Trump to Rapidly Expand U.S. Missile Defenses

 

Expanded missile threats from China, Russia spur policy shift

President Trump announced a major shift in U.S. defense strategy on Thursday, ordering the Pentagon to rapidly expand current missile defenses and build new interceptors, space sensors, and advanced technology to neutralize foreign missiles at multiple stages of attack.

The president announced during a speech at the Pentagon that missile defenses, currently limited to countering North Korean long-range missiles and future Iranian missiles, will no longer be constrained to rogue states.

US Navy Fires Hypervelocity Projectiles Through Destroyer’s Guns

 

The US Navy has reportedly fired hypervelocity projectiles intended for electromagnetic railguns out of a 40-year-old deck gun that is standard issue on many cruisers and destroyers in hopes of providing a low-cost defense solution against drones and cruise missiles, a new report says.

Twenty hypervelocity projectiles were fired from the USS Dewey (DDG-105), an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, as part of a test conducted by the US Navy and the Defense Department’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), unnamed officials told USNI News Monday.

Putin: Russia has enough missiles without violating treaty

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with the top military staff in the Russian Defense Ministry’s headquarters in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. Putin said that new Russian weapons have no foreign equivalents, helping ensure the nation’s security for decades to come. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

 

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday rejected the U.S. claim that Russia developed a new cruise missile in violation of a key nuclear treaty, arguing that Russia has no need for such a land-based weapon because it already has similar missiles on its ships and aircraft.

Washington warned this month it would suspend its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in 60 days if Russia did not return to full compliance. The U.S. claims the 9M729 cruise missile breaches the INF, which bans all land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (300 to 3,400 miles.)

U.S. Launches Missiles at Syrian Base After Chemical Weapons Attack

The United States launched dozens of cruise missiles Thursday night at a Syrian airfield in response to what it believes was Syria’s use of banned chemical weapons that killed at least 100 people, the U.S. military said.

Two U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea, the USS Ross and the USS Porter, fired 59 Tomahawk missiles intended for a single target — Shayrat Airfield in Homs province in western Syria, the Defense Department said. That’s the airfield from which the United States believes the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fired the banned weapons.

The Pentagon said people were not targeted, and there was no immediate word on casualties. U.S. officials told NBC News that aircraft and infrastructure at the site were hit, including the runway and gas fuel pumps.

Saudis’ upcoming trip to China sends strong signal to US

© Getty Images

 

King Salman Bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia is leading an entourage, including 25 senior princes and 10 ministers, to China later this month, part of a month-long tour of the Asia-Pacific, as the kingdom is seeking to hedge against an unpredictable and divided White House.

While it yearns for a renewed American role in the Middle East and reassurances from President Trump that Riyadh remains an ally, Saudi Arabia now faces a period of uncertainty due to the unpredictability of Trump’s foreign policy stance. That reason alone could explain why a trip to Beijing was planned before a trip to Washington.

Despite its efforts at economic diversification, Saudi Arabia will remain dependent on oil exports for a long time, and China provides the kingdom with a stable market for its energy exports for decades to come.

Not Ready for a Real War

While on his way to the African Land Forces Summit in Tanzania last weekend, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, complained that “Today, a Major in the Army knows nothing but fighting terrorists and guerrillas, because he came into the Army after 9/11. But as we get into the higher-end threats, our skills have atrophied over 15 years.” According to the New York Times, the Army’s top commander expressed concern over whether his forces could fight a large land war where an “established adversary” (meaning a rival national power) could bring sophisticated air defenses, tanks, infantry, naval power and even cyber-weapons into battle. He apparently left out the threat of enemy air power, though both Russia and China are capable of challenging the U.S. and its allies in that arena as well.

Russia Speaks of Nuclear War as U.S. Opens Missile Defense System

MOSCOW — As American and allied officials celebrated the opening of a long-awaited missile defense system in Europe with a ribbon cutting and a band, the reaction in Moscow on Thursday was darker: a public discussion of how nuclear war might play out in Europe and the prospect that Romania, the host nation for the United States-built system, might be reduced to “smoking ruins.”

“We have been saying right from when this story started that our experts are convinced that the deployment of the ABM system poses a certain threat to the Russian Federation,” the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told reporters in a conference call.

Space: The Final Military Frontier

Caption: Satellite surveying Earth (©iStock.com/Daniela Mangiuca)

 

Dependence on satellite technology has turned Star Wars into strategic reality.

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Right now, unmanned killer robots hover in the skies above the Middle East, ready to rain down death from above on America’s enemies. They are guided by pilots sitting hundreds of miles away, bouncing their instructions off satellites. Smart bombs are guided within inches of their targets using America’s gps satellite-navigation system. When America’s special forces take out a high-value target, their commanders and even the president in the White House can watch and respond in real time, thanks to satellite communication. American commanders view the battlefield and watch their soldiers move across it using American surveillance and positioning satellites. They rely on this information to coordinate attacks and avoid friendly fire. American missile-warning satellites are watching the atmosphere of the entire planet for any possible missile attack on the United States or its allies.

CHINA SECURITY: Abandoned US Weapon Project Now Being Developed by Chinese Military

A concept image shows the Yuangmeng (Dream) high-altitude airship, currently being developed by the Chinese regime. The airship appears to be based on an abandoned U.S. defense project. (People’s Daily)

 

 

In the early 2000s, the arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin began designing near-space platforms to work alongside U.S. satellites.

The program began amid concerns in the defense community that such platforms would eventually be necessary for the survival of the U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems that rely on satellites.

Yet, like many other U.S. weapons systems that anticipate near-future threats, the project was cast to the wayside through budget cuts and a sense of hubris that the United States was far enough ahead of its adversaries to not worry.

China Tests its Largest Airship

This concept art shows China’s 18,000 cubic meter Yuanmeng airship 20km above the ground (and for some reason, off the coast of the Mid Atlantic U.S.). One of the highest flying airships, the Yuanmeng can provide wide area surveillance and communications capability.

 

On October 13, 2015, China started the 24 hour test flight of its largest airship yet in Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia. The Yuanmeng has a volume of 18,000 cubic meters, length of 75 meters and 22 meters height. It will fly to 20,000 meters to test its control systems and near space flight performance. With solar panels installed on its top, the Yuanmeng will be one of the largest solar powered airships in existence, using solar power to drive its rotors will save additional weight in order to increase payload. Solar power also gives it a total flight endurance of six months. The Yuanmeng’s 5-7 ton payload of data relays, datalinks, cameras and other sensors would also be powered by the sun.

Russia Might Be Working on New ‘F-35 Killer’ Drone

At this year’s MAKS airshow, which took place in August near Moscow, Drew talked to the first deputy chief executive officer of the electronic systems producer KRET, Vladimir Mikheev, about a drone model on display at the event. Mikheyev revealed that there was more to the miniature than would meet the eye.

Russia’s New Buk-M3 ‘Kill-All’ Missile to Enter Service in 2016

 

The Buk-M3 medium-range surface-to-air missile system, a modernized version of the Buk-M2 system, features advanced electronic components and a deadly new missile and could be regarded as a completely new system.

Developed by the Tikhomirov Design Bureau outside Moscow, the Buk-M3 is widely viewed as the world’s best means of intercepting low-flying cruise missiles.

China to strike first in hypothetical war with Japan: expert

A hypothetical war between China and Japan started by Beijing would involve devastating cyberattacks, missile barrages and secret weapon DF-21D “carrier killer” missiles, according to a scenario outlined by defense and security blogger Kyle Mizokami in US magazine The National Interest.

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In such a scenario, Beijing would likely strike first. While China has not seriously prepared for a war against Japan, the People’s Liberation Army should have sufficiently analyzed Japan’s strengths and weaknesses to draw up a plan of attack on short notice. Mizokami envisions such a strategy to start off with a surprise attack from with PLA’s Second Artillery Corp using a “barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles” to “degrade Japan’s ability to defend itself.”

The situation grows more complex once the US actively involves itself defend Japan, but Mizokami believes the PLA has the firepower to deal enough damage to US forces to force Washington to “cut its losses, throw Japan under the bus, and sue for peace.”

Pentagon Building Cruise Missile Shield To Defend US Cities From Russia

At least someone in America now realizes it’s not a game anymore, albeit a handful.

The new cruise missiles are why Russian bombers, who have come as close as 50 miles off the coast of California, don’t even need to go over American land to reach their top priority targets. One fly-by 50 miles away with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles mounted on planes would ensure Los Angeles or San Diego are erased within two minutes.

One might argue that the planes will be shot down before they could get within range. But guess what? They’ve already been in range with transponders off or none at all and the most that’s been done is politely escorting them back while sneaking in a few photos showing what a Russian bomber looks like for Facebook. Once they’ve been let in range, that’s it… it’s too late. If you think the U.S. Navy might catch them before they get in range, you might want to be reminded about how the Russians switched one of our AEGIS ships off, the USS Donald Cook, like a television.

America today is not untouchable, losing its supremacy day by day, and sadly most Americans only follow the Kardashians or their favorite NBA team.

 

The Pentagon is quietly working to set up an elaborate network of defenses to protect American cities from a barrage of Russian cruise missiles.

The plan calls for buying radars that would enable National Guard F-16 fighter jets to spot and shoot down fast and low-flying missiles. Top generals want to network those radars with sensor-laden aerostat balloons hovering over U.S. cities and with coastal warships equipped with sensors and interceptor missiles of their own.

One of those generals is Adm. William Gortney, who leads U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, and North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. Earlier this year, Gortney submitted an “urgent need” request to put those new radars on the F-16s that patrol the airspace around Washington. Such a request allows a project to circumvent the normal procurement process.

While no one will talk openly about the Pentagon’s overall cruise missile defense plans, much of which remains classified, senior military officials have provided clues in speeches, congressional hearings and other public forums over the past year. The statements reveal the Pentagon’s concern about advanced cruise missiles being developed by Russia.

Russian Tu-160 Heavy Bomber to Be Invisible to Air Defense

 

KRET companies are designing engine control and fuel consumption systems as well as a maintenance service which would help the crew in force majeure situations.

On April 29, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the Kazan Aircraft Production Association and ordered to resume production of the Tu-160.
“There is no match to the Tu-160 among supersonic aircraft,” Shoigu said.