US earmarks funds for new space weapons system

[seafan]

Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The United States Congress has allocated funds for the development of a new space weapons system.
It would allow the US to carry out strikes on possible enemy missile sites at short notice without relying on overseas bases.

As part of a massive $459 billion spending bill for next year, $100 million has been set aside to develop what is described as the "prompt global strike program".

The new program envisages sending a vehicle into space that could launch a precision-guided warhead anywhere in the world within two hours.
The vehicle, which would fly at hypersonic speeds - which is faster than supersonic - would be reusable and able to return back to Earth.

Read more: http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/15/2091186.htm?section=justin

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Very short article

[seafan]

1. "Global Strike" program, able to attack enemy satellites

Pentagon Ups Defense Funding for "Global Strike" Program

November 13, 2007

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A House-Senate conference report about a $459 million defense budget revealed that $100 million is to be given for the development of a "prompt global strike" program capable of launching a precision-guided warhead that can be detonated at any point in the world two hours after deployment.

The program FALCON, which stands for Force Application and Launch from CONSUS, was described by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency intelligence reporter Walter Pincus as "a reusable Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle capable of delivering 12,000 pounds of payload at a distance of 9,000 nautical miles from in less than two hours."

The vehicle, which is set to be launched into space via a rocket, is set to "provide the country with significant capability to conduct responsive missions with quick turn-around sortie rates while providing aircraft-like operability and mission-recall capability" stated DARPA.

The Washington Post reported that an additional $8 million is to be given for research for a counter-satellite-communications system set to develop capabilities of "disruption of satellite communication signals in response to U.S. Strategic Command requirements, as explained by the Pentagon. It will be a second-generation system, with the first-generation already operational.

.....

The developments are to be integrated to a command-and-control system already in place. The project is set to be started by mid-2008.

[StClone]

2. What happened to Space non-proliferation treaties?

Now I have to go brush up on that.

[seafan]

3. US plans new space weapons against China

US plans new space weapons against China

By Alex Spillius in Washington
GMT 14/11/2007



The Falcon could fly at six times the speed of sound and deliver bombs anywhere in the world in minutes

Congress has allocated funds to develop futuristic weapons and intelligence systems that operate beyond the Earth's atmosphere as America looks past Iraq and Afghanistan to the wars of the future.

That sentence stopped me cold. For as long as these criminals are allowed to operate without accountability, wars will be our future.

.....

The most ambitious project in a new $459 billion (£221.5 billion) defence spending Bill is the Falcon, a reusable "hypersonic vehicle" that could fly at six times the speed of sound and deliver 12,000lb of bombs anywhere in the world within minutes.
The bombs' destructive power would be multiplied by the Earth's gravitational pull as they travelled at up to 25 times the speed of sound towards their target.
The cost of the vehicle has not been revealed, but a spokesman for the Pentagon's Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) said a first test flight was scheduled for next year.

.....

Loren Thompson, a leading defence analyst in Washington, said the focus of the project was attacking "time sensitive targets" in states such as North Korea and Iran, which have either developed nuclear weapons without international approval or are suspected of doing so.
"If we received intelligence that a strike was about to happen on South Korea, or on Israel, we would want to destroy that within minutes and not hours. But from most current US bases that is not feasible.

.....

In its 621-page report on the Defence Appropriations Bill, Congressmen from both Republican and Democratic parties said: "Enhancing these capabilities is crucial, particularly following the Chinese anti-satellite weapons demonstration last January."
In China's first successful test of an anti-satellite system, a ground-based missile fired into space shattered a weather satellite in low earth orbit. The Pentagon has also given warning that China is making greater efforts to hack into its defence computers.

Congress awarded $150 million for the Falcon project and its associated "prompt global strike" programme. A defence industry source said it was likely that hundreds of millions more were being spent on space warfare "away from the public view".

The "global strike" platform would give America the "forward presence" it requires around the world without the need for bases outside the US.

.....

We are not ready to turn our world over to grinning monsters crouching in bunkers, fingering their joysticks.

[L0oniX]

4. Well ...there goes the schip funds

[TexasLawyer]

5. Boy, this should really rev up the arms race!!!

Nov 14, 2007 10:02

US moves closer to space-based combat
By JPOST.COM STAFF

The US is developing a new space vehicle which could attack targets anywhere in the world within minutes, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

The weapon would be part of a US strategy that looks beyond the present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, in which space warfare is deemed necessary to counter possible missile attacks from enemy nations.

The Falcon, the subject of an ambitious $459 billion project, would be a "hypersonic vehicle" capable of flying at six times the speed of sound. The vehicle could reportedly deliver 12,000lb (5,454 kg) payloads, whose destructive power would be intensified by Earth's gravity while traveling towards their target at up to 25 times the speed of sound.

A spokesman for the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) told The Daily Telegraph that a first test flight was scheduled for next year.

<snip>

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1192380813113

[daleo]

6. A new sink hole for hundreds of billions of dollars

And a new way to kill civilians at huge cost.

[Warren Stupidity]

7. That would be a violation of international law.

We are the problem. What will the solution be?

[IndianaGreen]

8. The evil emperor is building his Death Star

and, given a chance, he will use it to destroy the whole planet.

[Massacure]

9. Let me guess...

Osama bin Laden is building a spaceship in Iran???

:eyes:

[lovuian]

10. I guess the Rods of god is out because China blew the

satellite up...http://youtube.com/watch?v=MWJw8Wn3jpk

The Madness continues