Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases

Military.com
by Kris Osborn
May 9, 2013

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is evaluating potential missile-defense sites on the East Coast to fortify existing interceptor locations in Alaska and California.

“The effort has started in terms of defining criteria and evaluating sites,” Navy Vice Adm. James Syring, the agency’s director, said during a May 9 hearing of the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee. “Some of the criteria that will be finalized and approved includes assessments of things such as booster drop zones, proximity to populations and the overall operational efficacy of the site.”

Senior Pentagon leaders told lawmakers that three or more locations may be identified, in accordance with last year’s National Defense Authorization Act, which specified the need to explore a third U.S.-based interceptor location.

“The MDA is currently in the process of developing criteria to identify a candidate list of sites. From a candidate list of sites there will be a narrowing down to at least three. [Environmental impact statements] will be completed for all of those. Should there be a decision that we need an East Coast site, this would allow an acceleration of the time that we would need,” said Madelyn Creedon, assistant secretary of defense for global strategic affairs.

Discussion of a third U.S. site comes after the Pentagon announced that 14 more ground-based interceptors, or GBIs, will be added to the arsenal in Fort Greely, Alaska. The $1 billion effort, to be completed by 2017, will bring the total number of GBIs at Fort Greely and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., from 30 up to 44. …

Read on: www.military.com/daily-news/2013/05/09/pentagon-plans-east-coast-missile-defense-sites.html

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RTT News
May 10, 2013

Senior U.S. defense officials underscored the importance of ballistic missile defense modernization efforts requested in the fiscal 2014 budget proposal citing disturbing trends in Iran, North Korea, Syria and elsewhere around the globe.

“The threat continues to grow as our potential adversaries are acquiring a greater number of ballistic missiles, increasing their range and making them more complex, survivable, reliable and accurate,” Navy Vice Adm. J.D. Syring, Director of the Missile Defense Agency, told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a testimony on Thursday.

“The missile defense mission is becoming more challenging as potential adversaries incorporate [ballistic missile defense] countermeasures,” he reported.

Syring said the Missile Defense Agency “is engaged either bilaterally or multilaterally with nearly two dozen countries and international organizations,” including NATO and the Gulf Cooperation Council. He reported “good progress in our work with our international partners.”

The budget requests $9.2 billion in fiscal 2014 and $45.7 billion over future years to develop and deploy missile defense capabilities.

Madelyn Creedon, Assistant Secretary of Defense for global strategic affairs, told the panel that these capabilities would both protect the U.S. homeland and strengthen regional missile defenses.

The administration remains committed to developing proven and cost-effective missile defense capabilities through the phased advance approach to regional missile defense, Creedon noted in her written statement.

“This approach puts emphasis on a flexible military toolkit with forces that are mobile and scalable. They underwrite deterrence in peacetime, but can be surged in crisis to meet defense requirements,” she said. …

Read on: www.rttnews.com/2114860/growing-threat-to-us-as-enemies-acquiring-more-ballistic-missiles-senate-told.aspx

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WKYT
April 17, 2013

A new report says the United States is footing more of the bill for overseas bases in Germany, Japan and South Korea even as the military reduces American troops in Europe and repositions forces in Asia.

The United States spends $10 billion on permanent overseas bases.

The Pentagon is facing the pressure of deficit-driven, smaller budgets while looking to scale back or close overseas and U.S. domestic bases.

From: www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/Report-US-footing-greater-bill-for-overseas-bases-203371061.html

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Economic Times
April 10, 2013

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has told his German and Italian counterparts the Pentagon plans to spend about $310 million to help fund the final year of development of Lockheed Martin’s MEADS missile defense system, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday. …

The funding is subject to a 10 per cent cut because, under a US law aimed at curbing the government’s deficit spending, the Pentagon will actually provide about $310 billion for the final year of development, officials said.

It also is not guaranteed. The US Senate on Tuesday began the process of bringing a bill to the floor that would withdraw funding for the MEADS system.

Lockheed plans to keep working with Italy and Germany on the three-nation missile defense program even after the United States stops participating.

Lockheed says MEADS is significantly cheaper to operate than the Patriot system built by its rival Raytheon Co, and would provide significantly larger coverage areas.

Read in full: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-04-10/news/38434328_1_medium-extended-air-missile-defense-system-meads

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Politico
By Kevin Robillard
February 27, 2013

Americans’ opinion of the country’s military strength is at a low point, with 50 percent saying the nation’s armed forces are indisputably the strongest in the world, according to a poll released Wednesday.

That represents a 14 percent drop from two years ago, when 64 percent of Americans told Gallup the U.S. military was clearly the world’s strongest. The 50 percent mark is the lowest in Gallup’s polling on the issue, which dates back to 1993. In Wednesday’s poll, 47 percent said the U.S. was just one of several military powers in the world, up from 34 percent in 2010.

The U.S. is responsible for about 40 percent of the world’s military spending, and spends around six times as much as its closest competitor, China. …

Read on: www.politico.com/story/2013/02/poll-faith-in-us-military-might-dips-88156.html

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Businessweek
By Romesh Ratnesar
July 25, 2012

Mitt Romney’s speech to the gathering of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Reno, Nev., offered his most expansive statements on foreign policy since the former governor clinched the Republican Party’s nomination for president. Making headlines was Romney’s suggestion that the White House, and possibly President Obama, has deliberately leaked sensitive intelligence for political gain. Romney likely cheered conservatives with his muscular rhetoric — “I am not ashamed of American power” — and his denunciations of Obama’s policies toward (by my count) Israel, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, China, Egypt, Venezuela, Poland, and the Czech Republic. By political standards, it was a pretty effective speech. But it also revealed a view of national security that is hopelessly out of date.

Romney blasted Obama for proposing “arbitrary,” “across-the-board,” “radical” cuts in military spending that would jeopardize national security at a time when the U.S. faces an unprecedented array of threats. Leave aside the fact that the Congressional Republican leadership agreed to $500 billion in mandatory defense cuts, effective next January, as part of last summer’s “deal” to raise the government’s debt ceiling. …

Read on: www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-25/why-romney-is-wrong-on-defense-cuts

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Daily Mail
By Jamie Mcginnes
March 27, 2012

The Ministry of Defence today revealed that 1,800 defence police and guard jobs will be slashed.

In a written statement to Parliament, Defence Personnel Minister Andrew Robathan said he regretted the uncertainty and anxiety caused to staff affected, but said the Government ‘can and will’ make changes in guarding and civil policing.

Under the measures, the MoD Police is to downsize from a current strength of just under 3,100 to about 2,400 by April 2016.

The MoD Guard Service will be cut from just under 3,300 members today to about 2,200 by April 2015.

The headquarters and management structures of each organisation will see costs slashed by 50 per cent, Mr Robathan said.

This will mean fewer security staff at some sites and a shift to more security being undertaken by staff who do not require police powers. Local police forces will also be utilised more. …

Read on: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2121098/MoD-axes-1-800-police-guard-jobs.html

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Metro Business Media
March 19, 2012

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) announced today a firm-fixed-price contract from the U.S. Air Force.

The defense contractor will provide Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasure (LAIRCM) systems and support.

Under the $334 million contract Fairfax county-based Northrop Grumman will have until April 2014 to provide the Air Force with LAIRCM technology that will automatically detect a missile launch. Once detected as a threat, the LAIRCM system will activate a high-intensity laser to track and destroy the missile. …

Read on: metrobusinessmedia.com/article/northrop-grumman-awarded-large-contract-or-us-missile-defense-systems-031912

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Space News
By Titus Ledbetter III
February 14, 2012

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is seeking a significant funding boost for a space-based missile tracking system …

The overall 2013 MDA budget request is $7.7 billion, compared to the agency’s current year budget of $8.4 billion. This sum does not include missile defense efforts that are not directly overseen by the MDA, such as the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 interceptor. The Pentagon’s total request for missile defense efforts next year is $9.7 billion, down from $10.4 billion this year.

The MDA’s 2013 request allocates $297.3 million for the Precision Tracking Space System (PTSS), a proposed constellation of satellites that would track ballistic missiles during the midcourse portion of flight. Congress allocated $80.7 million for the program in 2012, or about half of what the MDA had requested.

The agency’s 2013 PTSS program goals include the completion of preliminary designs for the spacecraft platform, optical payload and communications payload, according to budget documents. The agency will rely on the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., to develop a PTSS prototype to be launched in 2015. An industry team is expected to be chosen in 2014 to build between nine and 12 operational spacecraft planned to begin launching in 2018. …

In full: www.spacenews.com/military/120214-mda-seeks-increase-spending.html

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Defenseworld.net

The Missile Defense Agency is announcing the award of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Development and Sustainment Contract (DSC) to The Boeing Co., Missile Defense Systems, Huntsville, Ala.

The total value of this contract is $3,480,000,000. This contract was competitively awarded following the receipt of two proposals.

The scope of work under this contract includes, but is not limited to: future development; fielding; test; systems engineering, integration and configuration management; equipment manufacturing and refurbishment; training; and operations and sustainment support for the GMD Weapon System and associated support facilities.

Work will be performed at multiple locations, including: Huntsville, Ala.; Fort Greely, Alaska; Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.; Schriever Air Force Base, Peterson Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, and Colorado Springs, Colo.; Tucson, Ariz.; other government designated sites and other contractor designated prime, subcontractor, and supplier operating locations.

The Boeing Company and industry partner Northrop Grumman Corporation have received the development and sustainment contract (DSC) from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency for future work on the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the United States’ ballistic missile defense system. …

Read on: www.defenseworld.net/go/defensenews.jsp?id=6418&h=Boeing%20Wins%203.8Bn%20Contract%20for%20GMD%20from%20MDA

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