Tag Archives: missile defense

Air Force Research Laboratory demonstrated the use of a new high energy laser weapon against multiple targets during a test at White Sands Missile Range. The test unit of the Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator shot down multiple missiles on April 23, marking a new milestone for the technology's development, the U.S. Air Force said Friday.

The U.S. Army plans to increase its focus on building and acquiring new weapons systems that would give the military enhanced capability to fight China and Russia in a “high-intensity conflict,” Defense One reported Tuesday.

U.S. Army officials outlined new initiatives to build defense systems that would enable the military to “see” from thousands of miles to detect and track targets, C4ISRNet reported Tuesday. The service intends to develop a long-range penetrating capability to address the growing efforts of adversaries to create systems that could hit or affect the U.S., such as long-range missiles and advanced radar equipment. 

Lt. Gen. James Dickinson, chief of Space and Missile Defense Command, said the air and missile defense framework of the U.S. Army will leverage new technologies and build mission ready forces to counter emerging threats, including unmanned aerial systems and hypersonic weapons, Defense News reported Wednesday. The framework aims to provide troops the ability to protect maneuvering ground forces and critical assets in multi-domain operations.

Acting Defense Secretary and 2019 Wash100 Award winner Patrick Shanahan said the Trump administration’s $718 billion budget request for the Pentagon for fiscal 2020 needs to continue to implement the National Defense Strategy, the Department of Defense website reported Tuesday. The proposed DoD budget will “reflect difficult, but necessary, decisions that align finite resources with our strategic priorities,” Shanahan said on Tuesday during his testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the Pentagon’s $718 billion funding request for fiscal 2020 is a “requirement-informed budget” supporting the National Defense Strategy and addressing threats posed by Russia and China, the Department of Defense website reported Thursday. Shanahan, a 2019 Wash100 winner, testified on Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee to provide an overview of DoD's FY 2020 budget request and how its provisions intend to respond to those specific threats.

The Department of Defense plans to test ground-based cruise missiles in August as the U.S. moves to renounce its commitment to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987, Reuters reported Thursday. The potential withdrawal would occur if Russia does not cease from committing what the U.S. considers violations to the treaty.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson has called on other U.S. military services to send more land-based missile defense assets to the field to allow the Navy to use its fleet for other vital missions, National Defense Magazine reported Monday. The Navy deploys some of its destroyers and other ships to defend sites ashore against air-and-missile threats.

A new assessment report shows the Pentagon is advancing missile defense for the U.S., with the military now capable of deterring certain attacks from North Korea or Iran, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The annual report from Robert Behler, director of operational testing at the Department of Defense, highlights the improved capability of DoD’s $180B network of ground- and sea-based missile interceptors, sensors and communications.

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has said the Pentagon plans to focus its 2019 national strategy on cyber, missiles and space areas in order to maintain the country’s military advantage. Shanahan wrote in a Defense News article published Monday that the Department of Defense will leverage developments in missile defense systems, hypersonics and long-range precision fires in 2019 to protect U.S. and international assets from adversary missiles.