US Sending Two Warships to Japan to Counter North Korea

According to AP Press Reports, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivered a two-pronged warning to Asia Pacific nations Sunday, announcing that the U.S. will send two additional ballistic missile destroyers to Japan to counter the North Korean threat, and saying China must better respect its neighbors.

In unusually forceful remarks about China, Hagel drew a direct line between Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimea region and the ongoing territorial disputes between China, Japan and others over remote islands in the East China Sea.

The announcement of the deployments of additional destroyers to Japan came as tensions with North Korea spiked again, with Pyongyang continuing to threaten additional missile and nuclear tests.

In recent weeks the North has conducted a series of rocket and ballistic missile launches that are considered acts of protest against annual ongoing springtime military exercises by Seoul and Washington. North Korea says the exercises are rehearsals for invasion.

North and South Korea also fired hundreds of artillery shells into each other's waters in late March in the most recent flare-up.

The two additional ships would bring the total to seven U.S. ballistic missile defense warships in Japan, and it continues U.S. efforts to increase its focus on the Asia Pacific.

The ships serve as both defensive and offensive weapons. They carry sophisticated systems that can track missile launches, and their SM-3 missiles can zero in on and take out short- to medium-range missiles that might be fired at U.S. or allied nations. They can also carry Tomahawk cruise missiles, which can be launched from sea and hit high-value targets or enemy weapons systems from afar, without risking pilots or aircraft.

Successful Missile Defense Test Against Multiple Targets

WESTERN PACIFIC (NNS) -- The Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) Operational Test Agency, Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, and U.S. Pacific Command, in conjunction with U.S. Army Soldiers from the Alpha Battery, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, U.S. Navy Sailors aboard guided missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73), and U.S. Air Force Airmen from the 613th Air and Operations Center successfully conducted a complex missile defense flight test, resulting in the intercept of two medium-range ballistic missile targets.

The flight test was planned more than a year ago, and is not in any way connected to events in the Middle East.

The test was conducted in the vicinity of the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site and surrounding areas in the western Pacific. The test stressed the ability of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon systems to function in a layered defense architecture and defeat a raid of two near-simultaneous ballistic missile targets.

The two medium-range ballistic missile targets were launched on operationally realistic trajectories towards a defended area near Kwajalein. Along with overhead space assets providing launch alerts, an Army-Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance and Control (AN/TPY-2) radar in Forward Based Mode detected the targets and relayed track information to the Command, Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) system for further transmission to defending BMDS assets.

The USS Decatur with its Aegis Weapon System detected and tracked the first target with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar. The Aegis BMD weapon system developed a fire control solution, launched a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IA missile, and successfully intercepted the target.

In a demonstration of BMDS layered defense capabilities, a second AN/TPY-2 radar in Terminal Mode, located with the THAAD weapon system, acquired and tracked the target missiles. THAAD developed a fire control solution, launched a THAAD interceptor missile, and successfully intercepted the second medium-range ballistic missile target. THAAD was operated by soldiers from the Alpha Battery, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment. As a planned demonstration of THAAD's layered defense capabilities, a second THAAD interceptor was launched at the target destroyed by Aegis as a contingency in the event the SM-3 did not achieve an intercept.

Initial indications are that all components performed as designed. MDA officials will extensively assess and evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test.

The event, a designated Flight Test Operational-01 (FTO-01), demonstrated integrated, layered, regional missile defense capabilities to defeat a raid of two threat-representative medium-range ballistic missiles in a combined live-fire operational test. Soldiers, sailors, and airmen from multiple combatant commands operated the systems, and were provided a unique opportunity to refine operational doctrine and tactics while increasing confidence in the execution of integrated air and missile defense plans.

U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System programs have completed 62 successful hit-to-kill intercepts in 78 flight test attempts since 2001.

U.S. 2nd Fleet Ships Complete Successful Ballistic Missile Defense Tracking Exercise

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Three Commander, U.S. Second Fleet ships successfully completed a tracking exercise Jan. 22, off the coast of Virginia using the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system during Atlantic Trident 2011.

USS Monterey (CG 61), USS Ramage (DDG 61) and USS Gonzalez (DDG 66) all successfully tracked the short-range ballistic missile target that was launched from NASA Wallops Island Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va. The target missile fell harmlessly into the Atlantic Ocean.

Monterey, an Aegis cruiser, and Ramage, an Aegis destroyer, took turns tracking and simulating engagement of the target while Gonzalez, a guided-missile destroyer, participated by tracking the target.

All three ships were able to successfully track the target, with Monterey and Ramage providing simulated target solutions that would have resulted in a successful intercept. No missiles were fired from the ships as it was a tracking exercise.

Ballistic missile defense is a Navy core mission. The Missile Defense Agency and the Navy have modified 21 Aegis BMD combatants (5 cruisers and 16 destroyers). Of the 21 ships, 16 are assigned to the Pacific Fleet and five to the Atlantic Fleet. The Secretary of Defense announced in 2010 that six more destroyers would be upgraded to the Aegis BMD capability.

Atlantic Trident 2011 is the first live Fleet Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) exercise to take place in the Atlantic.

DoD Conducts a Successful Missile Launch

Officials announced the successful completion of an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense intercept flight test.

New Missile Plan Serves Same Objectives, Officials Say

By John J. Kruzel, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON - The adoption of a new U.S. missile defense approach does not represent a departure from earlier objectives nor was it influenced by U.S.-Russian relations, top Defense Department officials said today.

Like the old system that would have placed missile defense equipment in Poland and the Czech Republic, the proposal announced last month places priority on protecting the United States, American troops abroad and NATO allies on the European continent, Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers.

"Our recommendations are not a departure from the objectives," he told the House Armed Services Committee, referring to what he called the three-layered approach.

As opposed to earlier plans to build ground-based components in Eastern Europe, defense officials have said a new sea-based approach is better suited to intelligence on Iranian threats and would provide protection sooner.

Some have interpreted this move away from the plan to place advanced radars in the Czech Republic and 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland as intended to gain political favor with Moscow, which vocally opposed the ground-based approach. But in her remarks to the committee today, Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy, emphasized that the decision to alter the missile defense system's architecture was aimed at better securing American interests.

"We certainly welcome Russian interest in the new approach, as well as potential Russian cooperation in sharing data from their radars. But this is not about Russia," she said. "It never has been about Russia. Regardless of the Russian reaction, we will continue to do whatever it takes to ensure our security and those of our partners and allies."

In December 2006, when intelligence suggested the development of Iran's intercontinental ballistic missile was the foremost threat to the United States and its allies, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates recommended to then-President George W. Bush that the United States adopt the ground-based approach.

But with current intelligence reports suggesting Iran is moving faster to develop its shorter-range missiles, Gates has said the new architecture better protects the United States and its European allies.

"The original program that I recommended would have had no capability against short- and medium-range missiles until probably 2018," Gates said at a Pentagon news conference last month. "What the new system provides is some capability beginning in 2011 that will grow steadily each year in terms of its sophistication and its coverage of Europe. The next phase would begin in 2015."

Gates -- a former CIA director -- said the new arrangement is preferable even if U.S. intelligence assessments that indicate Iran is more focused on developing short and mid-range missiles over long-range capabilities prove incorrect.

Flournoy amplified that position at today's hearing, saying the previous configuration was based on threat information and technology that is now outdated.

"Circumstances have changed since then," she told lawmakers. "First, the intelligence picture has evolved. And second, we have made major strides in missile defense technologies and capabilities in just the last few years. We are now in a position to put in place a far more effective missile defense system more rapidly than just a few years ago."

An additional drawback to the previous plan was that ground-based interceptors designed to deal with no more than five enemy missiles at once were prone to being overwhelmed by a larger salvo fired simultaneously, Army Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O'Reilly, director of the Missile Defense Agency, told lawmakers.

"The previously proposed European defense architecture was insufficient to protect NATO and our forward-based forces, and provide redundant coverage of the United States homeland," he said.

President Barack Obama's announcement of the new program last month puts the United States on track for a four-phase missile defense program with the ultimate goal being a robust, interconnected, multinational system.

Deploying the Navy's ships equipped with the Aegis weapons system to the region by 2011 drives the new plan's initial phase. Their Standard Missile 3 interceptor has passed several tests in the past two years, and forward-position Army radar systems will support them.

This will give the military a smaller range of detection and protection, but is enough initially to protect U.S. troops and allies against Iran's shorter-range missiles, officials said.

Obama Announces Changes for European Missile Defense

By Fred W. Baker III, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama today announced he is restructuring plans for a missile defense system in Europe that provides greater flexibility and promises faster deployment of current technologies.

"This new approach will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems, and offer greater defenses against the threat of missile attack than the 2007 European missile defense program," Obama said.

The 2007 plan, put in place by the Bush Administration, called for fixed radars to be positioned in the Czech Republic, and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland.

U.S defense officials said the system would protect its allies in Europe and the United States against ballistic missile attacks launched from the Middle East, specifically Iran.

The new plan is based on recent intelligence reports that reassess Iran's weapons capabilities to show short-and medium-range ballistic missiles to be developing more rapidly than projected, and intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities developing much slower than estimated.

Under the new plan, the United States will begin building the missile defense system in a phased approach. First, by 2011, it will field its current radars and interceptors, such as the Navy's Aegis-equipped ships, with the Standard Missile 3 interceptor. The system has proven its capabilities in the past few years, specifically when it stopped a crippled reconnaissance satellite over the Pacific Ocean before it re-entered Earth's atmosphere in February 2008.

This puts in place a defense system in northern and southern Europe that can protect against the more immediate threats from Iran nearly seven years earlier than the plan for installing the ground-based interceptors in Poland, officials said.

The plan is to then build on the system, eventually installing some ground-based radars and interceptors, enlarging the defense system's range, and continuing to augment the system with sea-based systems that can position themselves according to the threat.

"To put it simply, our new missile defense architecture in Europe will provide stronger, smarter and swifter defenses of American forces and America's allies," Obama said. "It is more comprehensive than the previous program; it deploys capabilities that are proven and cost-effective; and it sustains and builds upon our commitment to protect the U.S. homeland against long-range ballistic missile threats; and it ensures and enhances the protection of all our NATO allies."

The new plan alleviates some concerns of Russian leaders, who strongly opposed the positioning of the ground-based interceptors and radar system so near its borders.

U.S. officials traveled several times to Moscow to discuss the system's intention with the Kremlin. The United States offered to allow Russia to have representatives at each site, if the host nation agreed, to provide technical monitoring of activities. The United States promised it would not make the sites operational until the Iranians had tested a missile that could reach most of Western Europe, including parts of Russia.

Still, defense officials said it is likely Russia will not fully embrace any U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Europe.

But, Obama said, as long as Iran continues its nuclear weapons program, the United States will continue to develop its missile defense capabilities in the region.

"Our clear and consistent focus has been the threat posed by Iran's ballistic missile program, and that continues to be our focus and the basis of the program that we're announcing today," the president said. "In confronting that threat, we welcome Russia's cooperation to bring its missile defense capabilities into a broader defense of our common strategic interests, even as ... we continue our shared efforts to end Iran's illicit nuclear program."

USS Benfold Deploys in Support of BMD

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- The guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65) is nearing preparations for her upcoming deployment to the western Pacific and Middle East.

Benfold is expected to depart Naval Station San Diego Sept. 8.

During the deployment, Benfold and her crew of about 18 officers and 250 enlisted Sailors will operate independently from any carrier strike group, and will directly support the U.S. Central and Pacific commands as a ballistic missile defense (BMD) asset.

Commanded by Cmdr. Thomas C. Disy, Benfold is one of 18 U.S. ships - three cruisers and 15 destroyers - fitted with the full Aegis BMD capability in the Navy, allowing them to detect, track and engage enemy ballistic missiles.

Maritime ballistic missile defense, a core capability of the Navy, will enhance deterrence by providing an umbrella of protection to forward-deployed forces and friends and allies, while contributing to the larger architecture planned for defense of the United States.

As one of 20 destroyers that belong to U.S. 3rd Fleet, Benfold helps provide deterrence, promote peace and security, preserve freedom of the sea and humanitarian/disaster response within 3rd Fleet's 50 million square mile area of responsibility in the western Pacific as well as supporting the Navy's Maritime Strategy when forward deployed.