Latest Missile Defense Update from CDI

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CDI Missile Defense Update #10
September 2, 2004
Center for Defense Information
www.cdi.org

NB: A transcript of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's Aug. 18 remarks at the Seventh Annual Space and Missile Defense Conference can be found at http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2004/tr20040818-secdef1201.html.

NB#2: The September/October 2004 issue of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has a very interesting article about the calculations behind global missile defense cooperation. In "Missile defense: Winning minds, not hearts: The U.S. plan to build a global missile defense has been gaining international support, but not because other governments believe it will make their countries safer," author Nicole Evans argues that the "surprising international movement toward supporting and cooperating with the Bush administration's global missile defense (GMD) project" isn't necessarily because other countries believe in the U.S. strategic vision or that missile defense will work as promised. Instead, she posits that "it results from pragmatic calculations on how to engage with the world's only remaining superpower. In some ways, it is almost as if countries are simply waiting for the GMD storm to pass." The article can be found at http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2004/so04/so04evans.html.

NB#3: In the next month, the United States may declare its fledgling missile defense system to be operational. Or it may not. It may hold a flight test of this system - the first one in nearly two years. Or it may not. It may have this system's rules of engagement detailed. Or it may not. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) may find this system to be functional; U.S. Strategic Command may not. Victoria Samson, CDI Research Analyst, argues in "Wobbling toward missile defense: ready or not, here we come," that "with so many aspects up in the air, there is only one certainty: to believe that this system will provide a credible defense requires a bullheaded refusal to face reality." The piece can be found at http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2409&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm.

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1. MDA to remove "kill vehicle" sensor from NFIRE
A Pentagon proposal indicates that a small sensor space vehicle designed to launch in orbit from the Near Field Infrared Experiment (NFIRE) satellite and fly along a deployed ballistic missile to collect and log data on the rocket's plume is now being removed from the program...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#1.

2. Russian diplomat claims U.S. has plans to put weapons in space
Debate over Washington's initiatives to develop a comprehensive ballistic missile defense system has re-emerged as the international community reacts to recent developments in the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) program...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#2.

3. Japan's military hopes to increase missile defense spending by 35 percent
On Aug. 31, Japan's defense agency requested 144.2 billion yen ($1.3 billion) for missile defense for the fiscal year beginning in April 2005...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#3.

4. Missile defense operational procedures still TBD
As the missile defense interceptors are lowered into the ground in Alaska, various Pentagon offices are still struggling to decide how the system will be operated...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#4.

5. Aegis to begin surveillance and tracking in the Pacific
The Navy's Aegis ships are being modified to give them long-range surveillance and tracking (LRST) capabilities...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#5.

6. Arrow interceptor malfunctions during flight test
During an Aug. 26 flight test, an Arrow II interceptor suffered a malfunction, causing it to veer off its planned flight path and necessitating its destruction by program officials...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#6.

7. Congressional Research Service calls emphasis on BMD "lopsided"
In a recent report, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) called the Pentagon's emphasis on ballistic missile defense "lopsided," considering the threat that cruise missiles pose...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#7.

8. SBIRS-High payload delivered
Although nearly 18 months overdue, the first space payload to support the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS)-High program has been delivered and is now ready to be integrated with its host satellite....
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#8.

9. Missile defense cooperation causing heated debate in Canada
The prospect of cooperating with the United States on missile defense has caused a vigorous debate within Canada's parliament...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#9.

10. IFT-13C delayed again
The next test scheduled for the Ground-based Midcourse Missile Defense system, Integrated Flight Test (IFT)-13C, has been delayed again...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#10.

11. Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense advancing
The Navy's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system continues to move forward...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#11.

12. First light and first flight for ABL this year
The struggling Airborne Laser (ABL) program has two key milestones this year which may determine whether the program can avoid the ax...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#12.

13. THAAD claimed to soon defend against ICBMs
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system could possibly defend against intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMS), says its program manager, Army Col. Charles Driessnack...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#13.

14. The Netherlands may soon purchase PAC-3
Lockheed Martin says that the Netherlands is close to buying the Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC)-3 interceptor, with a full contract possibly to be awarded by the end of this year...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#14.

15. Thule radar to be upgraded
The United States, Denmark, and Greenland signed an agreement on Aug. 6 that would allow for the early warning radar at Thule to be upgraded and brought into the U.S. missile defense system...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#15.

16. PAC-3 intercept test today
The Army will hold a flight intercept test of the Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC)-3 missile today...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#16.

17. 2nd GBI to be installed any day
The second operational interceptor for the Ground-based Midcourse Missile Defense (GMD) system should be installed in a Ft. Greely silo "within the next few days," according to a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) spokesperson...
FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT, PLEASE GO TO: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2411&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm#17.