Japan Base Could Host U.S. Forward Deployed X-Band Radar
October 17, 2005 :: Asahi Shimbun :: News
Japan may allow the United States to deploy the new FBX mobile radar on its territory, according to Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. The deployment of such radar on Japanese territory for the potential use of defending against a missile attack on the United States is controversial because some see it as violating the Japanese constitution and the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty.
The deployment is important, however, for the detection and tracking capabilities of the more advanced and longer-range X-band radar. Such detection would be important to a missile attack launched from within the Eurasian continent against either Japan or the United States. From Asahi Shimbun:
The primary candidate site for the radar system is the Air Self-Defense Force’s Shariki air station in Tsugaru, Aomori Prefecture, Japanese government sources said.
They said the radar system being considered is a U.S-developed X-band radar that is more advanced than the system Japan is scheduled to install in fiscal 2008 to guard against medium-range ballistic missiles.
The X-band radar has a longer detection range, enabling it to respond to ballistic missiles launched from deep within a continent, and is also capable of differentiating missile shapes.
The United States successfully completed an experiment in September in which the X-band radar distinguished between decoy and ballistic missiles.
Plans call for the deployment of one X-band radar system in the current fiscal year.
In talks in the summer of 2004 concerning the realignment of U.S. military forces in Japan, American officials formally proposed the deployment of the X-band radar in Japan to protect the United States from ballistic missile attacks. …
The Shariki air station is being considered a candidate site because it is located in an area capable of detecting missiles North Korea may launch at the United States.
Although the United States would likely share in the usage of Shariki air station, no specific date has been set for deployment of the radar system.
Japan and the United States have already reached an agreement in principle to move the ASDF’s Air Defense Command from Tokyo’s Fuchu to the U.S. military’s Yokota Air Base as part of plans to implement a joint missile defense system.
The plans call for establishing a joint tactical center at Yokota where the Air Defense Command could share information with the 5th Air Force of the United States based at Yokota.
The alleged capabilities of the FBX-T to track missiles launched from “deep within” the continent could plausibly be integrated into a system of interceptors capable of defending against Chinese missiles. (Article, Link)
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» Missile system details for: Forward-Based X-Band Radar-Transportable
Alaskan Cobra Dane Radar Tracks C-17 Aircraft-Launched ICBM
September 26, 2005 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
The Missile Defense Agency today announced the successful completion of a test of the Cobra Dane radar located at Shemya, Alaska, and of the fire control system which relays information to Colorado Springs or Fort Greely Alaska, which would control the launch of an interceptor against an incoming missile.
A missile was launched by parachuting it from a C-17 aircraft over the Pacific some 800 miles (1280km) from Shemya, and then having the missile’s engines ignite and travel across the face of the Cobra Dane radar. The exercise was the first test of the Cobra Dane radar for missile defense purposes. The often-traveled trajectory of missiles and interceptors going between Vandenberg Air Force Base, California and the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific is sufficiently south to be out of range of the Cobra Dane radar. Designed to track Russian missile launches during the Cold War, its northern location also makes the Cobra Dane radar of especial use for tracking missile launches coming from North Korea or China.
From MDA:
After the missile was dropped from the aircraft, a parachute deployed to stabilize and slow the missile. The missile’s first stage rocket motor then ignited, sending the missile downrange. The target missile’s flight was successfully tracked by the Cobra Dane radar, and the data obtained by Cobra Dane was then used to construct a Weapon Task Plan, or firing solution, that was fed into the systems fire control system manned by military “warfighters” in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Ft. Greely, Alaska, who currently operate the interceptor missiles now deployed in Alaska and California, as well as the sensors and radars that provide operational detection and tracking information. …
Launching a missile from an aircraft provided an operationally realistic trajectory and an opportunity to fly across the face of the Cobra Dane radar. The radar has not been available for use during previous flight tests because it is well outside the area of the existing missile test range that stretches between the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific Ocean to the California coast. …The exercise completed today marks the first time that data obtained from an actual missile tracked by Cobra Dane was fed into the missile defense fire control system to obtain a firing solution.
(Article, Link)
» Chinese media coverage of missile launch, tracking
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» Missile system details for: Cobra Dane Radar
SBX Said Near Completion
June 8, 2005 :: AP :: News
The new Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) is nearing completion, reports the Associated Press. The SBX, currently being constructed in Corpus Christi, Texas, is an advanced radar system mounted on a semi-submersible oil-drilling rig. According to U.S. Army Col. Michael Smith, project manager of SBX, workers will test the rig’s mobility in the Gulf of Mexico before the SBX travels this summer around South America to its new home in Adak, Alaska. The rig is almost 240 feet wide and therefore cannot pass through the Panama Canal. (Article, Link)
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» Missile system details for: Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX)
New Russian Early-Warning Radar
May 27, 2005 :: Analysis
Itar-Tass reports that the Russian Space Troops plan to test a new early-warning radar station near St. Petersburg in 2005. The news agency quotes Col-Gen. Vladimir Popovkin, commander-in-chief of the Space Troops, as stating that “[Russia’s] space reconnaissance facilities are nearly at the end of their useful life and that is why over the next few years we will be replacing them …” The new-generation EWR is described as smaller, lighter, and requiring minimal on-site preparation. Popovkin adds that the new radar will allow the Space Troops to cover “all likely avenues of missile approach.”
Pavel Podvig analyzes the announcement of Russia’s new-generation early-warning radar, at RussianForces.org. Podvig notes that the new radar’s smaller size, minimal on-site preparation, and lower cost seem “very attractive,” but he remains skeptical of the system’s overall effectiveness. He points out that EWRs typically require “a lot of power and a big antenna,” and questions whether smaller new-generation EWRs can match the power and range of older and larger systems like the Russia’s Daryal and Dnepr radars. (Article, Link)
» Podvig on new Russian radar
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Radar Upgrades Progressing
April 12, 2005 :: News
The April 11 edition of Aerospace Daily & Defense Report reports on recent testimony by Air Force Lieutenant General Henry “Trey” Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency, that missile defense related radars have undergone significant upgrades. According to Obering, the Cobra Dane radar at Eareckson Air Station in Alaska is now ready for operational use, and the radar at Beale Air Force Base in California will receive its final software upgrades this spring. An additional radar at the Royal Air Force Base Fylingdales in the United Kingdom will be completed by early 2006. (Link)
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Russian Radar in Ajerbaijan Profiled
February 28, 2005 :: BBC Worldwide Monitoring :: News
Russian Channel One TV profiled the Russian radar station in Azerbaijan on 26 February. The radar station is described as being similar to that at Pechora, in Russia, and having the capability of seeing anything larger than a football in space. Text of the profile: (More »»»)
» More stories on: Detection and Tracking, Russia
Norwegian Rocket Launch Used to Fine-Tune Radars
January 19, 2005 :: Itar-Tass :: News
Citing the Russian Defense Ministry, Itar-Tass recently cited Lieutenant-General Anatoliy Sokolov as saying that Norwegian rocket launches scheduled for February are intended to “fine-tune” the United States’ Arctic radars located in Greenland and Europe. Before February 10, Norway reportedly plans to launch some 10 weather rockets within view of the U.S. Globus-2 radar. (Link)
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SBIRS Profiled
January 17, 2005 :: Defense News :: News
The Space Based Infrared System High program, critical to detecting and tracking ballistic missile launches for any interception attempt, is profiled by Defense News.
The SBIRS High program will consist of four satellites, placed at geostationary orbits, monitoring the surface for heat indicative of explosions or a missile launch. The program has faced considerable delays, funding problems, and opposition, but the first satellite is scheduled for launch in 2007. The SBIRS program is said to be 60% faster and twice as accurate as the existing Defense Support Program satellites, of which there are 22, currently in operation, and will serve a broader number of purposes. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Space-Based Systems, Detection and Tracking
» Missile system details for: Space-Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High)
MDA Launches Rocket to Test Sensors
October 6, 2004 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
The Missile Defense Agency recently launched a test rocket to test the tracking abilities of the emerging, and soon to be operationally deployed missile defense system. The Agency recently reported that on September 29, a suborbital rocket which launched and made to simulate a missile launched by an undisclosed “emerging threat.” The missile was launched from Wake Island and flew 606 miles with a mock warhead, a sensor package, and various missile defense-related experiments. (Article, Link)
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Russia Launches “New Generation” Kosmos Satellite
September 24, 2004 :: News
Russia today launched a Cosmos-2410 satellite characterized as a “new generation” of Russia’s many such systems. It will likely be used for early warning ballistic missile detection. It was launched from Russia’s Plesetsk launch site. (Article, Link)
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