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If this had been an actual attack, the DEFCON Warning System will give radiation readings for areas that are reported to it. Your readings will vary. Official news sources will have radiation readings for your area. The public should make their own evaluations and not rely on the DEFCON Warning System for any strategic planning.
At all times, citizens are urged to learn what steps to take in the event of a nuclear attack: There are various reports of military assets being moved into position, and both Russia and Syria believe that a strike by the United States is imminent. While we do not believe the situation in Syria will be anything more than it has been in the past, we feel that a raise in the alert level is a prudent precaution at this time.
The Russian military has deployed the Airborne Early Warning and control (AEW) aircraft to Syria.
According to local sources, the AEW aircraft arrived the Hmeimim airbase in the town of Jableh few days after the US missile strike on the Al-Sha’irat airbase.
The aircraft was identified as an upgraded version of the A-50U equipped with the Vega Shmel-M radar, capable of detect the launch of a missile or a fighter jet in the range of 650km.
The deployment of the A-50U in Syria is believed to be aimed at improving the ability to detect hostile aircraft and missiles expanding the air defense capabilities of Russian forces.
Today, the world may face some surprises due a number of emerging technological advances that could significantly lower the barriers to the development of nuclear arms.
In particular, additive manufacturing of machine parts, such as those needed for uranium-enrichment centrifuges and missile engines—and the use of lasers to enrich uranium may create new pathways to more-rapid development of nuclear weapons and the systems necessary for their delivery.
It may only be a few years, if that, before additive manufacturing is widely adopted. Although laser enrichment has not been commercialized, it may be adapted before long for enriching uranium on the smaller scale needed for a nuclear weapons program.
El máximo general de Rusia ha advertido a los países europeos candidatos para acoger las instalaciones de un escudo de defensa antimisiles liderada por Estados Unidos, que en caso de guerra serán objetivo prioritario de los misiles rusos: "Las potencias no nucleares donde se está instalando el escudo antimisiles se han convertido en objetivos prioritarios" dijo el general Valery Gerasimov, refiriéndose a Polonia y Rumania.
Los comentarios se produjeron en una conferencia de defensa en Moscú, donde una serie de líderes rusos de alto nivel advirtieron repetidamente sobre la amenaza que representa el escudo para la Rusia moderna. Para George Scutaru, vicepresidente del Comité de Defensa del Parlamento rumano, "la retórica belicosa" de Rusia forma parte de una guerra de información dirigida a los nuevos y potenciales miembros de la OTAN: "Rusia teme la capacidad de la Alianza para defender a sus miembros", dijo el Sr. Scutaru en una entrevista telefónica.
A este respecto, la OTAN ha reiterado que el escudo antimisiles está concebido tan solo para defenderse de un ataque proveniente de Irán, algo que para el ministro de Defensa ruso, Sergei Shoigu, no es más que una mentira: "Hoy en día está claro que la amenaza de misiles de Teherán era un farol". Esta postura es compartida por el General Gerasimov, para quien el temor principal de Estados Unidos no es tanto Iran, como el Estado Islámico: "No hace mucho tiempo los muyaidines fueron considerados buenos luchadores, ampliamente recompensados por Occidente como luchadores por la democracia en Siria. Ahora han salido de control, y representan una amenaza para sus antiguos empleadores."
Shoigu también acusó a la OTAN de aumentar el riesgo de que estalle una guerra en Europa del Este, la cual incluya "el uso de armas nucleares tácticas estadounidenses desplegadas en varios países europeos." A ese respecto, el Teniente General Darryl Roberson, Jefe de Operaciones de la USAF en Europa, ha negado rotundamente que la OTAN haya desplegado armas nucleares tácticas en Europa del Este: "No estoy al tanto de nada de eso", dijo en una entrevista telefónica. Sin embargo, la referencia del Ministro Shoigu no se refería a un despliegue de armas nucleares en Europa del Este, sino a los arsenales de ojivas almacenados en Alemania, Bélgica, Italia, Países Bajos y Turquía durante la Guerra Fria.
En cualquier caso, tanto el general Gerasimov como el Ministro Shoigu tienen claro que Rusia es el enemigo a combatir, a tenor de los recientes ejercicios de la OTAN en Europa del Este: "Si en años anteriores los ejercicios se centraron en la lucha contra el terrorismo, hoy la prioridad se ha convertido en la solución de problemas ante una posible confrontación militar con un enemigo convencional, que es fácil de adivinar: la Federación de Rusia", dijo el general Gerasimov en referencia a los ejercicios de Campia Turzii, Rumania, donde los aviones de ataque a tierra A-10 norteamericanos han estado ensayando un posible enfrentamiento con los MIG-21 rumanos. Sobre esos ejercicios, el General Roberson ha aclarado que "el despliegue en Rumania de una docena de A-10 con 300 aviadores no es más que la primera de una rotación regular de fuerzas aéreas de Estados Unidos en Europa, y está previsto que llegue en breve un destacamento de aviones de combate F-15C. Estas rotaciones fueron planeados antes de la crisis del año pasado en Crimea. No espero que los rusos lo crean, pero es verdad", ha afirmado.
A Scud missile displayed in Raqqa, Syria, this week by ISIS is “more propaganda than operational” – meaning it is unlikely to pose a military threat, for some reasons that may be convenient to know, just to calm the non-israeli people that may be alarmed:
First of all, the missile need fuel (We will not say which one). ¿Do they have? If they do not have fuel, they have no Scud to throw.
Second, the fuel tank of the missile must be filled. And it is not easy. ¿Do they know how to fill it? If they do not have the know-how and tooling to fill it, they have no Scud to throw.
Last, but not least, Scud missiles are not fireworks. ¿Do they know how to launch it? If they do not know how, they have no Scud to throw.
¿And what about israeli people? Israeli people has no reason to fear the Scud, as even if the Scud is launched towards Israel, it will never hit any populated place.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday said an Obama administration plan to in the coming years field next-generation missile defense systems in Poland is "absolutely on target."
Speaking in Warsaw, Kerry told journalists the evolving security dynamics in Syria and Iran have not impacted U.S. plans to deploy in 2018 Standard Missile 3 Block 2A interceptors near the Baltic Sea coast in Redzikowo in accordance with the U.S. "phased adaptive approach" for European missile defense.
Polish officials are somewhat sensitive about the issue of alterations to plans on missile defense-cooperation with the United States. In 2009, the Obama administration announced it was canceling a Bush-era plan to around 2015 field 10 long-range Ground Based Interceptors on Polish territory and instead would field a different model of interceptor -- the Standard Missile 3 Block 2B. But then in 2013, the United States declared it would not pursue development of the Block 2B, which was aimed at targeting intercontinental-ballistic missiles, and would just field Block 2A missiles in Poland.
The latter weapon is designed to target intermediate-range missiles. "Poland is a very important part of the European phased-adaptive approach on NATO missile defense," Kerry said. The United States and NATO are pursuing an alliance-wide missile shield capable of defeating medium-range ballistic missiles fired from the Middle East. Russia opposes the effort, seeing it as a threat to the strategic nuclear balance on the continent.
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)
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.
The head of NATO expressed concern on Monday 7th over Turkey’s decision to co-produce a missile defense system with a Chinese firm, saying he expected Ankara to choose a system that was compatible with those of other allies.
Turkey has said it is likely to sign a $3.4 billion missile defense deal with a Chinese firm that is subject to U.S. sanctions, although its decision is not yet final. The United States has expressed serious concerns to Turkey, saying the Chinese missile defense system would not work with NATO systems.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said last month it favored China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp’s (CPMIEC) FD-2000 missile defense system over more expensive rival systems from Russian, U.S. and European firms. Some Western defense analysts have said they were surprised by Turkey’s decision, having expected the contract to go to Raytheon Co, a U.S. company that builds the Patriot missile, or the Franco-Italian Eurosam SAMP/T.
The United States, Germany and the Netherlands each sent two Patriot batteries to southeastern Turkey this year after Ankara asked NATO to strengthen its defenses against possible missile attack from Syria.
Turkey said today in an official statement that it has "decided to begin talks with the CPMIEC company of the People's Republic of China for the joint production of the systems and its missiles in Turkey." Turkey wants to build its own long-range air defense and anti-missile architecture to counter both enemy aircraft and missiles. In January, NATO began deploying Patriot missile system batteries to help protect Turkey from any spillover of the conflict in neighboring Syria. The Patriot missiles, effective against aircraft and short-range missiles, were provided by the United States, Germany and the Netherlands.
If President Barack Obama orders the strike on Syria that Congress is considering, the U.S. Navy will be at the forefront of an attack that has the unusual objective of degrading Syria’s chemical weapons capabilities without striking at the heart of the program. However, Pentagon planners are now considering to unleash a heavy barrage of missile strikes to be followed swiftly by using Air Force bombers, as well as several US missile destroyers currently patrolling the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to launch cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles from far out of range of Syrian air defenses.
The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group with one cruiser and three destroyers positioned in the Red Sea can also fire cruise missiles at Syria. The weapon of choice is the Tomahawk cruise missile aboard four Navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean. An operation in that range would likely be limited to the cost of launching missiles from U.S. destroyers cruising within range of Syria, according to budget analysts. The Tomahawk missiles aboard the ships, which generally carry dozens of them, cost about $1,1 ... 1,5 million each. The mission is among the most complex the U.S. military has launched in recent history because Syria will have had weeks to shield its most vulnerable targets from a widely anticipated volley of Tomahawk missiles.
As lawmakers continue to discuss the scope and risks of a strike, military planners are fine-tuning a plan to blast dozens of targets that include air defense infrastructure, long-range missiles, rocket depots and airfields, according to defense officials and military analysts. The six air bases the Syrian government is currently using to carry out the bulk of its military operations and its roughly two dozen stationary radars are likely targets of cruise missile strikes, according to military analysts who have studied Syria’s armed forces. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers last week that the strikes would likely hit Syrian long-range missile and rocket depots because the weapons can be used to protect – and deliver – chemical weapons. The Navy has kept four Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers stationed within firing range of the Syrian coast for several days.
The ships – the USS Ramage, USS Barry, USS Gravely and USS Stout – are loaded with the latest generation of Tomahawk missiles. Tomahawks, which made their debut during the Gulf War in 1991, have been used in several military campaigns, often as the first salvos of protracted engagements. Raytheon, the defense giant that manufactures the missiles, has marketed them as an alternative to drones, which have become the weapon of choice in U.S. stealth counterterrorism attacks. “Unmanned aircraft seem to get all the headlines these days,” the company’s promotional website for Tomahawks says. “But the ship and submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missile – an unmanned aircraft that goes on a one-way trip – is quietly upping its game.”
Unlike earlier versions, today’s Tomahawks, which cost roughly $1,1 ... 1,5 million a piece, can be programmed quickly using GPS technology to strike targets and may be redirected midflight. The missile, which has a 1,000-mile range, can be airborne for up to four hours and deliver a 1,000 pound bomb or a package of 166 “bomblets.” The first would be ideal for a crushing blow to a critical building, while the latter would be effective against a wider area, such as a parking lots with military vehicles or a warehouse that contains weapons.
The hailstorm of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) that is expected to rain down on Syria's bases and command-and-control centres - if President Barack Obama wins Congressional approval - would certainly hurt the jihadists' enemy, although perhaps not fatally: In preparation for the missile strikes - if and when they come - instructions have gone out online for rebel commanders and others to change their locations and not to gather in big groups or convoys. There is a specific fear of homing chips being attached to leaders' cars to guide incoming missiles as they are believed to have been in Pakistan's tribal areas and in the Gaza Strip.
While Syria has been upgrading its aging defense system in recent years, it will be severely tested if a barrage of American-made missiles are fired at the country.
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a confident, if unnamed, "military diplomatic source" on Tuesday who predicted "no easy victory" if "the U.S. Army together with NATO launches an operation against Syria. Buk-M2E multirole air and missile complexes and other air defense systems are capable of making a fitting reply to aggressors."
Estimates by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Jane's and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) of Assad's pre-war defense capabilities included 365 to 550 combat aircraft (50% of which CSIS estimates may be left now with questions about pilot capability); 25 air defense brigades with some 120 to 150 surface-to-air missile batteries (most aging or obsolete); and an array of more modern short-range surface-to-air weapons, including thousands of shoulder-launched MANPADS.
Syria has purchased a highly advanced S-300 system from Russia, which can intercept targets at a much longer range and higher altitude than anything currently in Syria's arsenal. But it hasn't been delivered yet, and even if it arrived tomorrow, it would take months to set up and properly train Syrians to use. One of the Syrian military's most potent assets are its Bastion coastal defense missiles, which Assad bought from Russia in the last few years. They could strike ships in the Mediterranean and would effectively push back the distances from which foreign ships would launch missiles used in any attack. Part of the system are Yakhont anti-ship missiles, which were reportedly Israel's target when it bombed a Syrian depot in July.
Israel deployed its Iron Dome missile defense system in Tel Aviv on Friday, as the United States weighed military strikes on neighboring Syria, local media said.
News website Ynet said that unlike last November when the interceptor missiles brought down rockets fired from Gaza, to the south, this time they were pointing north, toward Syria. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said Israel had deployed its Iron Dome system to meet its current security needs.
He did not specify where, but media reported earlier in the week that the military was moving two of its short-range Iron Dome batteries and one battery of the mid-range Patriot missile to northern Israel.“We have decided to deploy Iron Dome and other interceptors,” Netanyahu said Thursday night in a statement as he went into security talks at the defense ministry in Tel Aviv.
Whatever course of action President Obama and allies decide on in Syria, you can bet the attack will begin with salvos of BGM-109 cruise missiles.
The BGM-109, known commonly as the Tomahawk, has been used in each of America's official conflicts in the last 22 years. Using wings and a flight system, Tomahawk can carry a heavy warhead at subsonic speeds over a significant distance.
Originally developed by General Dynamics in the 70s, the 3,500 lb. 20 foot long Tomahawk missile is now manufactured by Raytheon, a large U.S. defense contractor. The missile's modular system allows it to carry a conventional or nuclear payload if needed. When launched, the missile flies low at close to 550 mph, with current versions allowing an operator to control the missile's speed on target. All U.S. Navy destroyers, cruisers, and attack submarines are equipped with the Tomahawk weapons system.
Tomahawks come in four varieties:
The Block II TLAM-A: a nuclear version
The Block III TLAM-C: conventional version
The Block III TLAM-D: cluster bomb version
The Block IV TLAM-E: called the Tactical Tomahawk, it can hover over it's target for hours and change directions long after it's been fired.
Technical Specifications
Contractor: Raytheon Missile Systems Company, Tucson, AZ
Unit Cost:
$600,000 for older Tomahawks
$1.45 million for Tactical Tomahawks
Length: 20.3 feet Diameter: 21 inches Wingspan: 8 feet 9 inches Weight: 3,330 pounds Speed: Subsonic (meaning slower than the speed of sound.)
Range:
Block II TLAM-A - 1350 nautical miles (2.500 Km)
Block III TLAM-C - 900 nautical miles (1.667 Km)
Block III TLAM-D - 700 nautical miles (1.300 Km)
Block IV TLAM-E - 900 nautical miles (1.667 Km)
Warhead:
Block II TLAM-N: W80 nuclear warhead Block III TLAM-C: 1.000 pounds (453 Kg) warhead Block III TLAM-D: conventional submunitions dispenser with combined effect bomblets.
British special forces were last night hunting Syrian missiles in readiness for Allied strikes which could start as early as tomorrow night.
Cruise missile attacks and RAF raids are expected in response to the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons. A military source said: “It is vital they find every missile site that could threaten British ships or RAF jets and they will probably be taken out by missiles fired from offshore. The risk of capture to these special forces units is off the scale and nobody can be trusted in Syria.”
The British hunt for missiles and chemical weapons – which includes the SAS, Special Boat Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and MI6 spies – is one of the most hazardous in modern times as they are up against Assad’s forces as well as some rebel elements. At the top of the hit list are the President’s sophisticated long-range mobile missile batteries – some of which could be used against jets.
The Navy will spearhead any UK operation against Assad, followed by the RAF, both working with US and French forces, but regular troops will not be sent in. It is thought nuclear submarine HMS Tireless has been repositioned in the Mediterranean in readiness to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles against Assad’s military.
Israel is deploying all of its missile defenses as a precaution against possible Syrian retaliatory attacks should Western powers carry out threatened strikes on Syria, Israeli Army Radio said today.
No special troop movements or exercises have been ordered (apart of a small-scale mobilisation of reservists)but additional Iron Dome and Patriot missile defense batteries were deployed Wednesday in Israeli areas near the Syrian border, Israeli defense officials said.
The missile defenses include:
Against long range missiles: Arrow-II
Against medium range missiles: Patriot
Against short range missiles: Iron Dome
Israel says the Iron Dome system shot down one of the four rockets launched from Lebanon into northern Israel last week, and intercepted a rocket fired toward the Red Sea resort town of Eilat earlier this month. The Iron Dome system has also intercepted rockets launched from the Gaza Strip.
A military strike by the United States and its Western allies on Syria would likely trigger a swift intervention against Israel. A senior Syrian army source told Iran’s Fars News Agency on Tuesday that a full-scale US attack on Syria "would justify an attack on the Jewish state", expanding the battle and sparking a regional war. It is not impossible: Russia have already promised to send Syria S-300 long-range anti-aircraft missiles that have a range of almost 100 miles and would reach deep inside Israel. Also, Russia could have sent Assad their supersonic P800 long-range anti-ship missiles, capable of sinking israeli ships with a single strike. U.S. officials reported that Israel attempted to destroy such missiles in Latakia during a July 5 air strike, though it is unclear if the strike was successful.
The statements of the Syrian Army are clear: “If Damascus comes under attack, Tel Aviv will be targeted too and a full-scale war against Syria will actually issue a license for attacking Israel. If Syria is attacked, Israel will also be set on fire and such an attack will, in turn, engage Syria’s neighbors. Thus, a US attack on Syria will herald frequent strikes and attacks on Israel, not just by Damascus and its allies in retaliation, but by extremist groups.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abbas Araqchi, added fuel to the fire in a press conference on Tuesday after meeting with UN deputy chief for political affairs Jeffrey Feltman in Tehran over the last two days: “Any use of military means will have dire consequences not only for Syria, but for the entire region”.
The Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile, fired safely from a warship or submarine far away from the target, seems to be the best option to reduce the risk of “collateral damage”.
All the signs are that Chuck Hagel, US Defence Secretary, has put the Tomahawk at the top of his list of options for Mr. Obama. He has lined up four guided-missile destroyers, armed with Tomahawks, in the Mediterranean, with instructions to the warship commanders to be on the alert for an order from the White House.
Britain will have a Trafalgar class nuclear-powered submarine, also equipped with Tomahawks, to support such an operation. Each of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers has at least 90 Tomahawks on board, giving a total of almost 400 missiles ready to launch if Mr Obama decided to go down the military route but restrict the mission to a single aim - to prevent or deter President Assad from using chemical weapons again.
The Tomahawk is guided by GPS to provide navigation precision, but the warhead contains only 454 kg of high explosives, a payload designed to damage, not destroy, its target. A full-scale air campaign, as in Kosovo, would necessitate taking out Syria's air defences - a challenge that General Dempsey appears keen to avoid. So the Tomahawk option rises to the fore. Targets could include chemical weapons storage and production sites, although there would be a risk of chemicals entering the atmosphere.
