First Galileo Satellite Launched
December 30, 2005 :: MSNBC :: News
On Wednesday, December 28, the first satellite in the multinational Galileo navigation program was launched into space. The satellite, named “Giove A,” took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket. Scientists plan to test its atomic clocks and navigation signals, secure its frequencies in space, and monitor how radiation affects the craft. A second Galileo satellite, “Giove B,” is scheduled for launch this spring. Two additional satellites will then be launched in 2008 to complete the testing phase, which requires at least four satellites in orbit to guarantee an exact position and time anywhere on earth.
Europeans hope that Galileo will end their reliance on the U.S. Global Positioning System. The $4 billion project will eventually use about 30 satellites and is expected to more than double the coverage currently provided by GPS. According to an ESA spokesman, Galileo will also be more exact than GPS, Galileo will also be more exact than GPS, with precision of about 1 meter, compared to about 5 meters with GPS technology. The Pentagon, however, has criticized Galileo as a potential security threat during wartime, saying its signals could interfere with the next-generation GPS signals intended for use by the U.S. military.
China’s participation in the program has raised further concern. The potential for countries’ using space-based assets as strategic instruments which could be used against the United States in the case of a conflict suggests the importance that America be conscious of the coming competition in space and that America be willing to compete. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: China
Taiwan Legislature Committee Votes Down Patriot Purchases
November 10, 2005 :: Taiwan Headlines :: News
The Taiwanese legislative defense committee voted to cancel the NT$10.9 billion budget which had been set aside for the purchase of three PAC-3 Patriot missile interceptors, and another NT$40 million for the purchase of 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft.
Taiwan Headlines notes:
In support of their decision to cancel the funding, opposition party lawmakers cited the results of the referendum held in tandem with the 2004 presidential elections that failed to garner the necessary majority required to validate the proposal. They went on to say that the government should respect the people’s choice as Taiwanese citizens to “veto the purchase of anti-missile weapons systems from the United States.” When approached to comment on the subject, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Wen-chung said that the upcoming joint committee meeting could still reverse the verdict… “[The lawmakers are] simply barbaric,” said Huang Shih-cho of the Taiwan Solidarity Union. His words were mirrored by Chet Yang, secretary of Taiwan North Society who said, “(The Taiwanese) cannot continue to live at the mercy of these so-called legislators.” Yang said that Beijing is constantly strengthening its military and estimated that, by year’s end, there may be one thousand missiles pointed toward Taiwan. He urged the public to support the purchase so Taiwan could protect itself…
(Article, Link)
» More stories on: China, Taiwan
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
Tokyo Governor: U.S. Cannot Win War Against China Because PRC Does Not Value Human Life
November 5, 2005 :: Asahi Shimbun :: News
On November 4 the Asahbi Shimbun newspaper quotes Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara as saying that the United States could not possibly win a war against China because Beijing “holds no value at all for human life.”
Ishihara, no stranger to hawkish and controversial remarks, said the means of countering the threat from China would be through economic containment by strengthening ties with India and Russia… “Wars are a war of attrition of lives. China holds no value at all for human life and can start a war without any concerns,” he said. “We are now in a state of tension far more dangerous than during the Cold War period when the United States and the former Soviet Union were at odds.” The Tokyo governor warned: “If tensions mount between the United States and China, the two sides could pull the trigger on each other. Then, the more the fire expands, the United States, which has a civil society that highly values human life, would not be able to win… We believe Japan is being protected under the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, but it is a very unreliable treaty,” he said. “If China were to fire a nuclear weapon with the aim of blasting the Japan-U.S. security program, the target will likely be either Tokyo or Okinawa. I want my friends in the United States to know that such a circumstance is becoming real.” Touching on China’s successful experiment in June in launching a ballistic missile from its new submarine, Ishihara said, “It is an extremely grave historical fact that China owns nuclear arms and has succeeded in the experiment with a high degree of precision.”
(Link)
» More stories on: China
Kyodo: China Testing SRBMs at Pace of 100 Per Year
October 19, 2005 :: Kyodo :: News
Japan’s Kyodo news service reports that beginning two years ago China has been testing short range ballistic missiles at a rate of about one hundred per year. The tests of missiles with ranges up to 600 km are said to take place from inland bases. The report comes in conjunction with the visit by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld to the headquarters of the Second Artillery, which commands China’s ballistic missiles.
This news report is significant, but it leaves unclear the relation of such a number of tests to the number of missiles produced each year, and the number operationally deployed near Taiwan. The 2005 report by the Pentagon on the military capabilities of the People’s Republic of China noted that China is deploying an additional “75 to 125” short range missiles within range of Taiwan each year, and that the current number was estimated at between 650 and 730. Depending on how one interprets the relation between these reports, China could be producing some 175-225 short range missiles per year (around 100 to satisfy the testing replacement rate plus 75-125 to increase the number deployed). (Article, Link)
» Kyodo report through BBC Monitoring
» October 19, 2005: Washington Times on Rumsfeld visit
» 2005 Pentagon Report on Chinese Military Power
» More stories on: China, Taiwan, Testing - Foreign
Iran Parades Missiles
September 22, 2005 :: News
Iran conducted a military parade today to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, the beginning of what Iran calls “holy defense” week. The parade took place conducted south of Tehran, near the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini. At his first military parade since taking office, President Mamhoud Ahmadinejad addressed dozens of top Revolutionary Guard officials, as well as generals in the regular army. (The Revolutionary Guard operates Iran’s ballistic missiles.)“Those who decide to misuse our nation’s honour and dignity and want to test what has been tested in the past, should know that the flames of the nation’s wrath are very hot and destructive,” said Ahmadinejad. The parade’s announcer repeatedly cried “God is Great!” when six Shahab-3 missiles went past the presidential viewing platform. The announcer said too, “If world arrogance wants to attack Iran … [it] will destroy their countries with these missiles.” Some of the missiles had banners saying, “Israel should be wiped off the map” and “We will trample America under our feet,” “Death to America,” and “Death to Israel.” The banners and verbal attacks prompted a number of European military attaches, from France, Italy, Greece, and Poland, to leave the parade. One diplomat is quoted as saying, “there was a common position among the European Union members that, if the military parade included any slogans that attacked our allies, we would leave.”
The major media services report the display of the Shahab-3, but there were a number of others. According to a summary of the parade provided on live Iranian television (Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1) and translated via BBC Monitoring, the missiles displayed included:
- Shahab-3, 2,000km range
- Zelzal 1 and Zelzal 2, range 150-400
- M-11 Variant/Tondar-68, purchased from China, range 400km
- Nazeat
- “M-6”(see below)
- HQ-2 air-/missile-defense system, purchased from China
The reference to an “M-6” missile may well be a typographical error. It more likely refers to the M-9 variant, which Iran purchased from China. The term “Nazeat,” however, has been used to describe a primitive 150km range missile.
- M-9 missile, range 600km, purchased from China
Summary of parade provided by Iranian television: (More »»»)
» AFP Summary of parade
» Iranian TV account of parade, via BBC Monitoring
» More stories on: China, Chinese Missile Defenses, Iran, Proliferation
» Missile details: M-9 variant, M-11 variant, Shahab-6, Zelzal-1/2/3
» Missile system details for: Hongqi-2 (HQ-2)
China to Develop 150km-range Missiles with Indonesia
August 5, 2005 :: BBC Worldwide Monitoring :: News
Indonesia’s Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono announced in Jakarta that Indonesia and China would work together to develop 150-km range missiles and rockets as part of a strategic partnership, reports the Indonesian Antara news agency. This transfer of missile technology was a part of cooperation agreements signed between the two countries in April, he said. A range of 150 km is relatively modest; such was the range of missiles in excess of which Iraq was (nominally) prohibited by the United Nations. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: China, Proliferation
Classified Section of China Report Said to Specify Missile Capabilities
July 27, 2005 :: BBC Worldwide Monitoring :: News
An alleged “classified section” of the Pentagon’s 2005 China report may provide greater detail on China’s missile capabilities. The Taiwanese Central News Agency cites an article posted on a website which monitors Chinese weaponry(www.zgjunshi.com) as saying that the classified version of the Pentagon’s recent report on the military power of China specifies that the communist nation has nine brigades armed with ICBMs capable of reaching the U.S. Of these, three are armed with the road-mobile Dong Feng-31 (CSS-9), and the other six with the silo-based Dong Feng-5 (CSS-4). The website also claims that China’s 094 submarines, armed with strategic missiles, have undertaken sea trials and could become a less expensive way for China to deploy its ICBMs. The article’s claims are unconfirmed, and the Taipei-based Central News Agency notes that “It was unclear how reporters from the China-based website were able to gain access to secret Pentagon information.”
The claims reported by the Taiwanese news service may, however, simply be a case of the Chinese demonstrating that the classified section of the document is within their reach, or perhaps of China making a statement about the report’s findings by means of an article posted online. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: China
» Missile details: CSS-4, CSS-9 (DF-31)
Tang on General Zhu’s Nuclear Threat
July 26, 2005 :: Analysis
Claremont Institute Fellow Ben Tang published an article in Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao responding to recent statements made by Chinese General Zhu Chenghu, who on July 14 asserted that China will use nuclear weapons against the U.S. if attacked during a confrontation over Taiwan.
Tang clarifies that General Zhu’s remarks reflect Beijing’s strategy against the U.S., and should not be written off as the “personal opinion” of one man. Tang speculates that Zhu’s speech was purposely arranged by Beijing, which has done similar things in the past. In this situation, Chinese Communist Party leaders most likely deployed a medium ranking official to state what they themselves could not say publicly. (Article, Link)
» July 15, 2005: The Washington Times: Chinese General Threatens Nuclear Use Against U.S.
» More stories on: Analysis, China
Chinese Response to DoD Report
July 21, 2005 :: Xinhua :: Analysis
On Wednesday, Wang Faen and Ban Wei of the Chinese news agency Xinhau responded to the Pentagon’s 2005 “Report on the Military Power of the People’s Republic of China.” According to Wang and Ban, the U.S. “continues to wantonly create and play up the argument that China’s normal military development ‘poses a threat to the region and indeed to the United States,’ and again appears before the world with the features of Cold War mentality and power logic.” They claim that the real threat comes from the U.S., which has the highest military spending in the world; in contrast, China’s military spending is still at a relatively lower level. Wang and Ban also claim that the U.S. is “making a great fuss” about Taiwan “to help American arms manufacturers to expand their arms market and make more money, and at the same time to erect artificial obstacles to China’s reunification cause.” (Link)
» More stories on: China
Pentagon Releases Report on Chinese Military Power
July 20, 2005 :: Department of Defense :: News
The Pentagon has released its annual report to Congress on Chinese military power, which describes China at “a strategic crossroads.” The 45-page report covers a host of topics, including Chinese military strategy and doctrine, the effects of military modernization, and an assessment of the security situation in the Taiwan Strait. “Questions remain about the basic choices China’s leaders will make as China’s power and influence grow, particularly its military power.” Of particular note is attention to such themes as China’s defense spending, strategic missile forces, the increasing number of short range missiles deployed near Taiwan, space policy, and the threat posed by a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse. (More »»»)
» NY Times: China’s Military Geared to Deterring Taiwan, Report Says
» Text of 2004 DOD Report on Chinese Military Power
» More stories on: China, Chinese Missile Defenses, Space-Based Systems
» Missile details: CSS-2, CSS-2A, CSS-3, CSS-4, CSS-4A, CSS-5 Mod 2, CSS-5, CSS-9 (DF-31), CSS-NX-5 (JL-2)
» Missile system details for: S-300P (SA-10 Grumble)
