North Korea making missile able to hit U.S.

 

New intelligence indicates that North Korea is moving ahead with building its first road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile, an easily hidden weapon capable of hitting the United States, according to Obama administration officials.

May: MAD not a 21st Century answer

On June 28th, Iran’s rulers test-fired 14 ballistic missiles, including long- and medium-range Shahab missiles and short-range Zelzal missiles. Also, their new and improved centrifuges are turning out more enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.

Time for cooperative missile defense now

Last week we saw Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards conducted ballistic missile exercises. This show of bravado is not just worrisome, it demonstrates to all that missiles in the wrong hands threaten our friends and even our homeland. Matched with the Iranian nuclear ambitions, we are entering a very dangerous time. 

The Peril of Deep Defense Cuts

OPINION:

David Klein

Today Leon Panetta will take the oath to become our nation’s 23rd secretary of defense. After he walks through the Pentagon’s river entrance and up the oak-paneled stairwell to his office, the weight of managing a three million-person department during wartime will sink in. And Mr. Panetta’s tenure begins just as President Obama and bipartisan majorities in Congress are insisting on deep cuts to defense spending. It will be tempting to accede to the White House’s proposal to carve out $400 billion, if not more, from the national security budget by 2023. It would also be a grievous mistake.

Japan, U.S. To Expand Missile Defense, Cyber Cooperation

The United States and Japan pledged to continue working together on missile defense, cyber and space initiatives, as well as expanding information-sharing and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activities.

U.S.-Japan 2+2 Ministerial Security Meeting On Tuesday

The United States will host a Security Consultative Committee (SCC) meeting with Japan on Tuesday.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will hold talks with their Japanese counterparts Takeaki Matsumoto and Toshimi Kitazawa at the Department of State.

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.

Russia, U.S. May Share Missile-Defense Information, Secretary Gates Says

U.S. and Russian cooperation on missile defense, long an irritant between the two nations, may include exchanging launch information and setting up a joint data center, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.

“We’ve disagreed before, and Russia still has uncertainties” about the revamped U.S. missile-defense system, he told Russian military officers of the Kuznetsov Naval Academy at the State Naval Museum in Saint Petersburg today. “However, we’ve mutually committed to resolving these difficulties.”

Senators Call for NATO Missile Defense in Georgia

Four Republican senators are calling on the Obama administration to place a sensitive missile defense-related radar site in Georgia, rather than in Turkey, as is currently planned.

Kitazawa, Gates look at exporting jointly developed interceptor

It looks a decision on selling the US-Japanese joint develeoped SM-3 missile defense system to third party nations could be made this year. Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitaza and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates agreed Thursday to start talks about this possibility. They also confirmed their unity over regional issues, including the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.