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http://news.oneindia.in/2010/04/04/alqaeda-urges-uk-fanatics-to-build-diy-cruise-missiles.html “Al-Qaeda urges UK fanatics to build DIY cruise missiles” Sunday, April 4, 2010,10:30 [IST] SNIPPET: “London, Apr 4(ANI): Fears of a terror attack during the UK General Election have been further fueled by reports that the Al-Qaeda has urged British fanatics to build DIY cruise missiles to attack passenger jets. According to reports, an Al-Qaeda website explains how to build missiles with solid fuel engines using operating manuals for the Russian 107mm Katyusha rocket. Numerous links are also available for guides to make explosives, including C4 plastic explosive, acetone peroxide and TNT. The same site was used to explain...

Indian Air Force's multi-role Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighters could be armed with supersonic cruise missiles by 2012, giving them the capability to strike ground targets from stand-off distance. "The work to adopt the missile for deployment on fighter is being carried out by the Rosoboronexport, the Sukhoi Design Bureau and NPO Mashinostroyeniya (Russian partner in BrahMos JV)," a top official of the aircraft manufacturer has said, adding that the missiles could be mounted on the aircraft in two years. With this, India would get the capability to fire these missiles from land, sea as well as air. BrahMos are already...

The number of strategic bombers performing routine patrols could be doubled if the Russian General Staff makes such a decision, the commander of Russia's strategic aviation said Tuesday. Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans, the Black Sea and along the borders of the Commonwealth of Independent States in August 2007, following an order from then-president Vladimir Putin. "As a rule, up to four strategic bombers perform patrol flights simultaneously. However, under specific circumstances and on orders from the General Staff, their number could be increased to up to eight aircraft," Maj. Gen. Anatoly...

China continues adapting its ground launched cruise missiles to operate from aircraft. The latest missile to get this treatment is the DH-10. This weapon is similar to early U.S. cruise missiles, and has a range of 1,500-3,000 kilometers and uses GPS, along with terrain mapping. The DH-10 was first shown publicly in the recent 60th anniversary (of the communists taking control of China) on October 1st.) The aircraft carried version is called the CJ-10. This is believed to be based on some American cruise missile technology. Earlier, China had taken the Russian Kh-31 air-to-ground missile (which they bought 200 of...

South Korea has deployed new longer-range cruise missiles that could reach not only North Korea but also parts of China and Japan, a news report said Thursday. Munhwa Ilbo newspaper said Seoul began mass-producing the "Hyunmu-3" missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) early this year. The paper, quoting US and South Korean government sources, said the missile was developed in 2006 and tested for two years before being deployed. "Its development and deployment had been kept confidential because Japan, China and other neighbouring nations could react sensitively," the source said. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) would...

The U.S. Army's Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Sensor (JLENS) System, which uses aerostats to elevate sensors for long-range target detection and tracking for superior land-attack cruise missile defense, demonstrated its first flight during a ceremony in Elizabeth City, N.C. This flight reflects the maturity and operability of the JLENS platform - an aerostat platform that features long-duration, wide-area, over-the-horizon detection and tracking of low-altitude cruise missiles. Its capabilities provide battlefield commanders with enhanced situational awareness and elevated communications, enabling sufficient warning to engage air defense systems and defeat threats. The flight demonstration marked the first time a...

U.S. Submarines Could Retain Nuclear-Armed Cruise Missiles Friday, July 31, 2009 An ongoing review of the U.S. nuclear weapons posture might call for the country to continue arming some of its attack submarines with nuclear-tipped Tomahawk cruise missiles, Kyodo News reported (see GSN, March 24). Washington will look to friendly nations to help decide whether to retire the weapons, a high-level U.S. official told Kyodo News. Japan has asked the United States to consult with partner governments before rolling back any nonstrategic nuclear-weapon deployments, according to the news service. One U.S. ally has expressed support for the missiles' deterrent value,...

Boeing's HyFly hypersonic missile fails in bid for Mach 6 By Graham Warwick An attempt to fly a hypersonic cruise missile demonstrator at Mach 6 has failed, after the scramjet engine powering Boeing's HyFly malfunctioned and the air-launched vehicle plunged into the Pacific Ocean. The January 16 flight was the last under the HyFly programme, which was designed to demonstrate a missile-like vehicle with a range of 400nm (740km) and a maximum cruise speed exceeding Mach 6. The previous flight, in September 2007, failed to meet its objectives. The HyFly is powered by a dual-combustion ramjet (DCR) built by Aerojet....

Dud missile Sandeep Unnithan January 10, 2008 It was dubbed Baby Tomahawkski, a short-legged Russian version of the eponymous US cruise missiles. Fired from the torpedo tube of a submarine, it could fly over 300 km delivering a 400 kg warhead to a target with pin-point accuracy. It would give the Indian Navy’s submarines capability to attack targets on land. Yet, the Kilo class submarine INS Sindhuvijay and the land-attack missiles it is equipped to fire have today joined aircraft carrier Vikramaditya as another bone of contention that India has with its largest defence supplier, Russia. The navy recently refused...

The Navy this month completed its fourth conversion of a U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarine into an extremely powerful, conventionally armed cruise missile launcher and covert transporter of U.S. special operations force. The last converted missile sub the USS Georgia is now being readied for deployment around the world at its home port of Kings Bay, Ga., said skipper, Cmdr. Rodney E. Hutton. The conversion of the nuclear missile submarines into Tomahawk-firing submarines is one element of a new Pentagon strategy of building up forces to be ready to counter any emerging threat from China. Cmdr. Hutton said the Georgia...

Diplomacy is doing nothing to stop the Iranian nuclear threat; a show of force is the only answer. WE MUST bomb Iran. It has been four years since that country's secret nuclear program was brought to light, and the path of diplomacy and sanctions has led nowhere. First, we agreed to our allies' requests that we offer Tehran a string of concessions, which it spurned. Then, Britain, France and Germany wanted to impose a batch of extremely weak sanctions. For instance, Iranians known to be involved in nuclear activities would have been barred from foreign travel — except for humanitarian...

President Vladimir Putin flexed Russia's military muscles once again yesterday when his government said that 12 strategic bombers would practise firing cruise missiles during a show-of-strength exercise over the Arctic. The giant Tupolev 95 aircraft were due to take off from five air bases, including one near the Bering Straits, separating Russia from Alaska. Mr Putin has made great efforts to extend Russian influence over the Arctic, which may have untapped mineral wealth. Russia has dispatched a scientific expedition to the polar ice-cap and last month a submarine dropped the national flag on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Monday's...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan on Saturday successfully test-fired a new air-launched cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the military said. The missile, named Hatf-8 or Ra'ad, has a range of 350 kilometres, an army statement said. The missile gives the air force a "strategic standoff capability" - the ability to strike over a long distance - and could be fitted with any type of warhead, the army said. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf congratulated the scientists and engineers who developed the weapon, it added, Pakistan routinely tests various nuclear-capable missiles in its arsenal, believed to be designed mainly...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States could deploy a system to protect an area ranging from Washington to Boston from sea-based cruise-missile attacks within 14 months at a cost of "several billion dollars," a top Lockheed Martin Corp. executive said on Monday. David Kier, who formerly was deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, said the technologies needed to track, identify and destroy any such missiles launched from ships off the U.S. coastline already existed or were under development. "It just requires a will to do it," he told congressional aides at a briefing.

China is developing armed forces that can conduct offensive operations around the world, a GOP presidential candidate has warned.

According to Brian Ross and ABC news, NATO officials claim "they have caught Iran red-handed, shipping heavy arms, C4 explosives and advanced roadside bombs to the Taliban for use against NATO forces in what the officials say is a dramatic escalation of Iran's proxy war against the United States and Great Britain." I suspect it is only a matter of time before the ever-predictable American media will suggest NATO is lying to get us into a war with Iran. While daily evidence builds of Iran's support of terrorism, the world sits idly by and does nothing. Not even a harsh...

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Iran has been procuring and developing a range of cruise missiles to prepare for war with the United States. A study by the Marshall Institute asserted that Iran has made a major investment in cruise missiles in an effort to bolster military capabilities. The report, entitled "The Cruise Missile Challenge: Designing a Defense Against Asymmetric Threats," said Iran has obtained technology, expertise and components from China and Russia.

BrahMos to be fitted on naval aircraft Friday February 9 2007 00:41 IST BANGALORE: India is redefining the concept of naval reconnaissance by equipping its long-range maritime aircraft with the lethal BrahMos supersonic missiles. This innovation will see all long-range aircraft like IL-38, IL-76 and TU-142 being fitted with BrahMos missiles with a view to converting them into long-range bombers against their current status of recce planes. It also upgrades the status of these aircraft into a complete war machine capable of detecting a bogey and killing it instantly without waiting for strike forces to finish the job. The move...

US refuses to sell air-to-ground missiles for Finland’s Hornet jets Officials in the Untied States have rejected a preliminary request by Finland to buy JASSM air-to-ground missiles for the US-made Hornet F-18 jet fighters used by the Finnish Air Force. Finland inquired about the purchase last autumn as part of an extensive package aimed at implementing MLU2 - the second phase of the modernisation of the Air Force’s fleet of 62 jets. The Americans had no objections to Finnish requests in other respects. Finland will thus be allowed to buy missiles to attack radar stations, as well as NATO-standard Link...

India sets sights on cruise missile market By Siddharth Srivastava NEW DELHI - Long considered among the top importing nations for defense hardware, India is now looking to access the fast-growing international market for cruise missiles, considered a lethally efficient weapon. US forces used almost 1,000 such missiles when they first entered Iraq in 2003, and the total worldwide market is expected to be more than US$10 billion in the next decade. An inventory of more than 80,000 such missiles is estimated already to exist around the world. Indian Defense Minister A K Anthony has said New Delhi is holding...