WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- Pakistan Saturday announced it had successfully tested its Shaheen II/ Hatf VI Ballistic intermediate-range ballistic missile.
The pakistandefense.com Web site of the Pakistani armed forces announced that the nuclear-capable missile had a range of 1,500 miles and was highly accurate.
The web site described Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz as "overwhelmed" by the success of the test. It said Aziz congratulated the engineers, scientists and technical staff who were present at the launching.
Aziz pledged that Pakistan would continue to retain its deterrent capability to guarantee peace in the South Asian region. He said that the defense of the country was on topmost priority of the government, fully endorsed by the entire nation.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf sent a special message to congratulate the missile test team and said the entire nation was proud of their brilliant performance, the report said.
A Pakistani military spokesman said in a statement that the test was carried out to confirm the missile's ability fulfill additional technical parameters beyond those achieved in the Shaheen II's last test 14 months ago in March 2005.
The Shaheen II is a two-stage solid fuel missile which can carry nuclear and conventional warheads with "high accuracy."
The test came two days after Pakistan and India concluded a three-day session of negotiations in the Pakistani capital Islamabad to discuss confidence-building measures between them in their nuclear program and other areas. However, the two nations failed to reach the agreement they had sought on reducing the risk of accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons.
Japanese warship will join U.S. ABM test
A Japanese Aegis-equipped destroyer will participate a U.S. anti-ballistic missile test off Hawaii, possibly as early as June, the Kyodo News Agency reported Tuesday.
Kyodo cited sources in Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force for the report.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has pushed through unprecedented close cooperation between Japan and the United States to develop his country's ballistic missile defense forces. However, the coming test will be the first time that a Japanese Aegis destroyer will have participated in such a test, the MSDF said.
During the exercise, the 7,250-ton destroyer Kirishima will track a mock ballistic missile using its radar, while a U.S. Navy Aegis destroyer tries to intercept the incoming missile with a conventional Standard Missile-3 interceptor, the MSDF said.
The joint test is aimed to enhance information sharing between Japan and the United States under an ongoing joint missile defense project, the report said.
The test will take place three months after the United States and Japan successfully carried out their first test for the upgraded version of the Standard Missile-3 interceptor tipped with a Japanese-designed nose cone in March.
Harris Corp lands cruise missile data link contract
The Harris Corporation in Melbourne, Florida announced Tuesday that it had been selected by Lockheed Martin for a 2-year, $10 million development contract to provide the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range, or JASSM ER weapon data link, or WDL, transceiver. The WDL will enable the JASSM ER to engage re-locatable and time-critical targets. JASSM is the world's first stealthy conventional cruise missile.
"We are pleased that Lockheed Martin has selected Harris to supply the data link transceiver for JASSM ER," said Dan Pearson, group president of Defense Programs for the Harris Government Communications Systems Division. "Harris has a legacy of successfully developing weapon data links, and the JASSM WDL will incorporate the very latest in Software Defined Radio and encryption technology from our government communications and RF businesses."
Harris will design, fabricate, test and deliver a state-of-the-art, miniaturized, two-way data link transceiver module for JASSM beyond-line-of- sight communications. The WDL incorporates the company's latest SDR technology -- which is compliant with the Software Communications Architecture or SCA. And it incorporates the Harris Sierra II Type-1, NSA-certified COMSEC module in order to satisfy current and future data link waveform and encryption requirements, the Harris statement said.
The Harris statement said that the addition of the weapon data link to the JASSM ER significantly enhanced the battlespace commander's situational awareness through real-time weapon-in-flight tracking. In addition, a weapon data link-equipped JASSM ER can be re-tasked in-flight, allowing adjustment for "pop-up" targets.
The WDL transceiver award follows Harris' recent participation in the WDL Network Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration, or ACTD, for the U.S. military. Recently developed Network Enabled Weapons Interface Configuration Document, or ICD, messages defined by the ACTD will be incorporated into the WDL for the JASSM ER program. Harris was a key contributor to the combined government and industry team that developed the message set as part of the military's recent WDLN ICD ACTD contract.
Harris Corporation is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. With headquarters in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual sales of over $3 billion and more than 13,000 employees, including 5,500 engineers and scientists. The company's four operating divisions serve markets for government communications, RF communications, broadcast communications, and microwave communications.
Canadians back beefed-up NORAD
Canada's House of Commons has approved a government plan to renew the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD pact, which is to last permanently and expand to include maritime mutual defense from air and space.
Both the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which signed the latest renewal agreement and the main opposition Liberal Party backed the renewal of the agreement in a vote Monday night in the Canadian House of Commons, the main chamber of the Canadian parliament. The NORAD pact was approved by an overwhelming majority of 257 to 30 in the 308-seat parliament.
The new treaty was signed on April 29 in Ottawa by the Canadian Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor and U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins. It not only renews the venerable NORAD pact - a key U.S. military agreement through the decades of the Cold War, but significantly upgrades it.
NORAD was previously renewed every five years, but the new agreement eliminates this requirement by making it a permanent alliance. However, both countries still retain the right of periodic review and can drop out with a year's notice, the Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto reported Tuesday.
