demonstration could herald a new technology for space access, said officials involved with the launch.
RUSSIANS HELPING IRAN CREATE EUROPE MISSILE THREAT:
British Paper (AFP) Oct. 16, 2005
— Former members of the Russian military have been secretly helping Iran obtain the technology needed to make missiles capable of hitting European capitals, a British newspaper claimed on Sunday.
Citing anonymous “Western intelligence officials,” The
“It has enabled Tehran to receive regular clandestine shipments of topsecret missile technology, believed to be channeled through Russia,” the newspaper reported in a front-page article.
The allegations came after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice feuded openly with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov over Iran’s nuclear programme while on a brief trip to Moscow on Saturday.
…According to the
“It is designed to carry a 1.2-ton payload, sufficient for a basic nuclear device,” the newspaper said.
It quoted a senior U.S. official as saying Iran’s programme as “sophisticated and getting larger and more accurate. They have had very much in mind the payload needed to carry a nuclear weapon.
RUSSIA WARNS AGAINST MILITARY FORCE
—© Stratfor Inc., August 17, 2005
— Military force against Iran would be “counterproductive and dangerous,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Aug. 17. The ministry called for a diplomatic solution to the tensions surrounding Tehran’s nuclear program, warning of “grave” and unpredictable outcomes if force were employed.
ARMS SALE TO TEHRAN FUELS TENSIONS WITH ISRAEL
— Janes
—© Janes’ Information Group
— Tel Aviv
— Russia confirmed earlier reports on 5 December of the deal with Iran, which includes the upgrading of Iranian Su-24 attack aircraft and MiG-29 multirole fighter aircraft, along with the acquisition of an unspecified number of patrol boats, 32 Antey Tor-M1 (SA-15 “Gauntlet”) low- to medium-altitude surface-to-air missile systems (16 tracked, 16 wheeled) and the upgrade of an unspecified number of T-72 main battle tanks. Russian news agency Interfax reported that the missiles would be deployed to protect Iran’s soon-to-be-completed nuclear reactor in Bushehr.
The Tor-M1 can simultaneously detect and track up to 48 airborne targets out to a range of 40 km and can engage targets at a maximum range of 12 km and at altitudes from 10 m to 6,000 m. During a test in Russia, the Tor-M1 achieved a high kill probability against cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and jet fighters…
LOW-COST ACCESS TO ORBIT: MARINES TO THE RESCUE, by Taylor Dinerman, www.thespacereview.com, 6 January 2006…
In July 2002, the Marine Corps released a Universal Needs Statement that defined the Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion (SUSTAIN) concept that, if successful, will give the U.S. a “…heretofore unimaginable assault support speed, range, altitude, and strategic surprise” capability. SUSTAIN is an RLV that will carry a squad (13 men) into space and land it anywhere on Earth within two hours with, among other requirements, “flexible launch on demand to any orbital inclination.”
A fully operational SUSTAIN-type vehicle would also be the preferred low-cost way to get cargo and personnel to and from LEO [low earth orbit]…
TWO-STAGE-TO-ORBIT “BLACKSTAR” SYSTEM SHELVED AT GROOM LAKE?
—©
U.S. intelligence agencies may have quietly mothballed a highly classified two-stage-to-orbit spaceplane system designed in the 1980s for reconnaissance, satellite-insertion and, possibly, weapons delivery…
…A large “mothership,” closely resembling the U.S. Air Force’s historic XB-70 supersonic bomber, carries the orbital component conformally under its fuselage, accelerating to supersonic speeds at high altitude before dropping the spaceplane. The orbiter’s engines fire and boost the vehicle into space. If mission requirements dictate, the spaceplane can either reach low Earth orbit or remain suborbital.
…Exactly what missions the Blackstar system may have been designed for and built to accomplish are as yet unconfirmed, but U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) officers and contractors have been toying with similar spaceplane concepts for years. Besides reconnaissance, they call for inserting small satellites into orbit, and either retrieving or servicing other spacecraft. Conceivably, such a vehicle could serve as an anti-satellite or space-to- ground weapons-delivery platform…
www.Iranian.ws (a U.S.-based Iranian Web site) polls, 13 March 2006
— 49 % of respondents believe the current Iranian regime will “go away because it is in its nature to be deposed by violent means.”
As to the question “If (or when) the time comes to choose between Iran or Islam,” 92 % chose “Iran.”
As to the question “Which is the right model of governance for Iran?” 45 % chose a republic, 34 % chose a monarchy, and only 8 % chose a theocracy.
As to the question “Do you support a separation of religion from state in Iran,” 81 % chose “Yes, of course,” and 16 % chose “No way.”
82 % of respondents rate Iran’s future under the current regime as “Not good.”
The poll Web site page http://www.iranian.ws/poll/ has a warning on it which reads: “According to some, you may turn to solid rock or may burn in hell for eternity by participating in our polls.”
PRATT & WHITNEY ROCKETDYNE COMPLETES MACH 5 TESTING OF WORLD’S FIRST CLOSED-LOOP HYDROCARBON-FUELED HYPERSONIC PROPULSION SYSTEM
— PR NewsWire-FirstCall, 27 July 2006
— CANOGA PARK, Calif.
— Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR), a business unit of United Technologies Corp., has completed testing of its hypersonic Ground Demonstrator Engine No. 2 (GDE-2) at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia…
The PWR GDE-2 produced significant hypersonic data results during several test runs conducted at Mach 5 conditions in the eight-foot High Temperature Tunnel at the Langley Research Center. The engine used standard JP-7 fuel in a closed-loop configuration to both cool engine hardware and fuel the engine’s combustor…
IRAN, RUSSIA: A NUCLEAR MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE
— Strategic Forecasting Inc., 27 September 2006—Russia and Iran have signed a contract for the delivery of 80 tons of nuclear fuel to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power facility, which is scheduled to be completed in September 2007. Russia appears to be in the process of finishing updating its military doctrine. Closer economic ties with Iran will allow Russia to maintain a foothold in the Middle East while keeping pressure on the United States, which lacks the bandwidth to respond to Russia’s provocative moves.
