Writing on ACW 2004–2026 · 2,079 posts
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I am in New Delhi, attending a Financial Services Volunteer Corps dialogue among Russian, Chinese, Indian and American participants. Our meeting kicked off on Friday, which just happened to coincide with a state visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin and…
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Arak Heavy Water Plant. Paul has a wrap up of the Iranian bureaucratic machinery behind Iran’s decision to bar 38 French, British, German and Canadian nationals from serving as IAEA inspectors in Iran. Mark…
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In my forthcoming book, one of the little nagging questions I couldn’t answer was why the DF-31 solid-fueled ICBM (IRBM, harumph) was taking so damn long. I said: “In 1996, NAIC predicted CSS‐X‐10 (DF‐31) deployment ‘about the turn of the…
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I wanted to draw your attention to some of the discussion about the Chinese ASAT in the expert blogosphere. Pavel Podvig, Hans Kristensen, Noah Shachtman, the anonymous China Hand, and Cheryl Rofer all have great submissions. I’ve linked to most…
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I’ve seen reports that China had three unsuccessful or non-intercept tests before the January 11th shootdown of FY-1C: MCINTYRE: According to U.S. government officials, after three misses, China last Thursday succeed in shooting down one of its own aging weather…
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This diagram shows the debris from the Chinese ASAT test, as presented in a preliminary analysis by MIT’s Geoff Forden using his awesome new GUI Missile Flyout program (download). The debris, Geoff notes, … … split in orbits, with one…
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Aviation Week now has the story—with pretty much the same details that I’ve been hearing. FY-1C was struck by a direct ascent ASAT launched from Xichang Space Center at 5:28 p.m. EST on January 11. The satellite was approximately 850…
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I noticed this blurb on SEESAT today: I’ve been hearing murmurings around the community here in Washington that there may have been an extremely energetic event (satellite break-up?) in the last week or so in the LEO altitude range (700-1000…
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Classified GAO reports. I knew they existed, but this is one is one that ought to be declassified, at least summary form: Nonproliferation: Better Controls Needed to Plan and Manage Proliferation Security Initiative Activities. GAO-06-937C. September 28, 2006. About the…
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Paul Kerr reminds me why Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill remains my favorite US diplomat: Q: Can’t you at least get a Yongbyon freeze? That would seem to be a… HILL: Oh, you…
