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Full headline: WHOA: Pentagon inspector general report says Russia, China may have ‘compromised’ U.S. missile detection satellites Penetration: The Obama era was particularly hard on the U.S. military, as the administration and Congress refused to pass real budgets which prevented the services from investing in high-tech systems, including those designed to protect our most vital assets. This was again evident after the Department of Defense Inspector General released a report this week saying some of our country’s most important satellites — those the Air Force uses to detect enemy ICBM launches — could be compromised by Russian and Chinese hackers.

U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin marked a testing milestone for its missile launch early warning and surveillance geosynchronous orbit spacecraft. Lockheed Martin has successfully completed the first phase of the Baseline Integrated System Test on its second Space-Based Infrared System satellite spacecraft technology. The Baseline Integrated System Test, which is an extensive functional test on the SBIRS GEO, marks a milestone for Lockheed Martin and paves the way for final factory work. The SBIRS GEO is designed to provide the U.S. military with next-generation missile detection and surveillance capabilities. "Concluding the first phase of Baseline Integrated System Test is another...

The trend over the last several years of annual funding increases for U.S. Air Force space activity appears to be at an end, and that, coupled with the ongoing recapitalization of the service’s operational satellite fleets, means there is little money left for new development initiatives. The service’s 2011 budget request, submitted to Congress Feb. 1, scales back the Third Generation Infrared Surveillance (TGIRS) program and curbs funding for the Operationally Responsive Space Office. This follows U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision early last year to cancel the $26 billion Transformational Satellite communications system. Overall, the request includes $8 billion for...

Working in secret, Israel and Germany have jointly developed a nuclear missile detection system, according to the Defense News Web site. Code-named Project Bluebird, the system is based on the prototype of an aerial infrared sensor designed to identify a nuclear-tipped missile speeding toward a target amid a cluster of decoy missiles. Military planners work under the assumption that in a nuclear strike, decoy missiles could be launched along with those carrying nuclear warheads to confuse and overwhelm missile defense shields. According to the sources, Project Bluebird is designed to avert such a scenario. On November 3, Defense News published...