Free Republic

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (KTLA) — The 30th Space Wing and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency conducted a flight test of the Ground-Based Mid-course Defense system Saturday. The missile test was designed to demonstrate the latest version of the advanced kill vehicle.

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday successfully test-fired a highly manoeuvrable version of the 290-km range supersonic cruise missile BrahMos from a naval warship off the coast of Vizag in the Bay of Bengal. "At 9.30 am, the missile blasted off in a pre-designated war scenario taking a 'double-manoeuvre in S-form' hitting the designated target ship just one meter above water line. The sheer velocity and power of the hit made the missile rip through the ship's hull," BrahMos Aerospace CEO Sivathanu Pillai said on Wednesday. This is the 34th launch of BrahMos after the successful October launch from INS Teg...

Republic of Korea: For the record. Pak Ku'n-hye (Park Geun-hye) of the New Frontier Party won South Korea's presidential election on 19 December, media reported. She is the daughter of Park Chung-hee and the first woman elected to be president of the Republic of Korea. That should confound the North! North Korea-Iran: According to a Japanese news service, an Iranian lawmaker told the service that North Korea informed Iran in October of its plan to launch a satellite. The head of an Iranian parliamentary delegation to North Korea, Hamid Reza Taraghi, revealed talks took place mid-October with the North's delegates...

Mystery man seen next to N. Korean leader likely to be arms development official: Seoul SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- A mystery man seen standing next to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in recent commemoration ceremonies is likely to be the head of the country's arms development center, a Seoul official said Tuesday. Wild media speculation emerged over the identity of the middle-aged man after he was seen standing next to Kim during the country's commemoration ceremonies for late leader Kim Jong-il on Sunday and Monday. North Korean figures' positions at official events are key signs indicating their ranks and...

NEW DELHI: Israel has upstaged the US in the ongoing race to bag the huge deal to supply third-generation anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) to the Indian Army, in a project which could well be worth $1 billion eventually. Defence ministry sources said the plan to go in for the American FGM-148 Javelin ATGMs has "virtually been shelved" because of Washington's reluctance to provide full military knowhow - licensed "transfer of technology (ToT)'' - to allow India to indigenously manufacture the "tank killers'' in large numbers after an initial off-the-shelf purchase. Instead, the Army has already completed extensive trials of the...

(TheBlaze/AP) — Israel successfully tested its newest missile defense system Sunday, the military said, a step toward making the third leg of what Israel calls its “multilayer missile defense” operational. The “David’s Sling” system is designed to stop mid-range missiles. It successfully passed its test, shooting down its first missile in a drill Sunday in southern Israel, the military said. The system is designed to intercept projectiles with ranges of up to 300 kilometers (180 miles). Israel has also deployed Arrow systems for longer-range threats from Iran. The Iron Dome protects against short-range rockets fired by militants in the Gaza...

TEL AVIV – A missile launch site in the Gaza Strip was set up by Hamas just half a block from a mosque and children’s playground, according to aerial photographs provided to KleinOnline by the Israel Defense Forces today. Israel yesterday struck the site in question – a Fajr-5 missile launch pad established in the heavily populated Zeitoun district of Gaza to fire long range rockets into the Jewish state. The photograph of the launch site, posted above, shows a children’s playground and a mosque located about a half a block away as well as two civilian factories and a...

Hamas confirms Ahmed Jabari killed when a missile hit two cars near the Gaza port; Palestinians report another person was killed.

Gaza terrorists hit an IDF jeep with an anti-tank missile early Saturday evening. The IDF Spokesman announced that four soldiers were hurt. IDF Radio said that on soldier was very seriously wounded and another soldier suffered moderate-to-serious wounds. Both were evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva. Two other soldiers were in light to moderate condition, suffering from shrapnel wounds. They were evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. The jeep reportedly caught fire. It had been driving along the border between Gaza and Israel, opposite the Zeitoun neighborhood in central Gaza, east of Gaza City. Voice of Israel public radio...

(CBS/AP) TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has test-fired four missiles designed to hit warships during a drill near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, an Iranian military commander said. The missiles were fired simultaneously and hit a "big target" the size of a warship, sinking it within 50 seconds, Gen. Ali Fadavi of the powerful Revolutionary Guard was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

Close on the heels of the success of Agni-IV trial, India on Friday test-fired nuclear weapons capable Agni-III ballistic missile for its full range of 3,000 km from the Wheeler Island , off the Odisha coast. The 17-metre tall, surface-to-surface long range missile was picked up from the production lot and fired by the Strategic Force Command personnel from a rail mobile launcher at 1.20 p.m. After a flight duration of around 15 minutes, it impacted the pre-designated target in the Indian Ocean with a two digit accuracy and met the mission objectives, according to official sources. After accelerating to...

Islamabad: Pakistan on Monday successfully test-fired the nuclear-capable Babur cruise missile with a range of 700 km that could hit targets deep inside India, with the military saying the launch had consolidated and strengthened the country's deterrence capability. The "fully automated Strategic Command and Control Support System" of the National Command Authority, which controls Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, was deployed during the test which was conducted at an unspecified location, said a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations. "The test consolidates and strengthens Pakistan's deterrence capability and national security," it said. The missile was launched from a multi-tube missile launch vehicle...

In an interview broadcast last week on a Kremlin-bankrolled television channel, Russian President Vladimir Putin re-introduced high-tech and high-stakes defense policy to the U.S. presidential election. After assuring the audience that Russia will work "with whichever president is elected by the American people," Putin turned to the issue of missile defense and declared that if Mitt Romney became president, "the (U.S. and NATO) missile defense system will definitely be directed against Russia." Putin then slipped in a plug for President Barack Obama's re-election, saying that "in principle" he and Obama could resolve U.S.-Russian missile defense (MD) disagreements. However, he opined...

Putin Says Missile Deal Is More Likely With ObamaBy DAVID M. HERSZENHORN Published: September 6, 2012 VLADIVOSTOK, Russia — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia sauntered into American presidential politics on Thursday, praising President Obama as “a very honest man” and chastising the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, for describing Russia as “without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe.” **SNIP** Mr. Putin said he believed that if Mr. Obama is re-elected in November, a compromise could be reached on the contentious issue of American plans for a missile defense system in Europe, which Russia has strongly opposed.

Defense Ministry is due to equip the country’s Armed Forces with a new long-range air-defense system by the next Iranian year (starting on March 21, 2013), a senior Iranian military official said on Saturday. Speaking to Fars News Agency, Deputy Defense Minister for Industrial and Research Mohammad Eslami said the new long-range air-defense system can cover a major part of the S-300 mission. Eslami said the new long-range air-defense system will provide a full air-defense cover for Iran by the time the Iranian version of S-300 becomes operational. *SNIPnder a contract signed in 2007, Russia is required to provide Iran...

CIA spies have smuggled up to 14 Stinger missiles into Syria so rebels can defend themselves from air strikes. The ground-to-air weapons have been delivered across the Turkish border to the Free Syrian Army and were partly paid for by Saudi Arabia, a security source claimed. President Bashar al-Assad’s MIG-23 warplanes and helicopter gunships have killed more than 1,000 people.

As the United States continues to help Israel improve its missile defense shield due to growing fears of possible attack by Syria and Iran, claims by Iran that it has developed its own ‘carrier-killer’ that can evade U.S. Navy defense systems to hit ships in the Persian Gulf are drawing skepticism from naval experts. As first reported by Jane’s Defence Weekly , Iran released images of a test last month in which the Khalij Fars antiship ballistic missile was launched and struck a moving target. The missile is purported to be a smaller version of China’s modified Dong Feng 21,...

President Barack Obama erroneously exaggerated the amount of money his administration has provided to an Israeli missile defense program Friday while signing a bill meant to boost U.S.-Israeli security ties. Obama, who has been criticized for weakening the U.S.-Israel alliance, was attempting to tout his administration’s commitment to the Jewish state when he incorrectly stated that Israel will receive “$70 billion dollars” for its missile defense program. “I’m very pleased that this week we are going to be able to announce $70 million spending…$70 billion, excuse me, in additional spending for Iron Dome,” Obama said, inflating the actual dollar amount...

^^ Video is at the link

UCSON, Ariz., July 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) was awarded a $636 million development and sustainment contract to provide the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle to The Boeing Company, which is the prime contractor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program. Raytheon booked the award during its second quarter. EKV represents the centerpiece for the Missile Defense Agency's GMD as the intercept component of the Ground Based Interceptor, also known as GBI, which is designed to engage high-speed ballistic missile warheads in space. "When it comes to developing, testing and deploying technologies that enable the intercept of threats in space,...