Authors

Jeffrey Lewis

Writing on ACW 2004–2026 · 2,079 posts

Article

NFIRE Kill Vehicle Finally Dead. Really.

How do you do, Joe? Find the room comfortable, do you? No complaints? In May, the Washington AeroSpace Briefing reported that MDA Director Trey Obering “appeared to imply that a controversial kill vehicle payload [for the Near Field Infra Red…

Article

FIA joins Misty on SpySat Budget Scaffold

During last year’s budget process, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) objected to “a particular major funding acquisition program that I believe is totally unjustified and very wasteful and dangerous to national security.” Rockefeller was criticizing a “stealth” satellite named Misty, which…

Article

DIY ASAT

Iowa State students taking Aerospace Engineering 462: Design of Aerospace Systems had a novel idea for a course project: Design an air launched anti-satellite weapon. What is needed by the Air Force is a new and inexpensive design that improves…

Article

Nukehavistan

Several loyal readers have drawn my attention to a heretofore undetected nuclear threat, as reported by The Onion: U.S. Intelligence: Nukehavistan May Have Nuclear Weapons WASHINGTON, DC—A report released Monday by the Defense Intelligence Agency suggests that there is reason…

Article

Microsatellite-based Space Targets for Missile Defense

General Obering and the Missile Defense Agency want to build microsatellites that look like warheads and decoys to help them practice looking dumbfounded when the interceptor fails to leave the silo. Sorry, that was peevish. Let me try again: MBA,…

Article

Uranium Reliable Replacement Warhead (URRW)

I had a nice discussion with Bob Peurifoy today. He has kindly agreed to let me post the full text of his working paper on a notional uranium reliable replacement warhead (URRW). Three comments, by way of introdcution: Peurifoy’s first…

Article

Yang Yegong

Yang Yegong (杨业功)—a commander in the Second Artillery—has died of bowel cancer. CCTV has a massive retrospective. I have no idea why Yang is a big deal, but it is fun to speculate. This article suggests (I think, it is…

Article

Back to the Future: U235 Designs for the Reliable Replacement Warhead?

John Fleck, writing in the Albuquerque Journal, reports some folks think the reliable replacement warhead program should emphasize uranium designs: A veteran of the U.S. nuclear weapons program thinks the weaponeers should consider giving up on plutonium. In a paper…

Article

How Many Chinese Front Companies?

Too many articles about Chinese espionage are about as sophisticated as the plot of a Hong Kong action flick. At least John Woo made stuff blow up. Somebody at the Wall Street Journal saw Hard Boiled one too many times.…

Article

Inside Iran's UCF

Iranian news agencies are really showing off the Uranium Conversion Facility at Esfahan (Isfahan), where Iran has resumed fuel cycle activities. The Fars news agency photographs Iran’s uranium conversion facility, inside and out. Check it out. Conservative daily Keyhan (full…