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Spring on Measuring the Presidential Candidates

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Franks on Need to Continue Robust Missile Defense Efforts

Writing in The Hill, Representative Trent Franks examines Russia's position on missile defense, and suggests it is hypocritical.  On the one hand, Russia recently tested a new and highly advanced missile that is capable of penetrating any missile defense system. The missile's payload was said to be necessary "in terms of defense and security Russia can look calmly to its future."  Russia nevertheless vehemently opposes a limited defensive plan by the U.S. to assure its security. Representative Franks suggests it is unfortunate that Russia can seek new offensive weaponry to assure its security, but the U.S. may not develop defensive systems to provide for its security.  "Russia is not the only country that should be able to 'look calmly to the future.'" (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Russia, Analysis

Russia Tests Iskander-M

A new version of the Russian Iskander-M mobile ballistic missile was successfully tested at the Kapustin Yar site in the Astrakhan Region, reports Itar-Tass.  The missile was in flight for 24 minutes. The missile's deviation from the expected path was no greater than 30 meters despite strong winds and air temperatures of over 40 degrees.  One journalist reported that "three minutes thirty seconds after the launch the missile rose to an altitude of 100 meters and its speed at the moment was 250 meters per second."  The maximum speed of the new missile is 257 meters per second, with a range of 300 kilometers.  Those Iskanders for export are said to have less of a range than those for Russian forces.  First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdiukov monitored the launch. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign

» Missile details: SS-26

Navy Tests Tomahawk Block IV

On March 26 the U.S. Navy has carried out a successful first test of a submarine torpedo tube-launched Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile at the Navy's missile range off the coast of southern California.  The Tomahawk long range cruise missile is launched from surface ships or submarines and is principally designed for land warfare.  Tomahawks fly at extremely low altitudes at subsonic speeds, and are deployed throughout the world’s oceans on various ships and submarines.  The Block IV Torpedo Tube Launch missile is an all-weather missile that is launched from submarines. 

 

The navy stated that the redesign of the navigation, guidance and communications subsystems has improved the missile.  The missile in the March 26 test was launched from the Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Pasadena (SSN-752), after which it ran a satellite-guided 635-nautical mile test flight to the NAVAIR Land Range at China Lake, California. Via satellite, the missile was redirected to an alternate flight route to an alternate target successfully.  The one-hour, 26-minute flight concluded with a commanded 60-degree dive to the new target. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Testing - American

Russia Tests RS-24 ICBM

Russia today tested what it described as a new intercontinental ballistic missile system, capable of carrying multiple independent warheads and penetrating any defense system.  The missile, designated as the RS-24, was fired at 2:20 p.m. from a mobile launcher at the northwestern Plesetsk Cosmodrome.  It traveled 6,000 miles to the Kamchatka Peninsula.  The test was called successful, and the missile's multiple re-entry vehicles landed on target on the Kura testing range, the Strategic Missile Forces said in a statement.  Itar-Tass quoted a Russian press release saying that, together with the Topol-M (SS-27, RS-12-M) the new missile system will provide the backbone of Russia’s missile forces beginning in 2008, as construction intensifies and aging Ukrainian made RS-18s and RS-20s (known in the West as the SS-19 Stiletto and the SS-18 Satan) are being retired. 

 

The AFP quotes Ivan Safranchuk, head of the Center for Defense Information's Moscow office, as noting that "the main advantage is that this is a Russian rocket...The other multiple-warhead missiles were built in Ukraine. Before, there [were] no Russian-built multiple-warhead missiles." (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign

Alaska to Revise Emergency Response Plan to Include Preparation for EMP Attack

On May 24, the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission was briefed by the Institute of the North, based in Anchorage, on the dangers from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack delivered by ballistic missiles.  As a result of this briefing, Alaska will include preparation for an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack when it revises its emergency response plan.

 

An electromagnetic pulse occurs when a nuclear warhead is detonated between 40 and 400 kilometers above the Earth's surface.  The explosion creates a pulse that disrupts and damages electric power grids and electronic devices; a nuclear weapon with a yield of 30 kilotons detonated at an altitude of 100 kilometers could have devastating effects of up to 70% of electrical systems up to a thousand miles in every direction.

 

Testifying before the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission, Institute of the North Senior Fellow Mead Treadwell noted that, "What makes contingency planning on this issue so critical is that in the case of an EMP attack, Alaska could be losing all these capacities at once, without being able to call upon outside assistance."

 

Alaska Homeland Security Director John Madden, co-chair of the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission, stated that planning for the threat of EMP will include integration, implementation and survivability measures, and that he plans to present the issue before the Department of Homeland Security later this summer in order to raise EMP preparedness as a national issue, not just an Alaska issue.

 

Treadwell also urged the Commission to consider the cost-benefit implications for EMP emergency planning since even a one-time attack would be financially devastating. "Indeed, such a calculation could factor into national decisions regarding expanding a missile defense program," he added. 

 

Treadwell quoted author Thomas Schelling to emphasize that, though unprecedented, there is, "…a tendency in our planning to confuse the unfamiliar with the improbable. The contingency we have not considered looks strange; what looks strange is therefore improbable; what seems improbable need not be considered seriously."

 

A report by the 2004 Commission to Assess the Threat to the Untied States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack noted that, "…one or a few high-altitude nuclear detonations can produce EMP effects that can potentially disrupt or damage electronic and electrical systems over much of the United States, virtually simultaneously, at a time determined by an adversary." The executive summary of the EMP Commission report is viewable online at www.missilethreat.com/empreport.

 

The briefing follows the release of a nationwide survey of Adjutants General on issues such as missile defense and EMP attack that was conducted jointly by the Anchorage-based Institute of the North and the Claremont Institute of Claremont, California. Survey results revealed that our nation’s National Guard leaders are unprepared to respond to an EMP attack and would like further information on the subject.

 

Both the Institute of the North and the Claremont Institute, publisher of the website www.missilethreat.com, have been working closely together for more than 10 years on policy issues related to the strategic defense of the United States. One goal of the collaboration is to help state and local officials and citizens understand policy options at all levels related to ballistic missile defense.  (Link) 

» Press Release on Insitute of the North Briefing for Alaska State Emergency Response Commission

» More stories on: Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Weapons, Analysis, Space-Based Systems

South Korea Launches Aegis Defense to Combat Arms Race

The same day that North Korea again test-fired several short-range missiles, South Korea launched the first of three new Aegis destroyers equipped with advanced air and sea weaponry.  President Roh Moo-Hyun, speaking at the launch of the one-billion-dollar 7,600 ton KDX-III destroyer, said “We cannot sit idle in the face of a continuing arms race in the Northeast Asian region."  The destroyer, named the King Sejong, was built with stealth technology, making detection more difficult.  South Korea becomes the fifth country after the United States, Spain, Norway and Japan to have the Aegis integrated weapons control system.  The South Korean ship will be deployed operationally in 2009.  A second Aegis destroyer will be launched in 2010, and the third in 2012. (Article, Link) 

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» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD

Malfunction with Target Missile Postpones GBI Intercept Attempt

Technical problems with a target missile derailed a highly anticipated U.S. test of its missile defense system on Friday.  The test missile, a former Polaris submarine launched ballistic missile, was launched at 7:00 PM from Kodiak Island in Alaska, but due to problems with the target missile's flight, the interceptor at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California was never launched to intercept it, and is thus recorded as a "no test" of the Ground Based Interceptor system.  “We were not able to get the target downrange far enough or high enough to present a threat to the system,” said agency Director Lt. Gen. Henry Obering.  “It fell well short of the intended area. The system itself never had a chance to recognize it as a threat, and so did not respond to the target.”  “There is always a risk of this occurrence since we are flying old intercontinental ballistic missile motors in our targets,” Obering said in a Missile Defense Agency press release.  “We have initiated a target modernization program, within our existing budget which should mitigate these risks for the future. … We will attempt to repeat this test this summer.” (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Testing - American

» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)