U.S. high-powered airborne laser weapon shot down a ballistic missile in the first successful test of a futuristic directed energy weapon

WASHINGTON A U.S. high-powered airborne laser weapon shot down a ballistic missile in the first successful test of a futuristic directed energy weapon, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said on Friday.The agency said in a statement the test took place at 8:44 p.m. PST (11:44 p.m. EST) on Thursday /0444 GMT on Friday) at Point Mugu’s Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division Sea Range off Ventura in central California.”The Missile Defense Agency demonstrated the potential use of directed energy to defend against ballistic missiles when the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) successfully destroyed a boosting ballistic missile” the agency said.The high-powered Airborne Laser system is being developed by Boeing Co., the prime contractor, and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

Boeing produces the airframe, a modified 747 jumbo jet, while Northrop Grumman supplies the higher-energy laser and Lockheed Martin is developing the beam and fire control systems.”This was the first directed energy lethal intercept demonstration against a liquid-fuel boosting ballistic missile target from an airborne platform,” the agency added.

The airborne laser weapon successfully underwent its first in-flight test against a target missile back in August. During that test, Boeing said the modified 747-400F aircraft took off from Edwards Air Force Base and used its infrared sensors to find a target missile launched from San Nicolas Island, California.The plane’s battle management system issued engagement and target location instructions to the laser’s fire control system, which tracked the target and fired a test laser at the missile. Instruments on the missile verified the system had hit its mark, Boeing said.

The airborne laser weapon is aimed at deterring enemy missile attacks and providing the U.S. military with the ability to engage all classes of ballistic missiles at the speed of light while they are in the boost phase of flight.”The revolutionary use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense, with the potential to attack multiple targets at the speed of light, at a range of hundreds of kilometers (miles), and at a low cost per intercept attempt compared to current technologies,” the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said. (Reuters)

President Barack Obama has his troop surge

troop surge

President Barack Obama has his troop surge. Afghanistan’s beleaguered security forces have theirs.

While the new U.S. war strategy was unveiled with worldwide fanfare, Afghan’s defense force has been quietly planning its own troop buildup to break the Taliban’s tightening grip on swathes of the nation. The Afghan surge is the one to watch because the success of Obama’s new war plan is inextricably hinged to Afghanistan’s ability to recruit, train and retain security forces that can eventually take the lead in defending the nation.

Afghan Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday that he’s already assigned one brigade to a new three-brigade seventh corps of the Afghan National Army. Corps 215 Maiwand is based in the Helmand capital of Lashkar Gah, where most of the 30,000 U.S. reinforcements will be deployed.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says the Afghans have promised to send 5,000 members of the new corps to partner with British troops in Helmand. Wardak insists that will be achieved with ease. He said he’s already begun staffing the command’s second brigade.

Moreover, he said nearly 44 additional companies of Afghan soldiers are being added to battalions in the south and east. Another Afghan commando battalion, which will graduate in January, is also headed to Helmand – the scene of a major weekend offensive by 1,000 Marines and 150 Afghan soldiers.

“We are bringing the strength level of every unit in the south to 117 percent of its authorized strength so there will be a significant increase in the number of troops,” Wardak said in his office at the Ministry of Defense.

Building up the Afghan army, plagued by inefficiency, a lack of trainers and corruption, is a precursor to a U.S. troop pullout. While Obama set July 2011 as the date for the beginning of a withdrawal, he said it would happen “taking into account conditions on the ground.”

That caveat was what Afghan leaders needed to hear.

“It is in the speech,” Wardak said. “I don’t believe the international community will just leave us like they did once before – after all these sacrifices. This enemy is not only terrorizing Afghanistan, it is terrorizing the whole international community. The nature of the threat is such that no one country will be able to deal with it.”

Initially, the size of the Afghan army was scheduled to swell from 85,000 to 134,000 by 2013. That target now is expected to be reached earlier – by Oct. 31, 2011.

“We are increasing our level of recruitment and there are going to be improvements in retention,” he said. “We are going to go at a very fast speed.”

However, even the defense minister acknowledges that 134,000 will not be enough. He agrees with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, who has recommended a 240,000-member Afghan army.

Getting there will be a steep uphill battle, says retired. Marine Col. Jeff Haynes, who in 2008 headed a command that advised the Afghan National Army.

“The rapid expansion of the Afghan National Army will likely undermine the fragile success that has been achieved to date,” Haynes wrote in an essay on the Web site defpro.com. “It will also set back, not hasten, its assumption of the lead role in defeating a resurgent Taliban. Unfortunately, too many of the people who are developing Afghan security strategy have never worked with the Afghan National Army and do not have a clear understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.

“The reality is that ANA effectiveness is already suffering because of an inadequate number of competent leaders and staff officers. … Growing the army too fast will only exacerbate this leadership deficit.Candace Rondeaux, senior Afghan analyst for the International Crisis Group, said the army is facing a a shortage of military trainers and is fighting endemic corruption. The question is how many troops can the Afghan government sustain in an aid-dependent country where the annual budget is under $10 billion.

“If the goal is to build a quality force of some 134,000 Afghan army soldiers by the end of 2011, then the addition of some 4,000 U.S. military trainers under the new troop levels will certainly help,” she told the Council on Foreign Relations Web site. “But when it comes to expanding the Afghan National Army to 250,000 … then stress on the system is inevitable and may blunt the positive impact that extra U.S. troops will have in the long term.”

bono The U2 rocker who is worth an estimated £400 million

The U2 rocker who is worth an estimated £400 million – says he devotes so much of his time to charitable projects because he believes he has more money than he deserves to have.Speaking at the launch of Nike’s Lace Up. Save Lives campaign, which raises money for HIV charity (Red) with Chelsea soccer star Didier Drogba, he said: ‘Theseguys are very wealthy. I am very well paid, overpaid and even over-rewarded for what I do. But a lot of these soccer guys are giving something back and they don’t need to do that.Meanwhile, Bono admits he and his bandmates are ‘delighted and humbled’ to have been asked to headline next year’s Glastonbury Festival, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.He said: “Everyone in the band is very excited about it. I think it will just be about the music on that day, and that spirit that seems to take over everybody in that sacred ground.”We’ll certainly be well-rehearsed, we’ll be coming straight from the North American tour.”U2’s appearance at Glastonbury marks their first festival show in 25 years and it will be the first time the group have performed at the world famous music event.

a fatal Afghan airstrike ordered by German forces

Former German Defense Minister and current Labor Minister Franz Josef Jung has resigned over a fatal Afghan airstrike ordered by German forces, the Labor Ministry said Friday.It comes the day after the head of the German army stepped down over the same incident.The resignation of Gen. Wolfgang Schneiderhan, the army’s chief of staff, came after Germany’s Bild newspaper reported he knew civilians could be killed when the Sept. 4 airstrike was ordered.The attack in the northern province of Kunduz killed at least 90 people, according to reports at the time. Bild said 142 people were killed. Local Afghan officials said at least half of the dead were civilians, and NATO acknowledged soon afterward that civilians had been killed.

NATO said the death toll is contained in a classified report about the incident that is now in the hands of German authorities.The German commander in the area called in the strike after Afghans tried to siphon fuel from two tankers hijacked by the Taliban a day earlier. The fuel had been earmarked for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).Bild said it had access to confidential documents and it posted a video of the airstrike on its Web site. It said German Col. Georg Klein was not able to rule out the possibility of civilian victims before he ordered the strike.

The newspaper said a report dated Sept. 6 — two days after the strike — made clear that it was impossible for Klein to verify information his informant had provided before he called in the airstrike.Jung said Friday he was taking responsibility for miscommunication following the incident.Bild reported that for days after the incident, Jung — who was then defense minister — repeated that there had been no civilian victims. That was despite Jung having videos and documents that proved the defense ministry knew about civilian victims and also had insufficient information before the strike was ordered, Bild said.

“Although this information painted a completely different picture of events, Minister Jung repeated in newspaper interviews and before Parliament, again and again, that ‘terrorist Taliban exclusively’ had been hit, and that the local commander had had ‘clear information’ that the people by the tankers were exclusively insurgents,” Bild reported.