Tag: Missiles

Analysts On Syrian Missile Strike

Last night the US launched 59 missiles at the air base that supposedly launched the gas attack on Syrian civilians….

There will be all sorts of speculation and if you prefer that on the MSM then please by all means get the analyses from them….but below is war analysts on war and conflict have to say……

“There can be no future for Assad and his regime in Syria. It is good that the Trump Administration has recognized that the regime must go in order for negotiated settlement to occur. Demonstrating American will to use military force is a necessary first step. President Trump still needs a larger strategy to achieve the outcomes that US national security and humanity require.”
– Jennifer Cafarella

“Immediate strikes do not preclude a more robust strategy. In fact, they open the door to it.”
– Jennifer Cafarella

“We will change everyone’s calculus, and that starts a clock. Our adversaries and enemies will recalculate. The U.S. must move out smartly to achieve its strategic objectives in Syria, which include but go beyond preventing Assad from murdering his own people.”
– Jennifer Cafarella

“Assad has reminded the U.S. and the world that his military campaign – and that of his external backers – is a crime against humanity.  President Trump is upholding America’s commitment to international law, as he should.”

– Jennifer Cafarella

“Assad could not survive, let alone conduct systematic atrocities such as his repeated use of chemical weapons and other crimes against humanity, without the active support of Russia and Iran.  Assad will not stop until they withdraw their unconditional support for his brutality.”
-Genevieve Casagrande

“Deterrence is a persistent condition, not a one hour strike package. President Trump has demonstrated his intent and capability to use American force if necessary. He must sustain pressure against Assad in order to set conditions to achieve vital US national security interests in Syria.”
“The Trump Administration has begun to re-establish the credibility of an American military response, essential to creating conditions for a durable negotiated settlement.”-Christopher Kozak
(from the ISW blog)
This will have little effect on the war raging in Syria…..Assad may think a little harder before reusing chemical weapons but the rest of the war will continue as is….it was a play to show Iran and North Korea what is available…….this may accomplish something that will aid Trump…his approval rating may go up a bit….beyond that it will be business as usual.

Up, Up And Away

(Could that be the 5th Dimension in the background?)

For the last couple of days the news has been coming at an alarming rate…..more speculation on the Orlando attack, Brexit, a sit-in by Congress and yet the most important was not worth a mention hardly…..a missile test by North Korea.

Our arch enemy PRNK has tested another missile……

North Korea is not only continuing to defy international warnings to stop testing ballistic missiles, it’s starting to get pretty good at launching them. Relatively speaking, anyway: Pyongyang launched two intermediate-range Musudan missiles in the direction of Japan on Wednesday, reports the BBC. The first one flopped almost immediately, just like four previous launches. But the second one reached an altitude of about 620 miles before plunging into the sea, raising concern in both South Korea and Japan, reports Reuters. The missile also covered about 250 miles, getting more than halfway to Japan’s coast. The BBC notes the missile’s range is much further; it’s unclear whether it fell short due to failure or was intentionally kept from reaching Japan.

“This is a very important milestone because the previous launches had blown up either very shortly after launch or possibly even right at launch,” an analyst at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California tells the Voice of America. “So this is a real sign of progress.” Japan’s defense chief put it more succinctly: “The threat to Japan is intensifying.” South Korea and the US are still assessing the test, but South Korean President Park Geun-hye denounced the “reckless provocation.” UN resolutions forbid the North from working on ballistic missile technology, notes the BBC, but the launches suggest that Pyongyang is having little trouble obtaining the technology and the know-how.

This one is a success and now the nations in the Pacific region are scratching their heads and wringing their hands……

Japan expressed concern about North Korea’s Wednesday Musudan missile launches, especially since one of the two made it more than halfway to Japan. But per Kim Jong Un, Japan shouldn’t be alone in its worry, the Guardian reports. “We have the sure capability to attack in an overall and practical way the Americans in the Pacific operation theater,” the North Korean leader said, per the KCNA state news agency. The BBC notes that, in theory, Musudan missiles have a range of 2,500 miles—far enough to touch down in the US territory of Guam. And while many of North Korea’s claims are usually dismissed as hyperbole or outright fabrication—and four previous missile launches this year failed—the second missile flew a confirmed 250 miles.

That missile, the New York Times points out, also reached a record altitude for North Korea at what the country reported was 878 miles (other sources, however, say 620 miles). A scientist with California’s Middlebury Institute of International Studies says the second missile appeared to have been launched purposely with a high angle so it wouldn’t reach Japan. “Had it been fired at its normal angle, it would have flown to its full range,” he notes, adding to the Wall Street Journal that, “if we do nothing, they will move on to a missile … that can reach the US.” The Times and Journal also explain that the sharp trajectory allowed for the testing of technology that makes a nuclear warhead resistant to heat when “breaching the earth’s atmosphere.”

So where’s the news?  I mean they have tested missiles before and it was a dismal failure….so what’s new, right?

More analysis of this successful missile test…….

Source: North Korea Claims Wednesday’s Test Proves Capability to Strike US in Pacific | World Affairs Journal

Are you starting to see the problem?

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Nope, not some silly reference to the Man of Steel movie…..but rather something a littler more real than some cinematic crap.

I am an old fart and I remember the Cold War all too well.  The arms race….build a bigger and better plane…or a tank…..or a bomb.

In my youth when in grade school we had nuke attack drills…..where the kids would get under their desks and cover their eyes and ears and wait for the blast.  These were monthly drills….they were very scary for 8 or 9 year olds…..

Thankfully those days are behind us……a new world was born and we feel safer….at least against a nuke attack.

In today’s world things move at a faster pace…..and the necessities for delivering a nuke bomb is no exception…..

A rocket went up over the Australian desert on May 18, but this successful test launch was no ordinary feat: The experimental rocket hit a speed of Mach 7.5—or 7.5 times the speed of sound—qualifying it for “hypersonic” status, reports Gizmodo. Military scientists from the US and Australia teamed up on the project, called Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation, or HiFire. The goal, reports techradar, is to design an engine that flies at Mach 7, and Wednesday’s test is one in a series that will run through 2018. “It is a game-changing technology … and could revolutionize global air travel, providing cost-effective access to space,” says chief Australian scientist Alex Zelinsky, per AFP.

To put the feat in more concrete terms, the scientists say such an engine could make a trip from Sydney to London possible in a mind-boggling two hours. (Today’s travelers can figure on closer to 24 hours, factoring in connecting flights.) In fact, it would make any trip in the world much more manageable and make it far easier to put satellites in space. But Popular Science also takes note of the military applications: “With that much speed, it would be impossible for an enemy [to have enough time] to move anything on the ground after radar detected [a] plane, letting it either capture pictures immediately or drop bombs almost unimpeded.” The next test, in which the engine would separate from the booster rocket, is scheduled for 2017.

This is what the industry has come to……we now have a rocket that can deliver a nuke in the time it takes to pee…..

Ain’t progress great?

Nukes Make Headlines (Again)

Just when we thought the threat of a nuke war was becoming only a memory we have a newsflash that should wake up the country….

In an article written by Andreas Peter:

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev announced that his government intended to develop a new generation of nuclear weapons. Medvedev’s statement came in the midst of ongoing and thus far unsuccessful negotiations with the US over the signing of a new treaty that would replace the recently expired START-I agreement on nuclear weapons.

This change to the country’s nuclear policy, which is similar to revisions made by the US to its military doctrine under the Bush administration, is part of a broader effort by Russia to both strengthen its armed forces and increase their profile in the international arena.

Also in December, the upper house of the Russian Duma, the Federation Council, passed a resolution giving the president broad powers to authorize the use of force outside the country’s borders without recourse to parliament. According to a December 10 article in the Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor, President Medvedev can now “send troops into action abroad anywhere, anytime; decide on the size of force, specify the enemy, with no legal restraints or limitations, ‘to defend the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens.’”

This move is widely seen as providing the Kremlin with the legal basis to pursue military action akin to that which it took in August 2008 during its war with Georgia over the contested region of South Ossetia. At that time, taking advantage of the opportunity given to it by provocations orchestrated from Tbilisi, Russia entered Georgian territory, routing Georgian forces.

I have said that there indications that the Cold War was not won…it just took a break for awhile….I have also predicted a confrontation this year between the US and Russia…..both things look like I was in a correct mind when I said them….Just a thought…..

Another Cuban Missile Crisis?

Russian warships have entered Cuban waters for the first time since the end of the Cold War.

A Russian destroyer and two support ships sailed into Havana Bay on their way home from joint exercises with the Venezuelan navy.

It is the latest sign of improved ties between Moscow and communist-run Cuba, which were allies during Soviet days.

Russia has been angered by US plans for a missile defence system in Europe, and its support for Georgia in the recent conflict with Russia.

The Russian embassy in Cuba told the AFP news agency that the ships were on a friendly, working visit designed to “develop” relations and “co-operation” between the two countries.

But analysts say Moscow is sending a symbolic message to the US about the consequences of Washington’s activity in regions that Russia regards as its sphere of influence.

Cuba’s communist leadership was closely allied to Moscow during the Cold War, but relations have weakened since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

This situation might need to be watched closely….or the possiblity of another missile crisis could be in the making.

Let The Tests Begin!

Looks the statement by Biden that caused such an outroar about the tests that will surely appear, has come true.

As reported in the NY Times:

President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia greeted his future American counterpart, Senator Barack Obama, with bristling language on Wednesday, promising to place short-range missiles on Russia’s western border if Washington proceeded with its planned missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

Mr. Medvedev described specific measures Moscow would take if Washington went ahead with a plan to station a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. He said Russia would post mobile Iskander missiles — tactical weapons designed for use against targets like long-range artillery and airfields, in addition to missile defense systems — around Kaliningrad, an enclave at Russia’s western border. He also said Russia would use radio equipment to jam the Western missile defense system.

Careful–the world is watching.

A Second Cold War?

For over a year now I have been saying that there is the possibility of the approach of a second Cold War.  With all the chest thumping by the US and Russia, the possibility is there.

This does not help the situation at all.  Let us say Obama wins the general and he has , in some circles, he has been seen as the second coming of JFK, then this only will fuel that preception.

Russia may start regular flights by long-range bombers to Cuba in response to US plans to build missile defence sites in Eastern Europe, the newspaper Izvestia reported Monday, quoting an official.

“Such discussions exist,” the unidentified senior Russian air force official was quoted as saying, adding that the measure would be a response to the United States “deploying missile defence systems in Poland and the Czech Republic.”

It was not clear whether he meant permanently basing the bombers in Cuba or using the island as a refuelling stop, but former top defence ministry official Leonid Ivashov told the newspaper that Cuba was best used for brief stopovers.

Cuba should be used “not as a permanent base — this is unnecessary — but as a stopover airfield, a refuelling stop,” Ivashov was quoted as saying.

Starting long-range bomber flights to Cuba would signal a reawakening of military cooperation by former Cold War allies Moscow and Havana. In 2002 Russia closed its last military base on the island, a radar base at Lourdes.

If Obama is elected then he will have a full plate from day one.