DTN News - RUSSIAN DEFENSE NEWS: Russian Mobile Topol-M Missile

DTN News - RUSSIAN DEFENSE NEWS: Russian Mobile Topol-M Missile

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Defense News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 31, 2015: A Russian mobile Topol-M missile launching unit drives during the Victory Day parade in Moscow's Red Square. 

Topol-M is the first ICBM developed by Russia after the breakup of Soviet Union. The missile is being launched from underground silos. The Russian Army plans to deploy about 300 missiles on transporter erector and launcher (TEL) vehicles too.

Two Topol-M silo-based missile systems were deployed in December 2010 in the Tatishchevo Missile Division near Saratov in southwest Russia.

About 52 silo-based and 18 mobile Topol-M missile systems were in service as of January 2011. A total of 450 to 500 missiles are expected to be deployed between 2015 and 2020.

Topol-M ICBM development
The development of Topol-M was initiated by the MITT and Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in late 1980s. The Ukrainian firm Yuzhnoye withdrew from the programme and all documentation was shifted to MITT in 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

The missile development was consolidated inside Russia. The programme was approved by the Russian government in 1993. The producers consortium led by MITT included about 500 Russian firms. The final assembly was made at the Votkinsk Mechanical Plant.

The first missile was test fired in December 1994. The first silo-based regiment was declared operational in 1998. The system was officially accepted into service in April 2000.

The first test of the mobile launcher was conducted in April 2004. The first flight version of the missile was delivered to the Russian Federation in 1995.

The first three mobile Topol-M missile systems entered service with a missile unit stationed near the town of Teykovo in December 2006. RS-24, a multiwarhead variant of Topol-M missile, was test fired from the northern launch site in May 2007. The missile variant is capable of carrying multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV) warheads.

Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile system features
The Topol-M is a three-stage solid-propellant ICBM. It carries a single nuclear warhead under US-Russian arms control treaties. The design can support MIRV warheads. The missile can reach a range of 11,000km at a speed of 17,400km/h.

The missile is cold launched using a special booster called PAD which allows the first stage to fire into air by pushing out the missile from the storage container. The motors for the first stage were developed by the Soyuz Federal Centre for Dual-Use Technologies.

Topol-M is directed by autonomous digital inertial navigation system using an onboard GLONASS receiver. The burn time of the engine was minimised to avoid detection by the present and future missile-launch surveillance satellites during boost phase. The missile carries targeting countermeasures and decoys.

It can perform evasive manoeuvres in terminal phase to avoid the hit of interceptor missiles. The flat ballistic trajectory of the missile complicates the interception by the anti-ballistic missile (ABM).

The missile is shielded against radiation, electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and nuclear blasts, and can withstand a hit from laser technology.

Missile launch platform
The silo-based missile deployment site includes ten isolated silos. The underground silos were originally developed for R-36M and UR-100N missiles. The high cost elements such as protective covers and control systems were retained with minor changes. The missile uses the existing launch control and communication systems.

The underground site consists of a command and control bunker, security, power supply and nuclear blast detection systems. The launch complex was designed to survive hits from high-precision conventional weapons.

The Topol-M mobile missile is fired from a transporter erector launcher (TEL) canister mounted on the MZKT-79921 cross-country, a modified eight-axle mobile launch vehicle. The TEL was developed by the Titan Central Design Bureau and produced at the Barrikady Plant.


The mobile launcher can launch the missile at any time, even on a rough terrain route. The chassis is fitted with jacks to level the launcher. The onboard gas and hydraulic systems maintain the elevation of the container.

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DTN News - UKRAINE UNREST: Russia Test-Fires ICBM Amid Tension Over Ukraine

DTN News - UKRAINE UNREST: Russia Test-Fires ICBM Amid Tension Over Ukraine

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Reuters
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 5, 2014: Russia said it had successfully test-fired an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) on Tuesday, with tensions running high over its military intervention in Ukraine's Crimea region.

A U.S. official said the United States had received proper notification from Russia ahead of the test and that the initial notification pre-dated the crisis in Crimea. The Russian Defence Ministry could not be reached for comment.

The Strategic Rocket Forces launched an RS-12M Topol missile from the southerly Astrakhan region and the dummy warhead hit its target at a proving ground in Kazakhstan, Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Yegorov told state-run news agency RIA.

The launch site, Kapustin Yar, is near the Volga River about 450 km (280 miles) east of the Ukrainian border. Kazakhstan, a Russian ally in a post-Soviet security grouping, is further to the east.

Russia conducts test launches of its ICBMs fairly frequently and often announces the results, a practice seen as intended to remind the West of Moscow's nuclear might and reassure Russians that President Vladimir Putin will protect them.

Russia and the United States signed the latest of a series of treaties restricting the numbers of ICBMs in 2010, but Moscow has indicated it will agree further cuts in the near future and is taking steps to upgrade its nuclear arsenal.

Putin has emphasised that Russia must maintain a strong nuclear deterrent, in part because of an anti-missile shield the United States is building in Europe which Moscow says could undermine its security.

The Defence Ministry said the test could help Russia improve its capability of foiling anti-missile shields, RIA reported.

Moscow says it is concerned U.S. interceptors could shoot down some of its ICBMs in flight, weakening its arsenal. The United States says the shield is meant to protect against threats from states such as Iran and poses no threat to Russia.

The 20-metre (60-foot) long RS-12M, known in NATO parlance as the SS-25 Sickle, was first put into service in 1985, six years before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and is designed to carry a nuclear warhead. Its range is 10,500 km (6,000 miles).

RT-2PM Topol - Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

At the time of the signing of the START I Treaty in 1991 the Soviet Union had deployed some 288 Topol missiles. Deployment continued, and at the end of 1996 a total of 360 Topol missiles were deployed.

The Topol missile was deployed at previously developed deployment sites. After the INF Treaty was signed in 1987 several SS-20 deployment sites were adapted to launch the Topol missiles. The United States expressed specific concerns during the INF treaty negotiations. When the SS-25 missile system was deployed in the field, with its missile inside the canister and mounted on the launcher, the US contended that the canister might conceal an RSD-10 Pioneer missile. This was of concern because unlike the single warhead of the RT-2PM Topol, the RSD-10 carried up to 3 warheads. A resolution was reached after the Soviet Union agreed to allow inspection parties to use radiation detection systems to measure fast neutron intensity flux emanating from the launch canister. A launch canister with a missile inside containing a single warhead, such as the RT-2PM Topol, emitted a different pattern of fast neutrons than did one with a missile having three warheads, such as the RSD-10.

Provisions of the SALT II agreement prohibited the deployment of more than one new missile (which became RT-23UTTh), it was officially declared by the Soviet Union that the RT-2PM Topol was developed to upgrade the silo based RT-2. The US government disputed this view, contending that the missile was clearly more than 5% larger and had twice the throw-weight as the RT-2 and therefore constituted a new missile system. Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov, Soviet Chief of General Staff cancelled the September 1, 1983 test flight of the RT-2PM Topol which was to be launched from Plesetsk (the launch site in northwest Russia used for test firing of solid fuel propellant ICBMs)- 24 minutes later to land in the Klyuchi target area on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The night of the scheduled launch was the night that Korean Air Lines Flight 007 intruded Soviet airspace over Kamchatka.

An RT-2PM Topol with two MIRVs may have been tested in 1991, and the missile was tested at least once with four MIRV warheads, but there has apparently been no further development of a multiple warhead version. This became a point of contention during the conclusion of the 1991 START negotiations, at which time the US pressed for a definition of "downloading" (removing warheads from missiles) that would complicate any Soviet attempt suddenly to deploy multiple warheads on the RT-2PM Topol.


Russia plans to reequip approximately 400 silos where obsolete UR-100, RT-2 and MR-UR-100 missiles are located. Under the START II Treaty, which never had and most likely will never have a binding effect, Russia would have been able to place 90 single-warhead solid fuel missiles in reequipped R-36 silos. In order to guard against a break-out scenario involving the rapid reconversion of R-36 silos on-site inspection became a very important aspect of START II verification.

(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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DTN News - KOREAN PENINSULA NEWS: South Korea Says North's 'Rocket' Could Reach US

DTN News - KOREAN PENINSULA NEWS: South Korea Says North's 'Rocket' Could Reach US

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AFP
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 23, 2012: North Korea's recent rocket launch amounted to the test of a ballistic missile capable of carrying a half-tonne payload as far as the US west coast, the South Korean defence ministry says.

North Korea launched its three-stage Unha-3 rocket on December 12, insisting it was a purely scientific mission aimed at putting a polar-orbiting satellite in space.

South Korea's estimate was based on analysis of an oxidiser container - recovered from the rocket's first-stage splashdown site - which stored red fuming nitric acid to fuel the first-stage propellant.

"Based on our analysis and simulation, the missile is capable of flying more than 10,000 kilometres with a warhead of 500-600 kilograms," a defence ministry official said.

The estimated range of 10,000 kilometres covers the whole of Asia, eastern Europe and western Africa as well as Alaska and a large part of the US west coast including San Francisco.

Without any debris from the second and third stages to analyse, the official said it could not be determined if the rocket had re-entry capability - a key element of inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology.

Most of the world saw the North's rocket launch as a disguised ballistic missile test that violates UN resolutions imposed after Pyongyang conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

The success of the launch was seen as a major strategic step forward for the isolated North, although missile experts differed on the level of ballistic capability demonstrated by the rocket.

The debris collected by the South Koreans was made of an alloy of aluminium and magnesium with eight panels welded manually.

"Welding was crude, done manually," the ministry official said, adding that oxidiser containers for storing toxic chemicals are rarely used by countries with advanced space technology.

The South's navy later recovered three more pieces of the rocket - a fuel tank, a combustion chamber and an engine connection rod - from the Yellow Sea and has been analysing them since Friday, Yonhap news agency said.

"As additional pieces have been salvaged, we will be able to look deeper into the function and structure of North Korea's long-range rocket," said a defence ministry official quoted by Yonhap.

The communist North apparently timed the widely-condemned launch to mark the first anniversary of the death of its longtime ruler Kim Jong-Il and drum up more support for his son and successor, Kim Jong-Un.

Since the launch, Pyongyang's propaganda machine has gone into overdrive to heap praise on the ruling Kim dynasty for leading the successful mission and to urge support for the young ruler who took over a year ago.

The nuclear-armed nation has awarded medals to 101 rocket scientists and technicians who worked on the launch, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

"By successfully launching satellite Kwangmyongsong 3-2, they instilled great national self-esteem... and dealt a sledge-hammer blow at the hostile forces' desperate moves to check the advance of (the North)," it said.

RELATED STORY: North Korea leader orders bigger rockets

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MAP: Korea, Democratic People S Republic Of

North Korea's recent rocket launch amounted 

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DTN News - ASIAN DEFENSE NEWS: Russian Military To Buy 36 ICBMs, 2 Missile Subs In 2011

DTN News - ASIAN DEFENSE NEWS: Russian Military To Buy 36 ICBMs, 2 Missile Subs In 2011

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Asian Defense News

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia- March 23, 2011:

The Russian Defense Ministry will buy 36 strategic ballistic missiles, two strategic missile submarines and 20 strategic cruise missiles this year, Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Friday.

Over 19 trillion rubles ($665 billion) has been set aside for the state arms procurement program, Serdyukov told a military board meeting attended by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The budget will also cover spacecraft (5), warplanes (35), helicopters (109), missile defense systems (21), multirole nuclear powered submarines (3) and a surface warship, he said.

Russia to develop new ballistic missile system by 2013 Russian scientists will develop a new land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system by 2013, a leading missile designer said on Thursday.

"I cannot be specific about the details but new design solutions will significantly boost the fire control and communications components of the system," said Yury Solomonov, general designer at the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology.

Solomonov, who designed Russia's Topol and Bulava ballistic missiles, said the new system would feature high survivability and enhanced striking capability.

Russia's Strategic Missile Forces reportedly have over 400 ICBMs, including 171 Topol (SS-25), 70 Topol-M (SS-27), and three RS-24 Yars missiles.

Russia to double production of ballistic missile systems - Putin The production of ballistic missile systems in Russia will double starting in 2013, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

"The Armed Forces will receive new strategic and tactical missile systems, such as RS-24 Yars, Bulava and Iskander M," Putin said at a meeting with defense industry officials in the southern Siberian republic of Udmurtia. "Starting from 2013, the production of [ballistic] missile systems must be doubled."

Putin said Russia will invest 77 billion rubles ($2.6 bln) in the production of ballistic missiles in line with a state program on the modernization of the defense industry until 2020.

Missile manufacturers, including a missile production plant in Votkinsk, will receive 15 billion rubles ($500 mln) in the next three years for the development of production capacity, the prime minister said.

"The financing will gradually increase in the future," Putin added.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Asian Defense News

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DTN News: Lockheed Martin Receives $106 Million Contract For Next-Generation ICBM Reentry Field Support Equipment

DTN News: Lockheed Martin Receives $106 Million Contract For Next-Generation ICBM Reentry Field Support Equipment

Source: DTN News / Lockheed Martin

(NSI News Source Info) KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., - October 9, 2010: Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) announced today that it has received a $106 million engineering, manufacturing and development contract from Northrop Grumman Corporation to develop the next-generation Reentry Field Support Equipment (RFSE) for the U.S. Air Force’s Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) system.

Under the 58-month contract awarded in July, Lockheed Martin will design, develop, test and deliver two sets of RFSE. Production of an additional 10 RFSE sets for deployment to all operational Air Force Minuteman III wings will be performed under a follow-on contract. The RFSE will replace the aging Minuteman III Reentry System Test Set (RSTS). Lockheed Martin will continue to sustain the RSTS, for which it is the original equipment manufacturer, until deployment of the replacement RFSE.

“This contract represents an important modernization effort for the Air Force’s Minuteman III reentry systems,” said Les Lyon, director of Air Force Reentry Programs, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. “Lockheed Martin is committed to providing the Air Force with the highest quality hardware and systems engineering in support of the operational ICBM force.”

The RFSE, which represents a substantial enhancement to the Minuteman III sustainment effort, will be used to support testing and maintenance of all Minuteman III reentry systems – both the Mk12A and Mk21 configurations.

The RFSE in conjunction with the recently deployed Safety Enhanced Reentry Vehicle (SERV) support equipment will provide a full suite of new support equipment for the Air Force’s Minuteman III reentry systems. Lockheed Martin completed deliveries of all SERV ground support equipment in April and is continuing to deliver SERV flight hardware. The SERV program enables each Minuteman III missile to carry one, two or three Mk12A reentry vehicles or a single Mk21 reentry vehicle from the decommissioned Peacekeeper ICBM force, ensuring continued reliability and effectiveness.

Lockheed Martin is a principal teammate to Northrop Grumman, the ICBM prime integration contractor for the U.S. Air Force. Lockheed Martin has been the principal designer, manufacturer and sustainer of the Minuteman reentry systems since the 1960s.

Lockheed Martin leads the industry in performance and domain expertise in strategic missile and missile defense systems. Lockheed Martin designs and produces ballistic missiles, interceptors, target missiles and reentry systems with unmatched reliability. Lockheed Martin’s focus on operational excellence yields affordable high-quality systems and services.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 136,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation’s 2009 sales from continuing operations were $44.5 billion.

DTN News: The W62 Died For Our Sins ~ Nuclear, Biological And Chemical Weapons

DTN News: The W62 Died For Our Sins ~ Nuclear, Biological And Chemical Weapons

Source: Strategy Page

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 18, 2010: The United States has dismantled the last of 1,725 W62 nuclear warheads. Designed in the 1960s, the 115 kg/253 pound device had a yield of 170 kilotons. All were manufactured between 1970-76 and were used in Minuteman ICBMs. Over the last five years, the W62 warheads on 300 Minuteman III missiles were replaced with refurbished warheads of more recent design and manufacture. These were W87 warheads, that were originally built for the Peacekeeper missile, which carried ten W87s each. But the last Peacekeeper was retired last year, for cost and disarmament treaty reasons. The W87 warheads were checked over and reconfigured to work on the Minuteman. The W62 did not have as many safety or reliability features as the W87, and was more expensive to maintain. The W87 is a 1980s design. Each Minuteman now carries one warhead, although it was designed to carry three W62s. But the START II disarmament treaty restricts the missiles to one. It took about $250 million to modify the W87s to work on Minuteman. One missile a week was converted, which is why it took so long. Both warheads contained a hydrogen (fusion) bomb, but the yield of the W87 is 300 kilotons. Both weapons, with their Re-entry Vehicle equipment, weigh about 363 kg/800 pounds each.

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DTN News: Test Of Newest U.S. Missile Defense Technology Will Simulate Attack By Iran

DTN News: Test Of Newest U.S. Missile Defense Technology Will Simulate Attack By Iran *Source: By Mike Mount, CNN (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - December 27, 2009: The U.S. military's Missile Defense Agency will practice protecting the United States from a simulated Iranian missile attack next month in an exercise using the agency's newest missile-killing technology, Pentagon officials said Friday. Previous tests have been focused on a missile trajectory that mimics an attack from North Korea, but the January test will have a trajectory and distance resembling an intercontinental ballistic missile launch from Iran.The fake ICBM will be launched from the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific, with the interceptor originating from California. At the same time, the agency will be testing its new "Capability-2" technology, with upgraded software and sensors loaded inside an interceptor missile that will be fired at the fake Iranian missile. The Capability-2 technology is designed to eventually replace the existing hardware the United States has in its two missile defense bases in California and Alaska, according to Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency. While intelligence assessments of that country's capabilities now suggest an Iranian ICBM threat is as far away as 2020, this test was planned more than three years ago, when the threat seemed much closer, Lehner said. In the January test, the fake ICBM is slated to originate from the Missile Defense Agency's launch facility in the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific while the interceptor missile will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, according to Lehner. Missile defense tests have been likened to hitting a bullet with a bullet. This test will be even more difficult: It will be like hitting a bullet head-on with another bullet, because any launch from Iran would have a trajectory that would require a U.S. interceptor missile hitting the target directly, Lehner said. The missiles will be flying at speeds of between 17,000 and 18,000 miles per hour, according to Lehner, about 3,000 mph faster than tests involving mock North Korean missiles. The speed will reduce the strike window, meaning the interceptor, also known as the "kill vehicle," will have to work even faster at identifying and striking the target missile. The United States has only two missile defense bases, one at Vandenberg, with three missiles, and the other at Fort Greely, Alaska, with 20 interceptor missiles at the ready. Lehner said that if Iran were to launch an ICBM attack against the United States, the most likely defense option would be firing a missile from Alaska, because of the shorter distance around the globe. The United States was prepared to put a third missile defense site in eastern Europe, but the Obama administration scrapped that option because of the reduced ICBM threat from Iran. In its place, the administration said it will move ships with the capability of shooting down short- and medium-range missile from Iran which, they say, pose a greater threat to Iran's neighbors and U.S. bases in the Middle East.

DTN News: Boeing Delivers Upgrades For US Air Force ICBM Security System

DTN News: Boeing Delivers Upgrades For US Air Force ICBM Security System *Source: DTN News / Boeing (NSI News Source Info) ANAHEIM, Calif., - November 4, 2009: The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] Nov 3 yesterday announced that it has delivered upgraded cryptography devices to Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Air Force for the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) system. The devices provide additional communications security between the missile system's launch control centers and launch facilities. The new devices are part of the ICBM Cryptography Upgrade (ICU) program for ICBM missile wings at Air Force bases F.E. Warren in Wyoming, Malmstrom in Montana and Minot in North Dakota. Boeing designed, developed and delivered the replacement units and supporting technical data, trainers, support equipment, and code processing system modifications. (Image/photo LGM-30G Minuteman, Intercontinental ballistic missile ~ ICBM). "Enabling the Air Force to install these units is a vital step as we work together to enhance the security of this important nuclear deterrent," said Peggy Morse, director of Boeing Strategic Missile Systems. "It's also one of the Air Force's main requirements for full operational capability of the ICU program." The U.S. Air Force and Aerojet announced the successful full-scale, full-duration static test of an advanced second-stage motor for the ICBM program. Aerojet stated the test was conducted at simulated altitude conditions to mimic zero atmospheric pressure at a U.S. Air Force development center in Tennessee. The purpose of the test was to measure flight performance in a realistic environment. It was the second test of the advanced second-stage motor, A2S, following a sea-level test in June. The A2S motor applies to the U.S. Air Force Propulsion Application Program, which is intended to develop the next general of ICBM-sized motors for increased propulsion at a lower cost. ICU is one element of the ICBM Prime Integration Contract led by Northrop Grumman. The program sustains and modernizes the United States' Minuteman III weapon system, extending its service life well into the future. Boeing has been a teammate on the Northrop Grumman-led ICBM Prime Team since 1998 and has played a key role in ICBM development, design, production and maintenance since Minuteman I was conceptualized in 1958. A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.

China's Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile / China's Ballistic Missiles Threaten U.S. Aircraft Carriers

China's Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile / China's Ballistic Missiles Threaten U.S. Aircraft Carriers

(NSI News Source Info) April 1, 2009: While the world is focused on North Korea and its Taepodongs, the Chinese military has reportedly been refining its own ballistic missiles. But whereas the Nork missiles were really only intended as diplomatic leverage rather than for actual military operations, the Chinese missiles are designed to actually work against a specific set of military targets: U.S. ships, especially aircraft carriers. The DongFeng 21 (NATO code name: CSS-5) is a two-stage, solid-propellant, single-warhead medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) system developed by China Changfeng Mechanics and Electronics Technology Academy (also known as 2nd Space Academy). The missile design is based on the two-stage JuLang 1 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). The DongFeng 21 is capable of delivering a 500kT nuclear warhead over a distance of 1,800km. Some DongFeng 21 missiles are reportedly armed with a conventional warhead. The improved DongFeng 21A with extended range was reportedly introduced in 1996. China has also developed the Kaituozhe 1 (KT-1) space launch vehicle based on the DongFeng 21 design. "Since the mid-1990s, reports have indicated Chinese interest in modifying DF-15 tactical (600 kilometer) and DF-21 (2,500 kilometer) intermediate-range ballistic missiles as antiship weapons, using radar or infrared guidance," naval expert stated. Friedman says that ballistic missiles are effective anti-ship weapons because they exploit a gap in the anti-air coverage of U.S. warships, which are optimized to defend against low-flying cruise missiles. "The main effect of a tactical ballistic-missile threat would be to make anti-ballistic weapons such as the [Raytheon] SM-3 much more important for Fleet air defense." In other words, those interceptors the Navy was planning to use to shoot down Nork terror weapons might be handier as a routine defense against Chinese anti-ship missiles. But don't go investing in Raytheon stocks quite yet. The Chinese missiles rely on a sophisticated satellite targeting system that probably isn't in place ... and might never be. This [missile] program, if indeed it exists, may be connected to an ongoing Chinese satellite surveillance program, which reportedly will consist of four radar and four electro-optical satellites. [But] it is not ... clear whether the [potential] Chinese satellite system is intended primarily for ocean surveillance. Remember that the Chinese military procurement system was initially modeled on that of the Soviet Union, and that probably it has changed a lot less than the rest of Chinese society. To what extent would the Chinese field an antiship ballistic missile even though the associated targeting system(s) were either not ready or would never enter service? Moreover, even if the satellites are pointed at the ocean, telling an aircraft carrier from a civilian tanker ship is difficult for all but the most sophisticated sensors. In the end, it is skeptical that the Chinese can effectively target whatever ballistic anti-ship missiles they possess.

Russia To Test Launch Topol Ballistic Missile In April

Russia To Test Launch Topol Ballistic Missile In April

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - March 30, 2009: Russia will test launch on April 10 a Topol intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia, the Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) said on Monday. On October 18, 2007, another successful test launch was conducted. One Topol from a mobile launcher at Plesetsk test site reached its target on Kamchatka. As the Strategic Rocket Forces representative reported, it allowed for the extension of Topol's service life to 21 years. Another test of the SS-25 was carried out on Thursday, August 28, 2008. The launch was said to be specially tasked to test the missile's capability to avoid ground-based detection systems. The test included the use of a new warhead, designed to penetrate missile defense systems. The latest test was conducted on October 12, 2008 when a Topol was launched from the Plesetsk test site in northern Russia. The missile, with a dummy warhead, hit a target at the Kura Test Range on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian president Dmitry Medvedev observed the test on site. The Topol will eventually be replaced by the road-mobile version of the Topol-M (SS-27) missile. The RS-12M Topol (SS-25 Sickle) is a single-warhead intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) approximately the same size and shape as the U.S. Minuteman ICBM. The first Topol missiles were put into service in 1985. "The goal of the upcoming launch is to confirm the reliability of the technical characteristics [of the missile] during an extended service period," the SMF said in a statement. The missile has a maximum range of 10,000 km (6,125 miles) and can carry a 550-kiloton nuclear warhead. Although the service life of the SS-25 was extended to 21 years after a series of successful test launches last year, the missile will be progressively retired over the next decade and be replaced by a mobile version of the Topol-M (SS-27 Stalin) missile. According to open sources, Russia's SMF has a total of 541 ICBMs, including 306 Topol missiles and 59 Topol-M missiles.

Russia Launches Carrier Rocket Bearing European GOCE Satellite

Russia Launches Carrier Rocket Bearing European GOCE Satellite

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - March 18, 2009: Russia has successfully launched a Rockot carrier rocket bearing Europe's first GOCE satellite. The Rockot was launched by Russia's Space Forces from the Plesetsk space center in northwest Russia at 5.21 p.m. Moscow time (14.21 GMT). The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite is designed to measure the Earth's gravitational field. GOCE, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), is the first European satellite designed to provide unique models of the Earth's gravity on a global scale, and with unprecedented accuracy and spatial resolution. The Rockot launch vehicle is a modified version of the Russian RS-18 (SS-19 Stiletto) intercontinental ballistic missile. It uses the two original lower stages of the ICBM, in conjunction with a Breeze-KM upper-stage for commercial payloads. The contract to launch GOCE was concluded between the ESA and Eurockot Launch Services GmbH, a joint venture of the Khrunichev center (49%) and EADS Astrium (51%).

North Korea Providing Missile Technology To Iran and Syria

North Korea Providing Missile Technology To Iran and Syria

By Bona Kim, Intern

(NSI News Source Info) March 6, 2009: According to a new report, North Korea has managed to export more than 1,000 Scud missiles to Middle Eastern countries in spite of international nonproliferation efforts, and is a key player in a system of mutual military cooperation among developing nations.

The 2009 report by the Independent Working Group on Post-ABM Treaty Missile Defense and the Space Relationship (IWG), titled “Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century,” which was released in January of this year, reviews the threats posed by North Korea and other nations, and the reality of nuclear proliferation today.

According to the IWG report, North Korea has been deemed to be on the “second-tier proliferator” level, which refers to states in the developing world with varying technical capabilities that trade among themselves in order to bolster their communal nuclear and strategic weapons efforts.

The relationships between such developing countries may pose substantive threats. The 2009 report states that North Korea is believed to have greatly aided in the construction of the Al-Kibar reactor in Syria, a development that Israel felt was sufficiently threatening that an airstrike was used to destroy it in 2007, is estimated to have exported an estimated 1,000 “Scud” missiles to the Middle East region, and is believed to be currently offering technologies associated with Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) to states including Syria and Iran. North Korea is also alleged to have sold missiles to Pakistan in exchange for nuclear technology. The report states firmly, “In addition to missiles, North Korea is now able to export fissile materials, or even assembled nuclear devices, posing an additional and unacceptable threat to the United States.”

States such as North Korea and Iran are working hard to acquire, or in some cases already possess, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and the means to deliver them, the reported notes. North Korea already possesses several nuclear weapons and has made major advances in the development of its ballistic missile capabilities. The Kim regime is reportedly moving towards deployment of new land and sea based ballistic missiles able to carry nuclear warheads, whilst acting as a key proliferator of WMD/ballistic missile know-how as well as technologies and components.

It is said that North Korea’s missile exports, which net around $1.5 billion a year, constitute one of its largest single sources of revenue. Pyongyang has received extensive assistance from China in developing its missile program, including the “Taepo-Dong 2,” and from Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan, who has provided technical assistance and components for manufacturing high-speed centrifuges, according to the report. The report also states that North Korea is known not only to have purchased high-speed centrifuges from the Kahn network, but is believed to have also purchased nuclear weapons blueprints in 2008 which would enable swift advances in Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV) warhead programs. This could give the North the ability to build a miniature nuclear warhead with which it could arm a type of missile capable of reaching the continental United States.

Former Under Secretary of State John Bolton is quoted in the report as saying, “It is clear that Iran and North Korea are interested in ballistic missiles not as an interest but as part of an offensive capability… It is unlikely that either will willingly give up their nuclear programs. It is in both of their interests to hold on to their capabilities as long as possible. For North Korea, the program helps ensure that Kim Jong Il’s corrupt regime stays in power… Just as both nations will continue working on their nuclear and ballistic missile programs, the U.S. must diligently work on its own efforts to defend against them, including the development of a robust Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) capability.”

As a response to other state’s offensive nuclear and conventional programs, the IWG report recommends that U.S. BMD programs be bolstered by funding directed at sea- and space-based defensive capacity, that a space-based missile defense test be carried out within three years and that the rapid development and deployment of all aspects of missile defense be made an “urgent national priority.”

Obama Ignores Breakthroughs In Anti-Missile Technology

Obama Ignores Breakthroughs In Anti-Missile Technology

(NSI News Source Info) February 20, 2009: As evidence mounts that North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range missile – possibly, an InterContinental Ballistic Missile with enough range to reach the United States – President Obama no longer has to put U.S. nuclear forces on alert or threaten a pre-emptive first strike on North Korea, thanks to national missile defense interceptors deployed in California and Alaska. When North Korea conducted its first test of a missile with ICBM capabilities in 2006, “some [of the President Bush’s advisors] were urging him to launch a pre-emptive attack” on North Korea, Lt. Gen. Henry A. “Trey” Obering III reveals in a soon-to-be released documentary produced by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Unhappy with that option, President Bush rushed into deployment sea-based missile defense systems on board of Aegis-class cruisers in the Pacific that were still under development and had never been used in combat. He also placed on alert the handful of silo-based interceptors his administration had installed at Fort Greely, Alaska starting in July 2004, and ordered his commanders to intercept and destroy any incoming North Korean missile, something they had never done under battlefield conditions before. The president would not have had that option without the $100 billion the United States taxpayer has invested in missile defense research and deployed systems since 1983, Lt. Gen. Obering and other experts interviewed in the new Heritage Foundation documentary said. Lacking credible missile defense systems, “the only other ability you have is to apologize to those that die,” Lt. Gen. Obering said. Not to develop such systems would be “morally bankrupt,” he added. The Heritage Foundation documentary, screened recently to a select audience of Washington, DC insiders, takes its title, “33 Minutes,” from the time it would take an ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) to reach the United States if launched from North Korea or Iran. The Los Angeles Times reported that the U.S. intelligence community has now reversed its highly controversial National Intelligence Estimate on Iran that claimed Iran had shut down its nuclear weapons program in late 2003. U.S. intelligence officials now “expect the Islamic Republic to reach [nuclear] development milestones this year,” the Times reported, noting that President Obama himself described Iran’s “development of a nuclear weapon” as one reason giving urgency to his plans to talk to Tehran’s leaders. And yet, despite these alarming developments in Iran and North Korea, the Obama administration has said it plans to review funding of missile defense systems, arguing that the technology must be “proven” for current deployment plans to continue. Heritage Foundation expert Dr. James Jay Carafano, who helped produce the documentary, scoffed at such criticism. “We are long past the time when you could question whether this technology works,” he said, citing dozens of successful tests. Missile Defense Agency officials frequently have described their kinetic kill vehicles, which strike incoming missiles head on and destroy them without using explosives, as “hitting a bullet with a bullet.” But in recent years, the technology has gotten even better, Lt. Gen. Obering said. “We are now able to hit a spot on a bullet with a bullet.” Heritage is encouraging its 400,000 members to host home-screenings of “33 Minutes,” and hopes to strike a television deal, Heritage vice-president Rebecca Hagelin said on Wednesday night after the screening. “We are also making two ten-minute shorts, a seven minute trailer you can download from our website, and even a two-minute version,” she said. Using dramatic computerized simulation of a nuclear missile attack on New York, the documentary also includes an exclusive interview with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who rarely has appeared in public since a series of strokes slowed her down in 2002. As Prime Minister, Mrs. Thatcher was a strong supporter of the President Ronald Reagan’s initial missile defense program, known as the Strategic Defense Initiative. Speaking slowly but emphatically, the “Iron Lady” lived up to her reputation, warning that nuclear missiles in the hands of rogue dictators pose an unacceptable threat to the free world. “If America is held hostage, then the free world is held hostage,” Lady Thatcher said. “American leadership is essential. You know what you must do. You must do the right thing.” Dr. Kim R. Holmes, a Heritage vice president for Defense and Foreign Policy studies, said after the screening that recent comments about missile defense from President Obama and others in his administration were “not encouraging.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has stated publicly that our deployed missile defense systems “could be a bargaining chip” with the Russians and the Iranians, he said. There is a real possibility that the arms controls battles of the 1980s and 1990s that pitted conservatives against disarmament liberals could come back under the Democrat-controlled Congress, he warned. “History could repeat itself with a new arms control treaty” that could ban missile defense systems. “In a way, we’re victims of our own success,” Dr. Holmes said. Once President Bush took office in 2001 and announced that the United States was withdrawing from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the administration talked less about missile defense as a Republican-controlled Congress appropriated tens of billions of dollars to test and deploy real systems. That could all change under Obama, Dr. Holmes warned. “We want to put missile defense back on the conservative agenda,” he said. Dr. Carafano noted recent polls showing that 90% of the American people believe a missile strike against America is a credible threat, while a majority believe that missile defense systems should be funded and deployed. “There is a huge credibility gap between what Washington wants, and what America wants,” he said.