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Apair of U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke class destroyers in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea were reportedly among the assets employed to shoot down Iranian missiles and drones headed toward Israel last night. There are strong signs these ships may have fired Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) anti-missile interceptors in the course of those operations, which would mark the first use of those weapons against real incoming threats.

WASHINGTON — Americans following this year's presidential campaign would never know it from mainstream media coverage, but the commander in chief we hired four years ago has set the United States on a course for unilateral disarmament. The following people hope you won't notice until after Nov. 6: Vladimir Putin, Liang Guanglie, Kim Jong-un, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Sayyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, A.Q. Khan and of course, Barack Obama. The 10 individuals above share a common fascination: nuclear weapons. Vladimir Putin, Russia's modern czar; Liang Guanglie, minister of national defense for...

It’s called a Stingray: A cellphone surveillance device so top secret, law enforcement agencies don’t even like to admit they have it. But KPIX 5 has confirmed Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose police are using Stingrays to track suspects. Now, Fremont Police and the Alameda County District Attorney’s office are applying for federal grants to get a new version of Stingray, called Hailstorm. The use of the devices is increasing, potentially at the expense of your privacy. You may think you are private when you’re talking on your cell phone, think again. From an undercover car or even strapped...

Israel's Defense Ministry was said to have censored the lectures of scientists on missile defense. Industry sources said a major conference controlled by the Defense Ministry rejected the lectures of at least three scientists deemed critical of Israeli policy. The three had presented papers critical of the ministry's missile defense policy, particularly its refusal to develop laser-based interceptors. "The defense establishment has in recent years adopted a policy of censoring scientific and technological facts that everyone already knows, along with disseminating selective information about the missile defense systems," said Oded Amichai, a former scientist at the state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense...

The U.S. media suspects China and India of developing anti-satellite weapons. An article to this effect has been published the New Scientist magazine. Until recently, only the Soviet Union, its legal successor Russia and the United States were capable of developing anti-satellite weapons. U.S. analysts now think that China and India are acquiring similar capabilities. To what extent are such fears justified? It is hard to overestimate the role played by military satellite systems. Since the 1970s, an increasingly greater number of troop-control, telecommunications, target-acquisition, navigation and other processes depend on spacecraft which are therefore becoming more important. At this...

"Missile Offense" in today's Wall Street Journal (September 10, A14) reports that Poland, at considerable risk to its own safety, has agreed to the installation of ten American interceptor missiles whose purpose is to shoot down Iranian weapons of mass destruction. Vladimir Putin's new Russian Empire has fabricated a complaint that these missiles somehow threaten Russia, even though they are totally defensive and cannot even stop more than a fraction of Russia's still formidable strategic nuclear arsenal. The Poles have nonetheless stuck to their decision, and it is now up to us to show whether we are worthy of their...

In yet another successful American test, a GBI (ground-based interceptor) from Vandenberg Air Force Base has destroyed a target missile launched from Kodiak, Alaska. This latest test not only shows that the American missile defense system will work, it is also going to create a problem for opponents. How? Because killing a defense program that is working is going to require a lot of explaining, since the Democratic majority in Congress has long been skeptical of the Administration's push for a national missile defense. The successful test, though, poses a problem for them. It is easy to kill a program...

Excerpt - WASHINGTON, May 9 — The Bush administration’s proposal to construct two American missile defense bases in Europe has roiled relations with Russia and provoked sharp questioning even in NATO capitals, where critics ask: With the system still unproven and, under the best of circumstances, years from completion, why rush construction now? Now the Democratic majority in Congress is moving toward budget cuts aimed at slowing the administration’s plans to break ground this year on one of the bases, in Poland. Representative Ellen O. Tauscher, a California Democrat who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said...

Experts debate space-based BMD assets [More Usual Suspects] By JESSICA TAYLOR UPI, July 25, 2006 WASHINGTON, July 21 (UPI) -- A new report claims U.S. anti-ballistic missile defenses must be deployed in space to be effective, but critics disagree. Several analysts say the study is based on false pretenses and the deployment of defense mechanisms into space is not in national security interests. The Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, a Washington think tank, has issued a study saying the implementation of plans for space missile defense is critical for U.S. national security and an effective system against at least some...

US to deploy missile interceptors at Japan base TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States will start deploying missile interceptors at a key air force base in Japan from this summer, as part of efforts with Tokyo to deal with the threat of North Korea's missile arsenal, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The U.S. military will install Patriot Advanced Capability-3 surface-to-air interceptors at its Kadena Air Base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa from September and plans to make them partly operational by the end of the year, the ministry said. They will be fully operational by the...

A published report says Washington is seeking to establish a new anti-missile site in Europe designed to stop attacks by Iran against the United States and its European allies. The New York Times reports Monday that Washington's proposal, also described in congressional testimony, calls for installing 10 missile interceptors at a European site by 2011. The newspaper says Poland and the Czech Republic are among nations being considered as possible sites. The Times said the U.S. Defense Department has asked Congress for $56 million to begin work on an anti-missile site. The final cost is estimated at more than $1.5...

WASHINGTON - Maine could be home to an array of missile interceptors several years from now as part of an extensive national missile defense system, according to Pentagon officials, military analysts and published reports. The Bush administration announced this week that it would deploy a limited land- and sea-based missile defense system designed to knock down missiles that are heading for America or its allies. Under that plan, scheduled for completion in 2004 or 2005, missile interceptors would be stationed at military bases in Alaska and California, as well as on Navy warships. But the Pentagon also is planning to...