WASHINGTON — The Navy says a three-star admiral was notified Wednesday that he has been relieved of duty as second-in-command at the military organization that oversees all U.S. nuclear forces. He is under investigation in a gambling matter.
The Navy's top spokesman, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said that Vice Adm. Tim Giardina will drop in rank to two-star admiral as a consequence of being removed from his position at U.S. Strategic Command.
Giardina is being reassigned to the Navy staff pending the outcome of a Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe of allegations that he used counterfeit gambling chips at a casino in Iowa, not far from his base in eastern Nebraska.
The removal of such a high-ranking commander of nuclear forces is extremely rare in the U.S. military.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/227122631.html
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Russian's To Deploy More S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) Mobile Surface-to-Air Missile Systems around Moscow
According to multiple sources, the Russian Federation Armed Forces will deploy an additional S-400 regiment in the Moscow region. Thus bringing the total count in the Moscow region to three regiments and an overall count of nine deployed battalions over various regions in Russia.
According to Russian Federation Armed Forces the S-400 is Anti-Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and Anti-Cruise Missile capable.
Russia – 72 units (9 battalions)
Moscow region
In Dmitrov 210th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment 2 battalions.
In Electrostal 606th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment 2 battalions.
1 battalion in the Western Military District Kaliningrad.
2 battalion in the Eastern Military District Nakhodka.
2 battalion in the Southern Military District Novorossiysk.
Moscow region
In Dmitrov 210th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment 2 battalions.
In Electrostal 606th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment 2 battalions.
1 battalion in the Western Military District Kaliningrad.
2 battalion in the Eastern Military District Nakhodka.
2 battalion in the Southern Military District Novorossiysk.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler)
Surface-to Air Missile/Anti-Missile System
Range: 250mi (400km)
Altitude: 10,000ft. (30km)
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
US PEDV Outbreak?!
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, or PEDV, has been confirmed in the U.S., and the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Kansas State University is ready to accept samples for diagnostic testing.
Laboratory testing is the only known way to diagnose the virus. The diagnostic laboratory has assembled a team of virologists, molecular diagnosticians and pathologists to rapidly identify the virus.
The U.S. Department of Ag confirmed last week that the virus had been found for the first time in the U.S. The virus is a production-related disease and is associated with outbreaks of diarrhea and vomiting in swine, similar to transmissible gastroenteritis virus.
PEDV only affects pigs and is not zoonotic, so it poses no threat to humans or food safety.
Cases of the pig disease have been confirmed in Indiana and Iowa. Although these are the first cases in the U.S., the virus exists in many parts of the world – including a mild form in Europe and a severe form in China.
“Emergence of this disease in our naive pig population has the potential for significant economic impact,” says Kelli Almes, veterinary pathologist and director of client services at the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. “Timely recognition of clinical signs with confirmatory diagnostic testing will be critical for our veterinary community and the producers they serve.”
The Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is working closely with swine veterinarians to proactively monitor and track disease in the field. The laboratory provides high-quality diagnostic testing and is the only laboratory in the state of Kansas to be accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.
Producers are encouraged to work with their veterinarians, who can send samples to KSVDL, 1800 Denison Ave., Manhattan, KS 66506. These samples should be shipped in the same manner as all other diagnostic specimens while being diligent about adequate biosecurity and disinfection, which is imperative to prevent spread of this virus. For questions, contact the laboratory at 866-512-5650 or email at clientcare@vet.k-state.edu.
Interesting...especially when you consider a few things.
Disease defense has been at the forefront of the USDA and CDC efforts since their establishment. Additionally, Biological Weapons Defense, including Anti-Animal Bio-Agents has been at the forefront of US National Defense since the beginning of the Second World War in the 1940's, as well as has been a main concern of Homeland Security since 2002.
(Below is a list of projects, facilities, and operations centered on defense and testing of biological warfare and disease defense. This compilation is to demonstrate the concern, knowledge and severity of this long standing threat as posed against the US as a weapon by an aggressor or terror groups)
Projects:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Whitecoat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Big_Buzz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Big_Itch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dark_Winter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dew
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Drop_Kick
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_LAC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Magic_Sword
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_112
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Bacchus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Clear_Vision
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Jefferson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgewood_Arsenal_experiments
Facilities:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_Island_Chemical_Warfare_Service_Quarantine_Station
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Biological_Warfare_Laboratories
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite_Peak_Installation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Million-Liter_Test_Sphere
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_Test_Center
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugway_Proving_Ground
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgewood_Chemical_Activity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Grass_Army_Depot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Detrick
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Douglas,_Utah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Bluff_Arsenal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_Arsenal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigo_Ordnance_Plant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention
It is even more interesting when one find that China has recently purchased one of the US' largest pork manufacturing companies, Smithfield Foods.
China's Shuanghui International plans to buy Smithfield Foods Inc for $4.7 billion to feed a growing Chinese appetite for U.S. pork, but the proposed takeover of the world's No. 1 producer has stirred concern in the United States.
The transaction, announced on Wednesday, would rank as the largest Chinese takeover of a U.S. company, with an enterprise value of $7.1 billion, including debt assumption.
As it stands. the deal is the biggest Chinese play for a U.S. company since CNOOC Ltd offered to buy Unocal for about $18 billion in 2005. The state-controlled energy company later withdrew that bid under U.S. political pressure.
Like similar foreign transactions, the Smithfield deal will face the scrutiny of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, a government panel that assesses national security risks.
And at least one member of Congress said the deal raised alarms about food safety, noting Shuanghui was forced to recall tainted pork in the past.
"I have deep doubts about whether this merger best serves American consumers and urge federal regulators to put their concerns first," U.S. Representative Rose DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, said in a statement.
Shuanghui is already majority shareholder of Henan Shuanghui Investment & Development Co, China's largest meat processor. It would join forces with a company that has a worldwide herd of 1.09 million sows, according to industry data compiled by Successful Farming magazine.
The CFIUS review process comes at a time of sour relations between the United States and China over cross-border deals. In the latest irritant, a $20.1 billion bid by Japan's SoftBank Corp to control U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp has fanned fears of Chinese cyber-attacks against the United States.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/29/shuanghui-idUSL3N0EA2KH20130529
So how exactly did a disease that has not been seen in the US until now, with the capabilities to severely damage the US pork industry make it past the vast and enormous net of US agricultural agencies, biological defense network and homeland security?
Friday, May 10, 2013
Soviet...err, Russian Air Power
Russian strategic bombers conducted flights within the U.S. defense
zone close to northern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands last week in
Moscow’s latest incident of nuclear saber rattling against the United
States, according to defense and military officials.
Two Bear H nuclear-capable bombers were detected flying into the military’s Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) near the Aleutians, where a strategic missile defense radar is located, and Alaska’s North Slope region by the Arctic and Chukchi Seas on April 28 and 29, military officials told the Washington Free Beacon.
Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis, a spokesman with the U.S. Northern Command, confirmed the fighter intercept of the latest bomber incursion but declined to provide details.
“Two U.S. F-22′s from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, were launched and visually identified Russian aircraft on the night of April 28, as the Russian Air Force flew standard out of area flights near Alaska,” Lewis said.
More At: http://freebeacon.com/bears-buzz-alaska-again/
What's the year again? 2013 or 1980? Apparently Russia never got the memo, the "Cold War" ended...or maybe we didn't get the memo and the past 21 years was actually an arms build-up and the flames of the "Cold War" have been rekindled.
Here we sit, under sequestration, with a downsized, decrepit and worn out military from 12 years of war in the Mid-East. Mean while the United Socialist Soviet Republics...err, Russian Federation with it's leader former KGB Agent Vladimir Putin have been retooling and upgrading the matériel, hardware and munitions of the old Soviet republic and building newer ones.
An example:
Russian Federation's newest ICBM;
RT-2UTTKh Topol-M ICBM
Nato Reporting Name: SS-27 "Sickle B"
Date of Service: 1997-Present
Guidance System: Inertial with GLONASS (Russian GPS)
Warhead: Single 800 kt warhead or MIRV – 4 or 7 x 150–250 kt
Launch Platform: Silo, Mobile Launcher
Accuracy: 200m CEP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topol-M
United States Newest ICBM;
LGM-30 Minuteman III
Date of Service: 1970-Current
Guidance System: Inertial
Warhead: One 475kt W87
Launch Platform: Silo
Accuracy: 200m CEP
So as the Russian Federation is armed with newer systems and making even newer ones...we're armed with 1970's design systems, with less range, accuracy, warhead payload and a lesser guidance system.
Two Bear H nuclear-capable bombers were detected flying into the military’s Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) near the Aleutians, where a strategic missile defense radar is located, and Alaska’s North Slope region by the Arctic and Chukchi Seas on April 28 and 29, military officials told the Washington Free Beacon.
Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis, a spokesman with the U.S. Northern Command, confirmed the fighter intercept of the latest bomber incursion but declined to provide details.
“Two U.S. F-22′s from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, were launched and visually identified Russian aircraft on the night of April 28, as the Russian Air Force flew standard out of area flights near Alaska,” Lewis said.
More At: http://freebeacon.com/bears-buzz-alaska-again/
What's the year again? 2013 or 1980? Apparently Russia never got the memo, the "Cold War" ended...or maybe we didn't get the memo and the past 21 years was actually an arms build-up and the flames of the "Cold War" have been rekindled.
Here we sit, under sequestration, with a downsized, decrepit and worn out military from 12 years of war in the Mid-East. Mean while the United Socialist Soviet Republics...err, Russian Federation with it's leader former KGB Agent Vladimir Putin have been retooling and upgrading the matériel, hardware and munitions of the old Soviet republic and building newer ones.
An example:
Russian Federation's newest ICBM;
RT-2UTTKh Topol-M ICBM
Nato Reporting Name: SS-27 "Sickle B"
Date of Service: 1997-Present
Guidance System: Inertial with GLONASS (Russian GPS)
Warhead: Single 800 kt warhead or MIRV – 4 or 7 x 150–250 kt
Launch Platform: Silo, Mobile Launcher
Accuracy: 200m CEP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topol-M
United States Newest ICBM;
LGM-30 Minuteman III
Date of Service: 1970-Current
Guidance System: Inertial
Warhead: One 475kt W87
Launch Platform: Silo
Accuracy: 200m CEP
So as the Russian Federation is armed with newer systems and making even newer ones...we're armed with 1970's design systems, with less range, accuracy, warhead payload and a lesser guidance system.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
White Powder Subtance Found At Red Stone Arsenal
Could be edgy employee's, a possible test to the reaction of personnel by an external threat...false flag?
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (WHNT) – Workers in the Missile Defense Agency’s Von Braun III, Building 5224, were evacuated Tuesday morning after someone found a powdery substance.
Colonel John Hamilton, Garrison Commander of Redstone Arsenal, said an employee brought the substance in and it somehow spilled on the floor. The woman was taken to the hospital as a precaution but wasn’t showing any negative effects from it.
Another employee noticed it and called security.
Colonel Hamilton said forensic teams tested the substance and determined it to be non-toxic, but he did not specify what the substance was.
Colonel Hamilton said the Arsenal hopes to have everyone back in Building 5224 by Wednesday morning, but that is not confirmed yet.
Employees in the building were authorized an excused absence earlier in the day.
http://whnt.com/2013/04/30/building-evacuated-on-redstone-arsenal/
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (WHNT) – Workers in the Missile Defense Agency’s Von Braun III, Building 5224, were evacuated Tuesday morning after someone found a powdery substance.
Colonel John Hamilton, Garrison Commander of Redstone Arsenal, said an employee brought the substance in and it somehow spilled on the floor. The woman was taken to the hospital as a precaution but wasn’t showing any negative effects from it.
Another employee noticed it and called security.
Colonel Hamilton said forensic teams tested the substance and determined it to be non-toxic, but he did not specify what the substance was.
Colonel Hamilton said the Arsenal hopes to have everyone back in Building 5224 by Wednesday morning, but that is not confirmed yet.
Employees in the building were authorized an excused absence earlier in the day.
http://whnt.com/2013/04/30/building-evacuated-on-redstone-arsenal/
"Do Not Drink" order for hundreds in North GA, FBI investigating
Could this be another attack against our infrastructure?
This act is NOT just some prank by a couple of conniving youth looking for kicks on a Saturday night. No one local would break into the local treatment plant to alter the chemical settings to an unsafe level. My question is what level of complexity is the control system of the chemical treatment system.
(video at link)
CHATSWORTH, GA (WRCB) - Hundreds of people in one north Georgia town are not allowed to drink their water.
The water treatment plant in Ramhurst is temporarily shut down after someone broke in and changed the chemical settings.
It's affecting about 400 Murray County residents. Local, state and federal officials are investigating who's to blame. Officials with Chatsworth Water Works say the source of the problems is at the Carter's Lake Water Treatment Plant in the Ramhurst area.
Saturday workers noticed someone had changed some chemical settings. First, officials issued a "boil advisory" but the Environmental Protection Department bumped it up to a total "do not drink" order and shut down the plant until they're certain it's safe for the public to consume. It could be a few more days.
More At: http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/22110812/fbi-investigating-treament-plant-breakin-do-not-drink-order-in-place
This act is NOT just some prank by a couple of conniving youth looking for kicks on a Saturday night. No one local would break into the local treatment plant to alter the chemical settings to an unsafe level. My question is what level of complexity is the control system of the chemical treatment system.
(video at link)
CHATSWORTH, GA (WRCB) - Hundreds of people in one north Georgia town are not allowed to drink their water.
The water treatment plant in Ramhurst is temporarily shut down after someone broke in and changed the chemical settings.
It's affecting about 400 Murray County residents. Local, state and federal officials are investigating who's to blame. Officials with Chatsworth Water Works say the source of the problems is at the Carter's Lake Water Treatment Plant in the Ramhurst area.
Saturday workers noticed someone had changed some chemical settings. First, officials issued a "boil advisory" but the Environmental Protection Department bumped it up to a total "do not drink" order and shut down the plant until they're certain it's safe for the public to consume. It could be a few more days.
More At: http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/22110812/fbi-investigating-treament-plant-breakin-do-not-drink-order-in-place
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Another Explosion...
Interesting...
A certain amount of industrial accidents are expected during a year's time, even in a nation that has regular safety checks and stringent safety regulations, but this is getting ridiculous.
So many industrial incidents, on such a level? I mean, we should certainly expect smaller incidents almost weekly across the nation, but these most recent incidents are fairly major on the scale.
200,000lbs of Ammonia Nitrate explodes in West, TX fertilizer plant, Six fuel barges explode in Mobile, AL on the Mobile River, Shootout at Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant in TN...dotted with other smaller incidents across the nation, primarily transformers or sub-stations.
The smaller incidents could be chalked up to dilapidated systems, overloads, ect..., however I'm not so quick to do that. Accidents do happen, but with the recent events, these should have some form of investigation preformed, just to rule out possible foul play by terror cells.
A tank containing diesel fuel has exploded during maintenance work at Marathon Detroit Refinery, forcing a mandatory evacuation order for a nearby area. One employee has been injured in the blast, authorities said.
Reports of the explosion and fire came in just before 6 pm local time.
Authorities on the ground say the explosion injured an employee. The incident occurred during a maintenance check.
Marathon spokesman Shane Pochard tells the Detroit Free Press the small fire Wednesday morning was extinguished quickly and the worker had minor injuries.
More At: http://rt.com/usa/explosion-refinery-detroit-tanker-520/
A certain amount of industrial accidents are expected during a year's time, even in a nation that has regular safety checks and stringent safety regulations, but this is getting ridiculous.
So many industrial incidents, on such a level? I mean, we should certainly expect smaller incidents almost weekly across the nation, but these most recent incidents are fairly major on the scale.
200,000lbs of Ammonia Nitrate explodes in West, TX fertilizer plant, Six fuel barges explode in Mobile, AL on the Mobile River, Shootout at Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant in TN...dotted with other smaller incidents across the nation, primarily transformers or sub-stations.
The smaller incidents could be chalked up to dilapidated systems, overloads, ect..., however I'm not so quick to do that. Accidents do happen, but with the recent events, these should have some form of investigation preformed, just to rule out possible foul play by terror cells.
A tank containing diesel fuel has exploded during maintenance work at Marathon Detroit Refinery, forcing a mandatory evacuation order for a nearby area. One employee has been injured in the blast, authorities said.
Reports of the explosion and fire came in just before 6 pm local time.
Authorities on the ground say the explosion injured an employee. The incident occurred during a maintenance check.
Marathon spokesman Shane Pochard tells the Detroit Free Press the small fire Wednesday morning was extinguished quickly and the worker had minor injuries.
More At: http://rt.com/usa/explosion-refinery-detroit-tanker-520/
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Is Our National Infrastructure Under Attack?
Since the Boston Bombing everyone has been on edge, but is it a far fetched idea that we truly could be under attack? Possibly North Korea, Iran, Syria, ect...? A Terror Group? PLO, Black September, Hamas, Al Qaeda, ect...?
3/26 Ravensdale, WA: Huge Transformer Explosion Causes Power Outages
4/04 Bartow Country, GA: Explosion at Georgia Power Coal Fire Plant
4/06 Oklahoma City, OK: Explosion In Downtown OKC Caused By Transformer Failure
4/15 Boston, Mass: Marathon Bombing
4/ 17 West, Texas: Fertilizer Plant Explosion
4/17 Sugarcreek Boro, PA: Substation Explosion Cuts Power To Venango County Residents
4/17 Jefferson County, OH: Crews Respond To Transformer Fire At Cardinal Power Plant
4/21 Spring City, TN: Shots Fired At TVA Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant
4/25 Mobile, AL: Multiple Explosions On Fuel Barge
The shootout at Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant is most concerning, it could be a possible incident of a terror group preforming a reconnaissance for a future target.
The other incidents themselves don't point directly to terrorist activities, but it is something to keep an eye open over. National Infrastructure is a primary target for terrorists or foreign aggressors alike.
3/26 Ravensdale, WA: Huge Transformer Explosion Causes Power Outages
4/04 Bartow Country, GA: Explosion at Georgia Power Coal Fire Plant
4/06 Oklahoma City, OK: Explosion In Downtown OKC Caused By Transformer Failure
4/15 Boston, Mass: Marathon Bombing
4/ 17 West, Texas: Fertilizer Plant Explosion
4/17 Sugarcreek Boro, PA: Substation Explosion Cuts Power To Venango County Residents
4/17 Jefferson County, OH: Crews Respond To Transformer Fire At Cardinal Power Plant
4/21 Spring City, TN: Shots Fired At TVA Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant
4/25 Mobile, AL: Multiple Explosions On Fuel Barge
The shootout at Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant is most concerning, it could be a possible incident of a terror group preforming a reconnaissance for a future target.
The other incidents themselves don't point directly to terrorist activities, but it is something to keep an eye open over. National Infrastructure is a primary target for terrorists or foreign aggressors alike.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Geopolitical Current Events 04/09/2013
-Geopolitical News For April 9th, 2013-
NK Warns Foreign Nationals To Evacuate SK - RT
SECSTATE Kerry Warns US Won't Hesitate To Attack Iran - AntiWar.com
US Navy Deploys Experimental Laser Weapon to Gulf - StratRisks
N. Korea Finishes Preparations for Missile Launch - Yonhap News Agency
Scores Dead In Iran Quake Near Nuclear Plant - Aljazeera
Adm. Locklear: NK Transfers Missile To East Coast - Yonhap News Agency
Sunday, April 7, 2013
North Korea Situation Recap (2013)
Timeline: February 12th, 2013 - April 7th, 2013
Recap:
February 12th: North Korean Sub-Terrain Nuclear Test
February 12th: Emergency UN Security Council Meeting
March 7th: New UN Security Council Sanctions Against North Korea
March 7th: North Korea threatens Pre-emptive Nuclear Strike Against the US
March 8th: US/SK War Game "Foal Eagle" Begins
March 8th: US deploys B-52 Strategic Long Range Heavy Bomber to SK as a part of "Foal Eagle" War Games
March 11th: US/SK War Games "Key Resolve" Begins
March 11th: NK Threatens US/SK With Nuclear Strike
March 12th: NK Withdrawals From Korean Armistice
March 14th: US Military Bulks Up Missile Defense (Alaska & California) In Response to NK Threats
March 15th: NK Launches Two "Test" SRBM Into East Sea
March 26th: NK Puts KPA Rocket Forces Into Combat Ready Status
March 28th: US Deploys B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber Over South Korea as a part of "Key Resolve/Foal Eagle" War Games
March 29th: NK announces it is in a State-of-War with SK
March 29th: Increased Activity Seen at NK Missile Sites
April 1st: US Deploys F-22 Raptor to SK as a part of "Key Resolve/Foal Eagle" War Games
April 3rd: NK Command Authorized Nuclear Strikes Against the US
April 3rd: US Deploys THAAD System to Guam in response to NK threats
April 3rd: PLA Masses Military Assets on border with NK
April 5th: Unconfirmed Reports of US Air Force E-6B "Mercury" C4ISTAR Doomsday Plane and B-1B "Lancer" Strategic Long Range Bombers Deployed to Guam
April 7th: Possible Preparation by NK to Launch Another Test Missile
*KPA Rocket/Missile Capabilities:
SRARS:
FROG-7
ASM:
KN-1
SRBM:
KN-2 Toksa
MRBM:
Rodong-1
Rodong-2
Taepodong-1
ICBM:
Taepodong-2
IRBM:
BM25 Musudan
*(All the above systems are Chemical, Radiological, Biological and Nuclear capable)
**US Military Assets Deployed in Response:
B-52 Stratofortress (Nuclear Payload Capable)
B-2 Spirit (Nuclear Payload Capable)
B-1B Lancer (Nuclear Payload Capable)
F-22 Raptor (Nuclear Payload Capable)
THAAD (Missile Defense System)
GMD (Missile Defnese System)
JLENS (Missile Early Warning System)
**(Assets and Personnel Deployed Outside of Normal US Military Operations, Specifically In Response to recent NK threats)
Recap:
February 12th: North Korean Sub-Terrain Nuclear Test
February 12th: Emergency UN Security Council Meeting
March 7th: New UN Security Council Sanctions Against North Korea
March 7th: North Korea threatens Pre-emptive Nuclear Strike Against the US
March 8th: US/SK War Game "Foal Eagle" Begins
March 8th: US deploys B-52 Strategic Long Range Heavy Bomber to SK as a part of "Foal Eagle" War Games
March 11th: US/SK War Games "Key Resolve" Begins
March 11th: NK Threatens US/SK With Nuclear Strike
March 12th: NK Withdrawals From Korean Armistice
March 14th: US Military Bulks Up Missile Defense (Alaska & California) In Response to NK Threats
March 15th: NK Launches Two "Test" SRBM Into East Sea
March 26th: NK Puts KPA Rocket Forces Into Combat Ready Status
March 28th: US Deploys B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber Over South Korea as a part of "Key Resolve/Foal Eagle" War Games
March 29th: NK announces it is in a State-of-War with SK
March 29th: Increased Activity Seen at NK Missile Sites
April 1st: US Deploys F-22 Raptor to SK as a part of "Key Resolve/Foal Eagle" War Games
April 3rd: NK Command Authorized Nuclear Strikes Against the US
April 3rd: US Deploys THAAD System to Guam in response to NK threats
April 3rd: PLA Masses Military Assets on border with NK
April 5th: Unconfirmed Reports of US Air Force E-6B "Mercury" C4ISTAR Doomsday Plane and B-1B "Lancer" Strategic Long Range Bombers Deployed to Guam
April 7th: Possible Preparation by NK to Launch Another Test Missile
*KPA Rocket/Missile Capabilities:
SRARS:
FROG-7
ASM:
KN-1
SRBM:
KN-2 Toksa
MRBM:
Rodong-1
Rodong-2
Taepodong-1
ICBM:
Taepodong-2
IRBM:
BM25 Musudan
*(All the above systems are Chemical, Radiological, Biological and Nuclear capable)
**US Military Assets Deployed in Response:
B-52 Stratofortress (Nuclear Payload Capable)
B-2 Spirit (Nuclear Payload Capable)
B-1B Lancer (Nuclear Payload Capable)
F-22 Raptor (Nuclear Payload Capable)
THAAD (Missile Defense System)
GMD (Missile Defnese System)
JLENS (Missile Early Warning System)
**(Assets and Personnel Deployed Outside of Normal US Military Operations, Specifically In Response to recent NK threats)
Friday, March 15, 2013
North Korea Launches SRBM into East Sea
Seems North Korea is taking this round very seriously. A report from "Business Insider" on the launches;
A military officer has anonymously tipped the Yonhap news agency that North Korea "test fired" two short range missiles into the East Sea Friday.
"The launch was seen as testing its capability for short-range missiles. It seemed to be conducted on a military-unit level, not at a national level," the source told Yonhap.
More At: http://www.businessinsider.com/report-north-korea-fires-off-two-short-range-missiles-into-east-sea-2013-3
A military officer has anonymously tipped the Yonhap news agency that North Korea "test fired" two short range missiles into the East Sea Friday.
"The launch was seen as testing its capability for short-range missiles. It seemed to be conducted on a military-unit level, not at a national level," the source told Yonhap.
More At: http://www.businessinsider.com/report-north-korea-fires-off-two-short-range-missiles-into-east-sea-2013-3
Thursday, March 14, 2013
US Missile Defense...What Defense?
Lets get some background here first...
As everyone knows the "Red Scare" and "Nuclear Armageddon" were by far last centuries biggest fears.
Air Defense had been a major weight on the mind of the War Department (not long after changed to the Department of Defense) in 1944 with the development of the German M3-262 Jet Fighter during the Second World War. Gun-based defensive systems could not keep up with the fighters, which flew too high and fast to be intercepted. The War Department put out requests for significant systems based on rocket/missile technology, that could defeat this new threat.
By 1950 General Electric proposed it's "Project Thumper" centered around the "CIM-10 BOMARC Missile", while Bell Laboratories offered "Project Nike" centered around the "NIM-3 Nike Ajax Rocket".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOMARC_missile
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_%28rocket%29
Eventually in the mid-1950's the US Army took the Nike Missile and the US Air Force took the BOMARC Missile (The BOMARC is the only air defense missile ever fielded by the US Air Force). Hundreds of Nike and BOMARC sites dotted the US, waiting to intercept the scores of Tupolev Tu-95's that soarws across the oceans, primed and ready to drop hundreds of megatons of Soviet nuclear fury on the Continental US.
As ICBM technology flourished, the threat of aircraft delivered nuclear devices took a back seat. In addition to severe budget cuts during the decade, many Nike and Bomarc sites had been decommissioned, with the eventual deployment of ICBM's most Nike and BOMARC sites decommissioned, with a few remaining in the Coastal Air Defense role.
The US Army Missile Defense Agency had kept pace with the development in ICBM's and other threats, developing the Nike Hercules (capable of intercepting jet aircraft and ICBM's with nuclear payload capabilities) and Nike Zeus (aimed specifically at ICBM intercept.)
Nike Zeus was decommissioned in 1963 by the Department of Defense, with cost being the determining factor of it's demise, an estimated $ 15 Billion (remember this number, it's be important later on).
Nike Ajax and Hercules systems were severely diminished with further budget cuts, eventually all decommissioned in 1972. The US Army had continued on with another Project called "Project Nike-X" which was based on much of the Mike Zeus technological advancements and systems, this culminated in the development of the LIM-49 Spartan. Project Nike-X also culminated in the development of the Safeguard ABM program, designed to defend Minuteman Missile Sites through the use of the LIM-49 Spartan, deployed in 1975, however both the LIM-49 and the Safeguard Program were halted a mere three months later.
Until 2012, the US had remained relatively unprotected from aircraft delivered and ICBM delivered nuclear devices, with most of the weight having been shifted to Inceptor Air Wings in the Air Force and Air National Guard. As of 2012 the "Ground-Based Midcourse Defense" (estimated cost of the program is $30 Billion, should have just kept the Nike Program at half the cost, nearly half a century ago) intercept system has been operationally deployed, but with limited capability, primarily around Minuteman Missile silos.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-Based_Midcourse_Defense
According th Fox News, sources within the Pentagon have noted that the Pentagon will be increasing it's operational intercept systems from 30, to 44 in response to North Korea's threats on a Preemptive Nuclear Strike, thus adding an additional 14 systems, which will be deploy around missile silos in California and Alaska.
www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/14/pentagon-to-beef-up-missile-defense-in-response-to-north-korean-threat-sources/
So our missiles will be protected from being destroyed (maybe), so that we are capable of a Retaliatory Strike, but it's abundantly apparent the General Citizenry is left to just be burned, blinded, and die.
Decommissioning the Civil Defense Department was such a great idea....just like diminishing our Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense and reducing our existing nuclear stockpiles was. Now we have to take threats from North Korea serious, rather than laughing it off as some crazy nation like we had in the past...apparently North Korea isn't as impotent and lacking as we had thought in 2009.
Also loving the double-speak by politicians..."We're ready for any threat". Seems like you actions are contradictory to your words.
Additionally interesting to this is the "testing" of JLENS (Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System) around Washington DC. The JLENS is capable of detecting Tactical Ballistic Missile launches and flight up to 360 miles away.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/01/us-usa-blimps-raytheon-idUSBRE91018320130201
http://raytheon.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=2280
As everyone knows the "Red Scare" and "Nuclear Armageddon" were by far last centuries biggest fears.
Air Defense had been a major weight on the mind of the War Department (not long after changed to the Department of Defense) in 1944 with the development of the German M3-262 Jet Fighter during the Second World War. Gun-based defensive systems could not keep up with the fighters, which flew too high and fast to be intercepted. The War Department put out requests for significant systems based on rocket/missile technology, that could defeat this new threat.
By 1950 General Electric proposed it's "Project Thumper" centered around the "CIM-10 BOMARC Missile", while Bell Laboratories offered "Project Nike" centered around the "NIM-3 Nike Ajax Rocket".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOMARC_missile
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_%28rocket%29
Eventually in the mid-1950's the US Army took the Nike Missile and the US Air Force took the BOMARC Missile (The BOMARC is the only air defense missile ever fielded by the US Air Force). Hundreds of Nike and BOMARC sites dotted the US, waiting to intercept the scores of Tupolev Tu-95's that soarws across the oceans, primed and ready to drop hundreds of megatons of Soviet nuclear fury on the Continental US.
As ICBM technology flourished, the threat of aircraft delivered nuclear devices took a back seat. In addition to severe budget cuts during the decade, many Nike and Bomarc sites had been decommissioned, with the eventual deployment of ICBM's most Nike and BOMARC sites decommissioned, with a few remaining in the Coastal Air Defense role.
The US Army Missile Defense Agency had kept pace with the development in ICBM's and other threats, developing the Nike Hercules (capable of intercepting jet aircraft and ICBM's with nuclear payload capabilities) and Nike Zeus (aimed specifically at ICBM intercept.)
Nike Zeus was decommissioned in 1963 by the Department of Defense, with cost being the determining factor of it's demise, an estimated $ 15 Billion (remember this number, it's be important later on).
Nike Ajax and Hercules systems were severely diminished with further budget cuts, eventually all decommissioned in 1972. The US Army had continued on with another Project called "Project Nike-X" which was based on much of the Mike Zeus technological advancements and systems, this culminated in the development of the LIM-49 Spartan. Project Nike-X also culminated in the development of the Safeguard ABM program, designed to defend Minuteman Missile Sites through the use of the LIM-49 Spartan, deployed in 1975, however both the LIM-49 and the Safeguard Program were halted a mere three months later.
Until 2012, the US had remained relatively unprotected from aircraft delivered and ICBM delivered nuclear devices, with most of the weight having been shifted to Inceptor Air Wings in the Air Force and Air National Guard. As of 2012 the "Ground-Based Midcourse Defense" (estimated cost of the program is $30 Billion, should have just kept the Nike Program at half the cost, nearly half a century ago) intercept system has been operationally deployed, but with limited capability, primarily around Minuteman Missile silos.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-Based_Midcourse_Defense
According th Fox News, sources within the Pentagon have noted that the Pentagon will be increasing it's operational intercept systems from 30, to 44 in response to North Korea's threats on a Preemptive Nuclear Strike, thus adding an additional 14 systems, which will be deploy around missile silos in California and Alaska.
www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/14/pentagon-to-beef-up-missile-defense-in-response-to-north-korean-threat-sources/
So our missiles will be protected from being destroyed (maybe), so that we are capable of a Retaliatory Strike, but it's abundantly apparent the General Citizenry is left to just be burned, blinded, and die.
Decommissioning the Civil Defense Department was such a great idea....just like diminishing our Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense and reducing our existing nuclear stockpiles was. Now we have to take threats from North Korea serious, rather than laughing it off as some crazy nation like we had in the past...apparently North Korea isn't as impotent and lacking as we had thought in 2009.
Also loving the double-speak by politicians..."We're ready for any threat". Seems like you actions are contradictory to your words.
Additionally interesting to this is the "testing" of JLENS (Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System) around Washington DC. The JLENS is capable of detecting Tactical Ballistic Missile launches and flight up to 360 miles away.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/01/us-usa-blimps-raytheon-idUSBRE91018320130201
http://raytheon.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=2280
Friday, February 15, 2013
A Nuclear World...
As everyone is aware, North Korea recently completed another Nuclear Weapons test despite harsh condemnation on the part of the UN. (As if NK gave a fuck).
For many the ending of the Cold War, Atomic/Space Age, and Nuclear Arms Race spelled out the end of possible nuclear annihilation...which couldn't be further from the truth.
While the LTBT, TTBT, CTBT, NPT, SORT, SALT, SALT II, START, START II, NEW START have all been established and signed, not only by the US and Russian Federation/Soviet Union, but by others such as China, Pakistan, India, South Africa, ect...this of course none of them in any effective way prevent the possibility of nuclear warfare. They do of course regulate, limit, and monitor nuclear weapons.
What is most "humorous" about all the treaties and bans, is that prior to the majority of them being signed, the US or USSR had shared or given a multitude of other nations the abilities to develop nuclear weapons...or simply had given them nuclear weapons. The US with it's "Atoms of Peace" ideal and nuclear weapons sharing. The USSR merely sharing whatever technology it saw fit (Sino-Soviet treaty of Friendship and Alliance) and parking nuclear weapons in nearly all it's satellite nations. Additionally both nations had fulfilled any achievable developmental or stockpile capabilities long before the treaties were proposed.
The US peaking at around 30,000 and the USSR around 45,000.
Developmentally, North Korea, Iran and Syria has had the delivery platform since the 1970's, with the use of reverse-engineered Soviet SCUD's, known as the Hwasong/Rodong (North Korea) and Shahab (Iran/Syria). Thus giving them SRBM abilities, which has until recently been Theater Tactical Capabilities with Chemical and Biological Weapons. (In laymen's terms, they've had the ability to hit South Korea and Japan with germs and chems since the 1970's)
Now with North Korea's Taepodong-1 and Taepodong-2 and more recent Unha platform, their reach has grown considerably. These platforms now give them the capability to strike targets in Europe and the US.
Iran with it's Safir, Simorgh, Qoqnoos platfroms has the capabilities as well. One can only assume if North Korea can develop and effectively test nuclear weapons, than Iran which is a much richer and develop nation certainly has the same or better capabilities.
The Russian Federation has also disregarded it's signing of many treaties, by developing newer missile platforms with a nominal MIRV capacity, such as the Topol
Topol-M, and Yars. The Russian Federation has additionally been preparing tunnel systems and Metro lines as fallout shelters as the Soviet Union had commended during it's era.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Metro#Cold_War_era
http://www.presstv.com/detail/187699.html
http://rt.com/news/prime-time/moscow-bomb-shelters-outskirts/
China has additionally been adding to it's nuclear stockpiles and building fallout shelters, but under a much tighter paradigm than that of Russia or other nations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_City_%28Beijing%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction
While in 1992 the US defunct the Civil Defense, thus closing down it's hundreds of thousands of fallout shelters and bomb shelters, of which the remnants can still be seen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_civil_defense
For many the ending of the Cold War, Atomic/Space Age, and Nuclear Arms Race spelled out the end of possible nuclear annihilation...which couldn't be further from the truth.
While the LTBT, TTBT, CTBT, NPT, SORT, SALT, SALT II, START, START II, NEW START have all been established and signed, not only by the US and Russian Federation/Soviet Union, but by others such as China, Pakistan, India, South Africa, ect...this of course none of them in any effective way prevent the possibility of nuclear warfare. They do of course regulate, limit, and monitor nuclear weapons.
What is most "humorous" about all the treaties and bans, is that prior to the majority of them being signed, the US or USSR had shared or given a multitude of other nations the abilities to develop nuclear weapons...or simply had given them nuclear weapons. The US with it's "Atoms of Peace" ideal and nuclear weapons sharing. The USSR merely sharing whatever technology it saw fit (Sino-Soviet treaty of Friendship and Alliance) and parking nuclear weapons in nearly all it's satellite nations. Additionally both nations had fulfilled any achievable developmental or stockpile capabilities long before the treaties were proposed.
The US peaking at around 30,000 and the USSR around 45,000.
As can be seen in the above graphic, both nations still maintain a substantial stockpile in the tens of thousands, far more than enough to pockmark each other's terra firma.
Even as the treaties commenced, weapons were misplaced, stolen, or simply forgotten about, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union. Additionally, by the time any nation or organization thought of action concerning the development of nuclear weapons by a nefarious third-party...it was already too late, a proverbial "cat's out of the bag" scenario.
Now as we sit today, with a nuclear North Korea and most certainly a nuclear Iran, with a possible future nuclear Syria. The world just doesn't seem so safe anymore...not that it was overly safe to begin with.
Now with North Korea's Taepodong-1 and Taepodong-2 and more recent Unha platform, their reach has grown considerably. These platforms now give them the capability to strike targets in Europe and the US.
Iran with it's Safir, Simorgh, Qoqnoos platfroms has the capabilities as well. One can only assume if North Korea can develop and effectively test nuclear weapons, than Iran which is a much richer and develop nation certainly has the same or better capabilities.
The Russian Federation has also disregarded it's signing of many treaties, by developing newer missile platforms with a nominal MIRV capacity, such as the Topol
Topol-M, and Yars. The Russian Federation has additionally been preparing tunnel systems and Metro lines as fallout shelters as the Soviet Union had commended during it's era.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Metro#Cold_War_era
http://www.presstv.com/detail/187699.html
http://rt.com/news/prime-time/moscow-bomb-shelters-outskirts/
China has additionally been adding to it's nuclear stockpiles and building fallout shelters, but under a much tighter paradigm than that of Russia or other nations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_City_%28Beijing%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction
While in 1992 the US defunct the Civil Defense, thus closing down it's hundreds of thousands of fallout shelters and bomb shelters, of which the remnants can still be seen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_civil_defense
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)