Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
US Concern Over Chinese Latest Hi-Tech Weapons
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Saturday voiced concern over China's latest hi-tech weaponry and called for an improvement in uneasy military relations with Beijing to help defuse tensions.
Speaking to reporters en route to Beijing for three days of talks, Gates said the Chinese appeared to have made more progress in building their first stealth fighter jet than previously thought, and that an anti-ship missile posed a potential threat to the US military.
"They clearly have the potential to put some of our capabilities at risk. And we have to pay attention to them, we have to respond appropriately with our own programmes," Gates said.
But he said the advances in weaponry underlined the importance of building a dialogue with the Chinese military, and added he hoped his visit starting Sunday would lay the ground for deeper defence ties with Asia's rising power.
"My hope is that, through the strategic dialogue that I'm talking about, that maybe the need for some of these capabilities is reduced," Gates said.
With Chinese President Hu Jintao due in Washington for a pivotal state visit on January 19, both sides are anxious to show progress in defence ties, which China has repeatedly suspended over US arms sales to Taiwan.
"It's pretty clear the Chinese wanted me to come before President Hu visits Washington," Gates said.
"My own view is a positive constructive, comprehensive relationship between the United States and China is not just in the mutual interests of the two countries, it's in the interest of everybody in the region and I would say across the globe."
Days before the US defence chief's highly symbolic trip, photographs appeared showing a prototype of China's first stealth fighter, the J-20, at an airfield in the southwest.
"We knew they were working on a stealth aircraft," Gates said when asked about the warplane.
"They clearly have the potential to put some of our capabilities at risk. And we have to pay attention to them, we have to respond appropriately with our own programmes," Gates said.
But he said the advances in weaponry underlined the importance of building a dialogue with the Chinese military, and added he hoped his visit starting Sunday would lay the ground for deeper defence ties with Asia's rising power.
"My hope is that, through the strategic dialogue that I'm talking about, that maybe the need for some of these capabilities is reduced," Gates said.
With Chinese President Hu Jintao due in Washington for a pivotal state visit on January 19, both sides are anxious to show progress in defence ties, which China has repeatedly suspended over US arms sales to Taiwan.
"It's pretty clear the Chinese wanted me to come before President Hu visits Washington," Gates said.
"My own view is a positive constructive, comprehensive relationship between the United States and China is not just in the mutual interests of the two countries, it's in the interest of everybody in the region and I would say across the globe."
Days before the US defence chief's highly symbolic trip, photographs appeared showing a prototype of China's first stealth fighter, the J-20, at an airfield in the southwest.
"We knew they were working on a stealth aircraft," Gates said when asked about the warplane.
"What we've seen is they may be somewhat further along in the development of that aircraft than our intelligence had predicted," he said.
But he added "there is some question about just how stealthy" the new fighter really is.
Gates also said he had been concerned about China's pursuit of "anti-ship, cruise and ballistic missiles ever since I took this job" four years ago.
He also said the development of China's anti-ship missile was at an advanced stage but it was unclear whether the weapon was fully operational.
Due to the potential threat posed by Chinese missiles and other hardware, Gates said his proposed defence budget unveiled on Thursday placed a priority on technology designed to counter "anti-access" weapons.
The proposed Pentagon budget for 2012 calls for funding for a new long-range nuclear bomber, electronic jamming devices for the Navy, improvements to radar for F-15 fighters, a satellite launch vehicle and an unmanned naval "strike-and-surveillance aircraft".
Although China may be years away from fielding fully-capable anti-ship missiles or warplanes, analysts say that it is gaining ground and that the country's military leaders are displaying an increasingly assertive stance.
Aware of the Asian power's growing economic and military might, the United States for years has appealed to China to back a more "durable" dialogue -- similar to US-Soviet exchanges during the Cold War -- to avoid miscalculations.
But China has instead opted to break ties in order to register its displeasure with Washington, particularly over billions of dollars in weapons deals to Taiwan.
Gates, who last visited China in 2007, has yet to persuade the Chinese to embrace a permanent military dialogue and acknowledged that top leaders would likely raise the issue of weapons sales to Taiwan during the trip.
The Pentagon chief is due to meet Hu and his Chinese counterpart, General Liang Guanglie, as well as visit the army's Second Artillery Corps headquarters outside of Beijing, which is China's nuclear command center.
The talks were also expected to cover recent tensions on the Korean peninsula, including China's role in helping to ease a recent crisis that began after Pyongyang shelled a South Korean island.
"We recognize that China played a constructive role in lessening tensions on the peninsula in the latter part of last year," Gates said.
Chinese Stealth fighter May Used US F-117 NightHawk Technology
A Chinese stealth fighter jet that could pose a significant threat to American air superiority may borrow from US technology, it has been claimed.
Balkan military officials and other experts said China may have gleaned knowledge from a US F-117 Nighthawk that was shot down over Serbia in 1999.
"At the time, our intelligence reports told of Chinese agents crisscrossing the region where the F-117 disintegrated, buying up parts of the plane from local farmers," said Admiral Davor Domazet-Loso, Croatia's military chief of staff during the Kosovo war. "We believe the Chinese used those materials to gain an insight into secret stealth technologies ... and to reverse-engineer them."
The Nighthawk was downed by a Serbian anti-aircraft missile during a bombing raid on 27 March 1999. It was the first time one of the fighters had been hit, and the Pentagon blamed clever tactics and sheer luck. The pilot ejected and was rescued.
A senior Serbian military official confirmed that pieces of the wreckage were removed by souvenir collectors, and that some ended up "in the hands of foreign military attaches". Efforts to get comment from China's defence ministry and the Pentagon were unsuccessful.
Parts of the F-117 wreckage, including its left wing, cockpit canopy, ejection seat, pilot's helmet and radio, are exhibited at Belgrade's aviation museum. Zoran Milicevic, deputy director of the museum, said: "I don't know what happened to the rest of the plane. A lot of delegations visited us in the past, including the Chinese, Russians and Americans ... but no one showed any interest in taking any part of the jet."
Zoran Kusovac, a Rome-based military consultant, said the regime of the former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic routinely shared captured western equipment with its Chinese and Russian allies. "The destroyed F-117 topped that wish-list for both the Russians and Chinese," Kusovac said.
China's multi-role stealth fighter – known as the Chengdu J-20 – made its inaugural flight on 11 January, revealing dramatic progress in the country's efforts to develop cutting-edge military technologies. It is at least eight or nine years from entering service.
B-2 Engineer Convicted of Selling Military Secrets To China
Noshir Gowadia, 66, faces up to life in prison for his conviction on 14 counts, including conspiracy, communicating national defence information to aid a foreign nation, and violating the arms export control act.
Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway is due to issue her sentence after listening to arguments from the prosecution and defence. Gowadia, who has been in custody without bail since his 2005 arrest, is also expected to have an opportunity to make a statement.
A federal jury in August found Gowadia guilty after deliberating for six days. They had heard 39 days of evidence over nearly four months. The jury acquitted him on three counts.
Prosecutors said Gowadia helped China design a stealth cruise missile to get money to pay the $15,000-a-month mortgage on his multimillion dollar home overlooking the ocean in Haiku on Maui. They said he pocketed at least $110,000 from the sale of military secrets.
They said Gowadia showed his Chinese contacts how his stealth cruise missile design would be effective against U.S. air-to-air missiles.
Gowadia's defence attorneys said it's true the engineer gave China the design for a stealth cruise missile exhaust nozzle but he based his work on unclassified, publicly available information. Gowadia's son has said his father plans to appeal.
The sentencing comes just weeks after China conducted a flight test of its new J-20 stealth fighter during a visit to Beijing by U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
The Jan. 11 flight was held at an airfield in Chengdu, where prosecutors say Gowadia delivered an oral presentation on classified stealth technology in 2003.
The city is home to the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute and is a centre for Chinese fighter aircraft and cruise missile reseach and development.
Gowadia helped design the propulsion system for the B-2 bomber when he worked at Northrop Corp., now known as Northrop Grumman Corp., between 1968 and 1986.
Born in India, he moved to the U.S. for postgraduate work in the 1960s and became a U.S. citizen about a decade later. He retired from Northrop for health reasons in 1986, two years before the B-2 made its public debut.
Gowadia moved to Maui in 1999 from the U.S. mainland where he had been doing consulting work after retiring from Northrop.
India Is Now Major Market for U.S. Defence Products
India will now be invited to participate in all the major international arms and technology control groups. The administration’s decision also will end sanctions against prominent Indian science and technology entities such as the Indian Space Research Organization, and the Defense Research and Development Organization will now allow U.S. corporations and laboratories to collaborate with them.
It is a fact little known in this country that Indian universities conduct world-class collaborative efforts with U.S. defense research organizations such as the Naval Research Laboratory.
This step took place against a background of increasing U.S. competition for arms sales to India. Once exclusively an acquirer of European and Russian military technology, India is now a potential major market for U.S. defense goods. Recently, India agreed to purchase 10 C-17 jet transports for more than $4 billion and eight P-8 Poseidon ASW aircraft for $2.1 billion. Currently, Boeing and Lockheed Martin are both entrants in the $10 billion competition to provide India with 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft. The U.S. competitors against aircraft from Europe and Russia are the F-16IN Super Viper and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
In a potentially significant move, Under Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter declared this week that the United States would be open to India participating in the F-35 program. Which would be better for New Delhi: taking the chance that Russia’s decrepit aerospace industry will be able to design and build a passable fifth-generation fighter or acquiring the second fifth-generation fighter from a country that has nearly twenty years experience building stealth aircraft?
There are a number of other areas where U.S. defense systems could make inroads into the Indian market. As a rising naval power, India may be interested in acquiring a variant of the Littoral Combat Ship. Facing serious terrorist and insurgent threats in various parts of the country, the Indian Army could benefit from acquiring U.S. systems such as the Stryker wheeled combat vehicle or the M-ATV.
US Air Force To Spend $16 Billion On Upgrades For F-22 Raptor
The US Air Force could spend up to $16 billion over the next several years on further upgrades for the Lockheed Martin F-22.
It could also award some of the business to the manufacturer's competitors.
The dollar value was disclosed in a 26 January acquisition notice calling for bidders to compete for the follow-on Raptor enhancement, development and integration (FREDI) contract.
Lockheed was awarded the original multi-year REDI deal in 2004, but now the USAF is inviting its competitors to bid for the work too.
It could also award some of the business to the manufacturer's competitors.
The dollar value was disclosed in a 26 January acquisition notice calling for bidders to compete for the follow-on Raptor enhancement, development and integration (FREDI) contract.
Lockheed was awarded the original multi-year REDI deal in 2004, but now the USAF is inviting its competitors to bid for the work too.
At the same time, the USAF also plans to transition the F-22's sustainment programme "to a more organic support concept", the acquisition notice says.
Lockheed has been managing the F-22's maintenance system under a performance-based logistics (PBL) deal, which is designed to generate cost savings over time but locks the government into a long-term support deal.
But the USAF and other government agencies have decided to scale back the use of such PBL contracts. Instead, more maintenance work is being assigned in government depots, while other upgrade and sustainment tasks are split among several contractors.
US Marine Corps KC-130 arrives in Pakistan
Lockheed Martin Awarded Contract for Kuwait Air Force KC-130J Tankers
The Kuwait Air Force's new KC-130Js will provide aerial refueling for its F18 fleet and augment its current airlift fleet of three Lockheed Martin L-100s. Kuwait's KC-130Js also will perform air mobility, disaster relief and humanitarian missions throughout the world.
"We are proud to add yet another country to the growing worldwide C-130J community," said Jim Grant, Lockheed Martin vice president for C-130 business development. "The combination of tanking and airlift missions yet again shows the tremendous versatility of this proven aircraft. KC-130Js have been used in high-tempo operations for the last five years and will provide Kuwait with an effective, efficient and reliable multi-mission capability."
Kuwait's first KC-130J delivery is scheduled for late 2013, with deliveries completed in early 2014. Using only wing and external tanks, the KC-130J has a 57,500 pound fuel offload capability. The KC-130J is configured to accept a fuselage tank, adding another 24,392 pounds of available fuel. The standard probe-and-drogue configuration of the KC-130J is suited for both fixed and rotary wing aircraft. In addition to aerial and ground refueling, the KC-130J has the same airlift capability as non-tanker variants - including airdrop and paradrop.
US operates anti-missile radar in Israel
An X-band radar is a powerful phased array radar that can target the warhead of a long or medium range missile in space. The United States has deployed one in Japan and plans to install a larger X-band radar in the Czech Republic.
The United States has recently deployed an anti-missile radar in Israel that is mainly to warn of incoming Iranian ballistic missiles, Israeli state radio reported Sunday. The radar with a range of more than 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) is sited in the south of the country, the radio added.
It is operated by a permanent 120-strong US army staff.
Questioned by AFP, a defence ministry spokesman said he did "not know about such a deployment".
A senior Pentagon official had said in late July that US Defense Secretary Robert Gates agreed to explore deploying a powerful missile defense targeting radar in Israel.
"The idea here is to help Israel create a layered missile defense capability to protect it from all sorts of threats in the region, near and far," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Besides the radar, Gates also agreed to explore sharing missile early warning launch data, as well as US funding for two costly Israeli projects designed to counter short-range rockets and mortars, he said.
The official said deploying the X-band radar was a near-term proposition, adding "all this is moving pretty quickly."
"We are going to station this land-based system there, and the Israelis would plug into it," said the official.
An X-band radar is a powerful phased array radar that can target the warhead of a long or medium range missile in space. The United States has deployed one in Japan and plans to install a larger X-band radar in the Czech Republic.
The official linked the assistance to the US administration's push for progress on a roadmap for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
But it appeared to be more directly related to Israel's concern about Iran's nuclear program.
US, Pakistan air forces conduct air refueling information exchange
ISLAMABAD:Pilots and aircrews from the U.S. and Pakistan air forces participated in a joint aerial refueling information exchange as part of an on-going effort to enhance cooperation and develop the air refueling capabilities of both nations in early March at Pakistan air force base Chaklala.
Pilots and aircrews from the 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron arrived at PAFB Chaklala March 3 to conduct the information exchange with their Pakistan air force hosts.
Upon arrival, the Airmen invited PAF pilots and aircrews aboard their KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft to familiarize them with Air Force air refueling equipment and procedures.
U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Michael LeFever, the senior U.S. Defense Representative to Pakistan, hosted Pakistan Air Commodore Tahir Ranjha, the PAF air transportation director and Air Commodore Khalil Ahmed, the PAF Chaklala commander, aboard the KC-135 aircraft.
"Events like these promote understanding and enhance our military-to-military relationships while also boosting capability and expertise," Admiral LeFever said. "In addition, with the planned arrival of more F-16s to Pakistan later this year, developing PAF air refueling expertise is critical to increasing their airborne endurance and enhancing their ability to counter the violent extremist threat in their country."
Pilots and aircrews from the 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron arrived at PAFB Chaklala March 3 to conduct the information exchange with their Pakistan air force hosts.
Upon arrival, the Airmen invited PAF pilots and aircrews aboard their KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft to familiarize them with Air Force air refueling equipment and procedures.
U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Michael LeFever, the senior U.S. Defense Representative to Pakistan, hosted Pakistan Air Commodore Tahir Ranjha, the PAF air transportation director and Air Commodore Khalil Ahmed, the PAF Chaklala commander, aboard the KC-135 aircraft.
"Events like these promote understanding and enhance our military-to-military relationships while also boosting capability and expertise," Admiral LeFever said. "In addition, with the planned arrival of more F-16s to Pakistan later this year, developing PAF air refueling expertise is critical to increasing their airborne endurance and enhancing their ability to counter the violent extremist threat in their country."
US okays howitzers worth $647 million for India
WASHINGTON: Asserting that its sale to India will "improve interoperability with US Soldiers and Marines," the US defense agency tasked with transfer of military hardware and promoting military-to-military ties has notified the US Congress of the Obama administration's intention to sell 145 M777 Howitzers to India in a deal worth $ 647 million.
The mandatory notification follows a request from India for the light-weight towed Howitzer with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems (LINAPS), the first major artillery purchase by New Delhi after the star-crossed Bofors deal going back to the 1980s.
The $647 million deal will include warranty, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, maintenance, personnel training and training equipment, US government and contractor representatives' technical assistance, engineering and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in its January 22 notification.
"This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to strengthen the US-India strategic relationship and to improve the security of an important partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in South Asia," DSCA said.
The Agency said the howitzers will assist the Indian Army to develop and enhance standardization and surprisingly asserted it will also "improve interoperability with US Soldiers and Marines who use the M777 as their primary means of indirect fire." India will have no difficulty absorbing these weapons into its armed forces, it added.
In its standard caveat, the Agency also assured the Congress that the "proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region," and "there will be no adverse impact on US defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale."
The M777 purchase, seen in some quarters as a political decision favoring US, was not without the usual controversy that has come to dog almost every major defense acquisition in India.
The gun trailed the front-runner, the Pegasus lightweight howitzer developed jointly by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and Singapore Technology Kinetics, for several months, But Pegasus was knocked out of the race following reports of corruption and bribery that necessitated a CBI investigation.
While that inquiry is continuing, the government decided to go in for the US artillery given the Army's urgent requirement.
The M777 howitzer was originally developed by the British Vickers group, but is now produced by BAE Systems Land Systems in the US. It has largely replaced the M198 howitzer 155mm towed howitzers in the US Marine Corps and US Army and has seen action since March 2008 in Afghanistan. US allies Canada and Australia are the only two countries the US has sold the guns to.
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Navy Uses Laser to Cripple Ship in First Sea Test
United States Navy ships each year face many threats. While large threats mandate heavy munitions or rockets, the majority of threats are from small motorboats with armed occupants. Dealing with these threats is tricky -- larger munitions are potentially lethal and expensive. But using smaller munitions places the ship's crew at risk. Thus the non-lethal accuracy of a laser weapon would be a highly desirable tool for the U.S. maritime warriors.
Sailors' dreams of having such a weapon at their disposal advanced a step forward to reality, with Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) and the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) completing the first live test of a solid state weapon laser at sea.
On Wednesday the USS Paul Foster, a decommissioned destroyer, was retrofitted with Northrop
The eventual goal of the $98M USD Maritime Laser Demonstrator (MLD) is to install 100-kilowatt lasers on ships. But the smaller 15-kilowatt system proved it might be sufficiently deadly for some applications.
Motoring into the U.S.'s Pacific testing range near San Nicholas Island off the coast of central California, the ship set its aim at a large inflatable motorboat, moving a mile away. Firing a pulse of light, the experimental laser struck a crippling blow damaging the engines and setting them on fire. The target was crippled, floating dead in the ocean.
The success was not easy. The scientists had to deal with ocean waves that could reach four feet in height. And they had to deal with the day's humidity and the salty air over ocean waters.
But adverse conditions did not stop the laser from finding is mark with a killing shot. Describes Rear Adm. Nevin Carr in an interview with Wired's Danger Room, "I spent my life at sea and I never thought we’d see this kind of progress this quickly, where we’re approaching a decision of when we can put laser weapons on ships. When we were doing the shot and the engine went, there was elation in the control room. It’s a big step, a proof of principle for directed energy weapons. [Ten kilowatt beams like the test laser] can be operated in existing power levels and cooling levels on ships today."
The U.S. Navy could see deployment of lasers to warships over the course of the next decade, though their installation will require new crew training and the development of new battle tactics to fully leverage their capabilities. Small lasers could be used effectively both against airborne targets like UAVs and against small ships that lack thick metal plating.
Northrop Grumman's rival Raytheon Comp. (RTN) has successfully killed UAVs with a laser system that couples six solid-state lasers with an output of 32 kilowatts.
In the more distant future (the 2020s, specifically) the Navy is working on a "superlaser", a megawatt-class laser capable of cutting through 2,000 feet of steel per second and offering battle-sinking power. The more powerful ONR laser is called the Free Electron Laser. Leveraging a new technique called free electron injection, the project has made significant progress already.
Adm. Carr comments, "This is an important data point, but I still want the Megawatt death ray."
The U.S. Navy is not alone in its thirst for laser guns. The U.S. Air
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Dick Cheney Says He Urged Bush to Bomb Syria in ’07
Former Vice President Dick Cheney says in a new memoir that he urged President George W. Bush to bomb a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor site in June 2007. But, he wrote, Mr. Bush opted for a diplomatic approach after other advisers — still stinging over “the bad intelligence we had received about Iraq’s stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction” — expressed misgivings.
“I again made the case for U.S. military action against the reactor,” Mr. Cheney wrote about a meeting on the issue. “But I was a lone voice. After I finished, the president asked, ‘Does anyone here agree with the vice president?’ Not a single hand went up around the room.”
Mr. Bush chose to try diplomatic pressure to force the Syrians to abandon the secret program, but the Israelis bombed the site in September 2007. Mr. Cheney’s account of the discussion appears in his autobiography, “In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir,” which is to be published by Simon & Schuster next week. A copy was obtained by The New York Times.
Mr. Cheney’s book — which is often pugnacious in tone and in which he expresses little regret about many of the most controversial decisions of the Bush administration — casts him as something of an outlier among top advisers who increasingly took what he saw as a misguided course on national security issues. While he praises Mr. Bush as “an outstanding leader,” Mr. Cheney, who made guarding the secrecy of internal deliberations a hallmark of his time in office, divulges a number of conflicts with others in the inner circle.
He wrote that George J. Tenet, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, resigned in 2004 just “when the going got tough,” a decision he calls “unfair to the president.” He wrote that he believes that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell tried to undermine President Bush by privately expressing doubts about the Iraq war, and he confirms that he pushed to have Mr. Powell removed from the cabinet after the 2004 election. “It was as though he thought the proper way to express his views was by criticizing administration policy to people outside the government,” Mr. Cheney writes. His resignation “was for the best.”
He faults former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for naïveté in the efforts to forge a nuclear weapons agreement with North Korea, and Mr. Cheney reports that he fought with White House advisers over softening the president’s speeches on Iraq.
Mr. Cheney acknowledged that the administration underestimated the challenges in Iraq, but he said the real blame for the violence was with the terrorists.
He also defends the Bush administration’s decision to inflict what he called “tough interrogations” — like the suffocation technique known as waterboarding — on captured terrorism suspects, saying it extracted information that saved lives. He rejects portrayals of such techniques as “torture.”
In discussing the much-disputed “16 words” about Iraq’s supposed hunt for uranium in Niger that were included in President Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address to help justify the eventual invasion, Mr. Cheney said that unlike other aides, he saw no need to apologize for making that claim. He writes that Ms. Rice eventually came around to his view.
“She came into my office, sat down in the chair next to my desk and tearfully admitted I had been right,” he wrote.
The book opens with an account of Mr. Cheney’s experiences during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when he essentially commanded the government’s response from a bunker beneath the White House while Mr. Bush — who was away from Washington and hampered by communications breakdowns — played a peripheral role. But Mr. Cheney wrote that he did not want to make any formal statement to the nation that day.
“My past government experience,” he wrote, “had prepared me to manage the crisis during those first few hours on 9/11, but I knew that if I went out and spoke to the press, it would undermine the president, and that would be bad for him and for the country.
“We were at war. Our commander in chief needed to be seen as in charge, strong, and resolute — as George W. Bush was.”
Mr. Cheney appears to relish much of the criticism heaped on him by liberals, but reveals that he had offered to resign several times as President Bush prepared for his re-election in 2004 because he was afraid of becoming a burden on the Republican ticket. After a few days, however, Mr. Cheney said that Mr. Bush said he wanted him to stay.
But in the Bush administration’s second term, Mr. Cheney’s influence waned. When Mr. Bush decided to replace Donald H. Rumsfeld as secretary of defense after the 2006 midterm elections, Mr. Cheney said he was not given a chance to object.
Mr. Cheney praised Barack Obama’s support, as a senator from Illinois, for passing a bank bailout bill at the height of the financial crisis, shortly before the 2008 election. But he criticizes Mr. Obama’s decision to withdraw the 33,000 additional troops he sent to Afghanistan in 2009 by September 2012, and writes that he has been “happy to note” that Mr. Obama has failed to close the prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as he had pledged.
Mr. Cheney’s long struggle with heart disease is a recurring theme in the book. He discloses that he wrote a letter of resignation, dated March 28, 2001, and told an aide to give it to Mr. Bush if he ever had a heart attack or stroke that left him incapacitated.
nytimes
Pakistan Orders 250 US OFFicials To Leave The Country
The Pakistani government has called on the US Embassy in the capital Islamabad to phase out over 250 American officials in the country within the next 30 to 40 days.
The US officials are reportedly assigned various duties such as logistic support and audit and accounts monitoring. Most of them are said to be involved in high-level espionage and anti-state activities, Pakistan's The Nation newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The report added that US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter is coming back to Pakistan after cutting short his vacation to deal with the situation.
Tensions between Islamabad and Washington increased following a secret US raid into Pakistan in May that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Pakistani military has since been under pressure to explain why US military helicopters freely carried out the operation on Pakistani soil.
Pakistan's defense ministry later ordered the United States to leave a remote desert airbase in the southwestern Baluchistan Province.
The US had long been carrying out its unauthorized drone attacks in Pakistan from the Shamsi airbase in Baluchistan.
US-Pakistan relations are already strained over the civilian casualties caused by the non-UN-sanctioned US drone attacks, which Pakistan has repeatedly condemned as violations of its sovereignty.
The aerial attacks, initiated by former US president George W. Bush, have escalated under President Barack Obama's administration.
Pentagon Warns OF Potential Problems With Militarily Strong China
The Pentagon issued fresh warnings Wednesday that China's military expansion could stir up new tensions and provoke dangerous misunderstandings
"The pace and scope of China's sustained military investment have allowed China to pursue capabilities we believe are potentially destabilizing to regional military balances, increase the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation and may contribute to regional tensions and anxieties," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Michael Schiffer said.
"Such capabilities could increase Beijing's options to use military force to gain diplomatic advantage, advance its interests or resolve military disputes in its favor."
The annual survey of defense and security issues involving China has produced a litany of short-term and ongoing concerns in recent years. Past reports have focused on increased overall spending on the military; the enhanced range of ballistic and anti-ship missiles; the military's lack of transparency and expanded power-projection capability; and increased spending on efforts to break into U.S. military computers.
A consistent theme in the reports has been the potential threat the Communist nation's military growth poses to regional stability and to Taiwan in particular.
A classified report was presented to Congress and an 83-page version was made public.
U.S. Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Congress "will review this assessment in greater detail" in the coming weeks but noted two things that stood out in the report:
"First, Beijing's increasing assertiveness and military capabilities, particularly China's ability to deny access to the western Pacific, is of growing concern not only to the United States but to China's neighbors, leading to changes in the military posture of regional actors," the California Republican said in a statement. "This has significant consequences for the security and stability of the region.
"Second, China clearly believes that it can capitalize on the global financial crisis, using the United States' economic uncertainty as a window of opportunity to strengthen China's economic, diplomatic, and security interests," he said.
"Therefore, security in the Pacific could be further jeopardized if our regional allies also come to believe that the United States will sacrifice the presence and capability of the U.S. military in an attempt to control spending," McKeon said. "This is an unacceptable outcome in such a vital region of the globe."
The Pentagon report called for new efforts to share military information with Beijing, and it praised China for international involvement in such areas as humanitarian and disaster relief and countering pirates.
But the U.S. continues to voice its concerns about a steady Chinese military buildup, including testing of a stealth fighter jet, sea trials of an aircraft carrier it purchased and rebuilt and development of new capabilities under the seas, in space and online.
"There are very real questions, given the overall trends and trajectory in the scope and the scale of China's military modernization efforts," Schiffer said at the Pentagon. "I wouldn't put it on any one particular platform or any one particular system."
He predicted that China would continue to develop the aircraft carrier it bought from Ukraine in 1998 and its combat capability, as well as build new ships.
"We do think China is undertaking an effort to build its own indigenous aircraft carriers," Schiffer said. "I won't speculate on the number, but likely more than one, being developed in the future."
The report said China's economic development and expanding scientific and technology base "facilitated a comprehensive and ongoing military modernization program."
And that larger, newer military could change China's role. "China's modernized military could be put to use in ways that increase China's ability to gain diplomatic advantage to resolve disputes in its favor," the report said.
U.S. support for Taiwan continues to be a source of tension between the U.S. and China. "Beijing is developing capabilities intended to deter, delay or deny possible U.S. support for the island in the event of conflict," the report said. "The balance of cross-(Taiwan) Strait military forces and capabilities continues to shift in the Mainland's favor."
USA Confirms Plans For Missile Defense Base in Poland
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has confirmed Washington's plans to deploy missile defenses and Air Force units in Poland.
"As was announced by our two presidents in December, we plan to establish a new permanent U.S. air detachment in Poland, build missile defenses in Poland, and as agreed at the NATO summit, develop a contingency plan in the region," Clinton told journalists ahead of talks with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in Washington.
Wikileaks published U.S. cables in late 2010 showing that NATO was drawing up a plan on the protection of Estonia, Lithuania and Poland from external threats on a request from the United States and Germany.
"As was announced by our two presidents in December, we plan to establish a new permanent U.S. air detachment in Poland, build missile defenses in Poland, and as agreed at the NATO summit, develop a contingency plan in the region," Clinton told journalists ahead of talks with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in Washington.
Wikileaks published U.S. cables in late 2010 showing that NATO was drawing up a plan on the protection of Estonia, Lithuania and Poland from external threats on a request from the United States and Germany.
The Guardian reported that under the plan, reportedly approved by Clinton, the United States, Britain, Germany and Poland would deploy troops in the region in case of a military aggression against the Baltic States or Poland itself.
According to the British newspaper, NATO members approved the draft plan during the alliance's summit in Lisbon in November 2010.
According to the British newspaper, NATO members approved the draft plan during the alliance's summit in Lisbon in November 2010.
In 2009, the United States decided to deploy several F-16 fighter jets and Hercules transport aircraft in Poland. Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich has said the United States was also planning to deploy Patriot missile defense systems in Poland at a base just 100 kilometers from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
"We have a full agenda that will concentrate on three essential areas: building our mutual security, expanding prosperity and promoting democracy," Clinton said on Thursday, adding "as we grow our military partnership, we continue to expand economic ties between the Polish and American people."
Moscow has long opposed the deployment of U.S. missile defenses near its borders, arguing they would be a security threat and could destroy the strategic balance of forces in Europe.
The United States scrapped earlier plans in September last year for an anti-ballistic-missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland. Moscow welcomed the move, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said later that Russia would drop plans to deploy Iskander-M tactical missiles in its Kaliningrad Region, which borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania.
Russia and NATO agreed to cooperate on the so called Euro missile defense system at the Lisbon summit. NATO insists there should be two independent systems that exchange information, while Russia favors a joint system.
Raytheon Has Delivered Its 250th APG-79 AESA Radar
Raytheon has delivered its 250th APG-79 active electronically scanned array radar to Boeing. The APG-79 radar is flown on U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft, and on the Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18F Super Hornet.
"As we recognize this milestone of the 250th APG-79 AESA delivery, it is also significant to note that 85 radar systems were completed for the U.S. Navy in just the last 12 months," said Eric Ditmars, F/A-18 program director, Tactical Airborne Systems.
"As we recognize this milestone of the 250th APG-79 AESA delivery, it is also significant to note that 85 radar systems were completed for the U.S. Navy in just the last 12 months," said Eric Ditmars, F/A-18 program director, Tactical Airborne Systems.
"The APG-79 radar has revolutionized fighter combat capabilities and dramatically improved situational awareness for aircrews. This combat-proven, advanced radar technology also has logged more than 175,000 operational flight hours."
The APG-79 AESA hardware offers 10-15 times greater reliability than mechanically scanned array radars, which results in lower life-cycle costs. In addition, it provides capabilities that allow warfighters to detect and identify targets beyond the reach of most missiles.
The APG-79 AESA radar is in operation with more than a dozen U.S. Navy squadrons. Internationally, the Royal Australian Air Force received the radar system in 2010, marking the delivery of the first foreign military sale of Super Hornets equipped with the APG-79.
Pakistan Trying To Get More Used F-16s From USA
Pakistan is trying to purchase used F-16 fighter jets from the United States to enhance its air capabilities, diplomatic sources told.
“We will take as many as they are willing to give,” said a diplomatic source when asked how many of these aircraft Pakistan was seeking.
In 2006, the US Congress agreed to give Pakistan 28 F-16C/Ds under its EDA or excess defence articles initiative. Fourteen of these aircraft have already been delivered.
These are the same that Pakistan purchased from the United States in the 1980s but EDA equipment is almost cost-free. Some of these aircraft are used for extracting serviceable parts for the existing fleet while those fit for overhauling are inducted into the air force. “Because of the disparity with India, our needs are huge,” said the diplomatic source. “Ideally, we should buy new F-16s but the current economy does not allow us to pay $40-50 million a piece.”
“We will take as many as they are willing to give,” said a diplomatic source when asked how many of these aircraft Pakistan was seeking.
In 2006, the US Congress agreed to give Pakistan 28 F-16C/Ds under its EDA or excess defence articles initiative. Fourteen of these aircraft have already been delivered.
These are the same that Pakistan purchased from the United States in the 1980s but EDA equipment is almost cost-free. Some of these aircraft are used for extracting serviceable parts for the existing fleet while those fit for overhauling are inducted into the air force. “Because of the disparity with India, our needs are huge,” said the diplomatic source. “Ideally, we should buy new F-16s but the current economy does not allow us to pay $40-50 million a piece.”
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a lightweight, compact fighter aircraft designed to perform a wide range of military missions. More than 4,000 F-16s have been or will be produced for 24 nations worldwide.
Meanwhile, the US media quoted Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman as saying that while negotiating with the US for more aircraft, Pakistan was simultaneously developing its defence manufacturing capability to reduce its reliance on America.
According to these reports, he told an air chiefs` conference in Melbourne, Australia, that he had made a concerted effort to increase the manufacturing capability of Pakistan`s defence industry because the country has been subject to sanctions and embargoes in the past.
When asked about data links to tie F-16s to JF-17s, Air Chief Marshal Qamar said that Pakistan was working to develop its own solution.
“We have Link 16 on the F-16s. We will not fiddle with Link 16 and not have direct linkages [between the JF-17s] with the F-16,” he said. Pakistan also has different types of airborne early warning and control (AEW and C) aircraft.
Besides AEW and C aircraft, the air force chief said, “We are talking to some western companies about tankers too.”
When asked if Pakistan would like to be part of the Chengdu J-20, fifth-generation fighter programme, the air chief said: “We don`t have any involvement in this development so far. This seems to be an indigenous effort and we will keenly watch it. Obviously, China is a very good friend.” But it will be years before the J-20 becomes operational in the Chinese air force, he added.
China's Military Buildup Could Push USA Out Of Asia
Chinese government announced an increase of nearly 13 percent in its defense budget over the previous year. Officially, the defense budget stands at slightly more than $91 billion--a sum now second in the world only to what the United States spends on its military.
This is only the "official," declared budget. China's real expenditures for military affairs are far greater, with jets and ships it buys from Russia, its research and development programs, and its strategic weapons all "off the books."
This is only the "official," declared budget. China's real expenditures for military affairs are far greater, with jets and ships it buys from Russia, its research and development programs, and its strategic weapons all "off the books."
Moreover, if one factors in the vast difference in what it costs to field and pay for the average member of the Chinese military versus those same costs for an American serviceman or woman, the "price-adjusted" Chinese military budget may approach $300 billion.
While this figure is at best an estimate and still clearly smaller than what the United States spends on defense, America's edge in spending does not necessarily translate into clear military pre-eminence in Asia.
While this figure is at best an estimate and still clearly smaller than what the United States spends on defense, America's edge in spending does not necessarily translate into clear military pre-eminence in Asia.
The U.S. military has global tasks and responsibilities, while the vast majority of China's defense expenditures goes toward building up a capability in this one specific but vital region of the word.
So what has China gotten for its money after two decades of double-digit increases in military spending? The short answer is a change in the East Asian military balance.
In 1996, President Clinton sent two American aircraft carriers into the waters off of Taiwan in response to a series of missile tests and military exercises by the Chinese designed to intimidate Taiwan as its 1996 presidential election approached.
He did so confident that U.S. naval power was sufficient to control any crisis and deter further Chinese attempts at military coercion. Today, faced with a Chinese arsenal of new planes, ships, submarines, and missiles, no American president could act with such surety.
Of course, it wasn't supposed to be this way. Chinese leaders have long emphasized that Beijing's "rise" would be "peaceful." Alas, the nature of the Chinese military buildup poses the single most dangerous challenge to the security of the Asia-Pacific region since that of Imperial Japan. China's huge missile arsenal, in particular, is extremely destabilizing.
Nor was this new military imbalance supposed to happen so rapidly. Until recent years, U.S. defense officials and senior commanders have been pooh-poohing the Chinese modernization efforts.
Now Adm. Robert Willard, head of U.S. forces in the region, says his command must "step up efforts to maintain regional stability" in response to "China's immense presence in the Pacific Ocean." He recognizes that U.S. military supremacy, the defining characteristic of the regional security architecture, is open to question.
Yet, it is far from clear that Willard will have enough forces, or the right kind of forces, to maintain stability. The U.S. Navy has shrunk to less than half its 600-ship, Reagan-era peak, while the Air Force's F-22 procurement--and the Raptor would be a key trump card in offsetting the advantages China realizes with its missile force--was ended with the purchase of just a quarter of the planned number of jets.
China also presents a challenge to U.S. advantages in space, on which all American forces depend, and in "cyberspace."
Indeed, no one has been more heartened than strategists in Beijing by the U.S. defense budget cuts of recent years that have eliminated more than $325 billion in weapons modernization.
And with the congressional Republicans seemingly poised to reduce the Pentagon budget requests even further, the Chinese are happy to let nature take its course.
But if history teaches us anything, it is a course likely to incur greater costs down the road for both the United States and its allies.
USAF To Flight Test Hypersonic Missile, X-51 WaveRide
USAF is all set to flight-test a hypersonic missile, X-51 WaveRider, with tests scheduled to take place on 22 March 2011.
The 14ft-long X-51 Waverider will be launched from a B-52 bomber flying over the Pacific Ocean Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center Sea Range, and will be rocket-boosted to speeds up to Mach 6.
The flight test is the second of four test flights under the $246.5m Waverider programme, which began in December 2003.
The 14ft-long X-51 Waverider will be launched from a B-52 bomber flying over the Pacific Ocean Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center Sea Range, and will be rocket-boosted to speeds up to Mach 6.
The flight test is the second of four test flights under the $246.5m Waverider programme, which began in December 2003.
A senior USAF official has confirmed that the X-51 could eventually be turned into a weapon.
The X-51A WaveRider programme is a consortium of the USAF, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and Boeing.
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