India Not Sold on Closer Military Ties with U.S.

NEW DELHI — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta urged India on Wednesday to build a closer military relationship with the United States, but Indian leaders appeared more interested in buying U.S. weapons than in aligning strategically with Washington.

US, Russia Fulfilling their START Commitments – US State Dpt

WASHINGTON, October 26 (Itar-Tass) — The United Sates and Russia continue to cut their nuclear arsenals. This assessment was made by the US Department of States on Tuesday that made public a fact sheet on the fulfilment by the two countries of their obligations under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New Start), which came into force on February 5.

U.S. and North Korea Begin Groundwork for Talks

GENEVA — The United States and North Korea began two days of talks here on Monday that American officials have said will test the ground for a possible resumption of wider discussions on North Korea’s nuclear program.

NATO Still Hopes to Link Russia to Missile Shield

NATO still hopes to engage Russia in its prospective missile defense system, but won’t yield to Moscow’s push for the shield to be run jointly, an alliance envoy said Tuesday.

Lockheed Stresses New Interest in Meads

Rough Diagram of the MEADS system

The international consortium developing the $3.4 billion Meads air and missile defense program for the U.S., Germany and Italy says it could sign on a fourth foreign partner by next year, according to a senior executive with the Lockheed Martin-led group.

The U.S. last month said it would stop funding the U.S.-European Medium Extended Air Defense System, or Meads, after fiscal 2013, calling it unaffordable in the current budget climate. Germany issued a similar statement, but it has also said itis open to fielding a Meads-derived missile defense system pending the outcome of the development program.

Iran Cited for Arms Embargo Violations, Rockets for Taliban

U.S., British, French and German diplomats today cited evidence of a growing number of illegal arms exports by Iran, including the seizure earlier this month of rockets intended for the Taliban militia in Afghanistan.

“Germany is concerned about the high number of violation cases that were recently uncovered,” Ambassador Peter Wittig said in remarks to the United Nations Security Council. “Many involve the extensive delivery of weapons from Iran to unstable regions in West Africa and the Middle East.”

Romania Wants to Finalize Talks on US Missile Shield in 2011

Romanian President Traian Basecu

Romania wishes to finalize negotiations this year on US plans to deploy elements of a new missile defense shield on its soil, President Traian Basescu said on Thursday.

Seoul In Talks With U.S. On Longer Missile Range

South Korea has recently begun consultations with the U.S. over whether to revise their long-standing missile agreement and allow Seoul to develop longer-range ballistic missiles in order to better safeguard itself, according to a government source.

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.

North Korea digging tunnel for spring nuclear test: report

As a U.S. Politician traveled to North Korea to tell them to “calm down”, a report by a Newspaper said that North Korea is preparing for a third Nuclear Test. U.S. Intelligence agencies believe that it could be testing these weapons in order to gain leverage in International Talks it is seeking. Furthermore, this could be a way for the North to get aid for its bad economy.  In addition, the South said it has been monitoring the North, and no activity exists.