radars Market Report
(SYS-CON Media – Press Release)
The specific end-use segments of the report analyzed are Land-Based Surveillance, Air Defense Surveillance, Naval Surveillance, Air Traffic Control, and Weather Surveillance.

Monday
6 July 2009

Arctic Could be Next Hot Spot for NORAD
(Colorado Springs Gazette)
The next frontier for the United States-Canadian air defense command should be the top of the world. Canadian Lieutenant General Charlie Bouchard, deputy commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command based at Peterson Air Force Base, said in an interview that the Arctic's rich reservoir of resources is spurring interest in development that should trigger greater oversight by

 NORAD.

General Endorses Security Measures at US Air-Defense Center
(Global Security Newswire)
The head of the U.S. Northern Command vouched for the security of a recently relocated U.S. program responsible for monitoring the nation's airspace, the Washington Times reported Friday.

U.S. and Russian Leaders Look to Mend Diplomatic Fences
(Dallas Morning News- Wire Reports from the AP and Washington Post)
"The whole issue of missile defense from my perspective is focused on defense of Europe," said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "Obviously, the Russians see it differently. So I think we're going to have to work our way through that."

Official: Nuclear Agreement Expected from Summit
(AP)
The United States still is trying to persuade the Russians to join Washington in developing a missile defense system, the official said, but Moscow so far is balking. The Kremlin first wants the U.S. to scrap its plans for such a system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Sunday
5 July 2009

Defense For a Real Threat
(Washington Post)
The apparent reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and his frequently expressed commitment to pursue nuclear and ballistic missile capability, underscore the importance of proposed U.S. radar sites and missile defense interceptors in Eastern Europe.

A Chill in the Air for Obama in Russia
(Washington Times)
I do not understand how people can say that missile defense is linked to the problems of the Middle East," Mr. Medvedev told the Italian press. "Therefore, it seems to me that all these arguments have been developed simply to justify the decisions taken by the previous administration of the United States.

"Obama Seeks New Start in Sagging US-Russia Ties
(AP)
There's been an apparent hardening on both sides over a proposed U.S. missile defense shield in Eastern Europe. Those differences could stall or even preclude an agreement of strategic nuclear warheads.

Iraqi Military Commanders to Meet U.S. Defense Companies During
(Army Guide)
The USDID/Iraq delegation's goal is to provide market entry or increased sales in Iraq for US Security, Sea, Land and Air Defense products and technologies.

Japan Mulls New Missile Defense System
(AFP)
The Japanese defense ministry is considering introducing another surface-to-air missile, the US-developed Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, in addition to SM-3 and PAC-3.

A Good Deal in Kyrgyzstan
(Boston Globe)
Nobody is disappointed, and all sides get what they need. That definition of a good deal fits the recent agreement to renew the US leasing of an air base in Kyrgyzstan that serves as a key transport hub for troops and equipment going to Afghanistan.

Friday
3 July 2009

How much did Russia know about Manas negotiations?
(Reuters)
Was Kyrgyzstan’s decision last week not to evict American forces from a strategic air base the result of the “Obama Effect” — President Barack Obama’s reputed benign influence on how other nations now view the United States — or evidence of the new president’s hardball negotiating tactics?


Thursday
2 July 2009

No Limit in Place for Pending Request on Troops in Afghanistan
 (Washington Post)
The nation's top military officer said yesterday that no limits have been placed on the number or types of troops the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan can request as he seeks to carry out a counterinsurgency strategy there.

Wednesday
1 July 2009

Israel Moves to Block Missiles to Iran
(UPI)
Israel has intensified its efforts to block the sale of advanced Russian air-defense missiles to Iran that would be a serious obstacle to any Israeli airstrikes against the Islamic Republic's nuclear infrastructure, according to media reports in Tel Aviv and Moscow.

U.S. Moves on Strategic Priority: 'Reset' with Russia
(Voice of America)Admiral Mullen said the Obama administration is committed to deploying one Patriot mobile short-range air defense system in Poland. The system would initially be for training purposes, and would be accompanied by a small contingent of U.S. troops. It is to be deployed as soon as a fairly standard Status of Forces agreement is signed, which is expected soon. But the admiral said he cannot predict the fate of the missile-defense system.

DoD Announces New Defense Policy Board Members
(DoD - Press Release)
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates today announce new members to the Defense Policy Board.

U.S. 'Ready' for N. Korean Missile
(Washington Times)
U.S. missile defenses are prepared to try to knock down the last stage of a Taepodong-2 missile that North Korea is expected soon to launch if sensors detect the weapon threatens U.S. territory, the commander of the U.S. Northern Command told The Washington Times.

Expected First Lighter MRAPs Fielding for Afghanistan in October
(Stars and Stripes)
The first lighter versions of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles for Afghanistan should be fielded beginning in October, said Marine Corps Brigadier General Michael Brogan, who is in charge of procuring the vehicles for all of the services.