Don’t Give Up the Ship

Dear Members and Friends,

MDAA recently had the opportunity to visit one of the United States Navy’s 23 Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Aegis ships docked in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii:  The USS O’Kane (DDG-77).  

Raytheon Pitches SM-3 to European Countries for Ballistic Missile Defense

Raytheon has proposed that 10 European warships be equipped with the company’s standard SM-3 missile, so that the burden of providing a missile defense shield over Europe can be shared more equally among the NATO countries. The alliance has crafted a Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) to extending the shield, so that it covers the entire European continent. But the U.S. is providing the only system that can currently perform the exo-atmospheric interception of incoming missiles required to defend an entire region. That system is the Aegis onboard U.S. Navy warships, which fires the SM-3 Block 1A.

Turkish Delight

Dear Members and Friends, 

The government of Turkey, which shares a 310 mile-long western border with Iran, has officially agreed to host a United States Army Forward Based AN/TPY-2 X Band Radar that will detect, track, and discriminate ballistic missiles coming from Iran towards Turkey, Southern Europe, Northern Europe, and the homeland of United States of America. 

SM-3 Block 1B Fails First Intercept Test

The advanced Standaard missile 3 (SM-3) Block 1B failed its first intercept test yesterday in a ballistic missile intercept test conducted by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The test was conducted yesterday over the Pacific Ocean, exercising the sea-based element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS).

US Missile Defense Plan Goes Ahead Without Czech Support

The Czech Republic has decided not to participate in the U.S. ballistic missile system for Europe. Our correspondent looks at the U.S. proposal and describes the reasons for the Czech withdrawal.

Europe Eyes Ships, Sensors For PAA Missile Shield

European ships already equipped with advanced phased array radars (APAR) are likely the first foreign hardware input from the continent into the U.S.-led Phased Adaptive Approach missile defense architecture, according to Ed Miyashiro, vice president at Raytheon Missile Systems.

Gates, Mullen Defend European Missile Defense

The military’s top leaders defended the U.S. approach to missile defense on Capitol Hill June 15 when questioned about a new report that a key senator says shoots holes in the Obama administration’s European Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) for defending the continent against ballistic missile attacks.

Twelfth Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Missile Defense Conference

Thank you, Mike, for that kind introduction. I am honored to be here at RUSI today. This Institute has a long and distinguished history, to which I am proud to add my participation. This conference, in particular, is an important forum to discuss the broad range of missile defense issues and it brings together so many important leaders on this issue.

Russia has no plan to reconsider relations with Iran

Iran's Ahmadinejad and Russia's Medvedev

Moscow has no plan to reconsider its stance on Iran in order to please the U.S. and NATO, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Tuesday.

Doubts Persist Over Timeline For Obama Missile Shield Plan

Almost two years after the Obama administration announced its plan to establish over a decade a missile shield that would provide protection to all of Europe, doubts remain over the feasibility of the program’s ambitious timeline, Aviation Week reported on Monday.