MDAA Alert: To Deter, Not Provoke

Dear Members and Friends,

Off the Korean Peninsula this week our U.S. forces, led by the USS George Washington Battle Strike Group made up of 20 ships, 100 aircraft and 8,000 sailors, made a definitive statement to our ally, South Korea, of extending our military deterrent.

This military exercise with Korean forces involved a coordinated and integrated application of both offensive and defensive forces that are required to handle a military crisis in this region of the world. This exercise ties together the advancements of military technology, the updating of older systems and new sailors and officers gaining needed experience. It is a necessary requirement that needs to take place regularly in order to secure the peace and stability of our allies that live on and around the Korean Peninsula.

The timing of this exercise comes only a few months after the sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean ship, by a North Korean torpedo which resulted in the death of 46 South Korean sailors. The exercise is not deemed to be a provocative act towards North Korea. Instead, it is a much needed show of stability and U.S. extended protection of the people and government of South Korea in this particularly dynamic situation. The South Korean leadership resisted any provocative military response to the sinking and deaths of its sailors on the strength of the U.S. influence and diplomatic skill. This military exercise was needed for a show of respect and a continued display of a strong alliance to the South Korean public and their leadership.

One of the critical new platforms and military strategies that are being integrated and re-introduced in this exercise is the missile defense component consisting of the U.S. Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Ships in the participating battle group. This combination of offense and defense adds a much broader, stronger and safer deterrent as it forces Kim Jong-Il and his military leadership to change their strategic and tactical calculus; putting his threats into rhetoric rather than reality.

These Aegis BMD destroyers and cruisers are tasked with protecting the battle group as well as selected nearby areas from short-range ballistic missile attack.

In light of the large numbers of North Korean short-range ballistic missiles, with an approximate range of 300km, and their growing nuclear capability it is essential to show, through these type of military exercises, that South Korea and our allies will be protected throughout the world. It will also show those who are reliant on U.S. extended deterrence that we have the deployed military capability and clear intent to protect them.

With the resolve and mission of the U.S. Navy to provide extended deterrence along the vital waters of our world, we must support and push for the growth of the United States Navy’s ballistic missile defense capability.

Respectfully,

Riki Ellison
Chairman and Founder
Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance

U.S.-South Korea War Games Raise China’s Hackles

China views the military exercises in the Sea of Japan as a threat to its territorial integrity. Beijing’s indignation appears calibrated to push back at U.S. dominance in the region.

As far as Beijing is concerned, the U.S.-South Korean joint air and sea military exercises that took place this week in the Sea of Japan were a direct threat to China’s territorial integrity.

For days now, China’s state-controlled media have been beating the drums of war with editorials, each more confrontational than the last.

“What will Americans feel if the Chinese or Russian military travel across the ocean to hold their exercises in the high seas not far from the coast of Florida, New York or California?” demanded an editorial writer in Tuesday’s English-language China Daily.

MDAA Guest Contributor: Raul Colon

MDAA is pleased to announce the addition of our first guest writer, Raul Colon. He is a welcome addition to the growing source of information that is our blog. He has combine sports and military history background that should add to the insight and writing style of this production immensely. Please feel free to contact us with any feedback on Mr. Colon’s writing and we will be certain to pass it on. Below is a brief bio on Mr. Colon. His first piece, titled Patriot’s Heart: The MPQ-53 Radar will be posted shortly. 

Iran Ready to Resolve Dispute Over Nuclear Program, with Conditions

Iran is ready for “effective cooperation” to resolve the dispute over its nuclear program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview with state media.

“We said that we will talk with P5+1 as of early September, but there are some conditions,” Ahmadinejad told Press TV on Monday. “One of the conditions is that others should be present in the discussions as well.”

The Iranian leader said the conditions for talks include the P5+1 members announcing their positions on Israel having nuclear weapons. Jerusalem has neither confirmed nor denied that it has a nuclear weapons program.

Report Finds Russians May Not Be in Compliance, Could Sink New START Pact

The United States believes Russia is not fully complying with international pacts involving chemical and biological weapons, although Moscow has settled most questions about violations of a nuclear arms treaty with the United States, according to a State Department report to be made public Wednesday.

The State Department Compliance Report had been requested earlier this month by seven of the eight Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. They were concerned because the last report in 2005 highlighted what they described as “direct violations of START I by the Russians, ” a reference to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty signed in 1991.

The report comes at a crucial time, as the Senate considers a new treaty that would replace START I. The Obama administration hopes to have it ratified by year’s end, when Democrats will likely lose some of their Senate seats. The Foreign Relations Committee could vote on the treaty as early as next week.

Anti-missile Satellites Pass Big Tests: Pentagon’s space-based defense system spots missile launches

A pair of experimental U.S. missile defense satellites has passed a series of vital tests in space, spotting three missile launches and successfully relaying data about their trajectories to observers on Earth.

The two satellites make up the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) and were built by Northrop Grumman and Raytheon for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency as a demonstration of technology to protect the United States from enemy missiles. The $1.5 billion STSS demonstration mission was launched in September 2009.

The STSS’s most recent test, the June 28 observation U.S. Missile Defense Agency rocket launch during an intercept test, was “the most thorough indication yet of the space-based sensor’s capabilities,” Northrop Grumman officials said in a statement.

Comprehensive Plan Required on Administration’s Phased Adaptive Approach for Missile Defense

The House Armed Services Committee unanimously approved an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill that holds the Administration accountable for deploying a missile defense system in Europe to protect the U.S. homeland.

The amendment, introduced by Strategic Forces Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Turner (R-Ohio), would require the Secretary of Defense to provide a report with detailed information on the Administration´s Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) for missile defense in Europe, including basing locations, quantities of assets, program schedules, performance, and cost.

Video Clip: India AAD Ballistic Missile Defense Test

Clip on the Indian missile test this week. Check it out…

Wikileaks Documents: N. Korea Sold Missiles to al-Qaeda, Taliban

A powerful Afghan insurgent leader and a man identified as Osama Bin Laden’s financial adviser purchased ground-to-air missiles from North Korea in 2005, according to an uncorroborated U.S. intelligence report released by Wikileaks on Sunday.

“On 19 November 2005, Hezb-Islami party leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar [sic] and Dr. Amin [no last name], Osama Bin Ladin’s financial advisor, both flew to North Korea departing from Iran,” the undated report said.

“While in North Korea, the two confirmed a deal with the North Korean government for remote controlled rockets for use against American and coalition aircraft,” said the report, whose origin could not be determined from the version published on the Wikileaks site.

Interceptor Missile Hits the Bull’s Eye

Conducted by scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Monday test validated endo-atmospheric layer of interception, when the AAD achieved a kill of the Prithvi during the latter’s terminal phase.

India’s plans to put in place the initial phase of a robust Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) shield by 2012 received a big thrust on Monday, with a supersonic interceptor missile, Advanced Air Defence (AAD), bringing down an incoming “enemy” ballistic missile (a modified Prithvi) of 2,000 km range, at an altitude of 15 km over the Bay of Bengal.

The proposed twin-layered BMD system envisages interception and destruction of incoming enemy missiles in exo-atmosphere (altitude of 50-80 km) and endo-atmosphere (altitude up to 30 km).

While the first phase seeks to protect vital assets against enemy ballistic missiles of up to 2,000 km range, the second phase is intended to engage missiles of up to 5,000 km range.