Missile Defense

How Come…

…the world goes crazy when North Korea says it is going to launch a missile into space, and there’s hardly a peep worldwide when Iran says the same thing? Especially strange given the fact that the two nations often share weapons technology, the fact that Iranian experts were on hand for last month’s failed NoKo launch, and the …

Lasers: Tomorrow Never Comes

Laser, née L.A.S.E.R. – for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation – might as well stand for Late And So Extraordinarily Recondite (adj., meaning mysterious, esoteric) at the Pentagon. Defense officials talk …

Dud Doesn’t Dent Danger

That’s the word from Austin Ramzy in Beijing on Time’s Global Spin blog:

…the ballistic bust does not mean that North Korean threat has lessened significantly. The isolated authoritarian state still possesses significant conventional artillery with which it could attack Seoul, just 55 km south of the demilitarized zone that

Tokyo: Wait Until Next Time

TOKYO – You could almost hear the collective “Aw, damn,” from Japan’s Ministry of Defense Friday as a North Korean missile broke up soon after takeoff and plopped into the sea. Japan spends about $5 billion a year on missile defense and had mobilized forces throughout the country to shoot the missile down if it strayed …

More For Show Than Protection



That was headline Tuesday in the Japan Times on the prospect that the Japanese military will be able to do anything to protect Japanese citizens if the North Korean rocket launch slated for later this week goes astray. The article notes it was comments from a Pentagon official that debris could fall on Japan or elsewhere in the …

This Week: North Korean Fireworks?

As Kim Jong-un’s minions ready a rocket for takeoff – likely within this week – his neighbors are marshalling their missile-defense shields in the East Asia Sea and around cities that might be hit by an errant booster or …

Report Examines “Worst Case” Scenario for the U.S. Military

The debt ceiling deal passed this summer contains a sequestration “trigger.” If the Super Committee fails to agree on a plan to meet its deficit reduction targets–or if Congress fails to approve the plan, the legislation stipulates that huge amounts of discretionary spending funds will be automatically sequestered–i.e., taken off …

Star Wars: Practice Makes Perfect

The nation has spent more than $100 billion on missile defense since President Reagan heralded it as the way to render nuclear-tipped missiles “impotent and obsolete” in 1983. But the mission is so complex and challenging, sometimes small elements can slip through the cracks, as the Government Accountability Office reported

Coming to a missile silo near you: the end of the strategic triad

As the Pentagon’s “efficiencies review” unfolds, one Cold War mainstay of the US military posture is inevitably going to be retired – namely, the land-based portion of the strategic missile triad. The Pentagon is tasked with coming up with $400 billion in savings over the next decade, and so this long-discussed option (and old Mark …

Them’s Fightin’ Words

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday, explaining how the Pentagon plans to help cut $400 billion in spending over the coming 12 years by curtailing dubious missions:

“They represent missions that the department carries out today that, while of value, are not central to our core mission or are of lower …