Israel strikes missile shipment

Israeli warplanes hit a convoy of advanced missiles heading out of Syria and into Lebanon, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Wednesday. (Read more)

Army Pushes To Upgrade THAAD

Specifically, the Army paper recommends development, procurement and investment in systems like Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile system.

“THAAD would provide the upper tier of a layered defense shield to protect high value strategic or tactical sites,” the paper states. The Army paper also calls for the development of a land-based anti-ship ballistic missile, directed energy capability, and additional land-based anti-ship fires capabilities such as the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System.

The Army calls for increased fielding of THAAD Patriot and the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, a technology which delivers precision fires against stationary or slow-moving targets at ranges up to 300 km., the paper cites. Specifically, the paper suggests upgrading the M57 ATACMS with an active radar guidance system and in-flight communications uplink. Officials who wrote the paper support a potential adaptation of the RGM-84 Harpoon and calls for the development of boost-glide entry warheads able to deploy “to hold adversary shipping at risk all without ever striking targets inland.”

DF-15C can be equipped as bunker buster

China’s DF-15C short-range ballistic missile, equipped with a deep-penetration warhead, would be able to damage or destroy underground command facilities in Taiwan and other security partners of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, according to The Weapon, a military magazine operated by China North Industries Group Corporation, a state-run company that manufactures military vehicles.

The Weapon reported that the DF-15C, with a warhead between 2-2.5 meters in length, has the largest warhead section compared to other missiles in the PLA’s arsenal, and can be used by the Second Artillery Corps, the PLA’s strategic missile detachment, to take out enemy command centers in a potential conflict. The Chinese missile has a range of 700 kilometers, and can be used against most targets in East Asia, including an underground hangar located at Chiashan Air Force Base in Hualian in eastern Taiwan. However, the warhead must be fitted to a DF-21 and DF-25 missile to increase its range to strike at targets such as the US base at Guam.

Raytheon to upgrade AN/TPY-2

Raytheon Company has started upgrading the AN/TPY-2 ballistic missile defense radar's signal and data processing equipment (SDPE) to enable the "brains" of the radar to more quickly and accurately discriminate threats from non-threats and enhance radar performance to protect against missile raids.

An integral element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), AN/TPY-2 is a mobile X-band radar that helps protect the U.S., warfighters and America's allies and security partners from the more than 6,300 ballistic missiles that, according to U.S. intelligence estimates, are not controlled by the U.S., NATO, China or Russia. "Raytheon is building on the AN/TPY-2's record of outstanding performance by improving the system because rogue states are constructing more ballistic missiles that have longer ranges and are increasingly more sophisticated," said Dave Gulla, vice president of Global Integrated Sensors in Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business. "The security of the U.S., our warfighters and our allies depends on having reliable, capable systems like the AN/TPY-2 to help counter the growing ballistic missile threat."

¿Blast door open?

Twice this year alone, Air Force officers entrusted with the launch keys to nuclear-tipped missiles have been caught leaving open a blast door that is intended to help prevent a terrorist or other intruder from entering their underground command post, Air Force officials have told The Associated Press.

Transgressions such as this are rarely revealed publicly. But officials with direct knowledge of Air Force intercontinental ballistic missile operations told the AP that such violations have happened, undetected, many more times than in the cases of the two launch crew commanders and two deputy commanders who were given administrative punishments this year.

The AP has discovered a series of problems within the ICBM force, including a failed safety inspection, the temporary sidelining of launch officers deemed unfit for duty and the abrupt firing last week of the two-star general in charge. The crews who operate the missiles are trained to follow rules without fail, including the prohibition against having the blast door open when only one crew member is awake, because the costs of a mistake are so high.

The officers, known as missileers, are custodians of keys that could launch nuclear hell. The warheads on the business ends of their missiles are capable of a nuclear yield many times that of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. "The only way that you can have a crew member be in 'rest status' is if that blast door is shut and there is no possibility of anyone accessing the launch control center," said Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, the commander of Air Force Global Strike Command. He is responsible for the entire force of 450 Minuteman 3 missiles, plus the Air Force's nuclear-capable bombers.

The blast door is not the first line of defense. An intruder intent on taking control of a missile command post would first face many layers of security before encountering the blast door, which — when closed — is secured by 12 hydraulically operated steel pins. ICBM fields are monitored with security cameras and patrolled regularly by armed Air Force guards. Each underground launch center, known as a capsule for its pill-like shape, monitors and operates 10 Minuteman 3 missiles. The missiles stand in reinforced concrete silos and are linked to the control center by buried communications cables. The ICBMs are split evenly among "wings" based in North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. Each wing is divided into three squadrons, each responsible for 50 missiles.

In an extensive interview last week at his headquarters at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., Kowalski declined to say whether he was aware that ICBM launch crew members had violated the blast door rule with some frequency. It is clear that Air Force commanders do, in fact, know these violations are happening. One of the officers punished for a blast door violation in April at the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., admitted during questioning by superiors to having done it other times without getting caught. The other confirmed blast door violation happened in May at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. In that case a person who entered the capsule to do maintenance work realized that the deputy crew commander was asleep with the door open and reported the violation to superiors. Upon questioning, the deputy crew commander initially denied the accusation but later confessed and said her crew commander had encouraged her to lie, Sheets said.

The willingness of some launch officers to leave the blast door open at times reflects a mindset far removed from the Cold War days when the U.S. lived in fear of a nuclear strike by the Soviet Union. It was that fear that provided the original rationale for placing ICBMs in reinforced underground silos and the launch control officers in buried capsules — so that in the event of an attack the officers might survive to launch a counterattack. Today the fear of such an attack has all but disappeared and, with it, the appeal of strictly following the blast door rule.

Russian Missile Forces to Field All-New Arsenal

Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) will be fully equipped with fifth-generation missile systems by 2021, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

The proportion of modern missiles in the RVSN will reach around 60 percent by 2016 and 98 percent by 2021, Col. Igor Yegorov said. In addition to the fifth-generation Yars and Topol-M missiles, new command and control centers are being built and new communications, security and other systems put in place, he said.

Russia's missile forces are being modernized in a bid to enable them to penetrate the anti-missile defense systems being fielded by NATO and the United States, Russian officials have said previously.

RS-26: Serious reasons to be concerned

Russia will test launch a controversial missile over the next several weeks that U.S. officials say is raising serious concerns. Let us see briefly why:

1. The RS-26 missile is expected to be deployed with multiple supersonic, maneuvering warheads designed to defeat U.S. missile defenses in Europe.
2. The new missile appears to violate the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, based on recent tests and Russian statements that it is designed to thwart U.S. defenses.
3. The Russians have been quoted in state-controlled press reports as saying the new missile will be used to defeat and destroy U.S. and NATO missile defenses in Europe.
4. The new missile will be equipped with three multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles, or MIRVs. What is new is that the warheads are super-high-speed vehicles capable of maneuvering from missile interceptors. The maneuvering warheads are considered advanced technology that will increase the precision targeting of the missile system.
5. The missile will be equipped with a high-performance fuel that boosts acceleration shortly after launch, a feature useful for avoiding anti-missile interceptors.
6. The RS-26 will add to Russia’s formidable and growing arsenal, which includes SS-27 and SS-29 road-mobile, solid-fuel missiles; a new submarine-launched nuclear missile called Bulava; and plans for a new silo-based ICBM.

Emerging Global Threats Demand Robust Missile Defense

The recent chemical weapons attack in Syria serves as a horrible reminder of the nature of modern warfare. The major threat to global security is now radical actors with access to weapons of mass destruction, like these chemical agents and the kind of nuclear missiles under development in North Korea and Iran. (Read more)

Turkey to sign missile agreement with China in late 2013

An agreement on building long-range missiles will be signed with China in late 2013, the Turkish Defense Industry Committee said today. The Chinese company's project which envisages manufacturing FD-2000 missiles technically leaves the Russian, American and French-Italian companies projects behind. Earlier it was reported that on September 2013 at a meeting of the Turkish Defence Industry Executive Committee it was announced that the Chinese CPMIEC company won the tender for the creation of long range missiles in Turkey. It was also reported that these missiles will be created by the Chinese company in cooperation with Turkish companies. Moreover, it is reported that the U.S. authorities informed Turkey of their concerns about the country's intentions to cooperate with China in the creation of missile defence systems. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the priority for Turkey is to create the missiles in his own country.

Congress Urges Hagel, U.S. to Block Turkey-China Anti-Missile Deal

Republican lawmakers in both chambers are urging the Obama administration to use diplomatic and military levers to pressure Turkey into abandoning its plans to purchase a long-range missile-defense system from China.

Critics of the possible deal, announced last month, are concerned it could endanger the integrity of NATO's evolving ballistic missile shield as China might seek to use the system it sells to Turkey to illicitly extract data from the alliance's inter-connected missile defense network.

Because of this fear, opponents argue Ankara should not be permitted to connect the FD-2000 antimissile system it is interested in purchasing from a Chinese company with the broader alliance missile shield. There are also doubts that the Chinese technology could be made compatible with other NATO antimissile assets. "We strongly urge you to exert all available diplomatic pressure to prevent Turkish procurement of a [China Precision Military Import and Export Corp.] missile defense system and ensure NATO will never allow such a system to be integrated into NATO's security architecture," say a group of GOP senators in a letter drafted for submission, possibly on Friday, to Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Turkey, as a NATO member, is participating in the alliance plan to build a ballistic-missile shield that would cover all NATO territory. While the United States is supplying most of the critical assets for the shield, other member states are expected to augment it by enhancing and inter-connecting their own domestic antimissile capabilities. Ankara maintains it has the sole right to decide which missile-defense system to buy. "It is definitely, it’s going to be national capability first and foremost, and it’s going to be a national decision," Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Gumrukcu was quoted by Voice of America as saying this week. Ankara insists the FD-2000 would be fully interoperable with other NATO antimissile assets and says it has made this a requirement of any deal with the CPMIEC firm.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday said it was critical that all member states’ national missile defenses be inter-operable with one another. Of course, the FD-2000 "will not be inter-operable with NATO systems or collective defense capabilities." but even if the FD-2000 could be integrated with NATO assets, there are still the worries in Congress that the software would be compromised by digital back-doors created by Chinese developers interested on gaining access to alliance data. "Since Turkey is fully integrated into NATO’s missile defense network, such as the NATO Air Defense Ground Environment, we are concerned about the risk of third-country access to NATO and U.S. classified data and technology," reads the senators’ letter to Hagel and Kerry.

The Turkish government said it chose the Chinese system over other antimissile systems offered for sale by U.S., European and Russian manufacturers because at $3.4 billion it is considerably less-expensive and potentially could be co-produced with Turkey, allowing for technology transfer.

Turkey: The Chinese Headache

NATO member states are strongly opposed to Turkey’s decision to purchase a Chinese-built missile defense system, with one NATO official calling the missile system a “virus,” according to a report in the Turkish newspaper, the Hurriyet Daily News.

An unnamed NATO ambassador in Ankara, was even blunter, telling Hurriyet: “I have no idea why the Turks do not see the simple fact that the alliance’s security threat perception in the next 20 years is based on China. Air and missile defense will be the top defense issue in the foreseeable future, with China being under the magnifier.”

The Hurriyet article suggests that the main concern among NATO officials with Ankara’s purchase of the HQ-9 missile system is the lack of interoperability. In particular, the NATO officials interviewed expressed concern about integrating the HQ-9 with NATO’s Identify Friend or Foe (IFF) system, which operates on “Mode 5,” a code that enables the system to distinguish between friendly and adversary aircraft.

Meanwhile, State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, expressed concerns with the fact that the Chinese company involved in the deal has repeatedly been sanctioned by the U.S. for its deals with countries like Iran, Pakistan and North Korea. “The main concern here was that the Turkish government was having contract discussions with a U.S.-sanctioned company for a missile defense system that was not operable with NATO systems,” Psaki said.

Pentagon to sell bunker busters, cruise missiles to Gulf monarchies

The Pentagon plans to sell $10.8 billion worth of advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The hardware includes bunker buster bombs and cruise missiles.

The planned deal includes shipping 1,000 GBU-39/B bombs to Saudi Arabia and 5,000 to the UAE, AFP reports. They have air-deployed wings, which allow them to strike targets as far away as 110km. Their warheads can penetrate up to a meter of reinforced concrete.

The planned sale also includes 650 sophisticated Standoff Land Attack Extended Range (SLAM-ER) and 973 Joint Standoff Weapons (JSOW) cruise missiles. The planned deal will be the first time the US delivers the sophisticated gliding bombs and missiles to the region.

India, Russia pact to extend BrahMos missile partnership

India and Russia are expected to sign a pact during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit there to extend their partnership indefinitely for producing the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

The BrahMos, jointly developed by India and Russia, is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 300 kg at a maximum speed of 2.8 Mach (or 2.8 times the speed of sound). India is readying several versions of the missile which includes land attack, anti-ship and submarine-launched versions.

India and Russia had recently also agreed to develop a hypersonic version of the cruise missile. India has plans of deploying the BrahMos on its frontline fighter aircraft Su-30MKI in next few years and trials are expected to be carried out by early next year.

Raytheon Wins $3 Billion Missile Systems Contract

Raytheon Company will be awarded a $3 billion contract to supply missile systems to the U.S. Defense Department.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency notified Raytheon that it will award the company, when funds are appropriated, a sole-source contract, because it is the "only source that currently possesses the in-depth technical knowledge of the system to satisfactorily perform the work."

The three-year contract will cover manufacture and integration of up to 216 Standard Missile-3 SM-3 Block IB missiles, or 72 per year, starting in 2015. It is part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program, the Missile Defense Agency was quoted as saying by Reuters. "We're confident in the SM-3 Block IB's readiness for production, and we remain on track to deliver this critical capability in support of phase two of the European Phased Adaptive Approach in 2015," Raytheon said in a statement.

Lockheed receives missile canards from Liquidmetal

Missile canards from Liquidmetal Technologies Inc. have been delivered to Lockheed Martin for use in future testing of Lockheed's EAPS missile. The canards are made from special amorphous alloys.

Located at the front of a missile, they enhance the weapon's maneuverability in flight. Lockheed will use the canards on its Extended Area Protection and Survivability missile (EAPS), advanced hit-to-kill missile for use against rocket, artillery and mortar targets with reduced probabilities for collateral damage.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2013/10/15/Lockheed-receives-missile-canards-from-Liquidmetal/UPI-77661381860883/#ixzz2hog8py9k

UK To Purchase 200 StarStreak

Britain’s Defense Ministry has signed a deal with Thales UK to purchase a new batch of StarStreak short-range surface-to-air missiles, the Northern Ireland-based company has announced.

The contract for 200 missiles will boost weapon stockpiles available to the regular and reserve units that already use the Mach 3 velocity missile, which can travel at more than 1 kilometer per second.

S. Korea seeks multi-layered missile defense

South Korea will speed up building its own missile defense aimed at low-flying targets, while seeking ways to develop "multi-layered" deterrence against North Korea. 

Seoul has been gradually building an independent, low-tier missile shield called the Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD), with mid-term plans to acquire the latest Patriot missiles and long-range early warning radars.

In addition to the terminal phase system, the defense ministry said it is considering multi-layered defense to effectively strike ballistic missiles coming from different altitudes. "Our military is establishing a low-tier terminal-phase KAMD considering the range of North Korea's incoming ballistic missiles. It was reflected in the military acquisition plan and will be completed faster than expected," ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said in a briefing. "Our military is also looking into various measures to bolster the terminal phase, low-altitude defense to effectively counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threat."

Kim didn't specify weapons systems, but he excluded the Standard Missile-3, which intercepts missiles at an altitude over 400-500 kilometers, from the shopping list. Although there have been calls to adopt the long-range missile defense to establish a multi-layered shield against the North, Seoul's defense ministry has remained cautious over the American missile program as it could spur a regional arms race involving China and further contribute to mounting costs in the national missile program. Kim's remark raised speculation that Seoul is seeking to adopt systems like the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) by Lockheed Martin as a possible next step. THAAD is designed to shoot down short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles in their terminal phase, using a hit-to-kill method.

Seoul has been pushing to bolster its defense against the communist rival after it successfully fired off a long-range rocket last December. Pyongyang claims the launch was aimed at putting a satellite into orbit, but Seoul and Washington consider it as a covert ballistic-missile technology test. Military experts say operating missile defense at different altitudes could provide enhanced protection against North Korea's mid- and long-range ballistic missiles.

China: HQ-9 missile spotted

A series of satellite photos have captured a glimpse of China's HQ-9 surface-to-air missile system at a missile range in Xianyang in northwest China's Shaanxi province, according to the Janes Defense Weekly.

The photos of the Chinese air defense missile with its launcher and radar system were taken on Aug. 29 when a satellite flew over Sanyuan county in Xianyang. The HQ-9 missile is designed based on the Russian-built SA-10, and currently serves the ground and naval forces of the People's Liberation Army.

According to Janes Defense Weekly, the HQ-9's radar system differs from a Russian S-300 air defense missile in the tractor that is uses. The tractor of HQ-9's radar system is one meter shorter than the tractor of the Russian 64N6E radar. Meanwhile, Turkey announced that it would purchase the FD-2000, the export version of HQ-9 from China to serve as its air force's medium-range air defense missile. However, both the US and NATO have applied enormous pressure on Turkey over the missile deal, saying that the system would not be compatible with those of Turkey's other NATO allies.

Russia to test RS-26

The next test launch of a recently declassified Russian intercontinental ballistic missile RS-26 will be made at the end of this year, from Kapustin Yar range ground in the Astrakhan region,Interfax reports with reference to a source in the space industry.

"This is a new missile, of which the Russian Foreign Ministry notified the Americans in accordance with adequate procedures," the source said, declining to specify the specs, which is expected to replace Topol-M mobile missile complexes.

Phailin: no impact on India's key missile launch facilities

Chandipur lies about 300 km north of Gopalpur, where the severe cyclonic storm made landfall on Saturday night packing winds at a speed of over 200 km per hour.

Although Chandipur was not in the path of the storm, armed forces had swung into action to protect their vital assets along the Odisha coast, which also include a naval base at Chilika lake and an air defense training center at Gopalpur.

"All equipment at the missile launch stations in Chandipur and Wheeler Island are safe. Our scientists and personnel are also safe, We hope to carry out the training and missile launches scheduled for November." said an official at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) that manages these sites.

On Saturday, DRDO had secured telemetry equipment and radars deployed along the coastal areas. Such equipment are used by the DRDO for tracking missiles and monitoring the accuracy of a mission. High-speed infrared cameras to capture the sequence of a missile launch at the two facilities were also secured from any potential damage.

Michael Carey, US General in charge of nuclear missiles, sacked

The Air Force fired the general in charge of its nuclear missiles on Friday, just two days after a Navy admiral with top nuclear weapons responsibilities was also sacked. In this case, the general in charge of the US Air Force's long-range nuclear missiles has been sacked due to "loss of trust and confidence", officials have said.

Major General Michael Carey was serving since June 2012 as the commander of the 20th Air Force, and has been under investigation for several months over allegations of personal misbehaviour. The two-star general was responsible for maintaining a total of 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at three bases across the US. The Air Force said the investigation did not relate to operational matters or readiness of America's nuclear missiles and there was no indication of criminal activity.

The U.S. has been shrinking the size of its nuclear arsenal for many years; it is comprised of long-range missiles aboard submarines, long-range bombers and ICBMs. As of Oct. 1 the U.S. had 1,688 deployed strategic nuclear warheads, which Washington is obliged to reduce to 1,550 by 2018 under the New START treaty with Russia.

Report warns MANPADS may be loose in Syria

The Syrian government’s shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles and launchers could imperil civil aviation if they fall into the hands of terror groups, according to an independent report examining the global proliferation of portable missiles.

Citing video and photo evidence from opposition forces, media and official accounts, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) study says some portable launchers and missiles have been seized by opposition forces during battles with Syrian troops, while others have been smuggled in to rebel fighters from neighboring countries.

The 88-page report warns about man-portable air-defense systems, also known as MANPADS, in the arsenal of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government. U.S. officials have estimated the Syrian government has as many as 20,000 MANPADS, compact missile launchers with the range and explosive power to attack low-flying planes and helicopters. Syria’s anti-aircraft missile inventory is comparable in size to that amassed by Libyan forces before the 2011 ouster of Moammar Gadhafi.

The FAS study cites the widespread looting of anti-aircraft weapons that occurred after Gadhafi’s fall and the mass ransacking of Iraqi weapons depots after the U.S. invasion in 2003 as evidence that Syria’s missiles are equally vulnerable. Portable anti-aircraft missiles have most often been used by non-government forces in conflict zones such as Iraq, where U.S. aircraft were targeted and sometimes struck by militants. Civilian passenger flights have never been threatened by shoulder-fired missiles in the U.S., but there have been nearly a dozen lethal strikes over the past decade in Asia and Africa.

The FAS report said the terrorist group al-Shabab in Somalia used an SA-18 missile to shoot down a Belarusian cargo aircraft departing from Mogadishu in 2007. Many of the portable launchers displayed by Syrian rebel groups on the Internet appear to be decades-old models such as Russian-made SA-7s — similar to ones found in Libya after Gadhafi’s ouster. Unlike Libya, Syria’s military has a larger supply of newer and longer-range models supplied from Russia, and as a result, Syrian rebels also appear to have seized some new-model Russian missile launchers.