A Russian company is using anti-satellite weapons technology developed by the Soviet Union to launch microsatellites using a MiG 31. The Soviet Union developed the ability to launch an anti-satellite missile from a fighter jet in response to U.S. tests with an F-15 in 1985.
The author proposes expanding U.S. cooperative threat reduction programs to address the threat from the Soviet Union's system to defeat bubonic plagure.
The fledgling U.S. missile defense system would never be able to counter a large-scale missile attack and is likely only to spark another nuclear arms race, a senior Russian military official said yesterday.
David Hambling has a two-part series up on current research into directed-energy weapons that target the nervous system. The first part looks at U.S. Air Force research into this, including the infamous Active Denial System or "pain ray". The second part looks at Russian research into developing a heart-stopping, death ray.
Against a backdrop of global efforts to address peacefully the concerns raised by Iran's nuclear power program, the US and Russia are proposing an international "partnership" for controlling the flow of weapons-grade uranium to those who might harbor military ambitions. The plan would provide energy-starved countries with the fuel they need for generating nuclear power, while taking back the dangerous waste created in its production.
In recent weeks Russians have discussed the possibility of establishing a lunar base on their own, perhaps to refine helium-3. James Oberg examines these pronouncements and sees them as another effort by Russian companies to win foreign funding.
The head of a leading Russian space company said it was considering plans to set up a permanent moon base and helium-3 mining operation by 2015, a statement that appeared to be an effort to win government funds rather than a specific action plan.
ndia and Russia were scheduled to sign four agreements on space and defence cooperation during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's three-day visit to Russia.
A new U.S. State Department report argues that Russia, Iran, North Korea and Syria all continue to maintain biological weapons programs. The authors also discuss ongoing efforts in Cuba and China but stop short of calling them biological weapons programs.
A new report from the Center for Nonproliferation Studies finds a growing threat from Soviet-era biological weapons facilities. "They often have culture collections of pathogens that lack biosecurity, and they employ people who are well-versed in investigating and handling deadly pathogens," said Raymond A. Zilinskas, a bioweapons expert and coauthor of the draft report on the antiplague system. "Some are located at sites accessible to terrorist groups and criminal groups. The potential is that terrorists and criminals would have little problem acquiring the resources that reside in these facilities."