In the test, a full-scale prototype of the eMRBM target was released from the cargo bay of a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft at 25,000 feet. The system's parachutes deployed, and the prototype successfully separated from the carriage extraction system.

The prototype is a replica of the missile target, without propulsion, that is being used to test and validate the air-launch equipment and carriage extraction system in preparation for the maiden flight of the eMRBM missile target planned for later this year. Supporting Lockheed Martin and the MDA in the test were the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army and subcontractors Orbital Sciences Corp. and Dynetics.

Lockheed Martin is developing the air-launched eMRBM target for the MDA for testing of the Ballistic Missile Defense System to enable warfighters to gain experience with system performance in realistic scenarios.

"This new target is designed to provide the threat realism that is essential to ensuring that missile defense systems are developed against accurate representations of the systems they would likely encounter in an operational environment," said John Holly, vice president of Missile Defense Systems and deputy for Strategic and Missile Defense Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.

Added Dr. Patricia Dare, Lockheed Martin's Targets and Countermeasures Program director, "The eMRBM air-launch equipment and carriage extraction system performed nominally in this test, verifying system performance and preparing the launch team for future mission operations."

Under the Targets and Countermeasures Prime Contract, Lockheed Martin is developing and producing a total of 17 missile targets of various types and ranges, including five eMRBM targets. Since the prime contract was awarded in 2003, the company has delivered and launched 27 missile targets in tests of the Ballistic Missile Defense System.

Prior to that the company produced and launched 17 missile targets under other contracts. The company has achieved an unmatched 98-percent mission success rate in providing ground-, air- and sea-launched, short-, medium- and intermediate-range missile targets since 1996.

Lockheed Martin performs Targets and Countermeasures program management and engineering in Huntsville, Ala., production and integration in Courtland, Ala., and payload design in Ampthill, England.

]]> Thu, 23 MAY 2013 23:05:22 AEST Tucson, AZ (SPX) May 15, 2013 - Raytheon's Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) destroyed a high-diving, supersonic threat during a recent firing from the U.S. Navy's Self-Defense Test Ship.

"The success of this firing, highlighted by a skin-to-skin intercept, is a direct result of a series of enhancements to what is truly an international missile," said Rick Nelson, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Naval and Area Mission Defense product line.

"Thanks to our multinational team's commitment to continuous improvement, each consortium member gains valuable protection for their fleets based on ESSM's interoperability with a wide range of combat systems."

ESSM provides critical layered defense by delivering protecting firepower against high-G maneuvering anti-ship cruise missiles, supersonic high-diving threats and low-velocity air threats, as well as surface targets.

Recently, ESSM was successfully launched from a ground-based system, demonstrating that the missile's performance over ground matches that over water. Significantly, no software changes were required to prove the ESSM's enhanced capability.

With 18 industrial partners representing 10 nations, ESSM is the world's premier international cooperative missile production program. ESSM is a key component of Raytheon's portfolio of products that provide a global layered defense capability to meet the needs of diverse platforms, combat system design and theaters of operation.

Expansion to Ground-based Air Defense
Raytheon, along with a global industrial partnership, has introduced an initiative that expands the ESSM's original mission from sea-based to ground-based air defense. This application builds on the proven capabilities of the ship-based application by providing the same air defense capability against the full-threat spectrum, including aircraft, high- and low-velocity air threats, and high-divers.

ESSM Contribution to Warfighters
+ Capabilities bridging the gap between close-in air defense and local area defense systems.

+ Kinematics resulting in reduced time to target.

+ Multimission weapon system effectiveness against high-speed or low-velocity threats.

]]> Thu, 23 MAY 2013 23:05:22 AEST Jerusalem (AFP) May 12, 2013 - Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu is "fully determined" to try to halt sales by Russia of advanced missiles to Syria when he visits Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin, a minister said Sunday.

A reported Russian plan to sell Damascus S-300 missile batteries "worries us at the highest level and the prime minister is fully determined that this contract should not be fulfilled," Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom, a member of the security cabinet, told public radio.

"Such a sale to Syria would alter the balance of forces in the region and these weapons could fall into the hands of Hezbollah," the Lebanese militia ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Israel's arch-foe Iran, Shalom said.

Should Syria obtain the ultra-modern Russian weapons, which can destroy aircraft or guided missiles, "action by countries seeking change in Syria would become much more difficult," he added.

Russian and Israeli officials have said the two leaders are to meet shortly, with Russia's Interfax news agency quoting Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying the visit was being planned for next week.

"Netanyahu and Putin will discuss the Russian arms sales to Syria, in particular the sale of advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems," Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported Friday, adding that the Israeli premier would also seek to raise the Iranian nuclear issue.

Israel twice last week carried out air strikes near Damascus, attacks a senior Israeli source said were aimed at preventing the transfer of sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned that the sale of S300s to Damascus would be "potentially destabilising" for the region.

Russia however refuses to rule it out however, saying it has to honour existing contracts.

On a visit to Warsaw on Friday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was continuing to fulfil agreements by delivering military hardware to Assad's regime in defiance of calls for a freeze.

"Russia has sold and signed contracts a long time ago, and is completing supplies of the equipment, which is anti-aircraft systems, according to the already signed contracts," he told reporters.

]]> Thu, 23 MAY 2013 23:05:22 AEST Tucson AZ (SPX) May 13, 2013 - Raytheon has successfully completed its control test vehicle (CTV) flights for the Accelerated Improved Intercept Initiative (AI3) program. The two CTV flights are part of a company-led effort to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system elements.

Once fielded, AI3 is designed to enhance warfighter protection by destroying a wider array of incoming rockets, artillery and mortars than previously deployed solutions.

"With the completion of the CTV flights, the AI3 program remains on schedule," said Raytheon Missile Systems' Steve Bennett, AI3 program director. "Raytheon is committed to providing an affordable and highly effective solution to save warfighter lives."

During the most recent CTV test flight, the Ku-Band Radio Frequency System (KRFS) fire control radar detected the inbound threat, determined the threat would impact in a defended area, and provided command guidance via datalink to the AI3 missile.

The AI3 missile then successfully maneuvered on a calculated trajectory necessary to intercept the 107 mm rocket target. In subsequent missions, an onboard semiactive radar seeker will perform terminal guidance to target intercept.

"The AI3 program has made excellent progress to date," said Lt. Col. Brett Wilhide, the U.S. Army's project manager for AI3.

"We are now ready to progress to the guided test vehicle flight test phase of the program. Those tests will demonstrate the full integration of the tactical AI3 battle element system to intercept threat targets."

]]> Thu, 23 MAY 2013 23:05:22 AEST Taipei (AFP) May 8, 2013 - Taiwan on Wednesday renewed its call on China to withdraw more than 1,000 missiles targeting the island amid improving ties between the formal bitter rivals.

"If the Chinese side wants to show goodwill, it actually can voluntarily remove the missiles. This does not require cross-strait negotiations," Wang Yu-chi, Taiwan's top China policy maker, said at a parliamentary session.

Although Taiwan has been governed separately from mainland China since a civil war ended in 1949, Beijing still claims the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Taiwanese experts estimate the People's Liberation Army has more than 1,600 missiles aimed at the island.

Wang's predecessor, Lai Shin-yuan, had made the same call in 2011, saying it was a precondition for reaching a peace treaty with Beijing to put a formal end to the civil war fought more than 60 years ago.

Wang told the United Daily News that Taiwan would not shun discussing practical political matters with China, such as swapping representative offices, but there was no urgency for a "purely political issue" such as the peace treaty.

Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have eased markedly since 2008 after Ma Ying-jeou became the island's president on a Beijing-friendly platform. He was reelected in 2012 for a final four-year term.

The past five years have seen closer economic cooperation between the two sides but Ma has said repeatedly that the missiles remain a major obstacle to improved relations.

]]> Thu, 23 MAY 2013 23:05:22 AEST Beirut, Lebanon (UPI) May 6, 2013 - Israeli airstrikes against Syria appear to be concentrating on hitting the flow of Iranian and Syrian arms, including surface-to-surface and anti-aircraft, missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon, rather than President Bashar Assad's embattled regime in Damascus.

Israeli warplanes, firing U.S.-built stand-off weapons from undefended Lebanese air space or over the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights in southern Syria, blasted targets around Damascus in two waves of predawn attacks Sunday.

At least four targets were hit in the raids, which Israel's Channel 10 television described as Israel's "biggest attack in Syria since 1973" during Israel's war with Syria and Egypt.

The targets were the Jamraya Scientific Studies and Research Center northwest of Damascus near the Lebanese border and military installations on Mount Qassiyoun, an escarpment that dominates the city.

The Israeli air force carried out a raid Friday against targets at Damascus International Airport that were reportedly immediately handed over to Hezbollah's brigades operating in Syria to aid the regime.

Jamraya, supposedly the depot for missile convoys into Lebanon, was hit Jan. 30 in the first of the Israeli airstrikes in the current campaign, and like the other raids has never been officially acknowledged by Israel.

The Israelis claim that destroyed a shipment of Russian-built SA-8 Gecko and SA-17 Grizzly surface-to-air missiles that could challenge Israel's long-held air supremacy in the region, the Jewish state's most effective military deterrent.

Israeli sources said the weekend attacks sought to destroy a new consignment of Iranian Fateh-110 -- or Conqueror -- missiles that was reportedly airlifted to Damascus Airport.

These missiles have a range of 190 miles and carry a warhead of 1,300 pounds of high explosives. They can hit almost any part of Israel, including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Dimona nuclear reactor in the Negev Desert.

Most importantly, they're more accurate than most of the 55,000 missiles and rockets Hezbollah's reported to possess. Indeed, they're the most effective weapon in Hezbollah's Iranian-supplied arsenal.

Israel says that Iran, Hezbollah's mentor, has positioned this vast arsenal, painstakingly built up by Syria and Iran since the inconclusive 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, to bombard the Jewish state if it launches preventive attacks on Tehran's nuclear infrastructure.

Hezbollah has reportedly had scores of Fateh-110s and M-600s, their Syrian-engineered derivative, since 2006.

By all account, Iran has provided Hezbollah with this vast arsenal -- three or four times greater than it had in 2006 when 4,000 missiles were fired into northern Israel -- to create a new strategic front.

Israel's also alarmed that Syria's chemical weapons could fall into Hezbollah's hands.

But former Israeli intelligence officer Michael Ross observed that these are "tangential to the overall issue of Israel's enemies possessing long-range missile capability."

So hitting Hezbollah's missiles, which would be used to carry chemical warheads, is seen as the next best option to the more dangerous strategy of trying to destroy Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles, risking massive deadly fallout.

Israel launched its campaign against Hezbollah's weapons program after the 2006 war, when Tehran's plans to provide Hezbollah, as well as Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, with long-range weapons went into overdrive.

Lebanese analyst Tony Badran says the airstrikes "are the latest installment in an integrated campaign against Iran's forward positions on Israel's northern and southern borders."

A key tactic was to sabotage Iran's missile program and assassinate important figures army Hezbollah.

The first target for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency was Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah's longtime military mastermind and until Osama bin Laden came along the world's most wanted terrorist fugitive. He was killed up in Damascus Feb. 12, 2008, supposedly by Israel.

Next to go was Brig. Gen. Mohammed Suleiman, Assad's special adviser on arms procurement and strategic weapons and arms transfers to Hezbollah. He was killed by a sniper Aug, 1, 2008, at the luxury resort of Zahabieh on Syria's Mediterranean coast.

On Jan. 20, 2010, Hamas' chief arms procurer, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, was assassinated in the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai.

Gen. Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the Revolutionary Guards commander who was the brains behind Iran's ballistic missile program and who'd created Hezbollah's missile force in Lebanon, was killed in a mysterious explosion at a military base west of Tehran.

A senior Guards officer disclosed that Moghaddam had worked with Mughniyeh, Suleiman and Mabhouh.

]]> Thu, 23 MAY 2013 23:05:22 AEST Orlando, FL (SPX) Apr 18, 2013 - Lockheed Martin has successfully demonstrated the launch, guided flight, target acquisition and precision strike capability of its Nemesis missile in three flight tests at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

Nemesis is a man-portable, surface-launched missile that enables warfighters to engage targets with precision lethality from as close as 100 meters to well beyond line of sight. The missile can be employed during dismounted operations as well as be adapted for employment from various ground, maritime or airborne platforms.

"Nemesis provides critical performance to forward-deployed troops in response to a stated warfighter capability gap," said Frank St. John, vice president of tactical missiles and combat maneuver systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

"Warfighters must be able to trust that the weapons they deploy will deliver the intended effects every time. Our three-for-three flight tests demonstrate the missile is reliable and lethal."

In the first two tests, Nemesis demonstrated vertical launch, GPS navigation to targets located at distances of eight and 12 kilometers, engagement by the missile's semi-active laser (SAL) seeker and live warhead detonation.

In both flights, Nemesis performed flawlessly, destroying the intended targets. The successful third shot demonstrated the vertical launch of an inert round, followed by GPS-only navigation to a target positioned just 100 meters away.

Nemesis is fired vertically from its launch tube, enabling 360-degree engagement capability. A combat-proven rocket motor, deployable wing and GPS guidance enable the missile to engage targets in excess of 12 kilometers.

The missile's SAL seeker activates in the terminal phase of flight to provide precision accuracy and minimize collateral damage. The user is also able to select height of burst or point-detonation fuzing options to optimize lethality against enemy personnel, light armored vehicles and structures.

Nemesis's ability to be deployed from airborne Common Launch Tubes fulfills existing Special Operations Forces and U.S. Marine Corps requirements for a standoff precision guided munition. The missile can also be configured for internal or external carriage on other fixed- and rotary-wing platforms. Nemesis' versatility enables it to contribute to a wide array of critical missions.

Lockheed Martin funded the development of the Nemesis missile, building upon proven technologies from demonstrated systems, including HELLFIRE II, DAGR and Scorpion. Using components from these systems reduces risk and shortens the time from initial development to participation in government-funded flight tests.

]]> Thu, 23 MAY 2013 23:05:22 AEST Seoul (AFP) April 11, 2013 - The United States has warned North Korea it is skating a "dangerous line" with an expected missile launch that could start a whole new cycle of escalating tensions in a region already on a hair-trigger.

South Korean and US forces remained on heightened alert Thursday with both experts and officials suggesting a launch was likely in the build-up to April 15 birthday celebrations for the North's late founder Kim Il-Sung.

It might also coincide with visits by US Secretary of State John Kerry and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who will both be in Seoul on Friday.

"North Korea... with its bellicose rhetoric, its actions, has been skating very close to a dangerous line," US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday.

"Our country is fully prepared to deal with any contingency, any action that North Korea may take or any provocation that they may instigate," Hagel added.

South Korean intelligence says the North has prepared two mid-range missiles for imminent launch from its east coast, despite warnings from ally China to avoid provocative moves at a time of soaring military tensions.

The South Korea-US Combined Forces Command has raised its "Watchcon" status from 3 to 2 to reflect indications of a "vital threat", while the South's national police force has also been placed on heightened terror alert.

Some media reports have quoted Seoul government and military sources as saying Pyongyang might be preparing "multiple" launches, involving shorter-range SCUD and Rodong missiles.

The crisis on the Korean peninsula has intensified almost daily since the North carried out its third nuclear test in February and was promptly slapped with toughened UN sanctions.

Incensed by ongoing South Korean-US military exercises, Pyongyang has accused Washington and Seoul of preparing an invasion and threatened dire retaliation ranging from artillery barrages to nuclear strikes.

The North last week told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang they had until April 10 to consider evacuation, and followed that with a similar warning to foreigners in South Korea to get out ahead of a possible "thermo-nuclear" war.

The European Union said the seven EU countries with embassies in North Korea saw no need to leave, and added that it saw no risk to EU citizens in the South.

Although those warnings were largely shrugged off, there is growing global concern that sky-high tensions might trigger an incident that could swiftly escalate.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned against heating up the crisis, and stressed that Moscow and Washington were cooperating closely.

"On North Korea we have no differences with the United States," Lavrov told journalists after meeting John Kerry on the sidelines of a G8 foreign minister's meeting in London.

"One just shouldn't scare anyone with military manoeuvres and there's a chance that everything will calm down," Lavrov said.

Kerry also discussed North Korea with Japan Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and emphasised the importance of putting pressure on Pyongyang with economic sanctions, a senior US State Department official said.

The mid-range missiles mobilised by the North are reported to be untested Musudan models with an estimated range of anywhere up to 4,000 kilometres (2,485 miles).

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

Japan, whose armed forces have been authorised to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, has deployed Patriot missiles in its capital as a pre-emptive defence measure.

]]> Thu, 23 MAY 2013 23:05:22 AEST Hagatna, Guam (AFP) April 11, 2013 - Guam has raised its official threat level and on Thursday tested its emergency alert system after warnings from North Korea identifying the island as a potential missile target.

With a North Korean missile test expected at any time, authorities said the US territory in the western Pacific was on yellow alert, the middle phase of a three-step "traffic light" system comprising green, yellow and red levels.

"This means we should continue with our daily lives while preparing ourselves for any potential of an emergency," the government said in a statement, describing the risk to the island as "medium".

"It also means the government pulls its resources together through the emergency operations centre to ensure we are prepared to respond to emergencies."

Guam's emergency alert system, which sets off sirens across the island and interrupts regular television and radio broadcasts to deliver information, was tested at 10:00 am (0000 GMT) Thursday.

Governor Eddie Calvo said the test had been successful and the Guam Department of Homeland Security's joint information centre was now operating 24-hours a day to provide advice to the island's population of 180,000.

Homeland Security has described the chances of a North Korean attack as remote, noting that Guam "is protected by the greatest nation and military in the world, the United States of America".

But as a precaution, it launched a campaign this week urging residents to prepare emergency kits and family disaster plans.

Fact sheets have been distributed around the island advising residents on how to protect their families, stay informed and perform tasks such as blast-proofing doors and windows with plastic and tape.

Calvo said he had received assurances from US military commanders on the island, which bristles with American military facilities and bases, that defences were "strong and adequate".

"Even though we're protected, it's important we are vigilant," he said. "Look at the fact sheets, be prepared and stay tuned for news coming out of the joint information centre."

Guam, which came under US control in 1898 after the Spanish-American War, lies about 3,380 kilometres (2,100 miles) southeast of North Korea, meaning it is theoretically in range of Pyongyang's untested Musudan missiles.

Washington has scrambled to deploy its THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile shield to Guam, a truck-mounted system capable of tracking and shooting down an enemy projectile.

Despite Pyongyang's menacing rhetoric, many islanders say their daily life has not been disrupted by the threat of a missile strike.

"At home, we discuss it from time to time but we are not making any preparations because we know that it's just sabre-rattling," Gina Tabonares-Reilly told AFP earlier this week.

"There are good enough missile interceptors underneath our waters... North Korea knows that and they are smart (enough) not to commit suicide."

]]> Thu, 23 MAY 2013 23:05:22 AEST Seoul (AFP) April 11, 2013 - North Korea kept the world on edge Thursday over an expected missile launch while turning its own energies to celebrating leaders past and present amid soaring tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The United States warned North Korea it was skating a "dangerous line" as South Korea remained on heightened alert for any missile test, that could start a whole new cycle of tensions in a region already on a hair-trigger.

The North's state media focused its attention, however, on Thursday's first anniversary of new leader Kim Jong-Un becoming head of the ruling Worker's Party and next Monday's birthday celebrations for late founder Kim Il-Sung.

The official party mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun praised Kim Jong-Un as the "No. 1 man of conviction and will" and credited him with the success of the North's long range-rocket launch in December and February's nuclear test.

"History has never seen any socialist leader like him," the newspaper said.

The launch and test, along with the UN sanctions imposed for each, are at the core of the current crisis that has seen Pyongyang threaten nuclear strikes against the United States and its allies.

South Korean intelligence says the North has prepared two mid-range missiles for imminent launch from its east coast, despite warnings from ally China to avoid provocative moves at a time of soaring military tensions.

Although Pyongyang has not announced any launch, many observers believe it will take place during the build-up to the April 15 birthday anniversary.

State media said foreign delegations had already begun arriving in Pyongyang for the event, which is one of the most important dates on the North's calendar.

The missile launch may also coincide with some high-profile visits to South Korea, with both US Secretary of State John Kerry and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Seoul on Friday.

Yonhap news agency quoted military sources as saying the North was moving multiple missiles around in an apparent bid to confuse outside intelligence-gatherers about its intentions.

"North Korea... with its bellicose rhetoric, its actions, has been skating very close to a dangerous line," US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday.

"Our country is fully prepared to deal with any contingency, any action that North Korea may take or any provocation that they may instigate," Hagel added.

The South Korea-US Combined Forces Command has raised its "Watchcon" status from 3 to 2 to reflect indications of a "vital threat", while the South's national police force has also been placed on heightened terror alert.

The North last week told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang they had until April 10 to consider evacuation, and followed that with a similar warning to foreigners in South Korea to get out ahead of a possible "thermo-nuclear" war.

The European Union said the seven EU countries with embassies in North Korea saw no need to leave, and added that it saw no risk to EU citizens in the South.

"If foreigners plan to visit this country... they will meet no problems whatsoever," said South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Young.

Despite the reassurances, there is still growing global concern that sky-high tensions might trigger an incident that could swiftly escalate.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned against heating up the crisis, and stressed that Moscow and Washington were cooperating closely.

"On North Korea we have no differences with the United States," Lavrov told journalists after meeting John Kerry on the sidelines of a G8 foreign minister's meeting in London.

"One just shouldn't scare anyone with military manoeuvres and there's a chance that everything will calm down," Lavrov said.

The mid-range missiles mobilised by the North are reported to be untested Musudan models with an estimated range of anywhere up to 4,000 kilometres (2,485 miles).

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

Japan, whose armed forces have been authorised to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, has deployed Patriot missiles in its capital as a pre-emptive defence measure.

]]> Thu, 23 MAY 2013 23:05:22 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D