Thursday, December 7, 2023
A Pentagon official said today that the new strategic forces agreement the United States and Russia are negotiating would likely be submitted to Congress and the Russian Duma for approval even though the Bush administration does not consider the document a traditional arms control treaty that requires congressional consent.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency has chosen three contractors to build up to four test beds at U.S. military sites that will be used to develop and field systems that can detect and defeat unconventional nuclear weapons, such as dirty bombs. DTRA is pursuing the project along with the National Nuclear Security Administration.
The Missile Defense Agency will ask Congress for permission to reprogram $13 million into the Space Based Infrared System Low program in fiscal year 2002 as part of a recent program restructuring aimed at corralling costs and getting the effort back on schedule, an MDA official said today.
The Missile Defense Agency is expected soon to announce plans to restructure the Space Based Infrared System Low program and consolidate competitors working on the space-based missile tracking system under TRW's leadership, according to industry and defense officials.
The Missile Defense Agency today announced a $425 million contract award for the development of an alternate booster for the ground-based national missile defense program.
The Pentagon will attempt a more difficult intercept test of its national missile defense system March 15, the official in charge of the Defense Department's missile defense programs told House lawmakers today.
The Pentagon's top policy official today defended the creation of a new Office of Strategic Information as necessary for coordinating policy on the various information operations now carried out by the Defense Department.
Recent cost and schedule problems that led to a restructure and delay of the Space Based Infrared System Low may lead to alternative fielding approaches but do not dim top-level Pentagon support for the developmental missile tracking system, senior defense officials said last week.
The $10 billion war contingency fund the Bush administration is asking Congress to approve as part of the Defense Department's fiscal year 2003 budget request is a "real soft spot" that will likely be raided by Congress to pay for other defense programs, the chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee said today.
Next Friday (Jan. 25), the Navy will test the ability of a modified Standard Missile-3 to acquire and track a ballistic missile target in the fourth in a series of flight tests the service is carrying out as it develops a sea-based missile defense system, according to a Navy spokesman and industry sources.
A Defense Science Board task force charged with recommending improvements to the Pentagon's limited national missile defense program will hold its first meeting next Wednesday (Jan. 23).
Saudi Arabia's restrictive social codes and its indirect support for terrorist groups may lead the United States to leave Prince Sultan Air Base and set up flight operations in another country in the region, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said today.
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said today the agreement between the Air Force and Boeing to lease up to 100 tanker aircraft "is not a done deal," adding that Europe's Airbus Industries should be given a chance to bid for the deal that could be worth $26 billion.
The Defense Department today announced the certification of four more weapons of mass destruction civil support teams.
The Army on Wednesday released the final request for proposals for a family of missile defense targets intended to meet the varied needs of the Bush administration's ambitious missile defense program.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has told U.S. military officials to use "appropriate restraint" when transporting al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners from Afghanistan to a detention facility at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he said today.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday approved a major restructuring of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization that includes a name change and creates a leaner process for developing and fielding the Defense Department's missile defense programs.
The Senate this afternoon approved by voice vote a $317 billion conference agreement on the fiscal year 2002 defense appropriations bill.
Following President George Bush's announcement this morning that the United States will withdraw from the 1972 ABM Treaty, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) will push to have the Senate consider legislation that restricts the administration's use of funds earmarked for missile defense tests that violate the treaty while the pact is still in effect.
Representatives of the Defense, State, Commerce and Energy departments told a Senate subcommittee today that a new interagency committee to coordinate nonproliferation efforts with Russia, called for in a Senate bill introduced earlier this year, is not needed because the Bush administration is already doing what the legislation mandates.