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Hagel optimistic on Afghan commando agreement
By Lolita C. Baldor - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Mar 9, 2013 13:03:35 EST
JALALABAD, Afghanistan — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he believes U.S. officials will be able to work things out with Afghan leaders who have ordered special operations forces out of Wardak province, even though the deadline for their removal is Monday.

Hagel's comments came on his first trip to Afghanistan as defense secretary. His first morning in Kabul was marked with a suicide bombing outside the Afghan Defense Ministry that a Taliban spokesman said was a message to the visiting Pentagon chief. At least 19 people were killed in the bombing, and Hagel said he could hear the explosion from the safe location where he was at a meeting a distance away from the site.

"We're in a war zone, I've been in war. So, shouldn't be surprised when a bomb goes off or there's an explosion," Hagel said.

Hagel is expected to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who ordered the U.S. forces to leave the province just outside Kabul because of allegations that Afghans working with the commandos were involved in abusive behavior and torture.

"I feel confident that we'll be able to work this out," Hagel told reporters during a stop at Jalalabad Airfield, where he met with commanders and spoke to troops.

A senior defense official said that while it's not yet clear what will come out of Hagel's meeting with Karzai, the U.S. believes the door is not closed to resolving the issues.

A coalition official who works with special operations forces said Saturday that while the commandos are ready to pull out, their operations are continuing at this point, and there is some hope that an 11th hour negotiation can be reached that will allow them to stay. The official said the Afghan forces in Wardak are not yet ready to operate without the continued assistance and training from the U.S. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

According to Brigadier Adam Findlay, NATO's deputy chief of staff of operations and a member of the Australian military, an option would be to replace the special operators with conventional military forces. Findlay said NATO officials have made provisional plans to withdraw the commandos if Karzai sticks to his edict after meetings this weekend with Hagel and the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Joseph Dunford.

The order for the U.S. forces to leave comes despite worries that Wardak could be more vulnerable to the Taliban and insurgents. "What we've got to try to do is go to a middle ground that meets the president's frustration," but also keeps insurgents from using Wardak as a staging ground to launch attacks on the capital, Findlay told The Associated Press Saturday.

After a meeting with Karzai and the Afghan defense minister earlier in the day, Dunford reiterated that a compromise allowing some commandos stay is possible.

"We agreed to continue to work this issue with his minister, to ensure that we have adequate protection for the force, that we were going to accomplish our security mission in Wardak, and also meet his concerns about moving Afghan forces in the lead," Dunford said.

U.S. officials also insist they have seen no evidence that American forces were involved in the abuse of Afghan civilians.

"Each of those accusations has been answered, and we're not involved," said NATO's Findlay. "There are obviously atrocities occurring there, but it's not linked to us, and the kind of atrocities we are seeing, fingers cut off, other mutilations to bodies, is just not the way we work."

On Saturday Hagel flew to Bagram Air Field, about an hour outside the capitol, where he met with Maj. Gen. William Mayville, the U.S. commander of forces in the east. He also met with the commander of special operations forces in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Raymond Thomas.

There are about 10,000 U.S. and coalition special operations forces in the country training Afghan local police and commando units as well as battling insurgents.

Hagel — who received two Purple Hearts after being wounded twice in Vietnam — later handed out his first combat awards as Pentagon chief. He pinned Purple Hearts onto Sgt. Jeremyah Williams and PFC Harry Hikes, two 101st Airborne Division soldiers who were involved in a car bomb attack about 100 feet from their post at a base entry point. After the brief ceremony at Jalalabad Air Base, Williams said it was "an honor and a privilege" to receive his Purple Heart from Hagel.

Speaking to about 200 troops at the Jalalabad base, Hagel made it clear that he knows what they and their families are going through. He fielded several questions from soldiers worried about how the ongoing budget battle in Washington will affect their retirement and other benefits. He told them he is committed to insuring that their pay and benefits are not hurt, even though the $53 billion in cuts over the remainder of this fiscal year will "make our jobs more difficult."

Hagel's trip comes at a turning point in the conflict, as U.S. and NATO allies set their timetable for the withdrawal of combat troops and pressure mounts on the U.S.-led effort to train the Afghan forces. And he must manage the transition as the U.S. ramps up what will be a difficult and expensive extraction of equipment from the country even as Congress slashes billions of dollars from the defense budget.

He has said he wants to use the trip to better understand what's going on in Afghanistan and to get an assessment on the progress of the Afghan forces as they prepare to take over the security of their own country.

AP Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier contributed to this report from Kabul.

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AF removes RPA airstrike number from summary
By Brian Everstine and Aaron Mehta - Staff writers Military times
Posted : Friday Mar 8, 2013 12:34:50 EST
As scrutiny and debate over the use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) by the American military increased last month, the Air Force reversed a policy of sharing the number of airstrikes launched from RPAs in Afghanistan and quietly scrubbed those statistics from previous releases kept on their website.

Last October, Air Force Central Command started tallying weapons releases from RPAs, broken down into monthly updates. At the time, AFCENT spokeswoman Capt. Kim Bender said the numbers would be put out every month as part of a service effort to “provide more detailed information on RPA ops in Afghanistan.”

The Air Force maintained that policy for the statistics reports for November, December and January. But the February numbers, released March 7, contained empty space where the box of RPA statistics had previously been.


Additionally, monthly reports hosted on the Air Force website have had the RPA data removed — and recently.

Those files still contained the RPA data as of Feb. 16, according to archived web pages accessed via Archive.org. Metadata included in the new, RPA-less versions of the reports show the files were all created Feb. 22.

Defense Department spokesman Cmdr. Bill Speaks said the department was not involved in the decision to remove the statistics. AFCENT did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

The data removal coincided with increased scrutiny on RPA policy caused by President Barack Obama’s nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA. Brennan faced opposition in the Senate over the use of RPAs and his defense of their legality in his role as Obama’s deputy national security adviser.

On Feb. 20, two days before the metadata indicates the scrubbed files were created, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., sent a letter to Brennan saying that he would filibuster the nomination over concerns about using RPA strikes inside the U.S., a threat he carried out for over 12 hours on March 6 (Brennan was confirmed the next day).

That same day, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told a crowd in South Carolina that strikes by American RPAs have killed 4,700 people.

“Sometimes you hit innocent people, and I hate that, but we’re at war, and we’ve taken out some very senior members of al-Qaida,” Graham was quoted by the Patch website as saying.

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USS Monitor Unknown Sailors Honored at Arlington National Cemetery
Story Number: NNS130308-36
3/8/2013


By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kiona Miller, Naval District Washington Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy honored two unknown Sailors, found inside the sunken USS Monitor during an expedition to recover artifacts in 2002, with an interment ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, March 8.

Special guests at the ceremony included Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Kathryn Sullivan and James McPherson, Professor of American History, Emeritus, Princeton University.

Mabus spoke on the sacrifice the Sailors made during the Civil War and the importance of honoring the crew who paved the way for the modern Navy.

"This ceremony also honors every individual who ever put to sea in defense of our country," said Mabus. "From the Marblehead men who rowed Washington across the Delaware, to these brave souls, to those who serve today in nuclear-powered carriers and submarines, Sailors have always been the same; they are at heart risk-takers, willing -- even eager -- to brave the unknown to peer past distant horizons."

The date for the ceremony was chosen to recognize an historic day in naval history, the day Monitor arrived in Hampton Roads before its famous battle with Confederate iron clad CSS Virginia which took place 151 years ago March 9, 1962. Known asf the Battle of Hampton Roads, it was the first fight between two ironed-armored ships. Although the battle ended in a draw, Monitor fulfilled her orders to protect the Union ship Minnesota.

"This was one of the most important naval battles in history, one of those rare occasions when technology raced ahead of our understanding of how to fully employ it," said Capt. Henry Hendrix, director of Naval History and Heritage Command. "The battle between USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia will always serve as an anchor point for U.S. naval history."

The Monitor would only serve until Dec. 31, 1862 when she sank near Cape Hatteras, off the coast of North Carolina. She remained sunken for 112 years until the wreckage was discovered in 1974 and was designated the nation's first national marine sanctuary. In 2002, during an expedition to recover the ship's gun turret, the remains of two Sailors were discovered and transported to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC).

During Sullivan's remarks to the more than 200 who attended the chapel service, she read a letter written by Dr. Grenville Weeks, the surgeon aboard the Monitor, which expressed his feelings on losing the sunken ship and his devotion to ensure she is remembered by future generations.

"Just as the crew of the Monitor fought tirelessly to keep their 'old-time knight in armor' afloat that day, so have many worked tirelessly since her loss to fulfill Dr. Weeks' commitment to the ship, and her crew and to the 16 souls who were lost that night," said Sullivan. "Today we take another somber step, laying two of her Sailors to rest in the hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery. As we do so, let us all reaffirm our own commitment, to forever remember the work of the Monitor and to ensure her story is told to our children's children."

With the help of facial reconstruction created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Louisiana State University's Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services Laboratory, JPAC continues to search for the identity of the two Sailors.

In keeping with the Navy's tradition to honor a service member's final resting place, possible descendants of 30 family members from 10 different families, confirmed through a biological profile created by JPAC, were invited to take part in the ceremony.

"It's amazing -- what they went through and what we have today, and it's a blessing to be here to pay final tribute to the [service members] who have given their lives to help us have a better life," said Jamie Nicklis, descendant of Jacob Nicklis, one of the 16 Sailors honored during the ceremony. "It was a beautiful service that they provided for us and we are very thankful for the government and our country and for all the families here today."

The unknown Sailors and 14 other crew members who died as the Monitor sank will be memorialized on a group marker in section 46 of the cemetery.

For information on the USS Monitor visit the NHHC website at

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Raytheon Company was awarded a sub-contract from Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to deliver its first 5th generation medium frequency hull mounted sonar system as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program.

According to the U.S. Navy, 43 nations operate more than 600 submarines; the steady increase in undersea vessels makes tracking a challenge. Raytheon's Modular Scalable Sonar System (MS3) will integrate into SAIC's prototype trimaran vessel as the primary search and detection sonar. The system is designed to provide search, detection, passive-threat filtering, localization and tracking capabilities without requiring human operation.

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The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) a contract valued at more than $71 million to produce six additional next-generation Fire Scout unmanned helicopters. The Fire Scout endurance upgrade, designated the MQ-8C and based on Bell Helicopter's 407, will provide ship commanders with increased range, endurance and payload capacity over the current MQ-8B variant.

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U.S. fighters warn Iranian jet trailing UAV
By Brian Everstine - Staff writer Airforce times

Posted : Thursday Mar 14, 2013 15:44:50 EDT
An American fighter jet verbally warned an Iranian F-4 on Tuesday as it pursued an Air Force MQ-1 Predator over international waters.

The MQ-1 was flying unarmed reconnaissance over the Arabian Gulf when it was approached by the F-4, Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement Thursday. The Iranian jet came within 16 miles of the unmanned Predator. The Pentagon said earlier today that the U.S. fired a flare to warn the Iranian jet, but amended that statement.

Two American fighter jets were escorting the Predator and warned the jet, ending the situation. All American aircraft remained in international waters, Little said.

Last November, an Iranian Su-25 jet fired on an unarmed MQ-1 in international waters, according to the Pentagon. After that incident, the U.S. told Iran that it would continue to fly the surveillance flights and “we reserve the right to protect our military assets as well as our forces and will continue to do so going forward.”

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U.N.: U.S. drones violate Pakistani sovereignty
By Sebastian Abbot - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Mar 15, 2013 7:52:38 EDT
ISLAMABAD — The head of a U.N. team investigating casualties from U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan declared after a secret research trip to the country that the attacks violate Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Ben Emmerson, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, said the Pakistani government made clear to him that it does not consent to the strikes — a position that has been disputed by U.S. officials.

President Obama has stepped up covert CIA drone strikes targeting al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan’s tribal region along the Afghan border since he took office in 2009.

The strikes have caused growing controversy because of the secrecy surrounding them and claims that they have caused significant civilian casualties — allegations denied by the United States.

According to a U.N. statement that Emmerson emailed Friday to The Associated Press, the Pakistani government told him it has confirmed at least 400 civilian deaths by U.S. drones on its territory. The statement was initially released on Thursday, following the investigator’s three-day visit to Pakistan, which ended Wednesday. The visit was kept secret until Emmerson left.

Imtiaz Gul, an expert on Pakistani militancy who is helping Emmerson’s team, said Friday that the organization he runs, the Centre for Research and Security Studies, gave the U.N. investigator case studies of 25 strikes that allegedly killed civilians during his visit.

The U.N. investigation into civilian casualties from drone strikes and other targeted killings in Pakistan and several other countries was launched in January and is expected to deliver its conclusions in October.

The U.S. rarely discusses the strikes in public because of their covert nature, but officials have said privately that they have caused very few civilian casualties.

A 2012 investigation by the AP into 10 of the deadliest recent drone strikes in Pakistan found that a significant majority of the casualties were militants, but civilians were also being killed.

Pakistani officials regularly criticize the attacks in public as a violation of the country’s sovereignty, a popular position in a country where anti-American sentiment runs high.

But the reality has been more complicated in the past.

For many years, Pakistan allowed U.S. drones to take off from bases within the country. Documents released by WikiLeaks in 2010 showed that senior Pakistani officials consented to the strikes in private to U.S. diplomats, while at the same time condemning them in public.

Cooperation has certainly waned since then as the relationship between Pakistan and the U.S. has deteriorated. In 2011, Pakistan kicked the U.S. out of an air base used by American drones in the country’s southwest, in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

But U.S. officials insist privately that cooperation has not ended altogether, and key Pakistani military officers and civilian politicians continue to consent to the strikes.

However, Emmerson, the U.N. investigator, came away with a black-and-white view after his meetings with Pakistani officials.

“The position of the government of Pakistan is quite clear,” said Emmerson. “It does not consent to the use of drones by the United States on its territory and it considers this to be a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The drone campaign “involves the use of force on the territory of another state without its consent and is therefore a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty,” he said.

Pakistan claimed the drone strikes were radicalizing a new generation of militants and said it was capable of fighting the war against Islamist extremism in the country by itself, said Emmerson.

A major reason the U.S. has stepped up drone attacks in Pakistan is because it has failed to convince the government to target Taliban militants using its territory to launch cross-border attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.

Emmerson met with a variety of Pakistani officials during his visit, as well as tribal leaders from the North Waziristan tribal area — the main target for U.S. drones in the country — and locals who claimed they were injured by the attacks or had lost loved ones.

The tribal leaders said innocent tribesmen were often mistakenly targeted by drones because they were indistinguishable from Taliban militants, said Emmerson. Both groups wear the same traditional tribal clothing and normally carry guns at all times, he said.

“It is time for the international community to heed the concerns of Pakistan, and give the next democratically elected government of Pakistan the space, support and assistance it needs to deliver a lasting peace on its own territory without forcible military interference by other states,” said Emmerson.

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Worker who set fire to sub due in court today
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Mar 15, 2013 7:33:48 EDT
PORTLAND, Maine — A shipyard worker who set fire to the submarine Miami because he wanted to go home and ended up causing $450 million in damage is due to be sentenced.

Under a plea agreement, Casey James Fury faces a sentence of about 15 to 19 years on Friday. He can withdraw his guilty pleas if a greater penalty is imposed for the fire that injured seven and caused extensive damage.

Fury, formerly of Portsmouth, N.H., admitted setting the May 23 fire while the nuclear submarine was in dry dock at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

The Navy intends to repair the Los Angeles-class attack sub, which is based in Groton, Conn. But the repairs have been postponed for now because of the automatic federal budget cuts.

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Obama: Iran a year away from nuclear weapon
By Aron Heller - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 14, 2013 16:14:13 EDT
JERUSALEM — Iran is about a year away from developing a nuclear weapon and the United States remains committed to doing everything in its power to prevent that from happening, President Obama said in an exclusive interview aired Thursday on Israeli TV.

Just days before he is to arrive in Israel for his first presidential visit, Obama told Israel’s Channel 2 TV that while he still prefers diplomacy over force, but that a nuclear Iran is a “red line” and all options remain on the table to stop it.

“Right now, we think it would take over a year or so for Iran to actually develop a nuclear weapon, but obviously we don’t want to cut it too close,” he said. “So when I’m consulting with Bibi (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) as I have over the last several years on this issue, my message to him will be the same as before: ‘If we can resolve it diplomatically that is a more lasting solution. But if not I continue to keep all options on the table.’“

The timeline for action against Iran has been one of the most fraught disputes in an already tense relationship between Obama and Netanyahu. Israel has repeatedly threatened to act militarily should Iran appear to be on the verge of obtaining a bomb, while the U.S. has pushed for more time to allow diplomacy and economic sanctions to run their course.

Obama’s forecast gives more time than that of Netanyahu, who has signaled that the coming months present a point of no return in dealing with Iran.

The American president nonetheless took a stern tone toward Iran in the half-hour long interview.

“What I have also said is that there is a window, not an infinite period of time, but a window of time where we can resolve this diplomatically and it is in all of our interests” to do this, he said. “They (Iran) are not yet at the point, I think, where they have made a fundamental decision to get right with the international community ... I do think they are recognizing that there is a severe cost to continue on the path they are on and that there is another door open.”

Israel considers a nuclear-armed Iran to be an existential threat, citing Iranian denials of the Holocaust, its calls for Israel’s destruction, its development of missiles capable of striking the Jewish state and its support for hostile Arab militant groups. Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful and designed to produce energy and medical isotopes, a claim that Israel and many Western countries reject.

Obama said that a nuclear Iran would also be “dangerous for the world. It would be dangerous for U.S. national security interests.”

In the interview, Obama also spoke about his relationship with Netanyahu — claiming it is not as tense as reported — and encouraged Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks. He also said he had no immediate plans to release convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, whom Israel has been pressuring to set free after 28 years in prison for spying for them.

Obama arrives in Israel Wednesday for a three-day visit that is seem primarily as a means to convey the closeness of the U.S.-Israel alliance.

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Koreas’ rhetoric doesn’t match calm at DMZ
By Foster Klug - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 14, 2013 21:12:51 EDT
IMJINGAK, South Korea — Busloads of tourists still show up to gawk at the world’s most heavily fortified border, even as governments on both sides threaten to reduce each other to rubble.

Chinese tourists browse through military garb — child-sized — in the gift shop. Japanese teens in maroon school blazers flash peace signs and giggle high above a landscape of bright-blue water, drab, brown North Korean hills and seemingly deserted villages.

The Koreas’ border can seem a surreal place at the best of times — part tourist trap, part war zone. An amusement park, fast-food joints and kitschy souvenir shops mix with an ever-present Cold War tension that is higher now than it has been in years, following North Korean outrage over U.N. sanctions and joint U.S.-South Korean military drills.

Pyongyang has threatened to reduce Seoul to a “sea of fire” and stage pre-emptive nuclear attacks on Washington, while South Korea vows that if it is attacked, it will respond with even greater force. Visitors to the demilitarized zone Thursday viewed the clash with curiosity, fear, excitement — even a dash of romance.

“We were a little bit afraid that maybe they’d throw nukes across the border,” Thomas Wolfley, a 32-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles, said, describing his initial feelings when he heard the North’s threats. “It makes it more exciting. I’m confident that if anything were to happen the United States would come get me.”

The border allows visitors to experience a touch of danger — but not so much that it interferes with their shopping and picture-taking.

Hundreds of thousands of troops from both Koreas operate in fairly close proximity here, each side training lots of big weapons on its opponent’s not-too-distant capital.

Seoul is only an hour’s drive away, and the dense, chaotic, vibrant sprawl of that megacity can seem like another world as it gives way to farms, scrubby mountains, armed sentries watching for North Korean infiltrators and coiled wire separating the highway from the banks of the Han River.

The 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) -wide DMZ is potentially a violent place, a point that’s occasionally obscured by the tourists and DMZ-stamped T-shirts and hats.

Shooting still breaks out occasionally. A monument in the DMZ stands as a memorial to two American officers hacked to death with axes in 1976 by North Koreans during a fight that began as a dispute over U.S. efforts to trim a tree.

Tourists line up for the chance to walk deep below ground into North Korean infiltration tunnels, many of them surprisingly well made, that have been discovered over the years.

The high point of many tourists’ DMZ visits is a small group of huts in Panmunjom, which straddles the border and is the place where troops from North and South come closest.

South Korea sends some of its tallest, toughest soldiers to Panmunjom. They stand statue-still, in fierce martial arts poses, chests stuck out, fists clenched, helmets and sunglasses reflecting the sun as they stare north. North Korean soldiers, smaller than their southern counterparts, glare through binoculars and gesture toward the south.

An attack at Panmunjom is unlikely, but a sudden North Korean strike in disputed waters in the Yellow Sea is certainly a possibility. Violence blamed on Pyongyang in 2010 killed 50 South Koreans.

Pyongyang’s most recent threats follow U.N. sanctions imposed last week over its third nuclear test, which it conducted Feb. 12. North Korea says ongoing annual U.S.-South Korean military drills are invasion rehearsals.

Among other declarations, North Korea has said it will no longer recognize the armistice that ended the 1953 Korean War, though it has made such remarks before. The U.N. says the armistice cannot be abandoned unilaterally. The most obvious product of that agreement — the DMZ — seems unchanged.

Experts dismiss the North’s threat to launch nuclear missiles against the United States, saying Pyongyang is years from developing the technology needed to pull that off. A direct attack on Seoul is also unlikely, as it would put the future of the ruling Kim dynasty at risk.

Recent threats are seen more as a way to rally support among North Korea’s elite and military for leader Kim Jong Un and to scare Seoul and Washington into agreeing to talks that would eventually provide North Korea with aid and security guarantees.

Some South Koreans worry about rising hostility, but many more ignore or shrug off North Korean threats they’ve lived with for decades. And at the DMZ, some even find beauty in the broad strip of no-man’s-land between the countries.

Baek Jong-moon and his wife, You Ga-yong, celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary by driving up Saturday to take a look from an observation point at North Korea and the wild, mostly unspoiled, late winter scenery.

“It’s so peaceful here,” Baek said. “I see no point worrying.”

Hyung-jin Kim and Sam Kim in Seoul and Jiwon Shin in Imjingak contributed to this report.

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Lockheed awarded $6.9 billion F-22 upgrade contract
By: DAVE MAJUMDAR WASHINGTON DC 04:11 21 Feb 2013 Source: Flight gobal

The US Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a ceiling of $6.9 billion to upgrade the service's fleet of F-22 Raptor air superiority fighters.

According to Lockheed, the arrangement is a corollary to a previous Raptor modernization contract that was issued in 2003. "The Air Force uses this to authorize the Incremental Modernization capability efforts such as Increment 3.1, Increment 3.2A and Increment 3.2B," the company says. "F-22 modernization provides upgrades that ensures the Raptor maintains air dominance against an ever advancing threat - with capabilities such as advanced weapons, multi-spectral sensors, advanced networking technology and advanced anti-jamming technology."

The contract award comes just days before a 1 March deadline for when automatic defence budget cuts kick in. The USAF expects that the work will be completed by 20 February 2023.


USAF

The Increment 3.1 upgrade, which is already being fielded, adds synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ground mapping capability to the F-22. It also adds the ability to carry eight 113kg (250lb) Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) to the jet.

In 2014, the USAF hopes to field Increment 3.2A, which will add new electronic protection measures and new combat identification capabilities to the Raptor. It will also correlate data from the jet's receive-only Link 16 data-link and fuse it with the F-22's integrated sensors.

Later, in 2017 the USAF hopes to start installing Increment 3.2B modifications onto its Raptor fleet. Increment 3.2B is a hardware and software upgrade that will fully incorporate the Raytheon AIM-120D and AIM-9X air-to-air missiles onto the F-22. It will also further upgrade the aircraft's geo-location and electronic protection capabilities. However, the USAF expects to incorporate rudimentary AIM-9X and AIM-120D capability onto the Raptor before 2017.

The USAF is funding a subsequent Increment 3.3 upgrade as a separate procurement programme.

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U.S. to beef up missile defense against N.K.
By Robert Burns - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Mar 15, 2013 14:36:42 EDT
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced Friday it will spend $1 billion to add 14 interceptors to an Alaska-based missile defense system, responding to what it called faster-than-anticipated North Korean progress on nuclear weapons and missiles.

In announcing the decision, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he is determined to protect the U.S. homeland and stay ahead of a worrisome North Korean missile threat. He acknowledged that the interceptors already in place to defend against potential North Korean missile strikes have had poor test performances.

"We will strengthen our homeland defense, maintain our commitments to our allies and partners, and make clear to the world that the United States stands firm against aggression," Hagel told a Pentagon news conference.


He said the 14 additional interceptors will be installed at Fort Greely, Alaska, where 26 already stand in underground silos, connected to communications systems and operated by soldiers at Greely and at Colorado Springs, Colo. The interceptors are designed to lift out of their silos, soar beyond the atmosphere and deploy a "kill vehicle" that can lock onto a targeted warhead and, by ramming into it at high speed, obliterate it.

Hagel also cited a previously announced Pentagon plan to place additional radar in Japan to provide early warning of a North Korean missile launch and to assist in tracking its flight path.

A portion of the $1 billion cost of the expanded system at Fort Greely will come from scrapping the final phase of a missile defense system the U.S. is building in Europe, Hagel said. The system in Europe is aimed mainly at defending against a missile threat from Iran; key elements of that system are already in place.

Tom Collina, research director at the Arms Control Association, applauded the decision to scrap the final phase of the European system, calling it an addition that "may not work against a threat that does not yet exist."

Anticipating possible European unease, Hagel said U.S. commitment to defending Europe "remains ironclad."

The decision to drop the planned expansion in Europe happens to coincide with President Barack Obama's announced intention to engage Russia in talks about further reducing each country's nuclear weapons arsenal. The Russians have balked at that, saying Washington must first address their objections to U.S. missile defenses in Europe, which the Russians see as undermining the deterrent value of their nuclear arms.

Collina said the Russians may be more willing to talk about nuclear arms reductions now that the Obama administration had decided not to go forward with the final phase of its European missile defense system.

Hagel cited three recent developments in North Korea that prompted the Obama administration to act, including a nuclear test in February deemed reckless by Washington and condemned by the United National Security Council.

Hagel also cited Pyongyang's launch in December of a rocket that put a satellite into space and demonstrated mastery of some of the technologies needed to produce a long-range nuclear missile. And he noted that last April the North Koreans put on public display a road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile, the KN-08. Navy Adm. James Winnefeld Jr., vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that missile is believed to be capable of reaching U.S. territory. Winnefeld appeared with Hagel at Friday's news conference.

Although not mentioned by Hagel, the North Koreas raised tensions further by threatening last Thursday to pre-emptively attack the U.S. Among its recent declarations, North Korea has said it will no longer recognize the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, though it has made such remarks before.

Republicans in Congress have criticized the administration for deciding several years ago that the North Korean missile threat did not justify expanding the interceptor fleet at Greely. Rep. Howard "Buck' McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Friday the administration was guilty of "looking at threats through politically tinted glasses. Now that the administration has decided to see clearly, America can get back on the right course."

Winnefeld said the administration is seeking to make clear to new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, grandson of the country's founder, Kim Il Sung, that he would lose catastrophically by attacking the U.S. or U.S. allies.

"And we believe that this young lad ought to be deterred by that. And if he's not, we'll be ready," Winnefeld said.

By personally announcing the expanded U.S. missile defense plan, Hagel appeared eager to instill confidence among Americans that they would be protected in the unlikely event that North Korea launched a strike.

"The American people should be assured that our interceptors are effective," he said.

The missile defense system was first fielded by the administration of President George W. Bush in late 2004. It has a spotty test record and has never been used in actual combat. In addition to the 26 interceptors at Greely, the system includes four interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Hagel said the 14 additional interceptors should be in place at Greely by September 2017 but not before they have been adequately tested.

James Miller, the undersecretary of defense for policy, said the project would cost about $1 billion.

Miller and Hagel said the U.S. will conduct environmental studies on three additional potential locations for interceptors in the United States, including on the East Coast, as required by Congress. Hagel said there has been no decision to build additional missile defense sites.

Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, a vocal critic of the administration's missile defense and nuclear weapons policies, called the building of an East Coast missile defense site "the next logical and prudent step to ensure we can counter the rising threat to the homeland."

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March 16, 2013
U.S. Cancels Part of Missile Defense That Russia Opposed
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and MICHAEL R. GORDON
MOSCOW — The United States has effectively canceled the final phase of a Europe-based missile defense system that was fiercely opposed by Russia and cited repeatedly by the Kremlin as a major obstacle to cooperation on nuclear arms reductions and other issues.

Russian officials here have so far declined to comment on the announcement, which was made in Washington on Friday by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel as part of a plan to deploy additional ballistic missile interceptors to counter North Korea. The cancellation of some European-based defenses will allow resources to be shifted to protect against North Korea.

Aides to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said there would be no reaction until early next week, when they expect to be briefed by American officials.

But Russian news accounts quickly raised the possibility that the decision could portend a breakthrough in what for years has been a largely intractable dispute between Russia and the United States. A headline by the Itar-Tass news agency declared, “U.S. abandons fourth phase of European missile defense system that causes the greatest objections from Russia.”

Russian leaders on several occasions used meetings with President Obama to press their complaints about the missile defense program. At one such meeting, in South Korea last March, Mr. Obama was heard on a live microphone telling the outgoing Russian president Dmitri A. Medvedev in a private aside that he would have “more flexibility” to negotiate on missile defense after the November presidential election in November.

Pentagon officials said that Russia’s longstanding objections played no role in the decision to reconfigure the missile interceptor program, which they said was based on the increased threat from North Korea and on technological difficulties and budget considerations related to the Europe-based program.

“The missile defense decisions Secretary Hagel announced were in no way about Russia,” George Little, a Pentagon spokesman, said Saturday.

Still, other Obama administration officials acknowledged potential benefits if the decision was well-received in Moscow, as well as the possibility of continued objections given that the United States is not backing away from its core plan for a land-based missile shield program in Central Europe.

“There’s still an absolutely firm commitment to European missile defense, which is not about Russia; it’s about Iran these days,” said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “If there are side benefits that accrue with Russia, so be it. But that wasn’t a primary driver.”

Regardless, some experts said it could help relations by eliminating what the Russians had cited as one of their main objections — the interceptors in the final phase of the missile shield that might have the ability to target long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are part of Russian’s nuclear arsenal.

The Obama administration has sought cooperation from Russia on numerous issues, with varying degrees of success. Russia generally has supported the NATO-led military effort in Afghanistan and has helped to restrict Iran’s nuclear program by supporting economic sanctions. But the two countries have been deeply at odds over the war in Syria, and over human rights issues in Russia. Most recently, Mr. Obama has said he would like further reductions in the two countries’ nuclear arsenals, something Russia has said it would not consider without settling the dispute over missile defense.

American experts insisted that the Russians’ concern over the antimissile program was exaggerated and that the system would not have jeopardized their strategic missiles had the final phase been developed. That Russian concern has now been addressed.

“There is no threat to Russian missiles now,” said Steven Pifer, an arms control expert who has managed Russia policy from top positions at the State Department and the National Security Council. “If you listen to what the Russians have been saying for the last two years, this has been the biggest obstacle to things like cooperation with NATO.”

“Potentially this is very big,” said Mr. Pifer, now of the Brookings Institution. “And it’s going to be very interesting seeing how the Russians react once they digest it.”

In Washington, many officials have said they believe Russia’s real objections are not only about the particular capabilities of the missile shield but also about a more general political and strategic opposition to an expanding American military presence in Eastern Europe. Canceling only the final stage of the program does not address that concern, so it is possible that Russia’s position will remain unchanged.

Sean Kay, a professor at Ohio Wesleyan University and expert in international security issue and Russian relations, said that the so-called fourth stage of the Europe-based missile defense program “was largely conceptual” and might never have been completed.

Eliminating that portion of the program made sense, Mr. Kay said. “In effect, by sticking with a plan that was neither likely to work in the last stage but was creating significant and needless diplomatic hurdles at the same time, we gained nothing,” he said. At least some of the canceled interceptors were to have been based in Poland, which will still host less-advanced interceptors.

In the past, efforts to restructure the antimissile program provoked sharp criticism in Poland, but this time reaction from Warsaw has been more muted. Analysts have said Poland’s main goal in hosting the interceptors has been having an American military presence there as a deterrent to Russia.

David M. Herszenhorn reported from Moscow, and Michael R. Gordon from Washington. Thom Shanker contributed reporting from Washington.

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Former sailor writes names of OEF casualties
By Kevin Lilley - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Mar 17, 2013 10:19:26 EDT
Ron White once memorized a deck of cards in 87 seconds.

That’s every card, every suit, in every position in the deck — No. 1 through No. 52 — in less than a minute and a half. It was, at the time, an American record.

White, a former reserve intelligence specialist first class, deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 as an individual augmentee. Back home again, he walked by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and wondered to himself, “What will the Afghanistan monument look like?”

On Feb. 28 in Fort Worth, Texas, he built a temporary one from memory: about 2,200 names, handwritten in white, on a 50-foot-wide, 7-foot-tall wall.

“It took me 11 hours,” said White, a two-time national memory champion who has made media appearances for his recollecting skills. “No bathroom breaks.”

The process began May 1, when he began memorizing the names from a book he carried everywhere. It was the largest memory project he’d ever undertaken; he started

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to outline his effort and solicit donations for the Wounded Warrior Project. He also sells a memory-improvement system to those who register at the site — all profits from those sales, he said, go to wounded warriors.

The wall-writing went off without a hitch, but one memory stands out for the memory champ. A spectator arrived and asked when he’d be writing the name of Army Pfc. Austin Staggs, who died from small-arms fire in an insurgent attack in Nangarhar province in November 2010.

White asked the woman whether she knew Staggs.

“He was my grandson,” she replied. “I came out here to watch you write his name.”

White told the woman it would be at least two more hours. She sat down in a chair and waited. About three hours later, he told her, “Ma’am, I’m about 10 minutes away,” and apologized for the delay. She said it was fine; it had given Staggs’ mother time to come and watch the name go up.

Others stopped by to pay tribute to family members and those they had served with. White finished the list, stepped away from the wall and saluted.

“It was emotionally draining, physically and mentally,” he said.

He plans to repeat the performance March 19 in San Antonio. He’d also like to write out the names in other locations around the nation throughout the year. He’s considering creating a permanent wall — the one in his Fort Worth hometown is already down — but said plans are in the very early stages.

Right now, it’s about finding more places to write the names, which White, 39, said gives him a chance to identify with the fallen and hold a personal connection to the notion of wartime sacrifice.

“Literally,” he said, “they are not forgotten.”

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