A weapon that used to be the size of a passenger jet now fits on the back of a flatbed truck. (Shark mounting apparatus sold separately.)
DARPA is unveiling a portable laser weapons system, HELLADS, which seems like something out of a sci-fi movie. HELLADS stands for High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System. The new laser application, created by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems with a custom power system from Saft Batteries, will help change the way the American military fights future wars. Current military laser systems are bulky contraptions which are mainly the size of a passenger jet, while the proposed DARPA weapon can fit on the back of a flatbed truck. The 150-kilowatt, solid state laser weapon is strong enough to take down drones or other aerial targets; a prototype is expected to be available by the end of 2012.
Since laser beams work at the speed of light, it's effectively impossible for aerial targets to dodge them. The use of laser beams against land targets is complicated by line-of-sight issues, but the miniaturization of laser technology makes them perfect for use against aerial and naval targets. The demonstration laser for DARPA will be the first 150-kilowatt laser weapon of its kind. DARPA plans to use the completed prototypes against targets at White Sands Missile Range in early 2013--this will include ground testing against rockets, mortars, and surface-to-air missiles.
Although video footage of HELLADS is not available yet, this clip of a previously developed American-Israeli laser system (which will be discussed later) from Northrop Grumman gives a good idea of how the system will work.
The big advance with these weapons is in the strength of the lasers and in their portability. Saft's Annie Sennet-Cassity told Fast Company that while previous military laser prototypes were stronger, they were also about the size of a passenger jet. This creates obvious difficulties in battlefield or aerial use. A 150-kilowatt laser beam is powerful enough to destroy aircraft. Previous military laser weapons primarily relied on blinding pilots with laser beams, rather than destroying the aircraft itself. For the United States Air Force, the ultimate goal is to equip bombers and UAVs with HELLADS weaponry.
However, the United States is not the only nation developing laser weapons. The Israeli government and American defense contractors have quietly been working for years on the Nautilus laser system, which in the words of Wired's Danger Room blog, gave the country a “ray gun defense.” Russia has been working on aerial military lasers since at least 2010, and India has also been developing a laser weapon system of its own.
While the idea of military lasers, death rays, and ray guns encourage all sorts of futurist fantasies, there will be major limitations to these weapons. Despite the fact that DARPA's laser can destroy airplanes, the strength of the laser beam is greatly weakened by clouds, haze, and dust clouds—something that can limit on-the-ground use in warzones.
COMMENTARY: HELLADS reminds one of the laser blasters you see in 'Star Wars' sci-fi films. With the ability to be able to integrate HELLADS into combat vehicles, aircraft and ships, this could be a game changer in combat warfare. However, the U.S. is not the only country working this this type of technology. You can bet that the Chinese are working on something similar.
Courtesy of an article dated March 8, 2012 appearing in Fast Company
Background: Thule Air Base sits within 800 miles of the Arctic Circle, making it the northernmost U.S. military installation. Among the many challenges posed by the region's climate is that the base's port is only accessible for three months each year, so major supplies need to be shipped during the summer. The base may be frozen and remote, but the 12th Space Warning Squadron operates an early warning system for Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles from Thule, while the 21st Space Wing is in charge of space surveillance operations.
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How It's Unique: Brad Schulz, vice president of federal architecture at HNTB, who recently worked on a dormitory replacement project at Thule, explains that construction crews essentially need to build on the most stable layer of permafrost they can get to. With temperatures dropping below minus-60 F, keeping troops warm is crucial. One of the more interesting weather-specific features is that all of the utilities are above ground, because it would be too hard to quickly access them if something went awry. "You don't bury any waterlines, communication lines or even sanitary lines," Schulz says. "They're all insulated and triple-heat-taped." Schulz also notes that all the buildings on the base are equipped with so-called arctic vestibules, which provide 24/7 access to shelter while ensuring the buildings remain secure.
Background: Within two months of the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt set aside the first 127,000 acres of Dugway Proving Ground in Utah's Great Salt Lake Desert. Over the past 60 years, the site has expanded to nearly 800,000 acres, roughly the size of Rhode Island. Geographically, Dugway is located in the eastern Great Basin desert region of the American West. The mean elevation is 4,350 feet above sea level. Dugway sits under a huge invisible container of protected airspace known as the Utah Test and Training Range, controlled by the U.S. Air Force. Military Flight Operations in this area are very frequent. NASA has also used the combined air/land space for critical recovery operations of its Genesis and Stardust Mission Craft. The nearest major national-scale city is Salt Lake City, Utah, 85 miles northeast.
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How It's Unique: Dugway's massiveness allows it to be the premiere site for testing defense systems against chemical and biological weapons, as well as military-grade smoke bombs. During World War II, the facility played a vital role in the development of incendiary bombs. In order to test the fire-causing weapons, crews at Dugway built replicas of German and Japanese villages, even going so far as to fill the model buildings with furniture that would be similar to that found in the respective country. Today, the remains of the German village are eligible to be included on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Background: This joint U.S. and U.K. operation is situated on a tiny atoll about 1000 miles from India and tasked with providing logistical support to forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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How It's Unique: "There's a certain amount of logistical difficulty" with ultra-remote facilities like Diego Garcia, Schulz says, and shipping materials can be costly. Diego Garcia's remoteness, though, allows it to be a key hub for tracking satellites, and it is one of five monitoring stations for GPS. Additionally, the island is one of only a handful of locations equipped with a Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance system for tracking objects in deep space. As an atoll, the land itself is rather oddly shaped, too. From end to end, Diego Garcia is 34 miles long, but its total area is only 11 square miles.
Background: HAARP, or the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, is a collaborative project involving the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army and the University of Alaska. Researchers at the facility use a powerful high-frequency transmitter and an array of 180 antennas to temporarily disrupt the ionosphere in hopes of yielding potential communications and surveillance benefits.
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How It's Unique: HAARP has been the centerpiece of countless conspiracy theories, ranging from rumors that it will be used for mind control to claims that it can manipulate the weather of individual countries. The project's website says that the equipment can only function properly if it is located in the auroral region, and Alaska happens to be the only U.S. state that fits that criterion. A quiet electromagnetic location is needed for the system to operate, which further explains the removed location of HAARP. In past interviews, HAARP's operators readily admit they're researching potential defense applications.
Cheyenne Mountain Complex Air Force Station, Colo.:
Background: This iconic underground base has been inspiring science fiction writers and awing engineers since 1966. Located nearly a half mile under a granite mountain, the labyrinthine facility is run by Air Force Space Command. The base earned its place in pop culture when the television version of Stargatemade Cheyenne Mountain the HQ of cosmic time travel.
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How It's Unique: One-of-a-kind bases like Cheyenne pose countless construction challenges and need to satisfy seemingly impossible requirements, like being able to withstand multi-megaton attacks. "It would be hard for a contractor to bid a project like this, because you might be using new construction techniques, new construction technology," Schulz says. Aside from sitting under a mountain of granite, an extremely hard rock, the base is protected by 25-ton blast doors, and some rooms sit on massive beds of springs to better absorb a blast. "It's certainly not a very secret installation, but it's well-protected."
Background: Near the hot, desolate center of Australia, just outside of Alice Springs, is the Joint Defence Space Research Facility Pine Gap. Australia and the U.S. agreed to build the compound in 1966, but desert flooding, blistering heat and a lack of paved roads slowed initial construction efforts. The site officially opened in June 1970 and has been a joint U.S./Australian operation since.
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How It's Unique: Pine Gap's collection of eight or so radomes and its remote location have sparked many UFO-related rumors, both in Australia and abroad. The main function of Pine Gap is to monitor any missile activity in the region and relay intelligence to U.S. and Australian forces. Schulz points out there are certain military installations, like Pine Gap or HAARP, that can only operate effectively in certain geographical areas. "Even though they're in terrible environments, some portion of that land is strategically important," he says. In 2009, the Australian Department of Defence announced plans to upgrade antiquated equipment at the facility, indicating that Pine Gap has a long future ahead of it.
Background: Anthrax, Ebola virus, plague and monkeypox are just a few of the deadly microbes handled by researchers at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, commonly known as USAMRIID. Over the years, the institute has made significant contributions to the development of vaccines, diagnostics and treatments that have both military and civilian applications.
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How It's Unique: USAMRIID is the only Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory under the purview of the Department of Defense. Facilities like these are all about redundancies, Shulz says, and the safety requirements needed for BSL-4 certification are extensive and complex. A few of the more notable precautions include double-door airlocks, sophisticated filtration systems capable of catching microscopic particles, fumigation chambers and a completely air-tight building. According to the National Institutes of Health, many of the BSL-4 facilities build buffer corridors around the laboratories to help mitigate damage from any potential blasts.
Background: This notoriously cryptic facility is built under Raven Rock mountain near the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland. The site was birthed during the Cold War and goes by many names, including Site R and the underground Pentagon.
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How It's Unique: Raven Rock Mountain Complex (RRMC) is a underground continuity of government facility built by the U.S. government in the early 1950s. It is located about 14 km (8.7 miles) east of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, and 10 km (6.2 miles) north-northeast of Camp David, Maryland. It is also called the Raven Rock Military Complex, or simply Site R. Other designations and nicknames include “The Rock”, NMCC-R (National Military Command Center Reservation), ANMCC (Alternate National Military Command Center), AJCC (Alternate Joint Communications Center), “Backup Pentagon”, or “Site RT”; the latter refers to the vast array of communication towers and equipment atop the mountain. Colloquially, the facility is known as an “underground Pentagon”.
Background: Lajes Field, on the small, Portuguese-owned Terceira Island, is an important refueling station for aircraft that can't clear the Atlantic Ocean in a single shot. In 1953, the U.S. established its first presence on the island when it positioned the 1605th Air Base Wing at Lajes. Today, the 65th Air Base Wing is stationed at the facility, providing support to U.S. Air Forces in Europe and to a variety of allies.
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How It's Unique: Lajes Field is on a small chunk of volcanic rock about 1000 miles off the coast of Portugal, a location that can be stressful for first-time navigators. About 11 miles long from north to south, the island is not capable of supporting more than one airport, so the field is split between civilian operations and military operations. "All the military support facilities line one side of the runway, and the passenger terminal, if you will, is very small on the other side," Schulz says.
Background: The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency's Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility is one of six locations that stores chemical weapons. During the 1960s, 7 percent of U.S. chemical weapons were stashed at Anniston, including stockpiles of VX nerve-agent munitions. The Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, currently under construction, is located 50 miles east of Birmingham, Alabama, and eight miles west of Anniston. The stockpile at Anniston is maintained on 762 acres in the northeastern portion of the Anniston Army Depot, and holds 2,254 tons, or 7.4 percent of the original US stockpile of chemical weapons. Anniston's stockpile consists of cartridges, projectiles, ton containers, rockets and mines containing the nerve agents GB and VX, and the blister agent HB, more commonly referred to as or mustard agent.
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List of Chemical Weapons stored at Anistan Chemical Weapons Disposal Facility
How It's Unique: Operations at Anniston have shifted from storing chemical weapons to safely destroying and disposing of them. Mustard-gas-filled munitions can't just be chucked in the garbage or buried, so the facility is equipped with high-tech robotics that disassemble weapons and powerful incinerators that help destroy certain waste materials. Workers at the site have recently started using a Linear Projectile Mortar Disassembly machine—a six-axis, remote-controlled robot—to extract the explosives from mortars filled with chemical agents.
Background: Around 1980, the Navy began overhauling Kings Bay to be the East Coast location for Ohio-class nuclear submarines, a project that took nearly a decade and cost $1.3 billion, making it the largest peacetime construction project for the Navy at the time. Spread over 16,000 acres, about a quarter of which is protected wetlands, this submarine base is the habitat of 20 threatened or endangered species.
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How It's Unique: When a submarine needs a little TLC, there's not a better place than the Trident Refit Facility at Kings Bay. The 700-foot-long covered drydock, one of the largest in the world, is impressive, but what really stands out is the state of the art Magnetic Silencing Facility. The entrance of the silencing facility is designed as a drive-in, like a Jiffy Lube for Naval vessels. After a sub is in place, it is subjected to a deperming treatment, which basically erases the sub's magnetic signature, allowing it to remain as stealthy as possible during future voyages.
COMMENTARY: I wanted to add one final military facility that is glaringly missing from the above list. This is the military facility known as Area 51 (see below) a.k.a Groom Lake and Dreamland. If you ask the U.S. government about Area 51, they will tell you that it does not exist.
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Fifteen miles south of Area 51 is S-4, a super-secret facility located at the base of the Papoose Mountains adjacent to the Papoose dry lakebed. Individuals with authorized access to S-4 are flown from Las Vegas to Area 51, then transported by bus over a dirt road to S-4. The windows of the bus are deliberately blackened so that passengers are unable to see the route to S-4.
The airspace over Area 51 and S-4 is highly restricted, and any pilot or aircraft that accidentally or intentionally strays into sector R 4808 N is subject to pursuit by Air Force jets scrambled for intercept, or subject to outright destruction by surface-to-air missiles.
Sector R 4808 N houses Area 51 and S-4 and is completely offlimits to all unauthorized air traffic
The S-4 installation is built into the mountain, and there are nine hanger doors that are angled at about 90 degrees to match the hillside. These doors are covered with a sand-textured coating to blend-in with the sides of the mountain, amid the desert floor.
According to several S-4 informants, including Conner O'Ryan, Bob Dean, Phil Schneider (btw, the powers that be within the U.S. government probably arranged to have Phil Schnider murdered in 1996 for divulging the existence of S-4), and Bob Lazar, S-4 houses several recovered extra-terrestrial spacecraft that either crashed or were shot down.
Below are some aerial images of an underground facility located at Area 51/S-4 taken by Google Earth.
An aerial view of S-4 underground facility taken by Google Earth
Construction of S-4 undeground facility entrances
S-4 underground facility entrance aerial view
Aerial view of another S-4 underground facility entrance
The S-4 underground facility has several entrances. Here's one of them.
The following videos do an excellent job of describing the location of Area 51 and S-4.
Now you know where your tax dollars go.
Courtesy of an article appearing in the November 2011 issue of Popular Mechanics
Disturbing news has been leaking out from the giant continent at the bottom of the world. Some scientists manning lonely outposts under the drifting and shifting aurora are nearly paralyzed with fear. Their clipped reports are being reviewed by astonished superiors back in the home countries.
Russian researchers posted near the giant South Pole sub-glacial Lake Vostok have reported eerie anomalies and incidents over the past few years that sometimes seem to border on the frayed edge of creeping madness.
Sector of erupting anomalies
Artificial structure found under two miles of ice
During April 2001 one of the world's great secrets was revealed: an ancient structure or apparatus that lay encased miles under the hard Antarctic ice was detected by a roving spy satellite. The US military immediately moved to quash the reports and the mainstream news media dutifully complied.
Despite the news blackout, reports still surfaced that a secretive excavation project had commenced on the heels of the discovery. Some European countries formally protested the excavation by the US military.
Excavation deep into the ice...What's down there?
Nicole Fontaine, at the time he was the European Parliament's French president said,
"If it's something the US military has constructed down there, then they're violating the international Antarctic Treaty. If not, then it's something that's at least 12,000 years old, which is how long ice has covered Antarctica. That would make it the oldest man-made structure on the planet. The Pentagon should heed the calls of Congress and release whatever it's hiding."
The federal government and the Pentagon ignored the calls.
High technology and strange events
US Air Force's incredible Subterrene giant earth borer.
Soon after, some military observers noted that robotic devices were being shipped to the South Pole and speculation erupted about the belief by some that the US Air Force had transported their mammoth nuclear-powered tunel boring machine, the Subterrene, on a C5-A to a secret Antarctic base.
The Subterrene--a cylindrical vessel that is said manned with a crew of four to six--is capable of subterranean travel and has undergone tests in Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico. Designed to bore through hard rock strata, drilling into the ice would be like a laser cutting through a marshmallow.
Earth borer: like a laser cutting through a marshmallow.
Following the frenzied events, of early 2001, the news broke of a mysterious medical emergency that forced an evacuation of unnamed personnel during the depths of the Antarctic winter--the first event of its kind during the dangerous South Pole winter season.
Shortly after that the region was shaken by an unusual earthquake. Seismologists located the temblor at the epicenter of the buried structure in East Antarctica.
Yet still the military resisted making any comment.
A magnetic anomaly formed, intensified, and spread to the vicinity of the Russian Vostok base. Russian researchers were shocked and puzzled.
Meanwhile, the American military airfield buzzed with activity as flights came and went at a dizzying pace. Heavy machinery--some pretty exotic--appeared on the bleak Antarctic ice sheet. Unverified reports claimed that the nuclear-powered earth borer Subterrene arrived.
Subterrene sent to explore prehistoric machine?
Finally, the American and European media were pressing hard for some believable answers when 9-11 occured and the US was suddenly under terrorist attack. Domestic and international focus immediately shifted from the Antarctic to New York City and Washington, D.C.
The mysterious events in Antarctica were forgotten.
2002: TV crew disappears
A California TV crew filming in the Antarctic went missing in November 2002.
Supposedly, a video discovered among the crews' personal effects by a special U.S. Navy SEAL rescue team tasked to find the filmmakers confirmed earlier reports of a huge artifact buried under the ice--a prehistoric machine that may be of alien origin.
"The U.S. government said it will seek to block the airing of a video found by Navy rescuers in Antarctica that purportedly reveals that a massive archaeological dig is underway two miles beneath the ice," stated a press release that appeared briefly on the studio production's website.
Time vortex erupts
As one bizarre event followed another, a research team of US and UK scientists accidentally came across a mind-numbing discovery. While working on a joint weather research project, the team witnessed the creation of a spinning vortex of time.
US physicist Mariann McLein allegedly testified that she and her colleagues became aware of a "spinning gray fog" in the sky over their heads. They initially dismissed the phenomenon as merely part of a random polar storm.
The spiraling vortex, however, did not disperse. Stranger still, despite gusts of wind and briskly moving clouds overhead, the weird spinning gray fog remained stationary.
Intense magnetic anomaly.
Deciding to explore the odd phenomenon, the group took one of its weather balloons and attached a meteorological instrument to it that calibrated temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, windspeed and a scientific chronometer to record the times of the readings.
After attaching a cable to the balloon, and securing the other end to a winch, they released it. The balloon and instrument package soared upwards and were immediately sucked into the gaping maw of the swirling vortex.
The balloon and instruments disappeared.
Tunnel to the past
After a several minutes, they decided to retrieve the balloon. Despite some difficulty with the winch they succeeded in bringing the balloon back to earth and checked the instruments. McLein stated that everyone was stunned by the readout on the chronometer. It displayed a date decades in the past: January 27, 1965.
McLein claimed the experiment was repeated several times with the same result.
Later, she said, the entire episode was reported to military intelligence and passed on to the White House. Presumably the strange vortex phenomenon--a highly magnetic tunnel to the past--was code named The Time Gate by military intelligence.
Magnetic time tunnel to the past?
As the phenomenon was generated in the same general vicinity as the discovery of the giant apparatus deep under the ice, it's thought the two may be related.
If indeed a magnetic time vortex is appearing and disappearing over Antarctica--and if the phenomena is not natural, but generated by some unknown technology deep under the icecap--it may reveal the physics of time and could potentially allow control of the past, and by implication the future.
If true, it's no wonder the military is so intensely interested and so closed-mouthed about it.
COMMENTARY: The part that opened my eyes is the Freedom of Information Act release titled "Use Of The Subterrene For Military Drilling Applications" dated October 1974.
According to the release, the idea for the Subterrene earth boring machine, originated as part of the U.S. Army Engineer Wasterways Experiment Station (USAEWES) Explosive Excavation Research Laboratory (EERL) government program which evolved from the organization originally known as USAE Nuclear Cratering Grouop (NCG), which was established in 1962. It's a rather lengthy document, but if you want to reach it in its entirety, here's the link.
I just hope that the U.S. government will level with us. If there is an "object" buried under the Antaractice ice cap, and the object is of alien origin, and a time vortex has opened over Antarctica, we should all know about it. I want to go back into time when things were simpler, rock n roll was just starting, and there wasn't any internet or fucking iPads. It is very disturbing why the government always clamps down and denies everyting. Even the media has been put on notice. This discovery is just too big to hide forever. WikiLeaks, where are you when we need you.
If our discovery of the object is the cause of all those UFO sighings, the aliens must be really pissed off we found their condo under the Antarctice ice cap. Just the same, I hope that these aliens are benevolent creatures and will help us get rid of all those mean Tea Partyers.
Courtesy of an article dated April 12, 2011 appearing in Before It's News
The notorious character "Humongous" from the "The Road Warrior" film. Visions of the future economy. All he wanted was some gas for his chopper, so he took matters into his own hands.
The man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting a revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions - all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012.
Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is publisher of the Trends Journal which forecasts and analyzes business, socioeconomic, political, and other trends, and is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events which can send a chill down your spine.
Celente says that by 2012 America will become an underdeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.
Celente, adding that the situation would be "worse than the greatdepression" said.
"We're going to see the end of the retail Christmas... we're going to see a fundamental shift take place... putting food on the table is going to be more important than putting gifts under the Christmas tree."
Celente also said.
"America's going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for."
He notes that people's refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.
Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the sub-prime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as "The Panic of 2008," adding that "giants (would) tumble to their deaths," which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others.
He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent. The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures.
The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defence report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super-rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean,
"The world's middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest. The middle classes could become a revolutionary class."
In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America. He said.
"There will be a revolution in this country. It ' s not going to come yet, but it's going to come down the line and we 're going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for i t: the takeover of Washington, D.C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen."
He goes on to give us a horrid look into the future of America.
"The first thing to do is organise with tax revolts. That's going to be the big one because people can't afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You're going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop."
"It's going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we're going to see many more."
"We're going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It's going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to."
"It's going to come as a shock and with it, there's going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people's minds weren't wrecked on all these modern drugs, over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be."
"So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody's comprehension."
The George Washington blog has compiled a list of quotes attesting to Celente's accuracy as a trend forecaster.
CNN Headline News:"When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente."
USA Today:"Gerald Celente has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right."
CNBC:"There's not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he's talking about."
The Wall Street Journal: "Those who take their predictions seriously ...consider. Gerald Celente and the Trends Research Institute."
The Atlantic Journal-Constitution:"Gerald Celente is always ahead of the curve on trends and uncannily on the mark ... he's one of the most accurate forecasters around."
The New York Times:"Mr. Celente tracks the world's social, economic and business trends for corporate clients."
48 Hours, CBS News:"Mr. Celente is a very intelligent guy. We are able to learn about trends from an authority."
The Detroit News:"Gerald Celente has a solid track record. He has predicted everything from the 1987 stock market crash and the demise of the Soviet Union to green marketing and corporate downsizing."
Chicago Tribune: "Gerald Celente forecast the 1987 stock market crash, 'green marketing,' and the boom in gourmet coffees."
The Los Angeles Times:"The Trends Research Institute is the Standard and Poor’s of Popular Culture."
New York Post: "If Nostradamus were alive today, he'd have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente."
So there you have it - hardly a nut job conspiracy theorist blowhard now is he? The price of not heeding his warnings will be far greater than the cost of preparing for the future now.
Storable food and gold are two good places to make a start.
COMMENTARY: Gerald Celente reminds me of a fast talking Atlantic City bookie, laying odds on the Super Bowl, than a professional trends expert and visionary, but you cannot deny the accuracy of many of his predictionssince he started in 1980.
You don't have to be a noted economist to make these predictions. The evidence of a U.S. financial collapse are all around us. I have written extensively on different aspects of the U.S. and world economies, including:
In a blog post dated July 6, 2011, titled "The Root Causes Behind Today's High Unemployment Situation, And Why This May Not Change Anytime Soon," I showed in great detail why unemployment will continue to remain high. This is a must read for any pessimists who believe we are out of the woods.
The symptoms are everywhere around you. In February 2011, I wrote about the impending Peak-Oil Crisis, a catastrophe we will all face because the demand for oil will exceed production (peak-oil). If you have noticed a rapid rise in the price of gas, that's what I am talking about.
The Arab Spring Revolutions which erupted in North Africa and Middle East saw the overthrow of long standing dictators in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, a bloddy revolution in Syria which continues to this day, and unrest and demonstrations in Jordan. All of these events have created further instability in the oil rich regions of the Middle East and North Africa.
Adding fuel to the fire is the refusal of Iran to end its illegal nuclear weapons program in defiance of the U.N. and AEIA inspectors and boycott resolutions, and threats to destroy Israel and further threats to the West that it could close the Straits of Hormuz, adds further tensions and instability to the free flow of oil from the Middle East to the rest of the world.
This is not just a U.S. problem, but it is global in scale. We all know about the financial collapse of several European countries, namely Greece, Spain, Portugal and now Italy, but major developed nations like Japanare on the brink of financial collapse. Standard & Poors recently reduced the credit ratings of France, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy. This will make it doubly difficult for these countries to raise funds and pay their longterm sovereign debt when it comes due.
In a blog post dated January 7, 2012, I told you about passage and signing by President Obama, of the National Defense Authorization Act or NDAA (H.R. bill 1540), which effectively gives the President the power to use our military in purely civilian matters. Though the wording in the NDAA is itself torturous -- and there is a provision for a waiver from the Defense Secretary regarding mandatory military detentions -- the elasticity of words like "associated forces" and "supported" have left some civil libertarians worried that the U.S. military could be deployed domestically against people opposing future American wars against alleged "terrorists" or "terrorist states." In effect, this new NDAA law could lead to a police state, in which you could be detained as a "person of interest" or labeled as a "traitor" simply for demonstrating against future wars. You could be held for an indefinite period of time, denied rights of habeaus corpus and you would disappear into some detention camp never to be seen again. Does the U.S. government believe that civil law and order will collapse during a revolution? Why would the politicians pass such a devisive law and destroy your civil and legal rights under the U.S. Constitution unless they are planning for something?
Finally, in a blog post dated January 9, 2012 (reposted), I told you about the booming demand for underground "Apocalypse" bunkers by the rich and powerful. They are the so-called 1 percenters with the financial means to protect themselves in the event of a natural catastrophe, or maybe a revolution, perhaps? These wealthy individuals are well connected and are the largest doners and supporters to both major political parties. Why would they be willing to pay many thousands of dollars unless they knew something truly bad was about to happen? While the 99 percenters experience an all-out revolution, these rich and powerful individuals will live in absolute luxury and comfort in plush deep underground bunkers protected from the chaos above ground.
It does not surprise me then why Mr. Celente predicts a "violent revolution" and that "food will become more important than Christmas". There is a lot of anger out there. The roots for the emergence of a third party are already here. The Tea Party could emerge as that Third Party. The Tea Partyreflects a lot of that anger, although I don't agree with much of their radical politics, including their racism reflected in their personal hate for President Obama. The Occupy Wall Street movement has expanded across the country. Major demonstrations are planned in 2012 in many major cities.
Courtesy of an article dated January 30, 2011 appearing in Before It's News
CICADA Mark III autonomous glider (Naval Research Laboratory) - Click Image To Enlarge
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's Vehicle Research Section has successfully completed flight tests for the Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD) program. The final demonstration took place Sept. 1 at the Yuma Proving Grounds, Yuma, Ariz., and consisted of a series of eight balloon-drops at altitudes of up to 57,000 ft, delivering sensor-emplacement Close-In Covert Autonomous Disposable Aircraft (CICADA) vehicles within 15 feet of their intended landing locations.The ADD concept is to enable small unmanned air vehicles (UAV) equipped with sensor payloads to be launched from aircraft (manned or unmanned), balloons, or precision guided munitions, and dispersed in selectable patterns around designated areas.
The Autonomous Deployment Demonstration programteam holds a Tempest UAV against two, CICADA Mark III gliders. Click Image To Enlarge
The Tempest UAV airframe, designed and built by UASUSA, Boulder, Col., has a wingspan of nearly 10 feet and is construction using fiberglass and carbon fiber composites. Click Image To Enlarge
Carried to altitude by balloon, the Tempest UAV with two wing mounted CICADA vehicles is released for flight to a 'drop' destination. Click Image To Enlarge
Chris Bovais, aeronautical engineer and flight test coordinator, NRL Vehicle Research Section says.
"The mission profile is straight forward. The CICADA is dropped from another airborne platform, flies to a single waypoint, and then enters an orbit. It descends in that orbit until it reaches the ground."
The NRL developed CICADA Mark III UAV is a glider; it has no propulsion source onboard, therefore. It requires another airborne platform to get it to an altitude such that it can glide to its destination. Its lack of a motor and small size, make it nearly undetectable in flight.
A CICADA Mark III is carried beneath the left wing of the Tempest UAV at 53,000 feet, after release from the balloon and before releasing the CICADA. Click Image To Enlarge
Tempest UAV releasing a CICADA Mark III glider from its left wing. A CICADA Mark II prototype is carried beneath the Tempest's right wing. Click Image To Enlarge
The ADD field trials successfully demonstrate that the CICADA can perform a precision delivery of a notional payload after being dropped from a 'mother-ship' or being carried aloft by a balloon. Standoff distances of 30 nautical miles and altitudes up to 57,000 feet were demonstrated, with an average landing error of 15 feet from the commanded location.
During the demonstration, the UAV ensemble was lifted to altitude using balloons operated by Aerostar International. A UASUSA built Tempest UAV, with two CICADA vehicles attached on wing-mounted pylons, was carried aloft to altitudes approaching 60,000 feet. The Tempest mother ship was released from the balloon, autonomously executed a pull-up maneuver, and then carried the two CICADAs to a drop location. Each CICADA vehicle was then released from the mother ship and autonomously flew to the preprogrammed target waypoint.
Bovais said.
"Many remote sensors are currently hand emplaced. The CICADA allows for the low-cost delivery of multiple precision-located sensors without placing the warfighter in harm's way."
The CICADA Mark III is a unique vehicle. The airframe is simply a printed circuit board also serving as the autopilot, the first known multi-purpose airframe/avionics implementation of its kind. This novel construction method significantly reduces assembly time, minimizes wiring requirements, and enables the manufacture of low-cost and rugged micro air vehicles. The airframe shape is easily scaled to accommodate various payload sizes and potential acoustic, magnetic, chemical/biological and SIGINT sensors. Unique to this construction technique, additional electronic payloads can be inserted into the system by updating the printed circuit board artwork and 're-winging' the aircraft.
A custom autopilot for the CICADA, both hardware and software, was developed by the Vehicle Research Section to be both inexpensive and robust. The only flight sensors are a 5Hz GPS receiver and a two-axis gyroscope. Although having minimal sensors, the navigation solution and the flight controller proved to be quite robust during in-flight testing, routinely recovering from tumbling launches. The flight controller also included a custom NRL algorithm that accurately estimated wind speed and magnitude, despite having no air data sensors onboard.
COMMENTARY: The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's Autonomous Deployment Demonstration (ADD) program is a slick system that could be used in all kinds of situations, military and public, where you have to conduct air surveillance operations and do it silently and with a high degree of stealth from high altitudes.
The CICADA's could cover a large area, and with their little cameras the military could use them to identify military ground targets, military implacements, military vehicles, troop encampments, landing fields and planes, structures, roads, dams, and many other things. The CICADA's could also be used to conduct air surveillance of areas damaged or destroyed by natural catastraphe's like earthquakes, fires, mudslides, tsunami's, and so forth.
Since the Tempest UAV and CICADA's are carried aloft by lighter-than-air aircraft such as balloons, gliders, etc. the cost to operate air surveillances using this system is very efficient and cost effective. I like the fact that these UAV's are silent, invisible and disposable UAV's. In a war zone, the enemy would not even know they are up there until the UAV's hit the ground.
Though the 9/11 attacks occurred more than a decade ago, Congress continues to exploit them to pass evermore draconian laws on "terrorism," with the Senate now empowering the military to arrest people on U.S. soil and hold them without trial, a serious threat to American liberties, says ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.
Ambiguous but alarming new wording, which is tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and was just passed by the Senate, is reminiscent of the "extraordinary measures" introduced by the Nazis after they took power in 1933.
And the relative lack of reaction so far calls to mind the oddly calm indifference with which most Germans watched the erosion of the rights that had been guaranteed by their own Constitution. As one German writer observed, "With sheepish submissiveness we watched it unfold, as if from a box at the theater."
The writer was Sebastian Haffner (real name Raimond Pretzel), a young German lawyer worried at what he saw in 1933 in Berlin, but helpless to stop it since, as he put it,
"The German people collectively and limply collapsed, yielded and capitulated."
Wrote Haffner at the time.
"The result of this millionfold nervous breakdown is the unified nation, ready for anything, that is today the nightmare of the rest of the world."
Not a happy analogy.
The Senate bill, in effect, revokes an 1878 law known as the Posse Comitatus Act, which banned the Army from domestic law enforcement after the military had been used —and often abused — in that role during Reconstruction. Ever since then, that law has been taken very seriously — until now. Military officers have had their careers brought to an abrupt halt by involving federal military assets in purely civilian criminal matters.
But that was before 9/11 and the mantra, "9/11 changed everything." In this case of the Senate-passed NDAA -- more than a decade after the terror attacks and even as U.S. intelligence agencies say al-Qaeda is on the brink of defeat -- Congress continues to carve away constitutional and legal protections in the name of fighting "terrorism."
The Senate approved the expanded military authority despite opposition from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and FBI Director Robert Mueller -- and a veto threat from President Barack Obama.
The Senate voted to authorize -- and generally to require -- "the Armed Forces of the United States to detain covered persons" indefinitely. And such "covered persons" are defined not just as someone implicated in the 9/11 attacks but anyone who "substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces."
Though the wording is itself torturous -- and there is a provision for a waiver from the Defense Secretary regarding mandatory military detentions -- the elasticity of words like "associated forces" and "supported" have left some civil libertarians worried that the U.S. military could be deployed domestically against people opposing future American wars against alleged "terrorists" or "terrorist states."
The Senate clearly wished for the military's "law and order" powers to extend beyond the territory of military bases on the theory that there may be "terrorsymps" (short for "terrorist sympathizers") lurking everywhere.
Is the all-consuming ten-year-old struggle against terrorism rushing headlong to consume what's left of our constitutional rights? Do I need to worry that the Army in which I was proud to serve during the 1960s may now kick down my front door and lead me off to indefinite detention — or worse?
Worse still, a few of my neighbors overheard me telling my grandchildren that President Obama should be ashamed to be bragging about having Awlaki, an American citizen, and later his 16 year-old son murdered without a whiff of due process.
"If you hear something, say something!"
COMMENTARY: The $662 billion National Defense Authorization Act H.R. 1540 provides funding for 2012 at $27 billion less than Obama's request and $43 billion less than Congress authorized in 2011.
The bill also contains several detainee provisions that civil liberties groups and human rights advocates have strongly opposed, arguing that they would allow the military greater authority to detain and interrogate U.S. citizens and non-citizens and deny them legal rights protected by the Constitution.
Here's the final voting tallies in the House of Representatives and Senate:
U.S. House of Representatives - 322 FOR, 96 AGANST, and 13 OBSTAINING. The state that came down best for civil liberties was Massachusetts with Niki Tsongas(D) being the only FOR. Here's a small sprinkling of Congressional leaders who voted for NDAA: Nancy Pelosi(D), John Boehner(R), Eric Cantor(weasal), Darrell Issa(R), John Carney(D), Debbie Wasserman Shultz(D), Paul Braun(R), Joe Walsh(R), Mike Pence(R), Andre' Carson(D), Michele Bachmann(R), Tom Cole(R), Tim Scott(R), Virginia Foxx(R), Heath Shuler(D).
U.S. Senate - 93 FOR, 7 AGAINST. Here's a small sprinkling of Senatorial leaders who voted for NDAA: Jeff Sessions (R), Lisa Murkowski(R), Barbara Boxer(D), Dian Fienstein(D), Mark Udall (D), Joe Liberman (DINO), Marco Rubio(R), Richard Lugar (R), Mitch McConnell (R), Olympia Snowe (R), Scott Brown (R), John Kerry (D), Claire McCaskil (D), Harry Reid(D), Lindsey Graham(R), Jim Webb(D), Mark Warner(D), John McCain(R), Carl Levin(D).
It's an election year, and all these punkasses are covering their puckered asses. These punkasses are afraid of their own shadows. If you vote for anything that may be viewed as protecting the rights of a terrorist, or a U.S. citizen suspected of being a terrorist, even if there is no evidence, you could be in trouble with the voters. The "terrorist fear factor" has polluted their thinking process, where they are willing to throw away the U.S. Constitution.
According to the Washington Post, Obama initially had threatened to veto the legislation. In a signing statement released by the White House on Saturday, Obama said he still does not agree with everything contained in the legislation. But with military funding due to expire Monday, Obama said he signed the bill after Congress made last-minute revisions at the request of the White House before approving it two weeks ago.
Here's what the media and many influential individuals within and outside the government are saying about the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):
"The NDAA would place domestic terror investigations and interrogations into the hands of the military and which would open the door for trial-free, indefinite detention of anyone, including American citizens, so long as the government calls them terrorists. So much for innocent until proven guilty. So much for limited government. What Americans are now facing is quite literally the end of the line. We will either uphold the freedoms baked into our Constitutional Republic, or we will scrap the entire project in the name of security as we wage, endlessly, this futile, costly, and ultimately self-defeating War on Terror."
"The provisions of the Patriot Act allow the government to spy upon U.S. citizens and the NDAA allows the government to whisk a citizen away for no reason other than being suspected of terrorism. So why has this law been passed when it is very easily seen as unconstitutional? The Fourth Amendment grants liberty from unreasonable seizures, while the Sixth guarantees every U.S. citizen a trial in front of a jury. No matter what supporters of the bill might have said about the provisions being misunderstood, the simple fact is that it is unconstitutional."
Supporter of the NDAA, Representative Tim Griffin stated in the Daily Caller:
"Section 1022's use of the word 'requirement' also has been misinterpreted as allowing U.S. citizens to be detained, but this provision does not in any way create this authority. This provision must be read in the context of Section 1022's purpose, which is reflected in its title and relates solely to 'military custody of foreign al Qaida terrorists.' The term "requirement" does not mean that detention of U.S. citizens is optional under this provision."
NDAA has raised such a hornets nest of controversy, prompting President Barack Obama to release the following statement regarding the H.R. 1540 (NDAA):
"I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists. Moreover, I want to clarify that my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a Nation. My Administration will interpret section 1021 in a manner that ensures that any detention it authorizes complies with the Constitution, the laws of war, and all other applicable law."
The Huffington Post countered the President with this reponse.
"President Obama says that his administration will not authorize the indefinite detention of American citizens. Yet Obama also said that he would close Guantanamo Bay. Obama also said he would recall the troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office. Obama also said he would end the Bush tax cuts."
"It doesn't matter the reason these promises were not kept. What matters is that they weren't. Obama says his administration will not authorize the indefinite detention of citizens. But that could change. The interpretation of this bill can change on a dime. These politicians who say there is nothing to fear could quickly change whenever they see fit."
Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said after Congress approved the bill said.
“By signing this defense spending bill, President Obama will go down in history as the president who enshrined indefinite detention without trial in U.S. law.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, a staunch supporter of the U.S. Constitution and civil rights, lamblasted the NDAA by saying.
"No corner of the world, not even your own home, would be off-limits to the military. And there is no exception for American citizens. Section 1031 — one of the indefinite detention provisions — of the Senate-approved version of the NDAA has no limitations whatsoever based on geography, duration or citizenship. And the entire Senate bill was drafted in secret, with no hearing, and with committee votes behind closed doors."
"I'm not sure which was more surprising — that the majority of senators ignored the pleas of countless constituents, or that they also ignored every top national security official opposed to the provisions. Opposition to the detention provisions came from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, CIA Director David Petraeus, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, White House Advisor for Counterterrorism John Brennan, and DOJ National Security Division head Lisa Monaco. The Senate ignored them all."
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), one of the Senate's most conservative members said.
"I'm very, very, concerned about having U.S. citizens sent to Guantanamo Bay for indefinite detention."
Paul said, echoing the views of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"It's not enough just to be alleged to be a terrorist. That's part of what due process is -- deciding, are you a terrorist? I think it's important that we not allow U.S. citizens to be taken."
The problem with NDAA is that as Commander-in-Chief, the President has the latitude to interpret the NDAA act in a way that serves the purposes of the President. He can simply say, that you are being detained indefinitely because you are a "person of interest," and are simply suspected of being a terrorist. There may be no proof you are a terrorist, or giving aid and comfort to a terrorist, but you could be detained "just in case," for an indefinite period, without rights to an attorney, an appeal or trial. Furthermore, all future presidents, whether Democrat or Republican, would have the same latitude.
I know some of you will probably feel just the opposite, you'll read me the riot act, remind me of 911 (yes, I know about that, the illegal invasion of Iraq, all of it), but just remember this, it could be you who is picked up and detained, and then you find out, whoops, that you can't call an attorney, even your family.
Courtesy of an article dated December 31, 2011 appearing in Before Its News
President Obama bows to Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Nuclear Security Summit in April 2010, after all they are our bank
The USS Gerald R. Ford was supposed to help secure another half century of American naval supremacy. The hulking aircraft carrier taking shape in a dry dock in Newport News, Va., is designed to carry a crew of 4,660 and a formidable arsenal of aircraft and weapons.
But an unforeseen problem cropped up between blueprint and expected delivery in 2015: China is building a new class of ballistic missiles designed to arc through the stratosphere and explode onto the deck of a U.S. carrier, killing sailors and crippling its flight deck.
WSJ's Nathan Hodge reports on a new fleet of Chinese ballistic missiles that can strike warships nearly 2,000 miles offshore and are intended to keep U.S. warships. AP Photo/Xinhua, Pu Haiyang
Since 1945, the U.S. has ruled the waters of the western Pacific, thanks in large part to a fleet of 97,000-ton carriers—each one "4.5 acres of mobile, sovereign U.S. territory," as the Navy puts it. For nearly all of those years, China had little choice but to watch American vessels ply the waters off its coast with impunity.
Now China is engaged in a major military buildup. Part of its plan is to force U.S. carriers to stay farther away from its shores, Chinese military analysts say. So the U.S. is adjusting its own game plan. Without either nation saying so, both are quietly engaged in a tit-for-tat military-technology race. At stake is the balance of power in a corner of the seas that its growing rapidly in importance.
Pentagon officials are reluctant to talk publicly about potential conflict with China. Unlike the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Beijing isn't an explicit enemy. During a visit to China last month, Michele Flournoy, the U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, told a top general in the People's Liberation Army that "the U.S. does not seek to contain China," and that "we do not view China as an adversary," she recalled in a later briefing.
Click Image To Enlarge
Nevertheless, U.S. military officials often talk about preparing for a conflict in the Pacific—without mentioning who they might be fighting. The situation resembles a Harry Potter novel in which the characters refuse to utter the name of their adversary, says Andrew Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a think tank with close ties to the Pentagon. He says.
"You can't say China's a threat. You can't say China's a competitor."
China Unveils New "Carrier-Killer" Anti-Ship Ballistic Missle
Beijing's interest in developing anticarrier missiles is believed to date to the Taiwan Strait crisis of 1996. The Chinese government, hoping to dissuade voters in Taiwan from re-electing a president considered pro-independence, conducted a series of missile tests, firing weapons into the waters off the island. President Bill Clinton sent two carrier battle groups, signaling that Washington was ready to defend Taiwan—a strategic setback for China.
Click Image To Enlarge
China's state media has said its new missile, called the DF-21D, was built to strike a moving ship up to about 1,700 miles away. U.S. defense analysts say the missile is designed to thwart our defenses in two key ways:
Come in at an angle too high for U.S. defenses against sea-skimming cruise missiles.
Com in too low for defenses against other ballistic missiles.
Flight path of China's DF-21D ASBM (Click Image To Enlarge)
Even if U.S. systems were able to shoot down one or two, some experts say, China could overwhelm the defenses by targeting a carrier with several missiles at the same time.
As such, the new missile—China says it isn't currently deployed—could push U.S. carriers farther from Chinese shores, making it more difficult for American fighter jets to penetrate its airspace or to establish air superiority in a conflict near China's borders.
Comparative Range of China's DF-21D missle at 2700KM (Blue) and 1500KM (Yellow) ranges(Click Image To Enlarge)
U.S. Response To New China Threat
In response, our military is developing:
The Navy is testing long-range pilotless, drone aircraft that can hover 70,000 feet above aircraft carriers and allows fleet commanders to track suspicious vessels across vast expanses of sea. A prototype of the as-yet-unnamed drone, referred to as the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) system, is in action with the Navy’s 5th Fleet in the Pacific and, according to one naval expert, could help keep tabs on any Iranian threats to shipping in the Persian Gulf.
The Air Force wants a fleet of pilotless bombers capable of cruising over vast stretches of the Pacific. The Air Force presently has an extensive arsenal of medium-range pilotless drones, including the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper, and used in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Now on the Pentagon wish list is a proposed fleet of 80 to 100 nuclear-capable bombers that could operate with or without a pilot in the cockpit. Pentagon weapons acquisition chief Ashton Carter met separately with representatives of Northrop, Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin said. These companies are expected to vie for the estimated $55-billion contract that is expected to provide jobs and decades of work for Southern California’s aerospace industry.
China Also Presents A Cyberspace Threat
The gamesmanship extends into cyberspace. U.S. officials worry that, in the event of a conflict, China would try to attack the satellite networks that control drones, as well as military networks within the U.S. The outcome of any conflict, they believe, could turn in part on who can jam the other's electronics or hack their computer networks more quickly and effectively.
In May 26, 2011, at a recent press conference held by the Defense Ministry, Geng Yansheng, spokesman of China's Defense Ministry, explained the role of "China's Blue Team," a team of hackers created to twart cyberattacks. He said.
"At present, Internet safety has become an international issue. It not only affects our civil societies but also the military. China is also a victim of Internet attacks. Right now our Internet protection system is still relatively weak. Improving Internet safety is one of the most prominent tasks of our military training. The purpose of the "Cyber Blue Team" is to improve our ability to safeguard Internet security."
Click Image To Enlarge
The Defense Ministry also emphasized that the "Cyber Blue Team" are not hackers and that the International community should not misunderstand the purpose of it. "Cyber Blue Team" is just a nickname used within the military training routines and is not an actual unit within the PLA.
China's Cyber Blue Team busy hacking (Click Image To Enlarge)
Sizing up China's electronic-warfare capabilities is more difficult. China has invested heavily in cybertechnologies, and U.S. defense officials have said Chinese hackers, potentially working with some state support, have attacked American defense networks. China has repeatedly denied any state involvement.
How China Plans To Control The Seas Through "Anti-Access, Area Denial" Technologies
Throughout history, control of the seas has been a prerequisite for any country that wants to be considered a world power. China's military buildup has included a significant naval expansion. China now has 29 Song Class electric submarines armed with antiship cruise missiles, compared with just eight in 2002, according to Rand Corp., another think tank with ties to the military. In August, China conducted a sea trial of the "Varyag", its first aircraft carrier —a vessel that isn't yet fully operational.
At one time, military planners saw Taiwan as the main point of potential friction between China and the U.S. Today, there are more possible flash points. Tensions have grown between Japan and China over islands each nation claims in the East China Sea. Large quantities of oil and gas are believed to lie under the South China Sea, and China, Vietnam, the Philippines and other nations have been asserting conflicting territorial claims on it. Last year, Vietnam claimed China had harassed one of its research vessels, and China demanded that Vietnam halt oil-exploration activities in disputed waters.
A few years ago, the U.S. military might have responded to any flare-up by sending one or more of its 11 aircraft carriers to calm allies and deter Beijing. Now, the People's Liberation Army, in addition to the missiles it has under development, has submarines capable of attacking the most visible instrument of U.S. military power.
Click Image To Enlarge
Eric Heginbotham, who specializes in East Asian security at Rand says.
"This is a rapidly emerging development. As late as 1995 or 2000, the threat to carriers was really minimal. Now, it is fairly significant. There is a whole complex of new threats emerging."
The Chinese military embarked on a military modernization effort designed to blunt U.S. power in the Pacific by developing what U.S. military strategists dubbed "anti-access, area denial" technologies.
Adm. Gary Roughead, the recently retired U.S. chief of naval operations, last year said.
"Warfare is about anti-access. You could go back and look at the Pacific campaigns in World War II, [when] the Japanese were trying to deny us access into the western Pacific."
In 2004, Chinese President Hu Jintao unveiled a new military doctrine calling for the armed forces to undertake "new historic missions" to safeguard China's "national interests." Chinese military officers and experts said those interests included securing international shipping lanes and access to foreign oil and safeguarding Chinese citizens working overseas.
At first, China's buildup was slow. Then some headline-grabbing advances set off alarms in Washington. In a 2007 test, China shot down one of its older weather satellites, demonstrating its ability to potentially destroy U.S. military satellites that enable warships and aircraft to communicate and to target bases on the Chinese mainland.
The Pentagon responded with a largely classified effort to protect U.S. satellites from weapons such as missiles or lasers. A year after China's antisatellite test, the U.S. demonstrated its own capabilities by blowing up a dead spy satellite with a modified ballistic-missile interceptor.
Last year, the arms race accelerated. In January, just hours before then U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sat down with Chinese President Hu to mend frayed relations, China conducted the first test flight of a new, radar-evading fighter jet. The plane, called the Chendu J-20 (see video below), might allow China to launch air attacks much farther afield—possibly as far as U.S. military bases in Japan and Guam.
The aircraft carrier China launched in August was built from a hull bought from Ukraine. The Pentagon expects China to begin working on its own version, which could become operational after 2015—not long after the USS Gerald R. Ford enters service.
American military planners are even more worried about the modernization of China's submarine fleet. The newer vessels can stay submerged longer and operate more quietly than China's earlier versions. In 2006, a Chinese Song class submarine appeared in the midst of a group of American ships, undetected until it rose to the surface.
China's Type-094 Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine (SSBN) is now under construction
China's Song Class Type-039 and 041 electric submarines (SS) carry cruise missiles
China's technological advances have been accompanied by a shift in rhetoric by parts of its military. Hawkish Chinese military officers and analysts have long accused the U.S. of trying to contain China within the "first island chain" that includes Japan and the Philippines, both of which have mutual defense treaties with the U.S., and Taiwan, which the U.S. is bound by law to help defend. They now talk about pushing the U.S. back as far as Hawaii and enabling China's navy to operate freely in the western Pacific, the Indian Ocean and beyond.
Maj. Gen. Luo Yuan, one of China's most outspoken military commentators, told a conference in September.
"The U.S. has four major allies within the first island chain, and is trying to starve the Chinese dragon into a Chinese worm."
The Pentagon Conducts War Games
China's beefed up military still is a long way from having the muscle to defeat the U.S. Navy head-to-head. For now, U.S. officials say, the Chinese strategy is to delay the arrival of U.S. military forces long enough to take control of contested islands or waters.
Publicly, Pentagon leaders such as Mr. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have said the U.S. would like to cultivate closer military-to-military ties with China.
Privately, China has been the focus of planning. In 2008, the U.S. military held a series of war games, called Pacific Vision, which tested its ability to counter a "near-peer competitor" in the Pacific. That phrase is widely understood within the military to be shorthand for China.
Retired Air Force Gen. Carrol "Howie" Chandler, who helped conduct the war games says.
"My whole impetus was to look at the whole western Pacific. And it was no secret that the Chinese were making investments to overcome our advantages in the Pacific."
Those games tested the ability of the U.S. to exercise air power in the region, both from land bases and from aircraft carriers. People familiar with the exercises say they informed strategic thinking about potential conflict with China. A formal game plan, called AirSea Battle, now is in the works to develop better ways to fight in the Pacific and to counter China's new weapons, Pentagon officials say.
U.S. Navy Developing New Weapons And Expanding Bases
The Navy is developing new weapons for its aircraft carriers and new aircraft to fly off them. On the new Ford carrier, the catapult that launches jets off the deck will be electromagnetic, not steam-powered, allowing for quicker takeoffs.
The carrier-capable drones under development, which will allow U.S. carriers to be effective when farther offshore, are considered a breakthrough. Rear Adm. William Shannon, who heads the Navy's office for unmanned aircraft and strike weapons, compared the drone's debut flight last year to a pioneering flight by Eugene Ely, who made the first successful landing on a naval vessel in 1911. "I look at this demonstration flight…as ushering us into the second 100 years of naval aviation," he said.
The Air Force wants a longer-range bomber for use over the Pacific. Navy and Air Force fighter jets have relatively short ranges. Without midair refueling, today's carrier planes have an effective range of about 575 miles.
China's subs, fighter planes and guided missiles will likely force carriers to stay farther than that from its coast, U.S. military strategists say.
Andrew Hoehn, a vice president at Rand says.
"The ability to operate from long distances will be fundamental to our future strategy in the Pacific. You have to have a long-range bomber. In terms of Air Force priorities, I cannot think of a larger one."
The U.S. also is considering new land bases to disperse its forces throughout the region. President Barack Obama recently announced the U.S. would use new bases in Australia, including a major port in Darwin. Many of the bases aren't expected to have a permanent American presence, but in the event of a conflict, the U.S. would be able to base aircraft there.
In light of China's military advances and shrinking U.S. defense budgets, some U.S. military officers have begun wondering whether the time has come to rethink the nation's strategic reliance on aircraft carriers like the USS Ford. A successful attack on a carrier could jeopardize the lives of as many as 5,000 sailors—more than all the troops killed in action in Iraq.
Navy Captain Henry Hendrix and retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Noel Williams wrote in an article in the naval journal Proceedings last year.
"The Gerald R. Ford is just the first of her class. She should also be the last."
COMMENTARY: In two blog posts dated February 7, 2011, July 16, 2011 and November 8, 2011 and have extensively covered the new cyberspace threat posted by China, including the U.S. USCYBERCOM or CYBERCOM and its Chinese counterpart "Blue Cyber Team." In 2011, President Barack Obama established cyberattack rules of engagement and could respond to such an attack by an attack of its own, including the use of military weapons.
China has just finished test flying its new Chendu J-20 stealth fighter jet, so not much is known about the new Chinese stealth fighter specifications and capabilities, but it is believed that the America's F-22 and new F-35 stealth fighters are more than a match. However, the J-20's stealth capabilities, larger armament payload and longer range could present a serious threat U.S. bases in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
China's navy is growing rapidly, and includes submarines (both conventional and nuclear), surface combat ships, coastal warfare, amphibious warfare and minewarfare vessels. U.S. military experts estimate there are approximately 63 submarines in its fleet, of which 10 are nuclear. They include two classes of nuclear attack submarines (SSN)--Type 091 and 093. China also has two classes of nuclear ballistic missle submarines (SSBN)--Type 092 and 093. China is also building a newer, larger nuclear ballistic missle submarine (SSBN), the Type 095. Here's an estimate of China's latest naval inventory.
China's Naval Inventory
The following chart may help explain why the U.S. Naval Pacific Fleet is supporting Taiwan and patrolling the East and South China Seas.
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Obama's bow to China's President not withstanding, the U.S. is not sitting on its butt while China ramps up its military. We have the largest naval fleet of any country, largest air force, largest nuclear arsenal, both day (F-22 and F-35) and night stealth fighters (F-117), and stealth bombers (B-2).
The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined, including China's. The U.S. Navy also has the world's largest carrier fleet, with 11 in service, one under construction (two planned), and one in reserve. The service had 328,516 personnel on active duty and 101,689 in the Navy Reserve in January 2011. It operates 286 ships in active service and more than 3,700 aircraft.
Our nuclear submarine fleet numbers 71, giving us a 7-to-1 superiority in nuclear submarines. We have 12 super aircraft carriers to China's lone "little" aircraft carrier. The U.S. is also developing a fleet of very fast Littoral ships that can operate off costal waters and can be used in different missions, an electronic rail gun that can shoot a projectile 100 miles with precise accuracy (and shoot down China's DF-21 carrier-killer missile), and we are working on numerous secret aircraft and military weapons systems that very few people know about.
The U.S. also has the world's largest, and most sophisticated fleet of unmanned drones, many of them being used in combat over the skys of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The U.S. is now testing two unmanned, long-range, nuclear-capable bombers. When completed, that bomber fleet will number 80-100.
Obama's bow to China's president not withstanding, the U.S. is not intimidated by China, and I don't see us losing our mastery of the seas anytime soon. We will just have to learn to co-exist. Do you honestly believe they would jeopardize their entire economy, risk a war and everything they have built, over the little island of Taiwan? China also holds over $1 trillion of U.S. debt and I am sure they would like to be paid at some time.
A Dutch researcher has created a virus with the potential to kill half of the planet’s population. Now, researchers and experts in bioterrorism debate whether it is a good idea to publish the virus creation ”recipe”. However, several voices argue that such research should have not happened in the first place.
The virus is a strain of avian influenza H5N1 genetically modified to be extremely contagious. It was created by researcher Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, Netherlands. The work was first presented at a conference dedicated to influenza, that took place in September in Malta.
Avian influenza emerged in Asia about 10 years ago. Since then there were fewer than 600 infection cases reported in humans. On the other hand, Fouchier’s genetically modified strain is extremely contagious and dangerous, killing about 50% of infected patients. The former strain did not represent a global threat, as transmission from human to human is rare. Or, at least, it was before Fouchier genetically modified it.
Fouchier and his team used a pair of ferrets for testing because they react in similar ways as humans, when exposed to the flu virus. Researchers transmitted the deadly virus from one ferret to another, in order to make the virus more adaptable to a new host. After 10 generations, the virus has mutated allowing it to spread through air. The result was that ferrets could get sick just being near another infected animal.
A genetic study showed that new virus strain presented five mutations, and all could be also observed in nature - but only separately, not all five combined. Fouchier’s strain is as contagious as seasonal human influenza, which kills tens of thousands of people, just that, much more lethal.
Paul Keim, a specialist in microbial genetics who worked for many years with the anthrax bacillus commented.
“I can not think of a pathogenic organism to be more dangerous than this one. I think the anthrax is not at all scary, when compared with this virus.”
Keim is the coordinator of the U.S. National Committee dedicated to biosecurity issues and now he has to make a decision. If Fouchier wants to publish his study detailing how the virus was created, Keim’s and his committee must approve.
Many scientists are concerned about possible negative consequences that could precede the publication of this research. There are many fears regarding bioterrorists that might find useful tips or a whole ’recipe’ to plan biological attacks. Demands are beeing made for the establishment of an international institution to oversee such dangerous research projects.
Dr. Thomas Inglesby, a bioterrorism expert says.
“It’s just a bad idea for scientists to turn a lethal virus into a lethal and highly contagious virus. And it’s a second bad idea for them to publish how they did it so others can copy it.”
On the other hand, if the study becomes available for the scientific community, it could allow researchers to ”be prepared” for a potential H5N1 pandemic. Since Fouchier’s study suggests that the risk for this to occur is greater than previously thought. Some researchers believe that banning the paper will leave mankind helpless if the virus naturally mutates and becomes contagious.
COMMENTARY: When news of the new super-deadly influenza virus was delivered in July 2011, it was chilling. It meant that Dr. Fouchier’s research group had taken one of the most dangerous flu viruses ever known and made it even more dangerous — by tweaking it genetically to make it more contagious.
What shocked the researchers was how easy it had been, Dr. Fouchier said. Just a few mutations was all it took to make the virus go airborne.
The discovery has led advisers to the United States government, which paid for the research, to urge that the details be kept secret and not published in scientific journals to prevent the work from being replicated by terrorists, hostile governments or rogue scientists.
The experiment in Rotterdam transformed the virus into the supergerm of virologists’ nightmares, enabling it to spread from one animal to another through the air. The work was done in ferrets, which catch flu the same way people do and are considered the best model for studying it.
Richard H. Ebright, a chemistry professor and bioweapons expert at Rutgers University who has long opposed such research said.
“This research should not have been done.”
He warned that germs that could be used as bioweapons had already been unintentionally released hundreds of times from labs in the United States and predicted that the same thing would happen with the new virus.
He said.
“It will inevitably escape, and within a decade.”
Though he added that security measures like restricting possession of the virus to fewer scientists and fewer laboratories would lower the chances of that happening so soon.
This reminds me too much of the Hollywood film "Contagion."
This mutated H5N1 avian influenza virus needs to be contained and controlled by as few medical research facilities and laboratories as possible. If this strain of h5n1 avain influenza virus gets loos in the wild, we will have a catastrophy of incredible dimensions. God help us if a terrorist organization should get their hands on this virus. The fact that it is airborne means that it can be transmitted through all living things and we will never be able to get it under control. This truly scary.
Courtesy of an article dated November 28, 2011 appearing in Doctor Tipster
SEOUL—North Koreans bade farewell to dictator Kim Jong Il Wednesday as his body was borne around the snowy capital of Pyongyang in a motorcade that was broadcast on TV a few hours after it happened.
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Tens of thousands of North Koreans gathered along the procession route, which began and ended at the palace built for his father, North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, and where visitors had lined up for the past week to view his body under a glass case.
North Korea's military held a funeral procession for leader Kim Jong-il, led by his successor son Kim Jong-un, in Pyongyang. Courtesy of Reuters.
The casket bearing Mr. Kim's body was carried atop a black limousine covered in white chrysanthemums, the flower used for mourning in both Koreas. Several dozen other sedans followed behind, carrying members of Mr. Kim's family and leaders of his authoritarian government.
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Mr. Kim's third son, Kim Jong Eun, walked at the right-front corner of the limousine during brief ceremonies on the palace grounds before and after the procession, which lasted about two hours.
Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law Jang Song Thaek and several generals who were close to him also flanked the car during the ceremonies at the palace, reinforcing other TV images since his death that his son, who is now expected to take control of North Korea, is being protected and guided by his associates.
And, the crying began in earnest along the funeral procession.
It's a Crying Shame (Click To Enlarge Images)
Even the ruthless dictator's youngest sun Kim Jong Eun who takes over for his departed father cried too. He's crying because he is taking over the reins of power, and probably thinking, "Oh, shit, I'm in charge now."
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Choi Jong-kun, professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul said.
"The point they're trying to make is the leadership is pretty stable. The key thing they want to put out is that succession is going smoothly."
North Korea provided few details about the event and its state-run news agency didn't release information about it until TV broadcasting began, which was at least two hours after it started. Some South Korean TV stations relayed the North's broadcast of the procession for about an hour, then returned to regular programming.
The coverage occasionally showed mourners along the procession route speaking fondly of Kim Jong Il. The mood appeared predominantly somber and calm, although North Korean TV cameras picked out some scenes of people doubled over and even flailing their arms in apparent anguish.
A woman soldier whose name wasn't given said on the North Korean broadcast said.
"The falling snow brings me even more tears because of thoughts about the general's toils. It's as if my heart is being torn to pieces."
The event clearly stretched the capabilities of North Korea's TV broadcaster, one of the chief manufacturers of the regime's projection of might and power. The organization didn't have enough cameras and transmission equipment to cover the motorcade route, resulting in several long stretches in which the procession was out of view. During those times, the broadcaster simply showed shots of crowds waiting for the procession. The 40-kilometer route took the motorcade through much of central Pyongyang .
The procession resembled the one held after Kim Il Sung's death in 1994. At that time, Kim Jong Il walked beside his father's hearse, which appeared to be the same vehicle used Wednesday.
North Korea plans a nationwide memorial event at noon Thursday, when citizens will be asked to observe three minutes of silence. After that, gun volleys will be fired in Pyongyang and nine other provincial capitals, and vehicles will blow whistles, horns and sirens in a final salute.
North Korean state TV broadcast a two-hour tribute to Kim Jong Il on Wednesday morning, chiefly showing images of him as a young man.
Many of the images appeared to be from the 1970s and '80s, when Mr. Kim was rising up in his father's government and aiming to secure his role as the country's eventual leader. The last 30 minutes of the broadcast were devoted to his time as leader.
A narrator said as the image showed Mr. Kim handling products like toilet paper and children's clothes.
"He always took responsibility for the living of all people. He always took care of all North Korean people with his warm love."
COMMENTARY: The death of Kim Jong Il does not end of pain and suffering that the Kim family has inflicted on its people. An estimated 1 million North Koreans are imprisoned in Russian-style gulags where they work as slaves and hundreds them die every day of exposure and starvation. Let there be no doubt, that although the North Korean people are crying for their fallen dictator, they are probably deeply relieved he is gone. But, don't hold your hopes. His son Kim Jong Eun is a real work of art from what I have read. Kim Jong Il by-passed his two older brothers because they lacked the "meanness," wanted in a future leader and dictator. I have a feeling we will be hearing from him very soon, as he tries to proove himself to his little rat rogue nation. In a previous blog post dated December 20, 2011, I reported on Kim Jong Il's death, and you can see more images of the young pudgy new dictator.
BEIJING—China has begun operating a homegrown satellite navigation service that is designed to provide an alternative to the U.S. Global Positioning System and, according to defense experts, could help the Chinese military to identify, track and strike U.S. ships in the region in the event of armed conflict.
The Beidou Navigation Satellite System
The Beidou Navigation Satellite System started providing initial positioning, navigation and timing services to China and its "surrounding areas" on Tuesday, Ran Chengqi, a spokesman for the system, told a news conference.
In July 2011, China launched its 9th Beidou Navigation Satellite System GPS satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China's Sichuan Province.
He said China had so far launched 10 satellites for the Beidou system, including one this month, and planned to put six more in orbit in 2012 to enhance the system's accuracy and expand its service to cover most of the Asia Pacific region.
The system isn't as believed to be as accurate as the U.S. GPS. Nonetheless, China has made significant advances in the field thanks to a spate of satellite launches since 2009, according to a paper by Eric Hagt and Matthew Durnin published in the Journal of Strategic Studies in October.
They wrote.
"Although China still has a long way to go before it has continuous real-time tactical coverage, even of a regional maritime environment, it now has frequent and dependable coverage of stationary targets and at least a basic ability to identify, track and target vessels at sea.
Based purely on capabilities, with a space-based reconnaissance system as the backbone, China is clearly acquiring greater ability not only to defend against intruding aircraft carriers but to project force as well."
China's Ministry of Defense didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Beidou—which means Big Dipper in Mandarin—is run by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., one of the main state-owned contractors for the Chinese space program, which is largely controlled by the Chinese military.
Visitors look at a model of the Beidou navigation system in Shanghai in May.
China began building Beidou in 2000 with the goal of creating its own global system—called Compass—with 35 satellites, by 2020. The only other operational global system apart from GPS is Russia's Glonass, although the European Union's Galileo system is due to be completed by 2020.
Beidou, like GPS, will provide free civilian services that can be used in conjunction with commercially developed applications for use by drivers in private cars, monitor commercial trucks and ships and assist in natural disasters. It has the added advantage of supporting SMS messages, according to Mr. Ran.
He didn't mention potential military applications at the news conference, a transcript of which was provided by the information office of China's State Council, or Cabinet.
But the system will also give the Chinese military an alternative to GPS, which was developed by the Pentagon and is still controlled by the U.S. government. The U.S. could, in theory, disable or deny access to the system by others in the event of a conflict, although it says it never has done so in the past.
Military Use of Beidou GPS Satellites
Military experts see Beidou as part of China's efforts over the last 15 years to develop capabilities designed to deny or hinder U.S. naval access to waters around its shores in case Washington tries to intervene in a conflict—over Taiwan, for example, which Beijing sees as a rebel province.
Beidou could be used in conjunction with other satellites, drones and related technology to help track U.S. ships, position its own submarines and other vessels, and guide antiship ballistic missiles towards their targets, according to military experts.
It also gives China a significant tactical advantage over neighbors with whom it has territorial disputes, including India, which is developing its own regional satellite navigation system but doesn't expect to complete it for several years.
China still lags behind the U.S in terms of how long, and how accurately, it can monitor any part of the globe from space: GPS, which was launched for civilian use in 1995, now consists of 30 satellites and can be accurate to within less than 10 meters, or 33 feet, although the U.S. military has access to more precise readings.
Mr. Ran said Beidou was accurate to within 25 meters and would reduce that to 10 meters by the end of next year. The Chinese military may also have access to more accurate data, but because China has fewer satellites, it cannot monitor the same spot for as long as the U.S.
China's plans to develop a satellite positioning system are thought to date back to 1983 when Ronald Reagan announced plans to build space-based missile-defense systems in what became known as his "Star Wars" speech.
Beijing's plans gained momentum after its military leaders noted the importance of GPS for U.S. forces during the first Gulf War in 1991. Five years later, Chinese military commanders were frustrated when they couldn't locate two carrier groups that the U.S. deployed near Taiwan after China fired missiles into the sea off the island's coast in a failed attempt to influence the outcome of an election there, according to several defense analysts.
China launched the first two satellites of an experimental system called Beidou-1 in 2000 and made it available to civilians in 2004, but the service wasn't popular as its associated devices used to access the system—called terminals—were relatively large and much more expensive than GPS ones.
The system has been used, however, to coordinate the movement of Chinese troops, to help border guards patrol in remote areas, and to track fishing vessels in the South China Sea, according to Chinese state media.
In 2007, China launched the first satellite of its second-generation system, called Beidou-2, which is thought to use cheaper terminals and, unlike its predecessor, doesn't require a ground station.
Mr. Ran said Beidou was now being used by more than 100,000 clients in China and had been used to help track government vehicles in the southern province of Guangdong, and to assist disaster-relief work after an earthquake in the western province of Sichuan in 2008.
He said it was compatible with the world's other major global satellite navigation systems, and encouraged Chinese and foreign enterprises to help develop terminals that could use the Chinese network.
A preliminary version of the system's Interface Control Document, which allows foreign and Chinese entities access to its basic technical data, was made available on the system's website, beidou.gov.cn, from Tuesday, he said.
China Warns U.S. Over Naval Survellance Operations in South China Sea
The South China Sea is another potential flashpoint as tensions have been rising this year between China and neighboring countries that also claim territorial waters there. Beijing has repeatedly accused the U.S. of meddling in the issue and has warned it to cease surveillance operations in the area.
China has voiced its strongest warning in weeks to the United States on the South China Sea issue. It's urged the US to stay away from the issue, which is the spotlight of rising tensions between China and Southeastern countries in recent weeks.
It comes after the United States and Japan agreed to deal with the issue together with Southeastern nations in their just-concluded cabinet-level talks, and escalating tensions over the disputed waters.
Celebrating their 50 years of alliance, the United States and Japan are seeking greater influence in regional security. A joint statement was released after the Security meeting in Washington, setting new common strategic objectives with wider range.
Hillary Cliton, US Secretary of State, said,
"Our agenda today embodied in the documents that we have just released reflects the breadth and depth of our alliance. We are cooperating more closely on a wider range of issues and challenges than ever before."
Apparently alluding to the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the statement urged the maintenance of maritime safety and security based on freedom of navigation.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto agreed to deal with the matter together with Southeast Asian nations, with Clinton saying China's naval activities are creating tension in the region, reported by Japanese media.
For China, it's an arm extended too far. The country voiced its most direct warning to Washington on Wednesday.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai urged the United States to leave the South China Sea dispute to the claimant states. And US involvement may make the situation worse. He said China is greatly concerned by frequent provocations by other parties in the waters.
Tensions in the South China Sea have risen in recent months after Vietnam held a live military drill in the waters. Vietnam and the Philippines took unilateral actions to occupy parts of the islands in recent decades, which have belonged to China's territory since ancient times.
China has long called for bilateral ways to resolve the disputes through dialogue. It believes foreign intervention may only complicate the already tense issue.
Cui Tiankai, Chinese Vice FM, said,
"US should leave the South China Sea dispute to the claimant states. US involvement may make the situation worse. China was greatly concerned by frequent provocations by other parties in the waters."
China Confirms "Carrier-Killer" Missile
This year, China confirmed for the first time that it was developing an antiship ballistic missile that the Pentagon says may already be basically operational and eventually capable of hitting a moving aircraft carrier up to 1,700 miles, or 2,700 kilometers, from China's shores.
The anti access version of the DF-21(D) Anti Shipping Ballistic Missile ASBM is designed to counter the power projection capabilities of the American Navy's carrier battle group. The examination of the steps the Chinese military would follow to use this weapon are presented in this two part video
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COMMENTARY: Why would China sacrafice its new-found wealth, rising standard of living, international prestige, and lose its best and biggest customer--the U.S.A. It doesn't make sense to me that they should be taking us on, making these incredible threats. The South China Sea is international waters. They just can't claim it's theres and ban us or any other nation from sailing ships through it.
Make no doubt about it that the U.S. is working on or has technologies to shoot down the DF-21 anti-carrier missle. We will know when they launch those missle, and retaliate accordingly. And, even if they succeed in sinking a U.S. super-carrier, we have nuclear ballistic missle submarines off China's coast that would immediately launch their multiple warhead Trident missles to destroy their military bases and cities, killing perhaps most of the Chinese people. We also have B-2 stealth bombers and the F117 stealth fighters to disable their command and control systems.
President Obama has done the right thing by stationing two nuclear carriers off of China's coast to protect Taiwan and our other interests in the area. I have also spoken with three Chinese tech bloggers, and they are scared shitless that their country is taking such an aggressive stance. Let's just hope that the Chinese don't do something stupid.
I did look into the Beidou Navational Satellite System and you can read all about it HERE.
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