Test missile launched from Southern California coast
The U.S. Air Force has successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in the latest test on the Southern California coast.
The unarmed Minuteman 3 missile was launched the morning of April 25 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
It was the first such test this year. The most recent was last August. A launch planned for February was postponed.
The Air Force says the test was to check the readiness, effectiveness and accuracy of the weapons system.
Minuteman missiles are regularly tested with launches from Vandenberg that send unarmed re-entry vehicles to a target area in the middle of the Pacific. AP
Russia hints it may provide advanced air defenses to Syria
The Russian military indicated April 25 it will supply the Syrian government with a sophisticated air defense system following Moscow’s condemnation of the missile attack launched by the United States, Britain and France earlier this month.
Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi said Russia will supply Syria with “new missile defense systems soon.” Rudskoi’s statement did not specify the type of weapons, but his remarks follow reports in the Russian media that Moscow is considering selling its S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Syria.
Top Russian officials said that in light of the airstrikes on Syria earlier this month, Moscow may reconsider a pledge it gave a decade ago not to provide Syria with the S-300 system. The strikes were in retaliation to an April 7 suspected chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma, near Damascus, that killed more than 40 people.
The U.S., Britain and France blamed the attack on President Bashar Assad’s government. The three governments launched airstrikes into Syria, hitting alleged chemical weapons facilities. Syria and Russia, a key ally of Assad, strongly deny the Syrian government was behind the attack.
Transferring upgraded air-defense systems to Syria could be seen as an escalation by neighboring Israel and raises the risk of Israeli attacks.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned April 24 that if Syria uses Russian-made air defense missiles against Israel, the IDF will strike back.
“What’s important to us is that the defensive weapons the Russians are giving Syria won’t be used against us,” Lieberman told Israeli news website Ynet. “If they’re used against us, we’ll act against them.” AP
Airbus, Dassault to develop new European fighter jet
European plane maker Airbus and France’s Dassault Aviation have agreed to join forces in developing and producing a new European fighter jet.
The two companies’ announcement at an air show in Berlin April 25 follows a decision in principle last year by the French and German governments to develop a new fighter jet together.
The new aircraft is slated at first to complement and then replace the Eurofighter and Rafale aircraft currently in use, between 2035 and 2040.
Dirk Hoke, the CEO of Airbus’ defense and space division, said that “never before has Europe been more determined to safeguard and foster its political and industrial autonomy and sovereignty in the defense sector.”
He said the “the schedule is tight” and the companies need to start work immediately on a project roadmap. AP