Missile Shield

Senior U.S. and Czech defense officials held talks Friday to discuss ways for the Czech Republic to participate in a reworked U.S. missile defense plan. U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Alexander Vershbow told reporters the U.S. "did present ... some concrete ideas to begin that process of developing the Czech role in the new approach." Vershbow's visit comes two weeks after Vice President Joe Biden won Czech support for the new plan. In September the Obama administration scrapped Bush-era blueprints for basing long range interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic as part of a missile defense shield designed to shoot ... Read Full Story

A Japanese navy ship intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile in a test off Hawaii, the U.S. and Japanese militaries said Tuesday. The drill was the third such test for Japan, which began investing in a U.S.-developed ballistic missile defense system after North Korea test-fired a long-range missile over northern Japan in 1998. The U.S. fired the test's target from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, and the JS Myoko destroyer detected the target, tracked it, then fired an SM-3 interceptor missile from its deck. The interceptor hit the target in space about 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean, the militaries said in a ... Read Full Story

Japanese naval forces successfully shot down a medium-range missile off Hawaii in a test of Tokyo's missile defense weaponry, the US military said on Wednesday. A Japanese destroyer detected, tracked and knocked out the missile in mid-flight with an SM-3 interceptor rocket, the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said in a statement. The missile was launched on Tuesday at 6:00 pm Hawaii time (0400 GMT) at a missile range site off Kauai in Hawaii and at 6:04, an SM-3 interceptor was fired in response, the MDA said. "Approximately three minutes later, the SM-3 successfully intercepted the target approximately 100 miles (160 kilometers) above the ... Read Full Story

Japanese naval forces plan to shoot down a medium-range missile off Hawaii in a test of Tokyo's missile defense weaponry, the US military said. A Japanese destroyer will try to detect, track and knock out the missile in mid-flight with an SM-3 interceptor rocket, the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said in a statement. The test will be carried out in cooperation with the US Navy and the MDA on a range off the coast of Kauai in Hawaii, with a launch window set for 4:00 - 8:00 pm (0200 to 0600 GMT). The Japanese ship is equipped with the Aegis radar system, which ... Read Full Story

US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Prague Thursday on the last leg of his tour of three ex-communist NATO allies to pitch a new US missile defence plan, after winning backing from Poland and Romania. Biden, who flew in from Romania, will meet with Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, President Vaclav Klaus as well as Czech politicians and business leaders on Friday. The new US anti-missile system is expected to top Biden's agenda with Czech leaders after he secured support for the plans in Poland on Wednesday as well as in Romania. In Prague, Biden is also expected to discuss US investment in ... Read Full Story