Hezbollah: All of Northern Israel in Rocket Range
May 25, 2005 :: Ha'aretz :: News
Ha’aretz reports that the militant Islamic terrorist organization Hezbollah has 12,000 Katyusha rockets deployed in Lebanon capable of striking all of northern Israel. On May 24, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah stated unequivocally: “Any hand that reaches out to our weapons is an Israeli hand that will be cut off.”
For reasons like these, the U.S. and Israel have been collaborating on such defensive systems as the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL), designed to track and destroy incoming rockets with a high-energy laser beam. Some recent reports have suggested, however, that the U.S. may be withdrawing funding from THEL (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, Israel, Terrorism
» Missile system details for: Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL)
Glick: U.S. Could Suspend Arrow and THEL Collaboration with Israel
May 18, 2005 :: News
Caroline Glick writes in The Jerusalem Post that the U.S. has reportedly suspended its cooperation with Israel on the Arrow and Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) missile defense projects. Ms. Glick references an official source quoted by Middle East Newsline as saying of the pullback from military cooperation, “It’s all about China.”
Israel is the largest exporter of high-tech weapons to China. The Pentagon fears that China could, among other things, use its Israeli weapons against U.S. forces in a future Taiwan conflict. Glick notes that Israel should stop arming the Chinese or risk damaging its strategic relationship with the U.S. She also notes that by arming China, Israel is actually helping its regional enemies. China of course also exports weapons to Iran and Pakistan. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, China, Israel, Proliferation
» Missile system details for: Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL)
Ukraine Cooperation in Missile Defense
April 19, 2005 :: News
President George W. Bush and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko agreed “to work together on missile defense,” reports Defense News. The agreement to begin negotiations for industry cooperation is said to have been made during an April 4 meeting in Washington. US and Ukrainian defense officials have been meeting to discuss such cooperation in February and March, and a U.S.-Ukraine missile defense workshop may take place in June, which is said to seek to “capitalize on Ukraine’s long-standing missile expertise and its newer sea-launch capabilities.” (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, Former Soviet Republics
Ambassador: European-Based BMD No Threat to Russian Missiles
February 9, 2005 :: Interfax :: News
In an interview with the Russian Interfax news agency, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow tried to put the country at ease with the prospect of European-based missile defense interceptors, which are primarily aimed at the growing threat from Iran. Vershbow stressed that any such defense would be limited, that it would be no match for Russia’s massive strategic arsenal, and that moreover geography would make it practically irrelevant to stopping a nuclear attack by Russia on the United States, the capability for which Russia thinks it requires:
If you simply look at the globe, you can see that geographically, any systems that would ultimately be in Europe would be oriented towards threats from the south, the southwest—countries like Iran—and would have no logic vis-a-vis Russian systems, which of course go north, not west.
To say that Russian missiles “go north, not west” is a diplomatic way of saying that Russian missiles still target the United States. The question remains, of course, whether it is the right policy for the United States to deliberately avoid missile defenses capable of providing a strategic defense, a defense against the launch of Russian ICBMs—whether “accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate,” to quote the words of the 1999 National Missile Defense Act—that is, to continue to give Russian missiles “a free ride” to U.S. territory. To avoid such a strategic defense, to avoid defenses against Chinese and Russian missiles (space-based interceptors, for example), needlessly perpetuates the regime of assured destruction, of mutual vulnerability, which the U.S. should have abandoned with the expiration of the 1972 ABM Treaty. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, Russia
U.S.-Australia Talks
January 20, 2005 :: CNN :: News
A U.S. delegation has recently been sent to Australia to continue talks on missile defense. The talks build upon the July 2004 memorandum of understanding, by which Australia pledged cooperation for the next 25 years. (Article, Link)
» July 7, 2004: Australia, U.S. sign missile defense pact
» More stories on: Allies, Australia
Canada Expected to Join BMD
January 11, 2005 :: News
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci recently remarked that he expects Canada to join America’s missile defense effort, and that they are likely do so before the end of March. “We’ve been told that it will be dealt with over the next couple of months,” said Cellucci. Even if not pursued aggressively or with the real seriousness it deserves, one may at least say that ballistic missile defense has been successfully established as a multinational cooperative effort. This successful diplomatic strategy has made the issue less controversial worldwide, but must yet be followed up by actual deployment of the defenses required. This has not yet taken place. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, Canada
U.S.-Hungary BMD Talks
December 30, 2004 :: BBC Worldwide Monitoring :: News
Hungarian Kossuth Radio today reported that the United States and Hungary are apparently continuing consultations on missile defense cooperation, but no agreement has yet been reached. Hungary may be a possible location for European based interceptors or a NATO radar station. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies
U.S.-Japan Agreement Signed
December 16, 2004 :: Japan Times :: News
Today the United States signed an agreement with Japan which will allow for extensive missile defense cooperation between the two countries, in the mutual transfer of related technologies. The agreement comes after Japan has relaxed its own ban on arms, which was regarded by some as preventing certain missile defense work. (Article, Link)
» Duncan Currie of Weekly Standard on the U.S.-Japan “special relationship”
» More stories on: Allies, Japan
Spain to Deploy 64 Patriot Interceptors
December 13, 2004 :: AFP :: News
El Mundo reports that Spain will be deploying some sixty four American Patriot interceptors on their Mediterranean coast, in the southern provinces of Sevilla and Cadiz.
A statement by the Spanish government noted its responsibility to be able to “act against ballistic missiles, which have become one of the main and new threats against nation states.” The interceptors come from Germany, and are being sold for about 100 million euros.
The AFP notes that Germany, Greece, and the Netherlands already have some minimal level of missile defense technology—namely, Patriots. The purchase is significant, however, as it marks the gradual but increasing recognition by an increasing number of countries that the ballistic missile threat is real and growing. That the missiles are facing towards the Mediterranean is likely an indication of concern about missiles in the Middle East, in such states as Iran, whose Shahab missile is said to have recently acquired sufficient range to strike much of Europe. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
Japan Names China as Threat
December 10, 2004 :: Kyodo :: News
Japan recently released its new defense policy outline, which for the first time names Communist China as a concern and possible threat. North Korea is also so named, but China has reacted violently to their being included—a reaction which, in combination with the facts of China’s ambitious military buildup, confirms the validity of Japan’s defense articulation. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue expressed China’s “strong dissatisfaction” that Japan had officially spoken of the China threat in an official document, and called the accusation “baseless and irresponsible.”
Last month, a Chinese submarine penetrated Japanese waters. (More »»»)
» China reacts to Japanese defense document
» More stories on: Allies, China, Japan
