Free Republic

Within hours of the crash of TWA Flight 800 off the Long Island coast on July 17, 1996, the FBI seized control of the investigation from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Although illegal, this was done in full view of an indifferent media. What the media did not see was the CIA’s illegal seizure of the investigation from both the NTSB and FBI. We know about this quiet coup now thanks to a treasure trove of CIA documents recently unearthed through the Freedom of Information Act separately by attorney John Clarke and physicist Tom Stalcup. In a July 30,...

The ROC Navy (Republic of China - Taiwan) has ordered three air defense catamaran corvettes based on the existing Tuo River-class. It is rumored the corvettes are expected to be fitted with Mk 41 VLS for a new naval variant of the Sky Bow III (Tien Kung III) surface to air missiles. It remains to be seen however if such large missiles can fit on a small platform like this catamaran corvette. Same thing goes for long range radar sensors. The "Tuo River" Catamaran Corvette sailing under its own power. Picture: Internet/Lee Chung Wei Other weapon system should include Sky...

Citing civilian satellite imagery, US broadcaster Fox News reported on February 16 that the Chinese military has deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile system to one of its contested islands in the South China Sea. The report, which was based on pictures from ImageSat International, said the missiles appeared to be the HQ-9 air defense system. US officials and Taiwan's defense ministry were later quoted as saying that the missile batteries had been set up on Woody Island in the Paracels. China has controlled all of the Paracels, which are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, since the mid-1970s and the...

The S-400 is the most dangerous operationally deployed modern long-range SAM in the world. Its maximum effective range is up to 400km (215 nautical miles). The system reportedly can track 100 airborne targets and engage six of them simultaneously. The S-400 reportedly has the capability to counter low-observable aircraft and precision-guided munitions, and is also reportedly extremely mobile.

NEW DELHI, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- India Wednesday successfully testfired a long-range, surface-to-air missile, Barak-8, jointly developed with Israel, from an Indian Navy warship off the coast of the western state of Goa, sources said. "The maiden testfiring of the missile in the Arabia Sea has been successful. It has destroyed an aerial target after being launched from INS Kolkata. The missile was twice testfired onboard Israeli ships and this is the first time that such a test was held onboard an Indian warship," sources said. Indian Navy has described the testfiring as "a quantum jump in Indian air defense...

December 27, 2015Moonbat of The Week - Samuel L. Jackson:"I really wanted (San Bernardino Terrorist Attack) to just be another, you know, crazy white dude, and not really some Muslims... by sundance ...Jackson says he empathizes with innocent Muslim-Americans who have fallen under the veil of suspicion because a few other people who share their religion have committed atrocities against their countrymen:"When that thing happened in France, we were sitting there going, 'Oh, my God, these terrorists!' And I can't even tell you how much that day the thing that happened in San Bernardino - I was in Hawaii -...

Most students at Columbia do not have first hand knowledge of war. Military violence has been a vicarious experience, channeled into our minds through television, film, and print. The more sensitive among us struggle to extrapolate experiences of war from our everyday experience, discussing the latest mortality statistics from Guatemala, sensitizing ourselves to our parents' wartime memories, or incorporating into our framework of reality as depicted by a Maller[?] or a Coppola. But the taste of war -- the sounds and chill, the dead bodies -- are remote and far removed. We know that wars have occurred, will occur, are...

Vietnam has ordered an Israeli-made air defense missile system to enhance its air defense capacity, a senior military official said on the portal of the Vietnam People's Army last week. The Air Defense and Air Force Service of Vietnam has actively carried out many projects to improve the durability and capacity of its weapons and technical equipment, Lieutenant General Le Huy Vinh, Commander of the Air Defense and Air Force Service, said in an article published on the website on October 20. According to the article on building a modern air defense and air force service to protect the national...

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar left for Moscow on 30 October for a three-day visit before he leaves for ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM-Plus) in Malaysia. The takeaway of this trip is however the fact that all measures are in place for India to acquire world's most advanced anti-ballistic missile system — the S-400. Previously known as S-300PMU-3, S-400 is a new generation anti-aircraft weapon system developed by Russia's Almaz Central Design Bureau as an upgrade of the S-300 family. It is currently in service with the Russian Armed Forces. The S-400 is designed to protect nuclear reactors, population centres...

The Army and Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems have test-fired the latest version of the company’s venerable Sidewinder air-to-air missile from a ground launcher to down an unmanned aircraft target, the company said Wednesday. WHAT HAPPENED Raytheon said that an AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder missile was launched from a prototype Multi-Mission Launcher, a new ground-based launch system under development by the Army. The test was performed in March at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, and details were announced by the company Wednesday. The AIM-9X missile locked onto an unmanned aircraft before launch and then intercepted and destroyed the drone,...

SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will deploy a new homegrown mid-range surface-to-air missile, M-SAM, in the Air Force this year following a successful test-fire, the defense acquisition agency said Thursday. The missile with a 40-kilometer range, also called "Cheongung," was developed locally in 2011 to replace the Air Force's aging batteries of MIM-23 Hawk from the U.S. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said it recently carried out a successful test launch of the initial M-SAM, sealing the quality certification. The new missile will be distributed to the Air Force starting in September, the DAPA said, adding that mass-production...

India has shown interest in buying the new Shtil-1 naval surface to air missile (SAM) systems, being installed on frigates 11356 project, Maxim Kuzyuk, Tekhnodinamika General Director, told RIA Novosti. "Now everyone is waiting for the state testing of the first ship of the ‘Admiral series’ (project 11356) to be complete. That is when the new SAM will be accepted into service with the Russian Navy, after which it will be possible to deliver it overseas. Today India has shown interest in acquiring the new Shtil. We are discussing deliveries as part of the upgrade of old vessels and the...

Barak-8 eight-round launchers can be rapidly deployed on land to provide point defense for critical locations, and in networked groups for area defense. Following successful trials late last year, IAI’s Barak-8 medium-range surface-to-air missile is being delivered to customers, and is also now fielded with the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). The company does not discuss its customers, but acknowledges that the missile has been procured by Israel and India, plus others. Non-Israeli sources state that the Barak-8 has been adopted by the Indian Navy, which already employs the Barak-1, for service aboard its latest frigates, destroyers and aircraft carriers. Following...

China has signed a contract with the Russian state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport for the purchase of the S-400 air defense systems, the company's chief executive Anatoly Isaikin said in an interview with the Russian daily Kommersant. "I will not disclose the details of the contract, but yes, China has indeed become the first buyer of this sophisticated Russian air defense system. It underlines once again the strategic level of our relations," Isaikin said, when asked whether it was true that Beijing signed a contract for the purchase of four S-400 divisions in September 2014. Isaykin also said that "many countries"...

The Defence Acquisition Council has approved the ‘Maitri’ project for the co-development of a Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (SR-SAM) by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with MBDA of France, Navy officers said on Monday. “The DRDO has been directed by the government to engage Original Equipment Manufacturer for joint development,” a Defence Ministry official said. The project has been in the works since 2007 to meet the requirements of the Army and the Air Force. MoU with MBDA The DRDO had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with MBDA in 2013, but there has hardly been any progress because...

Tim Tebow finally knows how to throw spiral, but he won't get to show off his new skill at the NFL's first-ever veteran combine on March 22 -- because he wasn't invited. The NFL released a list of players who have been invited to the combine on Wednesday and Tebow's name was nowhere to be found ... Although Tebow won't be in attendance at the combine, Michael Sam will be there ...

The Barak 8 is a long range surface to air missile NEW DELHI: When the Indian Navy commissioned its most-advanced warship eight months ago, the INS Kolkata was missing its primary weapon system - the Barak 8 long range surface to air missiles, 32 of which were meant to be carried onboard in ready-to-fire mode. NDTV has learned that the Barak 8 missile has cleared all its tests and is ready for induction. The missile, designed to intercept incoming anti-ship missiles at a range of at least 70 kilometres, has been made in partnership with Israel, where it has successfully...

The NFL's first openly gay player, Michael Sam, has been named Man of the Year by men's magazine GQ, and celebrated the accolade by planting a kiss on his partner Vito Cammisano. Sam, who was drafted into the St Louis Rams earlier this year, took home the award at a ceremony at West Hollywood's Chateau Marmont last night. Other stars in contention for the prize were Chris Pratt, Steve Carell, Dave Chappelle, Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley.

Michael Sam believes he's not on a NFL roster because of the fact he's openly gay -- telling TMZ Sports he strongly believes he's got the talent to play in the league. Sam was at LAX this morning when he was asked if he thinks NFL teams are shying away from him because of his sexual orientation ... or if it has to do with the level of talent he faced after college. "I think I was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year last year ... so I don't think it had to do with talent."

Michael Sam, the NFL’s first openly gay player, would have preferred not to come out the way he did before the NFL draft last year. “If I had it my way, I never would have done it the way I did, never would have told it the way I did,” says Sam, a former all-star at the University of Missouri, in GQ’s latest issue.