Japan MD by 2006
The Japan Defense Agency has submitted a defense budget request which includes 500 billion yen for missile defense, to be deployed by 2006. The Japanese deployment, directed largely at North Korean ballistic missile threats, would be two-tiered, combining forms of the Aegis Sea-Based system and the PAC Patriot Ground Based System. The JDA hopes to equip 16 of its 27 Self Defense Forces with Patriot systems, and to deploy four Aegis Cruisers.
(Article, Link)
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» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
Moscow Selects New Head of Russian Missile Defense Company
Russian Prime Minsister has recommended that the missile defense company, Almaz-Antei, be headed up by Vladislav Menshchikov, from St. Petersburg. Menschicov is described as a “little known official” from Putin’s hometown, who has a “conspicous gap” in his resume, from 1982-1995.
The Prime Minister’s recomendation is that the company’s board go through the formal motion of voting Menshchikov president of the company, which is 100% owned by the Russian government. Almaz is the result of last year’s decree by the Kremlin which ordered the consolidation of 46 companies which had formerly supplied MD technologies independently. Almaz produces the S-400 missile defense system deployed around Moscow, as well as the S-300 which Russia exports, and other air defense systems.
The former head of Almaz, Klimov, was assassinated in June, a murder which remains unsolved.
(Article, Link)
» Janes: Almaz likely to showcase new S-400 MD system
» More stories on: Russia
» Missile system details for: S-300P (SA-10 Grumble), S-400 (SA-20 Triumf)
Sokolski on North Korean Proliferation
Henry Sokolski discusses the likely prospect of North Korea proliferating nuclear warheads and more advanced delivery systems to countries like Saudi Arabia, if the upcoming meeting between the U.S., China, North Korea, Japan and South Korea does not defuse the North Korean problem.
Saudi Arabia already has a number of CSS-2 missiles, with a range of 2,400km, which it acquired from China during the early 1990s.
(Article, Link)
» More stories on: North Korea, Proliferation
» Missile details: CSS-2, CSS-2A
GMD Booster Test Successful
Saturday’s test of a booster for the ground-based missile defense system was successful. The test launch, which took place from Vandenburg Air Force Base, did not involve an intercept attempt, but was only for the booster itself. More tests are planned for this fall.
The GMD system will be based in Fort Greely, with 16 planned interceptors. These are the interceptors which would carry the EKV, which employs “hit-to-kill” technology. There are also plans for another four interceptors based in California, at Vandenburg. This is part of the limited system the Bush administration has said will be deployed by late 2004. The system is limited, in that while it would defend against a few missiles launched from far away, such as from North Korea, it could not defend from either a large number of missiles such as would be launched from Russia or Communist China, or any number of short-range missiles launched from close by, such as from a ship off our coast. The GMD system nevertheless provides an important foundation for a more robust and layered system which would include defenses based on land, sea, and in space.
(Article, Link)
» More stories on: Technology, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
SBX Radar Base Chosen
The Missile Defense Agency has announced Adak, Alaska, as the basing location for the Sea-Based X-Band (SBX) radar, a floating platform which will be integrated with the Ground Based Missile Defenses at the Fort Greeley site. The SBX vessel is a modified oil drilling platform measuring 390 feet long and 250 feet high, with a displacement of 50,000 tons.
During the last months some Alaskan towns have been actively campaigning for, and others against, receipt of the base.
The MDA completed an extensive study on the environmental impact of this and other components related to the GBD system.
(Article, Link)
» MDA’s Environmental Impact Documents
» More stories on: Sea-Based Systems, Technology
» Missile system details for: Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX)
Japan Pushing for Defenses
The Japanese Defense Agency is planning a budget request of $1.2 billion for the development of a dual-layered missile defense system, a sum up from the $132 million allocated last year for research. The spike of attention comes amidst increased stirrings from North Korea, which test launched their Taepo’ dong I missile over the main Japanese island in 1998, and have since been making noise about a miniaturized nuclear weapons program. A recent white paper by the Japanese Defense Agency called missile defense a “pressing need,” and identified North Korea as a major and growing threat.
The proposed Japanese system would combine state-of-the-art Aegis cruisiers, with a sea-based boost-phase or midcourse-phase component, with a newer version of the Patriot missile, designed to intercept missile warheads in their terminal phase as they reenter the atmosphere toward their target. Japan currently has around 27 batteries of the PAC-2 version of the Patriot, but these are limited to interceting missiles with a range and speed significantly less than the longer-reaching (and thus more quickly moving) Taepo’ Dongs.
(Article, Link)
» Japanese Defense Agency white paper cites need for missile defenses
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» Missile details: Tien Chi
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2)
U.S.-India Commission Issues Joint Statement
A joint commission between the United States and India today issued a joing statement on military cooperation which included moving forward on missile defense alliances. India, which borders its natural geopolitical enemy China with a large arsenal of ballistic missiles, will be invited to two upcoming BMD conferences in Japan and Germany, during June 2003 and July 2004, respectively.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith led the U.S. panel. Feith was the co-author of a famous 1996 legal memorandum on the lapsing of the ABM Treaty following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
(Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, China, India
