Sunshine Coast Daily: Australia has quietly concluded a set of test flights of a missile capable of burning through the skies at more than 10,000km/h – and still changing course. Any missile – or aircraft – capable of moving at such speeds will have been and gone before any defensive system could react. And while… read more
Stars and Stripes: YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A Japanese Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile interceptor will deploy next month to the headquarters of U.S. Forces Japan and the 5th Air Force in Tokyo, Japanese media reports say. Training with the PAC-3 will be part of efforts to counter North Korean missile threats, the Asahi Shimbun… read more
Bloomberg: Australia will press ahead with a missile defense program to protect its forces, but a U.S. shield system isn’t appropriate, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system mentioned in recent briefings is “not really suitable for our situation,” Turnbull told reporters at the Group of 20 Summit… read more
Defense News: ISLAMABAD — Pakistan says it has successfully tested a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The military said Wednesday the NASR is a high-precision weapons system with the ability for quick deployment and a range of 70 kilometers, or 43.5 miles. It added that this system will augment credible deterrence… read more
National Interest: As part of its proposed $171.5 billion fiscal year 2018 budget request, the Navy carved out a hefty $2 billion for a suite of futuristic weapons systems ripped straight from the pages of a science-fiction flick. And a good part of that cash is going toward the service’s much-touted electromagnetic railgun: According to… read more
The Washington Post: The U.S. Army and South Korean military responded to North Korea’s latest launch with their own exercise of missiles, launching them Wednesday into South Korean territorial waters along the country’s eastern coastline, U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement. The launches were directly in response to “North Korea’s destabilizing and unlawful actions,”… read more
CNBC: The Treasury Department unveiled new sanctions on a Chinese company and two Chinese citizens tied to North Korea Thursday in response to North Korea’s weapons program and its disregard for U.N. Security Council resolutions. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement that the department is “committed to protecting the U.S. financial system from… read more
Forbes: This summer marks the 60th anniversary of the fateful day in August, 1957 that Russia successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile. Despite all the changes that have unfolded since then, long-range rockets armed with nuclear warheads remain the single greatest threat to the survival of our republic. That’s a thought worth reflecting on… read more
DefenseNews: WASHINGTON – Eighty-two days after being announced as President Donald Trump’s pick for deputy secretary of defense, Patrick Shanahan has been formally nominated for the position. The move, announced Wednesday by the White House, means the Senate can begin the process of scheduling a hearing for the longtime Boeing executive. The current senior vice… read more
National Interest: On March 23, 1983, Ronald Reagan addressed the nation and called for a Strategic Defense Initiative that would allow the American military to render the nuclear threat “impotent and obsolete.” Reagan, who had campaigned against atomic weapons in the late 1940s, never really lost his abhorrence of the idea of nuclear war. In… read more