Taiwan Official: 820 Chinese Missiles, 20,000 Troops Killed
March 29, 2006 :: BBC Worldwide Monitoring :: News
A Chinese ballistic missile attack could kill some 20,000 Taiwanese troops, according to Taiwan’s Vice Defense Minister Chu Kai-sheng. Speaking at a session of the Legislative Yuan on Wednesday, Chu quoted an estimate made in a Hankuang drill that if the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fired ballistic missiles at Taiwan in five consecutive ways, which would take about half a day, between 20,000 and 30,000 Taiwanese armed forces personnel would be killed or wounded. At present, China is said to have some 820 ballistic missiles (excluding cruise missiles) aimed at Taiwan. (Article, Link)
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Britain’s Politics of Trident Replacement
March 16, 2006 :: London Guardian :: News
Richard Norton-Taylor, writing in The Guardian, discusses the politics surrounding the debate over whether Britain should replace its Trident missile system. The British government has promised an “open debate” on the issue, yet has rejected requests under the Freedom of Information Act to disclose studies on the costs involved. It has also argued that it is not in the public interest to publish official assessments about what threats the Trident missiles could deter. To complicate matters, the Ministry of Defense is currently refusing to appear before a Commons inquiry into the matter.
Sir Michael Quinlan, a former permanent secretary at the MoD in the 1980s and 1990s, recently appeared before the Commons Defense Committee, stating his view that the cost of maintaining the Trident missiles was “simply too much to pay.” However, Quinlin noted that it would be “very difficult” politically for any government to abandon Britain’s nuclear weapons as long as France had them. “To leave the French as the only people with this, I think, would twitch a lot of very fundamental historical nerves,” he said. (Article, Link)
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» Missile details: Trident C-4
X-Band Radar in Japan To Undergo Trials over Summer
March 10, 2006 :: Kyodo :: News
A new mobile X-band radar, designed to detect and track ballistic missiles, is now being deployed in Japan and will begin trials this summer, reports Kyodo. The X-band radar operates at a frequency of 10 gigahertz, and provides surveillance, acquisition, tracking, and kill assessment for missile defense systems. Built by the U.S., it will be deployed in the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s Shariki base in Tsugaru, located in the northeastern Aomori prefecture. The radar will face the Sea of Japan, and will be operated by approximately 10 U.S. military personnel and 50 civilians. According to the report, the X-band radar is expected to be fully installed by December 2006. (Article, Link)
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» Missile system details for: Forward-Based X-Band Radar-Transportable
State Dept. on Japanese Missile Defense Cooperation
March 10, 2006 :: News
Japan has emerged as the U.S.’s most significant missile defense partner, according to a recent State Department press release. In testimony before a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing March 9, Lt. General Henry “Trey” Obering, director of MDA, cited Japan’s important role in the recent flight test of a Standard Missile-3 interceptor using an enhanced nose cone developed by Japan; the Japanese government’s decision to deploy a new X-band radar to detect and track missile attacks; and Japan’s collaborative role in the Aegis sea-based missile defense system. The press release also quotes Peter Flory, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, who added that Japan has committed to spend around $1 billion on missile defense initiatives. (Article, Link)
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U.S.-Japan SM-3 Interceptor Test Successful, Using Innovative Japanese Nosecone
March 8, 2006 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
The U.S. and Japan successfully test-launched a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) today from the Aegis-equipped cruiser USS Lake Erie near Hawaii. The SM-3 was equipped with an experimental nosecone, which is being jointly developed by the Missile Defense Agency and the Japanese Defense Agency.
The demonstration also tested prototypes for the rocket motor, but the primary test was of an innovative “clamshell” nosecone, designed by Japan to more quickly release the interceptor’s kill vehicle. In the standard configuration for previous tests, the SM-3 missile must maneuver to eject the barrel-shaped kill vehicle—a process known as “pitch and ditch.” The newer nosecone eliminates the need for such maneuvers, which in turn means the kinetic kill vehicle can collide with and destroy its target more quickly. The flight test did not involve an attempted intercept of a target missile, but simulated target data was instead fed into the computers of Aegis weapon system. Instead of a kill vehicle aboard the SM-3, its nosecone instead contained a camera and instruments to register temperature and shock readings during the flight. In today’s test, the nosecone was deployed at about 88 kilometers above the Pacific Ocean and 96 km northwest of the island of Kauai.
Japan has already decided to procure the SM-3 and the Aegis defense system for several of its Kongo class destroyers, as well as purchasing a number of Patriot (PAC-3) interceptors, and having received a license to produce others. Japan’s innovation in missile defense technologies is a further sign of growing international support for ballistic missile defense. (Article, Link)
» Defense News on SM-3 Test
» MDA Photos of SM-3 interceptor launch
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» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Taiwan to Resubmit Bid to Buy Patriots
February 23, 2006 :: News
Taiwan will resubmit its bid to buy Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air missile batteries from the U.S. On Wednesday, National Defense Minister Lee Jye said that the Defense Ministry’s plan will be resubmitted to the Legislative Yuan in March 2007, when the ban on such discussion expires. The current ban is the result of a failed referendum held in tandem with the 2004 Taiwanese presidential election, which stipulates that an issue cannot be put to referendum within three years of a previous one. During the past two years, the opposition-controlled legislature has blocked two bills submitted by the Democratic Progressive Party-led government asking for a special budget to buy six PAC-3 batteries from the U.S., as well as eight diesel-electric submarines and a squadron of 12 P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft.
U.S. Representative Rob Simmons (R-CT) noted on Wednesday that Taiwan is “running out of time” on the U.S. arms procurement deal, as it is uncertain what the next administration’s stance will be on the issue. (Link)
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» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
France Upgrading Nuclear Forces
February 10, 2006 :: London Guardian :: News
France has modified its nuclear arsenal to increase the range and ability of its weapons, reports The Guardian. In particular, it has reduced the number of warheads per missile, which makes the missiles lighter and increases their range. France now also possesses altitude bombs, which detonate at high altitudes and create electromagnetic impulsions that are capable of knocking out electronic systems. The move comes weeks after President Jacques Chirac warned that states threatening France could face the “ultimate warning” of a nuclear retaliation, although he did refer to specific threats. The newspaper Libération speculates that “while potential targets are ‘secret,’ it is clear they include the Middle East or Asia.” However, French government sources claim that Chirac’s speech was not aimed specifically at Iran or at individual terrorist organizations. (Article, Link)
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Marshall Islands and U.S. Sign Agreement for Missile Range
January 27, 2006 :: BBC Worldwide Monitoring :: News
The U.S. and the Marshall Islands will revise environmental oversight regulations that govern U.S. activities at the Army-operated Kwajalein Missile Range at Kwajalein Atoll. According to U.S. Ambassador Greta Morris, the revised environmental standards are the product of a 16-year-long effort between the U.S. and the Marshall Islands Environmental Protection Authority. The review was a requirement of a recently concluded Compact of Free Association between the two parties.
The Kwajalein Missile Range, also known as the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, has served as the premiere U.S. offensive and defensive missile testing ground since the end of World War II. (Article, Link)
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» Missile system details for: Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS)
Japan Looking into Space Forces
January 24, 2006 :: Kyodo :: News
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party plans to study the feasibility of relaxing Japan’s restrictions on deploying space forces for defense purposes. According to the Kyodo Japanese news agency, the LDP will seek to deploy defense forces in space as long as they are not aimed at invading or spying other countries. The party plans to set up a special subcommittee to discuss the matter, which will convene in late January. The subcommittee will be headed by Takeo Kawamura, a House of Representatives member of the LDP and the former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. The party will recommend to the government as early as August 2006 that a 1969 Diet resolution limiting Japan’s space development be changed to allow defense purposes. (Article, Link)
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Japan to Buy 36 SM-3 Interceptors
January 10, 2006 :: Kyodo :: News
Japan plans to purchase 36 sea-based Standard Missile-3 interceptors from the U.S. between 2007 and 2010 for deployment on Aegis-equipped destroyers. According to Japanese government sources quoted by Kyodo, Japan will buy approximately nine SM-3 interceptors a year during this period, although specific details have yet to be ironed out. Japan’s Defense Agency hopes to complete the deployment of its first SM-3 interceptors on the destroyer Kongo by the end of 2007, followed by deployment on three other warships: the Chokai, the Myoko, and the Kirishima. Japan will also consider installing the missile defense system on two new destroyers that are being built in Nagasaki. (Article, Link)
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» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
