From China today comes news today of a successful missile intercept test: “BEIJING (AP) — China announced that its military intercepted a missile in mid-flight Monday in a test of new technology that comes amid heightened tensions over Taiwan and increased willingness by the Asian giant to show off its advanced military capabilities. The official…
A few of us (here and over at Galrahn‘s site) have been banging the drum for the last few years re. the potential threat posed by China’s ASBM (Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile) which appears to be a variant of the DF-21 (itself, an apparent derivative of the Pershing II MRBM). There has been limited releasable (e.g.,…
Previous: The Missiles of Winter (I): International Conventions March 1985. In the high desert, west of Tehran, an element of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps Air Force (IRGC AF) is going about their business in the early morning darkness. The object of their attention is a SCUD-B SRBM fixed to a MAZ-543P transporter-erector launcher, both…
A little over two years ago, China conducted the now notorious direct ascent ASAT shot on the Fengyun-1 satellite which was in a polar orbit. We’ve commented extensively at the time and a year hence on the issues raised by this shot. So where do we stand just past the second anniversary? Well, like rabbits,…
A quick history lesson. A quarter of a century ago, the US (and NATO) were engaged in an unprecedented nuclear arms build-up in Europe that was initiated with the deployment of the SS-20 Sabre (NATO)/RT-21M Pioneer (Russia) IRBM in 1976. Unlike the much older SS-4 and SS-5 IRBMs, employed in 1959 and 1961,…
(BBC – 6 Oct 08)Â China cancels US military contact: China has cancelled military and diplomatic exchanges with the US in protest at a $6.5bn deal to supply Taiwan with arms, US officials say. A number of senior level visits and military-to-military exchanges due before November would not go ahead, the US defence department said….
“The federal opposition has dismissed new doubts about the capacity of the multi-billion dollar Joint Strike Fighter to perform against jets used by Russia and China. The JSF jets, for which Australia is likely to pay $16 billion, were comprehensively beaten in highly classified simulated dogfights against Russian-built Sukhoi fighter aircraft, it has been reported….
So, here we were, half-watching the football game while sorting through the pile of magazines that had accumulated during the last few months while we were doing 18-hour days. Now that the pressure was off at work, SWMBO had dictated either we take care of the pile or she would – and Draconian doesn’t begin…
(ed. Been a while since we’ve run this recurring item – some interesting items of note from this week for your perusal. – SJS)  India: Agni-III IRBM Test Successful  India’s third test of the indigenously developed Agni-III IRBM on 7 May was evidently a complete success. Launched from Wheeler Island on the east…
So your one neighbor, Pakistan, possesses nuclear weapons and is working assiduously on short- and medium-range missiles, no doubt with nuclear delivery in mind as part of a deterrent package against your own nuclear forces. China, with whom you share a fairly long (and disputed) border has also been engaged in building a modern force of short-…
