India Tests Agni II Missile; Report of Indian Missile Defense Work
August 29, 2004 :: Spacewar.com :: News
India today test launched its short range, nuclear capable Agni II ballistic missile. The missile was described in an Indian press release as having a range of 2,500 km, having a payload capacity of 1,000 kilograms, and the capability to be launched on either road or rail mobile launchers.
The Agni II was launched from a mobile launcher on Wheeler Island, near the eastern Orissa state. While the missile was described as having a range of 2,500 km, this particular test had the missile deliver its payload to a site only 1,200 km away. In fact, the Agni II has been estimated as having a range between 3,000 and 3,500 km.
The test marked the third test of the missile, developed by India’s Defense Research Development Organization. The two previous tests reportedly took place on April 11, 1999 and January 17, 2001. The missile was also described as having a length of twenty meters and a launch weight of 16 metric tons.
In addition, the PTI news agency in New Delhi reports that India has already begun to operationally deploy both its 700km-range Agni I missiles, and the 2500km range Agni II missiles. (In fact, around 5 Agni II missiles may already have been deployed since 2001; moreover, the Agni I designation most likely refers to what is also known as the “Agni Short Range,” or “Agni SR”; the original “Agni I” program was terminated.) The newly deployed missiles will join the short range Prithvi missiles already in service. India’s “top scientist Dr. V.K. Atre” is cited for the deployment announcement, saying that “We have completely developed systems for these two missiles and a certain number of them have been delivered to the army.” The first test of the much longer range Agni III missile is also expected later this year, according to Indian reports.
The same news item, however, also indicates that India is working on its own missile defenses:
Retiring after a tenure of over five years in the top post, Atre said that along with developing short, medium and longer range missiles, Indian scientists were also working on developing an anti-missile defence system as well as airborne early warning system.
India has previously expressed interest in purchasing U.S., Russian, and even Israeli missile defense systems, but this is perhaps the first report that India may have its own programs. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: India, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Agni, Agni-2
Russia’s New Iskander Missile; Response to America’s Patriot?
August 27, 2004 :: RIA-Novosti :: News
Testing for a new Iskander missile has been completed, reports the Russian news agency, RIA Novosti.
President Putin is said to have asked Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Ivanov if the missile can be deployed quickly. Ivanov replied that it could be. Similar news reports suggest that the military may adopt the missile in 2005.
The relation of the “new” missile is unclear, however, to the much older SS-X-26 known as “Stone,” “Tender,” and “Iskander-E” (the export version, already marketed to a number of countries, including Syria and Iran). As noted in the 2001 National Intelligence Estimate on the foreign ballistic missile threat, the SS-21 (Tochka) and the SS-26 (Iskander) have both already been serving Russia well for its short range nuclear arsenal: “The SS-21 and SS-26 SRBMs provide Russian general-purpose ground forces with a rapid, precision-guided, theater deep-strike capability.” There was a report in October 2003, however, that the SS-26 Iskander missile was undergoing improvements.
The new Iskander is said to be capable of carrying either a nuclear or a conventional warhead. It was also described as a successor to the SS-21B “Tochka-U.” Unlike Tochka, however, the new Iskander system is said to have two missiles rather than one.
Channel One TV in Moscow gave a few more details of Iskander missile, which is describes as a “new generation weapon,” a “closely guarded secret,” and employing “stealth technology.”
Also of interest are the potential targets listed for the missile. These are said to include “missile systems, long-range artillery, aircraft at airfields, air defence and anti-missile defence systems and communications control centres” (emphasis added). The broadcast continued to say that “the system’s specifications show that the promising American air defence missile system, Patriot, will be unable to match Iskander.”
Could the Iskander be designed to destroy deployments of Patriot batteries? If so, marketing it to Syria and Iran would seem to indicate a clear purpose of negating America’s own attempts to counter the menace of those countries’ ballistic missile arsenals.
Moscow television news report also included a list of the missile’s characteristics:
Flight range: 280 km; Launch weight of missile: 3,800 kg; Warhead mass: 480 kg; Warhead type: cluster (54 submunitions), fragmentation-high explosive, penetrating; Number of missiles on launcher: two
The payload weight of 480kg would correspond to the previously known weights of the SS-X-26, but the reported range could indicate slight differences. Minister Ivanov is quoted as saying that the new Iskander has an effective range of up to 300 km, while also noting that it is a “high-precision missile.” Moreover, versions of the older Iskander had a range of between 280 (export version) and 400 km (Russian version). (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-21 B, SS-26
Israeli Arrow Test Fails
August 26, 2004 :: BBC :: News
Although a test of the Arrow-2 interceptor on July 29 resulted in the successful destruction of an actual Scud-B missile, another attempt today showed the Arrow unable to destroy a target made to simulate the more sophisticated Iranian Shahab-3.
Chris Taylor, spokesman for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency which is jointly developing the Arrow with Israel, commented that “The engineers don’t yet know what happened.”
The test, the 13th Arrow intercept test and the eighth test of the complete weapon system, was against an air-launched target, dropped from a C-17 aircraft, made to simulate a missile similar to a threat Israel could face.
The target was dropped 360 miles west-northwest of San Nicolas Island, after which its booster ignited. The arrow Green Pine radar picked up the target, and the Arrow interceptor was launched from San Nicolas.
According to Israeli news sources, the test involved a missile with dual warheads, one actual and one “dummy,” and although the Arrow accurately discerned the actual warhead it failed to intercept it. (More »»»)
» MDA press release
» More stories on: Israel, Testing - Foreign
» Missile system details for: Arrow
Rumsfeld Speaks at Space and Missile Defense Conference
August 18, 2004 :: Department of Defense :: News
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld spoke to the seventh annual Space and Missile Defense Conference, held in Huntsville, Alabama, where he spoke of the importance of missile defense and the plans for deployment in the coming months.
Among other things, Rumsfeld noted that “History has taught us that weakness is provocative,” and warned that some two dozen countries currently have ballistic missiles and other WMD programs, including North Korea, Pakistan, and Iran.
Rumsfeld noted that the United States would have a limited defense by the end of the year, but stressed the importance that it continue to evolve to match the growing capabilities of those countries, terrorists, and other extremists who threaten America.
Perhaps most importantly, however, is that Rumsfeld apparently repeated his previous observations about the threat from a ship-launched ballistic missile. Gertz and Scarborough in the August 27 edition of Inside the Ring report the following from Rumsfeld:
Mr. Rumsfeld also was asked about the danger of terrorists or rogue states attacking the United States by putting a short-range Scud-type missile on a freighter and firing it close to U.S. shores.
He said one Middle East nation already has “launched a ballistic missile from a cargo vessel.”
“They had taken a short-range, probably Scud missile, put it on a transporter-erector launcher, lowered it in, taken the vessel out into the water, peeled back the top, erected it, fired it, lowered it, covered it up. And the ship that they used was using a radar and electronic equipment that was no different than 50, 60, 100 other ships operating in the immediate area.”
Other U.S. officials have said the nation was Iran, which tested a freighter-launched missile in the Caspian Sea in the late 1990s.
“It is true that the big distinction we make between intercontinental, medium-range and shorter-range ballistic missiles doesn’t make a lot of sense if you’re going to move the missile closer to the target,” he said.
These comments repeat almost verbatim his previous report, one month after 9-11, that such a thing had occured, as well as that by Asst. Sec. of Defense Paul Wolfowitz in 2002. (Article, Link)
» Transcript of Rumsfeld remarks
» More stories on: Iran, North Korea, Policy, Ship-Launched Threat, Testing - Foreign
Test of New Chinese Missile “Completely Successful”
August 16, 2004 :: Reuters :: News
China today announced that it had tested a new guided missile a few days ago, which was a complete success, said to have hit its target “with extreme precision.” The announcement came in a scientist Feng Dawai’s speech commemorating the centenary of Deng Xiaoping’s birth. No other details about the “new” missile were given except that it was developed by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: China, Testing - Foreign
Iran Tests Upgraded Shahab-3
August 11, 2004 :: News
Iran today tested what it describes as the most recent version of the already deployed Shahab-3 missile. With a range of 1,300km, the missile threatens all of Israel and some U.S. military bases in the Mideast region. The test closely follows upon Israel’s July 29 test of its Arrow II missile interceptor, which it hopes will protect it against especially the Iranian Shahab-3.
Iran has recently renewed its pledge to wipe Israel “off the map.” The ISNA students news agency quoted Revolutionary Guard Commander Yahya Rahim Safavi as commenting today that the “If Israel behaves like a lunatic and attacks the Iranian nation’s interests, we will come down on their heads like a mallet and break their bones.” The Revolutionary Guard has direct control of the Shahab missile systems.
Israel defense sources report that Tehran is also developing a “Shahab-4” missile with a range of 1,700 km, but Iran may be adding the additional range to the so-called improved Shahab-3, while understating its potential, and, by keeping the same name, not attract further international scrutiny. (Article, Link)
» Debka on Shahab-3 program
» More stories on: Iran, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Shahab-3, Shahab-4
Russia Launches SS-19
August 11, 2004 :: Itar-Tass :: News
Russia today tested an RS-18 (SS-19) ICBM, reported by the Russian State news agency Itar-Tass as the 70th test launch of the massive strategic weapon, but by Interfax as having been closer to the 90th. The missile is capable of being armed with six independently targetable nuclear warheads, and has a range of over 10,000km. The successful test launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome was described in the press briefing as having accurately hit its target in the Kamchatka missile range some 6,700km away, located in far eastern Russia.
Interfax notes that this launch was the fifth this year by the Strategic Missile Forces, and cites Strategic Missile Force Commander Colonel General Nikolai Solovtsov as saying that a total of ten missile launches have been scheduled for 2004. This number most likely does not, however, include the three launches thus far this year of the short range but nuclear capable SS-21 Tochka, most recently launched eight days ago, on August 3.
The first test of the SS-19 is said to have taken place at the Baikonur space center in 1973. The SS-19s are reported to be currently in service with the Tatishchevo and the Kozelsk Strategic Missile Forces units.
A report by Interfax seems to indicate that the launch was of the more recently modified version labeled the “RS-18B,” which probably corresponds to the NATO designation SS-19 Mod 2. Moreover, the Interfax description of the characteristics of the SS-19 launched also matches those of the SS-19 Mod 2: “a range of over 10,000 km; a launch weight of 105.6 tons; a length of 24 m; a diameter of 2.5 m; two stages; a MIRV warhead, liquid-state propellant boosters; gas-dynamic launch from a silo.” (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-19 Mod 1, SS-19 Mod 2
Russia Launches Tochka-U SS-21
August 3, 2004 :: Interfax :: News
Russian troops today conducted a combat exercise which included the successful launch of the nuclear capable Tochka-U, SS-21, ballistic missile. The missile was launched from the Kapustin Yar firing range. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-21 B
Arrow Interceptor Test Successful: Scud Destroyed
July 29, 2004 :: Ha'aretz :: News
The Arrow missile defense system, jointly developed by Israel and the United States, successfully intercepted an incoming Scud missile. Both missiles were fired from locations near Los Angeles, and the interception took place over the Pacific Ocean.
The test, described as both “realistic” and “crucial,” has been planned for two years. It marks the seventh test of the full Arrow system and the twelfth test of the Arrow interceptor. The Scud was launched from a U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center at Point Magu near Los Angeles. The Arrow system’s radar, called Green Pine, directed the interceptor to its target. Although an earlier report from the Indian Express said that the U.S. Defense Department refused to say where the Scud came from, Haaretz today claimed that the Scud was confiscated from Iraq. In the previous test, in December 2003, the Arrow intercepted a Black Sparrow missile, also produced by Israel.
The Arrow has been operational in Israel since 2000, and two batteries of the missiles are currently deployed, at Ein Shemer and Palmahim. A number of other countries, such as India, are considering purchasing one or more of various competing missile defense systems, including the Arrow, the American Patriot PAC-3, and the Russian S-300 and S-400.
Originally designed to protect against Iraqi Scuds and Al Hussein missiles, the future of the Arrow for Israel will likely be to defend against potential attacks by Iran’s Shahab-3. Iran on Monday threatened to wipe Israel “off the map” if either Israel or the United States attempted to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, Israel, Testing - American, Testing - Foreign
» Missile system details for: Arrow
China Military Exercise May Have Included Test of DF-31, Other Missiles
July 27, 2004 :: News
Two weeks ago, several reports indicated that China that it would be testing three missiles during its large military exercises preparing for an assault against Taiwan. The missiles included the DF-31 ICBM, as well as the DF-21 and the JL-2. Two Chinese news services, People’s Daily and Xinhau noted on July 22 that China had notified Russia of its intent to conduct the test during its military exercise, which have since taken place, on July 26. A subsequent report by East Asia Intel suggested that the test would not include the DF-21, since that test had apparently already taken place earlier this year.
Since there has been little media coverage of China’s exercises, it remains unclear if the missile tests were carried out as planned. (Link)
» More stories on: China, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: CSS-5 Mod 2, CSS-5, CSS-9 (DF-31), CSS-NX-5 (JL-2)
