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>> The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command has awarded defense contractor Raytheon a $27 million contract to provide field engineers to update Taiwan’s Patriot Air and Missile Defense System.

Sanjay Kapoor, vice president of Patriot programs at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems said his company is “very pleased that the upgrades are happening on an accelerated timeline. This will provide Taiwan with an enhanced level of security sooner than expected.” (Source)

>> Contractor Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., received a task order worth $1.25 million to provide services for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense for the Japanese Flight Test Mission. (Source)

>> Defense contractor Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems division has created a new missile defense systems unit, to be based in Huntsville, Alabama, and led by Retired Army Major General John W. Holly. (Source)

We blogged last month that Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed were going after a Ground-based Midcourse Defense system contract that could bring in $200 million a year. Among other things, Lockheed’s new missile defense unit will pursue that contract.

*The Pentagon takes the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to task in a new 60-page study. The Institute for Defense Analyses carried out an independent study of the MDA to examine and make recommendations about long-term missions, roles, and structure.

The MDA is directed, among other things, to develop missile defense systems. But the MDA’s rapid development and deployment of the systems have come at the expense of planning and preparation, the Pentagon concludes. The report recommends the MDA re-focus on research. Download the report in PDF. (The Huffington Post)

*The AFP reported in September that the island nation of Taiwan would not deploy missiles capable of hitting Shanghai, China. This week the AFP reported that Taiwan plans to make up to 300 Hsiungfeng 2E cruise missiles. China lays claim to Taiwan, but it’s governed separately and has been since 1949. Should Taiwan decide to become independent, China most likely will threaten war. (AFP)

*Public Survey on Missile Defense – The Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, formed after the September 11 terrorist attacks, has published a series of public survey results. These results are presented in Power Point and Word documents. To find out what Americans, Poles, and Czechs think about missile defense, visit the survey page.

*U.S. military sources reported that a fire occurring on May 23 at a nuclear facility burned undetected for five days. The fire, which resulted in $1.4 million worth of damage, was caused by a bad battery charger. (Herald Sun)

*The MDA’s General Henry Obering said he’s concerned about the ratification of the agreement between the U.S. and Poland to build a missile defense system in Poland. Finalized some months ago, the agreement must be approved by parliament. Democrats in Congress have threatened to withhold funding until the Polish parliament ratifies the agreement.

“If we get ratification by the end of this year,” Obering said, “we will still not be able to put an interceptor on the ground in Poland until 2012.” (AFP)

Russia rolls on with its joint missile development plans. RIA Novosti reports that Russia and India will be developing a new BrahMos-2 hypersonic cruise missile. BrahMos Aerospace CEO Sivathanu Pillai, said, “The new hypersonic missile will have a top speed of over Mach 5, which would make it impossible to intercept.”

BrahMos is owned by Russia and India, and it makes and markets BrahMos supersonic missiles. The missile has a range of 180 miles and the capacity to carry  a conventional warhead of up to 660 pounds. (Source: RIA Novosti)

UPI is reporting that Iran is planning to launch a satellite using a new booster rocket. According to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the 16-motor space vehicle will have a boost range of 420 miles. This is Iran’s third launch this year. (Source: UPI)

According to a new report by the State Department, the U.S. needs to build new advanced weapon systems in response to China’s build-up of nuclear weapons. Although U.S. policy acknowledges the need to defend against Iran and North Korea, the report is the first to include China. The Washington Times, which based the story on a draft of the report, notes that China’s defense strategy extends beyond retaking Taiwan. (Last month we told you that Taiwan’s new president, Ma Ying-jeou, wants his country and China to enter into a peaceful relationship.)

An excerpt from the Washington Times:

“The draft report presents a tough assessment of Chinese strategic modernization that goes beyond many current government and private-sector analyses that say that China’s military modernization does not pose a major challenge to U.S. security interests.

“For example, in an interview with The Washington Times in March, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden expressed professional ‘admiration’ for China’s rapid and sophisticated buildup and said it is ‘not inevitable that they will be an enemy.’ The report said that to reduce the chance of a miscalculation by China that could lead to a crisis or conflict, the United States ‘must take seriously China’s challenge to U.S. military superiority in the Asia-Pacific region. … China’s military modernization is proceeding at a rate … to be of concern even with the most benign interpretation of China’s motivation.’” (Source: Washington Times)

 
According to the China Times (via the AFP), Taiwan will not deploy missiles capable of hitting Shanghai, China.
 
Taiwan has Hsiung-feng 2E cruise missiles, with a range of 360 miles.

“The military had planned to further the range to 1,000 kilometres, so that they could be used to hit Shanghai,” in case Taiwan and China went to war, a source told the China Times. But the relationship between the two appear to be on the mend.
 
Although China claims Taiwan, the island country is governed separately from China. If Taiwan decides to become independent, China most likely will threaten war. Newly elected President Ma Ying-jeou envisions cooperation between his country and China. We’ll continue watching and blogging these developments.

(Source: AFP)