The Air Force's new top commander for space predicted on future attacks on U.S. satellites and called for greatly expanded tracking and identification of payloads launched by other countries.
A $7.4 billion Boeing Co. project to put a chemical laser on a 747 jet as part of U.S. missile defence efforts could be delayed under an emerging five-year Air Force budget plan, according to a defence official knowledgeable about the program.
China and Russia warned that space-based weapons would pose a threat as great as weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and called for global negotiations to prevent their deployment. Their statements came after speculation that the U.S. was planning to issue a new space policy, the first overhaul in over a decade, that most analysts expect will declare the U.S. intention to deploy space weapons.
Northrop Grumman has released a study of the state of the U.S. Defense effort to develop directed-energy weapons. The report also examines the operational implications of their deployment in battle, for missile defense, or in outer space. [ Link to Full Study (PDF, 32pg)]
U.S. forces could be less than a year away from using energy beam weapons against insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. Army says it wants the short-range, nonlethal “directed energy” weapons to help deal with crowds and warn suspects in close situations without immediately resorting to gunfire.
India joined Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system on Wednesday, becoming the fourth non-EU country to join the program that rivals the U.S. Global Positioning System.
The threat of biochemical attacks by al Qaeda has declined, but the availability of agents and the group's professed interest in using them make the danger very real, according to a top German counterterrorism official.
North Korea could flight test at any time a ballistic missile potentially capable of reaching parts of the United States with a nuclear-weapon-sized payload, according to the State Department's top arms control official.
Top US air force officials are working on a strategy to put spy planes in near space - the no man's land above 65,000 feet, but below an outer space orbit.
China plans to launch more than 100 satellites before 2020 to monitor water reserves, forests, farmland, city construction and "various activities of society," a government official said without elaborating.