Doug Tsuruoka — ‘Star Wars’ missile defense is back, but not how it should be

Another multi-trillion dollar boondoggle in the works that could have been avoided. The Anglo-American defense industry will be pleased.

Asia Times
‘Star Wars’ missile defense is back, but not how it should be

Doug Tsuruoka  | Editor At Large

See also

"Lest we forget."

An indisputable fact is that what has led to both World Wars – that was British politics, or, if you prefer, whatever acted through it. However, there is an interesting difference between the activities of London in 1914 and 1917, and in 1939 – and also there exists a lot of similarities with present London (and Washington) proceedings.

Britain versus Germany and Russia. WWII, the United Nations, the liberal world order, NATO, the Common Market, the European Union, and the Eurozone were supposed to preclude the these rivalries in Europe from rising anew. But here we go again.

The author's English is "non-standard," and the piece is longish. It also deals with details of history, geopolitics, and geostrategy that require some background.  Moreover, it not only goes deeper than the history written by the victors that has become the normal paradigm in the UK and US, but it contradicts that narrative.

Geopolitika
How Britain Provoked Two World Wars and Tries to Make It for The Third Time

Konrad Rekas (lives in Tarnobzeg, Poland)

Asia Unhedged — Russia, China eclipse US in hypersonic missiles: Pentagon

Arms race.

Others have noted to Asia Unhedged that the US defense establishment’s goal when speaking to lawmakers is to drum up support for more funding. Exaggerating threats, or short comings, instills a sense of urgency for additional investment in arms development.

Asia Times
Russia, China eclipse US in hypersonic missiles: Pentagon

Asia Unhedged

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Russia Insider

Winner of Putin's Name Contest for 'Miracle Weapons' - a 14th c. Christian Monk!
Charles Bausman

also

Russia’s Game-Changing Weapons That Putin Did Not Mention
Arkady Savitsky

aurelius77 — China Again Tests Nuclear Hypersonic Missile

China carried out a sixth flight test of its new high-speed nuclear attack vehicle on Monday designed to defeat U.S. missile defenses or carry out global strikes…



U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed the DF-ZF to be a nuclear delivery vehicle for Chinese missiles, with maneuverability and high speeds that would allow it to defeat U.S. missile defenses, currently designed to counter non-maneuvering warheads with more easily-tracked ballistic trajectories.


China also could use the DF-ZF for conventional-armed rapid global strike capability, according to military specialists.…



The high rate of testing for the glide vehicle is an indication China has placed a high priority on the weapon program and that it is making rapid progress.…


Air Force Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, then-deputy commander of Strategic Command, said at the same time that hypersonic missiles offer a number of advantages as strategic weapons.


“It offers a number of different ways to overcome defenses, whether those are conventional, or if someone would decide to use a nuclear warhead, I think gives it an even more complicated dimension,” Kowalski said.
Currently, no nation has deployed hypersonic weapons but “it remains something that concerns us,” Kowalski added.…


China also is building and deploying sophisticated surveillance satellites that could be used for the precision global strike weapons.


With some 138 satellites in space by 2030, “this means that an intercontinental [Prompt Global Strike] launched from China against U.S. targets could benefit from multiple target location updates,” he said.


Since China has refused to negotiate limits on its strategic weapons and remains highly secretive about all its arms programs, “the safe course for Washington would be to avoid any further delay in developing its own Prompt Global Strike capability to deploy if China does the same.”

Arms race. And China seems to have figured out that availability of real resources is the only constraint.


Global Geopolitics
China Again Tests Nuclear Hypersonic Missile
aurelius77

See also

An Electromagnetic Arms Race Has Begun: China Is Making Railguns Too

Matt Drudge’s first tweet in months came with a cryptic message: “A shocking truth is unfolding: America has been arming ISIS.”

Matt Drudge: ‘America has been arming ISIS’

Matthew Bodner — The end of nuclear deterrence? The U.S. hypersonic missile program

The United States is leading the chase for the new weapons, which Russia firmly believes poses a significant threat to its own nuclear missile forces. 

"Russia considers this trend as a path to obtaining [non-nuclear] means of depriving Russia of its deterrent capability," Dr. Eugene Miasnikov, director of the Moscow-based Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies told The Moscow Times. 

Russia's sensitivity to threats to its nuclear deterrence could lead it to mistake a hypersonic missile launch as the opening moves of a larger attack, some analysts say, arguing that the weapons are so destabilizing that their mere development could spark a nuclear war between major powers.…

The Moscow Times
The end of nuclear deterrence? The U.S. hypersonic missile programMatthew Bodner

The Moscow Times is a liberal newspaper.