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It sounds like something from a James Bond movie: a massive satellite, the largest ever launched, equipped with a powerful laser to take out the American anti-missile shield in advance of a Soviet first strike. It was real, though—or at least the plan was. In fact, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev walked out of the October 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, because President Ronald Reagan wouldn't abandon his Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, the Soviets were closer to fielding a space-based weapon than the United States was. Less than a year later, as the world continued to criticize Reagan for...

THE CASE FOR SPACE-BASED DEFENSE The growing interest in nuclear technology by countries such as Iran presages the possibility that one or more nations may attempt to harness such a capability in the form of an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) attack against the United States, a prominent political scientist has warned. Such a scenario, writes Brian Kennedy of the Claremont Institute in the November 24th edition of the Wall Street Journal, is not far-fetched. "It would require the Iranians to be able to produce a warhead as sophisticated as we expect the Russians or the Chinese to possess. But that is...

The Obama adminstration must react responsibly to China’s declaration that military operations in space are inevitable, a top China expert says. “How will the US react to Chinese diplomatic efforts in light of the PLA’s blunt statements on space warfare? This is something the Obama administration has to take into account,” said Dean Cheng, China specialist at Washington’s Heritage Foundation. “Are we going to see outrage, any meaningful reactions to the Chinese statements or again that it was someone speaking out of school and we just aren’t sure.” Cheng was referring to what appears to mark a major shift...

William K. Black's Proposal for “Systemically Dangerous Institutions” /snip SDIs should: 1. Not be permitted to acquire other firms 2. Not be permitted to grow 3. Be subject to a premium federal corporate income tax rate that increases with asset size 4. Be subject to comprehensive federal and state regulation, including: a. Annual, full-scope examinations by their primary federal regulator b. Annual examination by the systemic risk regulator c. Annual tax audits by the IRS d. An annual forensic (anti-fraud) audit by a firm chosen by their primary federal regulator e. An annual audit by a firm chosen by their...

Czechs are used to betrayal by their Western allies. It was at Munich in 1938 that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain sealed their doom in exchange for a piece of paper promising "peace in our time." The fact that this further gutting of missile defense came on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland on Sept. 17, 1939, is an eerie coincidence. "Just after midnight I was informed in a telephone call by President Barack Obama that (his) administration had decided to pull out from the planned missile defense shield installations" in the Czech Republic and Poland, the...

Defense: A ballistic missile launched from Alaska is shot down by an interceptor launched from California. With threats from North Korea to Iran, it's time to ignore the skeptics and fully fund missile defense.It was the most realistic and most successful missile defense test ever in a Strategic Defense Initiative that could one day save an American city from a rogue missile strike. Yet the "yeah, but" media greeted this triumph with claims the concept is still unproven. It was as if the Wright brothers had announced man's first flight, only to be greeted with cries that they hadn't built...

Vicenza, Italy. President Obama’s decision to cancel our European ground-based missile defense system will prove to be very costly and his public rationale -- changed intelligence and improved technologies -- is far from the whole truth. This is a geopolitical disaster and risks our security as well. Last year, President Bush said “Iran is pursuing technology that could be used to produce nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles of increasing range that could deliver them.” His administration successfully negotiated with Poland and the Czech Republic to install a ground-based anti-missile defense system in those countries to counter the accelerating Iranian threat.

Security: An Iranian mullah once said "a world without America and Zionism" was a real possibility. Our sellout of Eastern Europe and missile defense brings that dream closer to reality. It would take only one warhead."Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism?" Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked at a "World Without Zionism" conference in Tehran in 2005. "But you had best know that this slogan and this goal are attainable, and surely can be achieved." He added that Iran had a strategic "war preparation plan" for what it called "the destruction of Anglo-Saxon civilization." A...

Strategic Defense: A new report says the United States must develop robust missile and space defenses to counter China. If you think the current economic crisis is something, imagine the effects of a nuke over Iowa.Imagine a world in which you can't get money from your bank or can't get a loan. You can't get money from your ATM even if it's within walking distance. You can't drive to one because your car won't work. No, it's not what would happen if the Congress doesn't pass a bailout bill. This is a small snapshot of what would happen if a...

Strategic Defense: With Iran on the verge of a deliverable nuke, the administration tells our allies in the dead of night that we will scuttle missile defense plans in Eastern Europe to please the Russians.Czechs are used to betrayal by their Western allies. It was at Munich in 1938 that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain sealed their doom in exchange for a piece of paper promising "peace in our time." The fact that this further gutting of missile defense came on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland on Sept. 17, 1939, is an eerie coincidence. "Just after...

Defense: On the same day a plot to supply Iran with nuclear materials is revealed, Israel conducts a missile defense test. Nothing concentrates the mind quite so wonderfully as the threat of imminent extinction.On Tuesday, word came that the Manhattan district attorney's office had smashed a plot to smuggle nuclear weapons materials to Iran through unwitting New York banks. A 118-count indictment accuses Chinese financier Lei Feng Wei of setting up fake companies to hide that he was selling millions of dollars in potential nuclear materials to Tehran. As the New York Daily News reports, among the materials involved were...

Alliances: The U.S. has expressed a willingness to barter away missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic. Now the Polish foreign minister says he hopes his country doesn't regret trusting the United States.The Brussels Forum is a privately organized high-level meeting of the most influential North American and European political, corporate and intellectual leaders to address pressing challenges currently facing both sides of the Atlantic. One of the pressing issues discussed at this year's conference was whether the U.S. is serious about bartering away plans for missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic in exchange for...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2009 – Boosted by a few strong years of testing successes, much of the United States’ missile defense technology that once was questioned is now ready to be fielded. The destroyer USS Hopper launches a standard missile 3 as it operates in the Pacific Ocean on July 30, 2009. The missile successfully intercepted a sub-scale, short-range ballistic missile launched from the Kauai Test Facility at Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. The launch was the latest Missile Defense Agency test in conjunction with the Navy. U.S. Navy photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

A test-firing of a high-energy laser beam aboard a modified Boeing 747 has been called a success, the Missile Defense Agency said. A team from Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin conducted the Airborne Laser (ABL) test Tuesday over the California High Desert. The laser was fired into an onboard calorimeter, which captured the beam and measured its power. The test is preparation for an upcoming demonstration in which the laser will be fired through a nose-mounted turret on the aircraft toward the target. In a test Aug. 10, a low-power laser beam hit an instrument-equipped missile. "This test shows...

Defense: The Air Force airborne laser program successfully completes a simulated kill from a plane able to find, track and destroy a live ballistic missile. We can shoot down enemy missiles. Instead, we're shooting down the laser program.The Aug. 10 effort was the third such test — sort of like a sniper sighting the target with the red dot of a laser without actually pulling the trigger. In early June, the airborne laser (ABL) program engaged two un-instrumented missiles. This was the first in-flight test against an instrumented target missile. A modified Boeing 747-400F aircraft took off from Edwards Air...

Defense: Overlooked in the defense budget cuts is the decimation of missile defense systems. As North Korea tested an ICBM, our defense secretary was scrapping a system that could have destroyed it with a single shot.We will miss the F-22 Raptor, perhaps the only plane that could evade the sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system Russia is selling to Iran. Russia's S-300 system is "one of the most lethal, if not the most lethal, all-altitude area defense" systems, according to the International Strategy and Assessment Service, a Virginia-based think tank. But the aircraft we and the nation will miss the...

EDWARDS AFB, CA - The Boeing Company and the US Missile Defense Agency successfully completed the Airborne Laser's (ABL) first in-flight test against an instrumented target missile, achieving a historic milestone.During the test, the modified Boeing 747-400F used its infrared sensors to find a target missile launched from San Nicolas Island, Calif. The battle management system aboard ABL issued engagement and target location instructions to the beam control/fire control system, which acquired the target and fired its two solid-state illuminator lasers to track the target and measure atmospheric conditions.ABL then fired a surrogate high-energy laser at the target, simulating a...

Strategic Defense: The Air Force's airborne laser program passes yet another test, proving "unproven" missile defense once again. The question is not whether we can get it to work, but whether we can afford not to.The news that Iran has enough nuclear material to build a nuclear weapon in relatively short order and is well along on missiles to deliver its nukes has put a sense of urgency on the proposed missile defense system slated for Poland and the Czech Republic. Fortunately, another answer to the threat posed by rogue regimes like Iran and North Korea has just passed a...

SDI: If you missed the news, which isn't hard given how poorly these things are covered, our "unproven" missile defense proved itself again last week, when a U.S. warship downed a simulated North Korean missile in flight.The test, conducted in Hawaiian waters by the Navy and the Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency (MDA), was the 23rd firing by ships equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defense system. It was the 19th success, including the shoot-down of a dead U.S. spy satellite last year. A short-range ballistic missile simulating a missile like North Korea's Nodongs or Scuds was fired from...

(Japan and its role on the international stage grow increasingly important by the day. As North Korea accelerates its nuclear and missile threats and China builds its military at a frantic pace. the role of Japan as one of American’s premier allies in the Pacific becomes even more critical and the byzantine internal politics of Japan are gaining more attention. On Sunday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost the latest in a string of municipal elections to the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, this one in the capital city of Tokyo. Almost immediately, Prime Minister Taro Aso called a national...

Thirty years after Jimmy Carter's malaise speech, we return to the days of rising joblessness, an unresponsive economy, deference to dictators, gutting the military and an energy policy tilting at windmills... As history repeats itself on the anniversary of the speech MSNBC's Chris Matthews wrote, we wonder if the "Hardball" host, who has worked for four Democratic politicians, is still getting tingles up his legs. The Democratic Party apparently has learned nothing in the past three decades. Will we see a return of the misery index? The only thing that's different is the sweater.

The Obama administration is reacting to the anticipated launch of another North Korean long-range ballistic missile, expected to fly over the Pacific toward Hawaii sometime soon, by putting missile defense on alert. That's a big change from last time. Back in April, in advance of North Korea's last missile test, the administration pretty much pooh-poohed the threat posed by the Taepo Dong launch, characterizing Pyongyang's saber-rattling as bluster. Indeed, from all outward indications, Team Obama did just about nothing but bloviate to defend U.S. territory and interests from the missile that, by almost all accounts, has the potential to reach...

Call this coming July Fourth Dependence Day -- the day marking prudent and responsible America's realization that we do indeed depend on the diplomatic power and technological capability of anti-missile defensive systems. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il is threatening to fire a ballistic missile "test shot" at Hawaii on July Fourth. Kim's hyperbolic bombast and paranoid theatrics likely engage Pyongyang's opaque domestic intrigues. Still, the missile and the moment are dangerous -- and instructive. The first decade of the 21st century has made it clear that we are engaged in a global battle between the constructive and the destructive...

National Security: Iranian missile experts are helping North Korea with the imminent launch of an ICBM that can hit Alaska and Hawaii. Imagine a Taepodong-2 with a nuke. This is no time to gut missile defense.The enemy of my enemy is my friend, the saying goes. On Sunday, the Japanese paper Sankei Shimbun reported that a 15-member delegation from Tehran has been advising the North Koreans on their imminent "satellite" launch since the beginning of March. Iran recently launched its own satellite to demonstrate its global reach. The Iranian experts include senior officials with rocket and satellite producer Shahid Hemmat...

Defense: As we prepare to celebrate our independence, North Korea wants to remind us of Pearl Harbor. Fortunately, we can make use of assets dreamed of by Reagan and deployed by Bush to defend our 50th state. Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported Thursday that North Korea would launch a long-range Taepodong-2 missile at Hawaii on or about July 4. This would be the anniversary of the first Taepodong-2 test on July 4, 2006. It would also mark the 15th anniversary of North Korean President Kim Il Sung's death.Those who know have stopped laughing at North Korea's increasingly credible nuclear and global...

As Defense Secretary Gates tours our missile defense site at Fort Greely, Alaska, Gov. Sarah Palin calls for restoration of the missile defense cuts. Meanwhile, North Korea points another missile at the U.S. Robert Gates' visit to our missile defense facility at Fort Greely on Monday was a pointed reminder to the North Koreans that while we have been talking softly, we still have a few big sticks in the ground ready to turn the North Korean missile program into so much scrap metal.

Democrats: Joe Biden shares Barack Obama's lifelong commitment to keeping America unprotected against nuclear missile attack. Neither he nor Obama wants to protect Georgia — theirs or ours.What sealed the deal for Poland in allowing the deployment of U.S. ground-based interceptors (GBI) on its soil was the deployment of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles on its soil. PAC-3 missiles are true anti-missile missiles, much more sophisticated than their predecessors that were pressed into action during Desert Storm. Warsaw knows that PAC-3 missiles might have proven useful in Russia's invasion of Georgia and would be useful in its defense as well....

Missile Defense: North Korea's test of an ICBM shows the folly of depending on others for our security. If we wanted to stop the threat of nuclear weapons, we should have shot it down.In Prague on Sunday, President Obama pledged an effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons, calling them "the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War." Well, we won that war in part because of our possession of those weapons and in part to the commitment by President Ronald Reagan to build a missile defense against them. Such defenses were available Sunday but went unused when North...

ST. JAMES, N.Y. — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will receive an award from a New York group that advocates for people with developmental disabilities. The Independent Group Home Living Foundation says the former Republican vice presidential candidate will be honored next weekend on Long Island.

Security: As Defense Secretary Gates tours our missile defense site at Fort Greely, Alaska, Gov. Sarah Palin calls for restoration of the missile defense cuts. Meanwhile, North Korea points another missile at the U.S.

Defense Secretary Gates to Visit Alaska Senator Begich to accompany Secretary on tour of Fort Greely FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will join Senator Mark Begich on a tour of Alaska's Fort Greely on Monday. Traveling back from Asia, Sec. Gates is stopping at military facilities in Alaska which will include Elmendorf Air Force Base and touring the missile defense site at Fort Greely. "This is an excellent opportunity for Secretary Gates to get a first-hand look at our missile defense system," Sen. Begich said. "Especially now, with the escalating and unpredictable behavior of North Korea,...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 09-109 Governor Calls President’s Budget Cuts ‘Outrageous’ May 7, 2009, Juneau, Alaska - Governor Sarah Palin today expressed great dismay over President Obama’s proposed budget cuts for Fiscal Year 2010. The president proposes to cut millions from missile defense funding and to reduce spending for the Denali Commission and the Village Safe Water program. “These budget cuts add up to about half of 1 percent,” Governor Palin said. “But while they do little to put brakes on the exploding federal deficit, they hit Alaska hard. I join our congressional delegation in their determination to see that...

On Saturday, April 5, North Korea launched its Taepo-Dong-2 ballistic missile in what was described as an attempt to put a satellite into low earth orbit. The missile launched successfully, and as the missile traveled over the Sea of Japan, its first stage was jettisoned, falling within the area previously designated by North Korea. The missile's flight path then continued over Japan before its remaining stages and payload fell into Pacific Ocean, approximately 800 miles off Japan's eastern coast. The distance the Taepo-Dong-2 traveled is being reported as 2,000 miles (3,200 km). The missile and its payload seem to have...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 09-75 Governor Palin Stresses Need for Strong Missile Defense Capability April 6, 2009, Juneau, Alaska – Responding to the missile test by North Korea, Governor Sarah Palin today reaffirmed Alaska’s commitment to protecting America from rogue nation missile attacks. “I am deeply concerned with North Korea’s development and testing program which has clear potential of impacting Alaska, a sovereign state of the United States, with a potentially nuclear armed warhead,” Governor Palin said. “I can’t emphasize enough how important it is that we continue to develop and perfect the global missile defense network. Alaska’s strategic location...

Obama and the case of the missing 'thesis' By Jim Popkin, NBC News Senior Investigative ProducerJuly 24, 2008 excerpt: The hunt for Obama’s senior “thesis” began with a throwaway line in a newspaper article last October. The New York Times story, on Obama’s early New York years, mentioned in passing that the presidential contender had majored in political science at Columbia and had spent his time “writing his thesis on Soviet nuclear disarmament.” Journalists began hounding Columbia University for copies of the musty document. Conservative bloggers began wondering if the young Obama had written a no-nukes screed that he might...

Japan gave its military the green light on Friday to shoot down any incoming North Korean rocket, with tensions high ahead of a planned launch that the US and allies say will be an illegal missile test.Japanese and US warships have already deployed ahead of the April 4-8 window, when the secretive North has said it will launch a communications satellite -- warning that shooting it down would be seen as an act of war. But South Korea, Japan and the United States have all warned the North that any launch would be unacceptable, amid fears the regime is actually...

U.S. readies itself for North launch of several missiles Seoul may join Proliferation Security Initiative to put pressure on Pyongyang March 21, 2009 Two weeks before North Korea’s scheduled launch of a communications satellite, veteran U.S. military commanders said the United States is ready for multiple North Korean missiles and is capable of shooting them down. Speaking to the U.S. Senate, Admiral Timothy Keating, the top American commander in the Pacific, said there is a “high probability” that the United States could shoot down North Korean missiles. “We’ll be prepared to respond [to North Korea],” he said. “The United States...

National Security: The proposed missile defense system for Europe may be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Russia. Is Ronald Reagan's "We win, they lose" now "Let's make a deal"?When President Reagan began the Strategic Defense Initiative in 1983, the only ones who took it seriously were the Soviets. Their global ambitions depended on an America inhibited and even intimidated by the threat of nuclear war. They still do. Just ask Georgia. When Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev met Reagan in Reykjavik, Iceland, in October 1986, he hoped Reagan would be willing to trade SDI away in exchange for...

In the few short weeks since inauguration day, President Obama has gone a long way to making the United States a more dangerous place. His first act as President was tying the hands of the people interrogating terrorists, and closing Gitmo Prison. He followed that with a "suck up" interview on Arab TV network that made the US seem weak. When he tried to implement his promised policy of making nice and "engaging" terrorists, Iran smacked his hand away. President Obama's next move in weakening the defense of the United States may be reversing a move by President Ronald Reagan,...

EDWARDS AFB - Within a darkened chamber, a small, cylindrical contraption suddenly shoots aloft on a pulsing plume of flame, hovering in the air while smaller flames shoot from the cylinder's sides and send it sideways. In seconds, the flames burn out and the device falls to a bouncy landing on the netting below. The video clip looks as though it could be a rough cut of a science fiction film, but in reality it is a recent test of the Multiple Kill Vehicle-L, one of the latest weapons intended to defend against ballistic missile attack under development for the...

The US military has carried out the first test-firing of a laser weapon system housed aboard a 747 plane. The Airborne Laser (ABL) was conceived to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles in the early stages of their flight. An airborne intercept of an in-flight ballistic missile is planned for 2009. Scientists are reported to be working out other uses for the flying weapon - which could help secure continued funding. These extra missions include shooting down surface-to-air missiles, cruise missiles and even enemy aircraft. A laser beam travelled the length of the aircraft at 670 million miles per hour. It...

Soon to fry the unfriendly skies US aerospace globocorp Boeing is chuffed as ninepence today to announce the first full-power firing of its jumbo-jet-mounted, ICBM-toasting ray cannon - the Airborne Laser (ABL). The system saw "first light" in September, but this is the first time the big laser's knob has been turned up to full. ABL - if it flies, it fries "This test demonstrated that the Airborne Laser missile defense program has successfully integrated the entire weapon system aboard the ABL aircraft," said Scott Fancher, jumbo-blaster veep at Boeing. "The team has now completed the two major milestones it...

FORT GREELY, Alaska, Dec. 20, 2006 – Just a few years ago, this snow-swept central Alaskan post lay dormant, closed through the Base Realignment and Closure process. But today it’s up and running again at full speed, serving as the epicenter of the United States’ Ground-Based Midcourse Defense program. Spc. Juan Coronel, left, and Sgt. Michael Picirrillo, members of the Alaska Army National Guard’s 49th Missile Defense Battalion, patrol the perimeter of the Missile Defense Complex at Fort Greely, Alaska. Picirrillo came to the job because he “wanted to be on the cutting edge.” Defense Dept. photo by William D....

"Gentlemen, comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about Glasnost and Perestroika and democracy in the coming years. They are primarily for outward consumption. There will be no significant internal changes in the Soviet Union, other than for cosmetic purposes. Our purpose is to disarm the Americans and let them fall asleep. We want to accomplish three things: One, we want the Americans to withdraw conventional forces from Europe. Two, we want them to withdraw nuclear forces from Europe. Three, we want the Americans to stop proceeding with Strategic Defense Initiative." Quote by: Mikhail Gorbachev (1931- ) General...

Ukraine inflamed mounting East-West tensions yesterday by offering up a Soviet-built satellite facility as part of the European missile defence system. The proposal, made amid growing outrage among Russia's neighbours over its military campaign in Georgia, could see Ukraine added to Moscow's nuclear hitlist. A Russian general declared Poland a target for its arsenal after Warsaw signed a deal with Washington to host interceptor missiles for America's anti-nuclear shield. The move came as the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a cease-fire deal that sets the stage for a Russian troop withdrawal after more than a week of warfare with its...

HONOLULU — The U.S. military intercepted a ballistic missile Thursday [June 5, 2008] in the first such sea-based test since a Navy cruiser shot down an errant satellite earlier this year. The military fired the target, a Scud-like missile with a range of a few hundred miles, from a decommissioned amphibious assault ship near Hawaii's island of Kauai.

Honolulu (AP) -- The U.S. military says it has intercepted a ballistic missile near Hawaii in a test. The sea-based test Thursday was the military's first since an errant satellite was shot down earlier this year. A target was fired from a decomissioned amphibious assault ship about 100 miles off the island of Kauai. It was a Scud-like missile with a range of a few hundred miles.

Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs February 29, 2008 :: News MissileThreat.com A video has surfaced of Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talking on his plans for strategic issues such as nuclear weapons and missile defense. The full text from the video, as released, reads as follows: Thanks so much for the Caucus4Priorities, for the great work you've been doing. As president, I will end misguided defense policies and stand with Caucus4Priorities in fighting special interests in Washington. First, I'll stop spending $9 billion a month in Iraq. I'm the only major candidate who opposed...

It's always a pleasure to come back to Heritage. An invitation from The Heritage Foundation, obviously, is always very special--only more so when it provides an opportunity to talk about Ronald Reagan's visionary Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). I'm sure [Heritage President] Ed Feulner thought, "Well, if we're going to talk about Star Wars, we might as well invite Darth Vader." I'm happy to accept.I see many friends in the room tonight. I'm reminded of a tribute once given to Ed and the supporters of The Heritage Foundation--comments that are still apt today. We are "unlucky in many things in...

Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs February 29, 2008 :: News A video has surfaced of Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talking on his plans for strategic issues such as nuclear weapons and missile defense. The full text from the video, as released, reads as follows: Thanks so much for the Caucus4Priorities, for the great work you've been doing. As president, I will end misguided defense policies and stand with Caucus4Priorities in fighting special interests in Washington. First, I'll stop spending $9 billion a month in Iraq. I'm the only major candidate who opposed this...