An additional warship (equipped with ballistic missiles) was dispatched to the region late Friday, joining the three other Sixth Fleet's ships currently there to prepare a possible long-range missile strike against the Syrian government.
All four ships are capable of launching cruise subsonic missiles BGM-109 Tomahawk to reach land targets. Commanders of the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean ordered warships to move closer to Israel, so they would be in better striking range to hit forces in Syria. The maximum range for Tomahawk Cruise Missiles is about 1,500 Km, enough to reach Syrian government targets.
Possible targets include command bunkers and missile sites that could be used to launch chemical-tipped missiles. On Saturday, humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders said approximately 3,600 patients were treated with "neurotoxic symptoms" at three hospitals outside Damascus early Wednesday, following a series of missile strikes.
Malmstrom Air Force Base announced yesterday that the 341st Security Forces Group commander has been relieved of command.
Col. David Lynch was relieved of his duties Thursday 21st by 341st Missile Wing commander Col. Robert Stanley “due to a loss of confidence in Lynch’s ability to lead his group,” according to a news release.
Col. John Wilcox, Air Force Global Strike Command Security Forces Division director, will serve as an interim commander until a replacement is found. There is no timeline for selecting a new commander, according to the 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs Office. The missile wing received an unsatisfactory rating this month during a Nuclear Surety Inspection, but the wing continues to remain certified to perform its mission, according to the release.
The inspection happens every two years for bases that handle nuclear weapons. The release states Lynch’s removal is not related to MAFB’s recent Nuclear Surety Inspection failure. But it added: “However, as the 341 MW prepares for a re-inspection, Stanley must have full confidence in the leadership ability of his commanders.”According to Public Affairs, Lynch’s removal was not related to any misconduct. Lynch did not meet the expectations of wing commanders, Public Affairs said.
MAFB spokesman Capt. Chase McFarland said Lynch will “transition to retirement.”Lynch became commander of the 341st Security Forces Group in June 2012, after 37 years in the armed forces. He served in Grenada in 1983 and in Iraq in 2005 and 2010, according to the MAFB website. During a portion of an exercise in one of the 13 major graded areas unrelated to the command and control of nuclear weapons, a team did not demonstrate the correct procedures. The inspector general failed the team on that exercise, which resulted in the unsatisfactory rating.
According to the news release, the Security Forces Group has more than 1,200 personnel and four squadrons. It provides security protection for the 341st Missile Wing, 15 launch control centers and 150 intercontinental ballistic missile silos in 13,800 square miles of central Montana.
China is apparently about to deploy or has already deployed its first Type 096 SSBN (nuclear powered missile submarine) that would conduct its first oceanic patrol in 2014.
Main characteristics:
Type 096 SSBN
Speed: 32 knots
Length: 150 m
Displacement: 16,000 tons
Depth: 600 m
Noise level: 95-100 dB (Type 094 115 dB)
Missiles carried: 16 - 24 JL-3 SLBM.
JL-3 SLBM
Each JL-3 can carry 5-7 warheads. There are three versions with different ranges:
First version has range of 12,000 km
Second version has range of 14,000 km
Third version has range of 20,000 km
It is said the most important component of China's defense is the nuclear deterrence, and nuclear powered submarines are very good platforms for launching nuclear missiles because they are very difficult to find. With a range of 12.000 km, JL-3 SLBMs can be fired from anywhere in the middle of the Pacific and still be able to reach any part of the US.
Israeli forces have reportedly opened artillery fire towards Lebanon following the launch of Katuysha missiles into Northern Israel from South Lebanon.
Reports say that at least three missiles were fired from Lebanon into an area near the coastal city of Nahariya, with one intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system and at least two landing in uninhabited areas.
Missiles are a key tactic of the Lebanese Hezbollah and other terror groups on Israel’s northern and southern borders. Thousands of projectiles fell on Israel during the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006, and Hezbollah has since stockpiled tens of thousands of missiles it has said will be launched at Israeli cities in future fighting.
Four Katyusha missiles were launched today on northeastern Israel around 16:30.
Two of the missiles landed in the Galilee, one was intercepted by the Iron Dome system, and the fourth rocket overshot its target and landed in the Mediterranean Sea.
Residents in the coastal city of Nahariya and in the Western Galilee ran for shelters as sirens blared, warning of the incoming rockets. Bomb shelters in Acre, immediately south of Nahariya, were opened. The Hezbollah-run Al Manar network in Lebanon said that the rockets were launched by Hezbollah terrorists from Tyre. The army said it was looking into the incident and called on northern residents to remain close to bomb shelters, though they could otherwise go back to their normal routines. Israel last week deployed a sixth Iron Dome battery north of Tel Aviv, with an eye to the missile threat from the north.The anti-missile Iron Dome system is a keystone of Israel’s air defense array and successfully intercepted hundreds of short- and medium-range missiles shot at Israeli cities during the conflagration in Gaza in November.
As Rzeczpospolita broadsheet reports, Poland to purchase Lockheed Martin's AGM-158 missiles for his F-16s.
The strike capability of the AGM-158 is immense, as it is able to destroy targets at distances of 370 km (ca. 220 miles). This allows the Viper to destroy the target outside of the SAMs (Surface to Air Missiles) envelope, which is a major step in comparison to the current Polish A2G armament which has a maximum range of 70km. In other words, the AGM-158 might be considered a very modern long range strategic weapon.
Used by the USAF since 2003, this is one of the most modern missiles in the world. Technically, it uses an unique twin-guiding system working in two phases:
In the first phase of flight, on a very low-level, the missile uses GPS guiding.
In the final phase, seconds before striking the target the missile uses electronic-optical guiding.
China’s navy is expected to begin the first sea patrols next year of a new class of strategic missile submarines, highlighting a new and growing missile threat to the U.S. homeland, according to U.S. defense officials.
“We are anticipating that combat patrols of submarines carrying the new JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile will begin next year,” said one official familiar with recent intelligence assessments of the Chinese strategic submarine force. China’s strategic missile submarine force currently includes three new Type 094 missile submarines each built with 12 missile launch tubes.
The submarine patrols will include scores of new JL-2 SLBMs (Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles) on the Type 094s. The submarines are also called Jin-class missile boats by the Pentagon. The missile submarine patrols, if carried out in 2014, would be the first time China conducts submarine operations involving nuclear-tipped missiles far from Chinese shores despite having a small missile submarine force since the late 1980s.
The Washington Free Beacon first reported in August that China carried out a rare flight test that month of the JL-2, a missile analysts say will likely be equipped with multiple warheads. Defense officials said the JL-2 poses a “potential first strike” nuclear missile threat to the United States and is one of four new types of long-range missiles in China’s growing strategic nuclear arsenal. The Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center earlier this month published a report on missile threats that identified the JL-2 a weapon that “will, for the first time, allow Chinese SSBNs to target portions of the United States from operating areas located near the Chinese coast.” SSBN is a military acronym for nuclear missile submarine.
The Pentagon’s most recent annual report on China’s military stated that Beijing’s Navy has placed a high priority on building up submarine forces. In addition to the three Type 094s currently deployed, China will add at least two more of the submarines before deploying a new generation missile submarine dubbed the Type 096, the report stated. It was the first time the Pentagon has revealed the existence of the follow-on strategic missile submarine. “The JIN-class and the JL-2 will give the PLA Navy its first credible sea-based nuclear deterrent,” the Pentagon report said. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert told Congress in May that he was not worried by the Chinese naval buildup, including the new missile submarines, but that it is a development that needs to be watched.
Vice Adm. James Syring, director of the MDA (Missile Defense Agency, updated last week’s attendees of the Space and Missile Defense Symposium on the programs the Missile Defense Agency has in place to protect not only the war fighter, but the nation’s homeland and its allies.
Those programs are becoming more and more important, Syring said, as the threat increases. Not counting the U.S., Russia, China or NATO, roughly 6,000 ballistic missiles exist in the world today – by 2020 that number is expected to increase to 7,950. “The threat over the last couple of years has certainly escalated,” Syring said. “It has influenced a lot of the decisions we have made in missile defense to better posture ourselves against the threat.”
All one has to do is look at the news to see images of the North Koreans parading their KN-08 missiles through the streets to realize the global threat is real and imminent. Currently in the process of developing a road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile and an intermediate-range ballistic missile, North Korea’s weapons could potentially reach Guam, the Aleutian Islands, and even Hawaii, according to Syring. Iran, too, is increasing its force through the deployment of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.
While defending the U.S. and its allies may seem daunting, defense secretary Chuck Hagel outlined in March several actions being taken to counter the nation’s adversaries, which Syring expanded on during his remarks. Those priorities include:
Deploying 14 ground-based interceptors to Fort Greely, Alaska, by fiscal year 2017
Deploying an additional AN/TPY-2, anti-ballistic missile radar that will provide early warning and tracking of launched missiles to Japan
Conducting environmental impact studies for a potential additional interceptor site in the continental U.S.
Restructure the Standard Missile 3 IIB program into a common kill vehicle technology program
India has started a program focused to expand the missile defense to shield large parts of the country that, in the oppinion of many analysts, for some reasons may be counter-productive to maintain the peace in the region. Let us see briefly why.
India
Development of a pan-national missile interception capability is beyond India’s economic means, and for that reason may ballast dramatically the economy of the country.
Pakistan
Pakistan’s inclinations to pursue low intensity conflicts under the shield of its nuclear arsenal have made India extremely uncomfortable with the strategic situation in the region.
Many in Delhi hope missile defense will provide India a space for limited wars against Pakistan, bearing in mind the fear that there could be an unintended launch of a ballistic missile, especially given Pakistan’s vacillation between being ruled by a trigger happy military and being overrun by jihadi extremists.
However, Pakistan is acutely sensitive to any perceived military edge, current or future, that India may be developing.
It means in fact that even a limited fielding of a partly unproven Indian ballistic missile defense capability (as DRDO is actually planning) could be enough to compel Pakistan to grow its nuclear arsenal – with all the potential dangers that this entails.
China
Although DRDO’s capabilities are far from proven when pitted against Chinese ICBMs, such as the DF-41, a nationwide BMD system could create in China the perception that India it is preparing for a first strike; a perception which may be anything except good.
At a time when India and China are making a renewed effort to secure a long-term agreement on the status of their borders, BMD developments could therefore worsen the trajectory of their relationship, all while offering India uncertain returns.
