Light truck: In Huntsville, Boeing, Army roll out next phase of laser program to help protect troops

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – It looks like just another big, sand-colored Army truck – except with R2-D2′s boxy cousin sitting atop the back. This is the Army’s High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator, and the hope is it will lead to a system that uses beams of light to hit and destroy an enemy’s incoming rockets, artillery and mortar rounds before they can hurt soldiers or civilians.

Iran secretly tested ‘nuclear-capable missiles’

 

Iranian clerics look at a ballistic missile before being launched at an undisclosed location on June 28.

Iran has carried out secret tests of ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload in breach of UN resolutions, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Wednesday.

Senior MP Underscores Iran’s Defensive Capabilities

A senior Iranian legislator underlined the country’s high defense capabilities, and warned enemies of Tehran’s crushing response to any aggression.

“Today, Iran enjoys good defensive capabilities and any ill-intended approach towards the country will receive a decisive, swift and bold response,” Rapporteur of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Kazzem Jalali said on Wednesday.

Missile Defense Malpractice

 

As Iran tests its latest long-range missiles, a senator says a Pentagon study shows the White House’s decision to let Moscow have a veto on missile defense has left us with systems that are “simply not credible.”

Iranian Tests Underscore Value of Obama Missile Defense Plan

 

Even as the U.S. begins to reduce its involvement in Afghanistan, the potential source of future conflicts in the region, the Islamic Republic of Iran, is moving aggressively to expand its political and military power. Teheran is reported to be reaching out to its neighbors, Iraq, Afghanistan and even Pakistan in a seeming bid to supplant Washington as an ally. At the same time, President Ahmadinejad defiantly declares that his country will continue to enrich nuclear fuel, an advanced step on the path to a nuclear weapon.

Senate Panel Backs Halting Raytheon Kill-Vehicle Production

The Senate Armed Services Committee has backed the Missile Defense Agency’s decision to suspend production of Raytheon Co. (RTN) “kill vehicles” that are designed to destroy incoming ballistic missiles.

Israel to join U.S. Mideast missile shield

Israel’s growing missile defenses will reportedly be integrated into the United States’ planned regional defense network — and could end up shielding Arab states that, in theory at least, are considered adversaries of the Jewish state.

Air Defense Artillery Brigade takes command in Southwest Asia

A transfer of authority ceremony between the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and the 108th Air Defense Artillery was held June 22 in Southwest Asia.