House and Senate Appropriators recently terminated an Air Force program called the Counter Surveillance Reconnaissance System. CSRS (pronounced like “scissors”) was a ground-based, mobile system designed to use reversible, non-damaging effects to temporarily impair reconnaissance satellites. The system was expected…
The Congressional Budget Office has released a new report on boost phase missile defense. Some notable revelations: 1. About $ 700 M of the 7.6 M for BMDS Interceptors program over the next five years will be for space-based interceptors…
Well, that is a bit of an exaggeration but The Minimum Means of Reprisal: China’s Search for Security in the Nuclear Age is off to the editor (the supremely talented Laura Susan Jacobs, who freelances for those of you in…
Goetz Neuneck sent along this rather silly pictre of me on the Great Wall (with Wang Ting and Scott Kemp over my shoulder and Andre Rothkirch on my left). I owe Goetz a chapter on China for his upcoming volume,…
Well, the Appropriations conference is moving at light speed. We may have a conference agreement as early as next week. For those of you space inclined, here is a summary of the outstanding issues relating to space control and space force…
Arms Control Wonk will be moderating a panel during the “Space for Progress” Forum on July 22, 2004. Speakers include: Ambassador Jonathan Dean Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Adviser on Global Security Issues. Dr Leonard Weiss Chair of Space Weapons…
Defense News asked Former MDA Director Ron Kadish “What do you tell critics who say this [missile defense] system will not be effective?” Kadish demurred, saying “I can give answers, and very-well calculated and technical answers, about the effectiveness of…
Slightly off topic today, but a friend alerted me to a New York Times Magazine feature that used the idiotic xenophobia of my hometown — Pekin, IL — to illustrate the pervasive impact of globalization: China used to be far…
After some digging around, I’ve learned that the brackets around the 68.0 M for NFIRE in the Senate Appropriations Committee Report mean the funding has been preserved, setting up a fight in conference. Even an old wonk can learn new…
Looks like the Bush Administration has identified the “stockpile problem” to justify a resumption of nuclear testing. You may remember the reassuring speech delivered by National Nuclear Security Administrator Linton Brooks to defend, among other items, the President’s proposal to…
