Zitat:Classified Incompetence

Things are looking a bit scatterbrained in the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) these days, especially in light of a November 2005 internal memo recently obtained and published by the Federation of American Scientists. ...

Zitat:Speculation Over the Future Siting of the US Missile Defence System
UK Ministry of Defence
Fri, 18 Aug 2006, 00:18

Media reports suggest that the US government is considering whether Britain could be the host for its missile defence system. ...

Zitat:Missile Radar M.I.A.

When you're a kid in Little League, the first lesson your coach drills into you is to keep your eye on the ball. And what works on the sandlot goes double for missile defense: the better you can see the target, the higher your chances are of hitting it.

That's why the Missile Defense Agency has been so hyped about its Sea-Based X-Band Radar, or SBX. The $815 million, 28-story, orb-like contraption has the ability, in theory, to tell which way a baseball is spinning -- from 3,000 miles away. That's the kind of vision any hitter would kill for. No wonder the SBX quickly became one of the centerpieces of the Bush Administration's revamped anti-missile strategy, after it took office. ...

Zitat:U.S. missile test thwarted by failure to launch
From the Associated Press
December 8, 2006

HONOLULU — An "incorrect system setting" caused the shutdown of two interceptor missile launches in a failed test Thursday of the sea-based U.S. missile defense system, the military announced. ...

Zitat:THAAD: Reach Out and Touch Ballistic Missiles (updated)
Posted 08-Jan-2007 11:18 | Permanent Link


The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is a long-range, land-based theater defense weapon that acts as the upper tier of a basic 2-tiered defense against ballistic missiles. It's designed to intercept missiles during late mid-course or final stage flight, flying at high altitudes within and even outside the atmosphere. This allows it to provide broad area coverage against threats to critical assets such as population centers and industrial resources as well as military forces, hence its previous "theater (of operations) high altitude area defense" designation. ...

Zitat:Good Luck Stopping Missiles Early

"I have to say that it is the ugliest aircraft I have ever seen."

That's what Missile Defense Agency director Lieutenant General Trey Obering said when he laid eyes on the Airborne Laser at a rollout ceremony in October.
I'm not one of those guys that swoons in front of aircraft. But I were, I guess I'd agree, with the modified 747's turrets and antennae and protrusions. But the Airborne Laser isn't mean to win beauty contests. It's being to blast ballistic missiles -- using a chemically-powered, megawatt-class laser -- as they're first climbing into the sky. That's when missiles are slowest and most vulnerable. ...

Zitat:USA wollen Raketen-Abwehrsystem in Polen und Tschechien bauen

Die USA wollen in Polen und Tschechien ein Abwehrsystem gegen ballistische Raketen aufbauen. Der Regierung in Warschau sei ein "konkreter Vorschlag" unterbreitet worden, sagte der US-Unterstaatssekretär für Europaangelegenheiten, Daniel Fried, der polnischen Zeitung "Rzeczpospolita" (Montagausgabe).

Zitat:Moskau will mit USA und Europa über Raketen-Abwehrsystem sprechen

Russland will den Vereinigten Staaten und den Europäern seine Vorbehalte gegen die von Washington geplante Errichtung eines Raketenabbwehrsystems in Polen und Tschechien erläutern. Gespräche mit den "amerikanischen und europäischen Kollegen" seien in dieser Angelegenheit notwendig, sagte der stellvertretende Außenminister Sergej Kisliak am Dienstag laut einer Meldung der Nachrichtenagentur Interfax.

Zitat:
US missile defence plan: A diplomatic shot in the foot?
Agence France-Presse | Jan 25, 2007
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The US risks unnecessarily inflaming Russia with its planned anti-missile defence system in eastern Europe, designed to intercept attacks from the Middle East and North Korea, experts warn. ...

Zitat:EIL - Tschechische Sozialdemokraten setzen sich gegen US-Raketenabwehr ein.

WARSCHAU, 02. Februar (RIA Novosti). Die tschechischen Sozialdemokraten werden im Parlament gegen den Aufbau der Radare des amerikanischen Raketenabwehrsystems stimmen und auch einen Volksentscheid dazu fordern. Das sagte der Leiter der Tschechischen Sozialdemokratischen Partei (CSSD) und ehemalige tschechische Premierminister Jiri Paroubek am Freitag gegenüber Journalisten in Prag...

Zitat:EIL - US-Raketenabwehr in Europa: Washington nimmt russische Besorgnis zur Kenntnis

MOSKAU, 02. Februar (RIA Novosti). Bei der Aufstellung ihrer Raketenabwehrsysteme in Osteuropa werden die Vereinigten Staaten auf die Besorgnisse Russlands Rücksicht nehmen, teilte ein anonymer Sprecher des US-Außenministeriums am Freitag gegenüber Journalisten mit.

Zitat:Missile Defense And Its Consequences
Andrei Kislyakov , RIA Novosti | Feb 16, 2007

The first, ground-based stage of the U.S. missile defense program has successfully been completed. There is not much time left before the start of a battle royal for the right to place missile defense components, i.e. weapons, in space. ...

Zitat:Russian general threatens tough response to US missile shield
Agence France-Presse | Feb 20, 2007


A Russian general has threatened a tough response if the United States goes ahead with a plan to site a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

"If the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic take such a decision, the strategic missile force will be able to aim at these installations," said the force's head, General Nikolai Solovtsov, on Monday. ...

Zitat:Russian Missile Forces Chief Says Ready to Quit INF Treaty
Mosnews | Feb 20, 2007


Russia’s strategic missile forces are ready to pull out of the INF Treaty with the United States if a political decision is made, the RIA-Novosti news agency quoted the forces’ commander as saying on Monday. ...

Zitat:Wenn FDP-Parteichef Guido Westerwelle, die GRÜNEN-Fraktionsvorsitzende Renate Kühnast, SPD-Parteichef Kurt Beck und wer sonst noch russland-besorgte Kommentare zum Thema der geplanten U.S.-Raketenabwehr abgeben, ist das nicht so traurig.

Wenn der von abrufbarem Sachverstand umgebene Verteidigungsminister Jung allerdings den Vorschlag auftischt, das U.S.-Vorhaben “im Rahmen der NATO (zu) entwickeln” (WELT Online, 2.3.07), dann ist das doppelter Unsinn:

Zitat:USA bieten Russland Schutz vor Angriffen an

Die Vereinigten Staaten hoffen darauf, dass es in der Frage der umstrittenen Raketenabwehr zu einer Einigung mit Russland kommen werde und haben eine Zusammenarbeit in Aussicht gestellt. "Wir halten eine Kooperation mit Russland für nützlich", sagte der Staatssekretär im US-Außenministerium Eric Edelman am Dienstag in Washington. Russland sehe sich denselben Bedrohungen gegenüber wie die USA.