Archive for the ‘nuclear weapons’ Category
January 9th, 2012 | 
Author: Largest Ever, Upcoming U.S.-Israel Joint Drill Sending Message to …
www.theblaze.com1/8/12
Arrow 3 Defense Missile Launch Test (Photo credit: Israeli Defense Ministry via Israel Hayom). A planned American-Israeli missile defense exercise is receiving special attention on the heels of a 10-day Iranian naval exercise …
Israel and US to hold joint missile drill | Aerospace & Defence News
aerospace.firetrench.com1/9/12
Israel and the United States are to hold a joint missile defence exercise, the Israeli military said late on Thursday. ASDNews … Last week it test-fired three missiles during war games east of the strait at the entrance to the Gulf. …
An upcoming American-Israeli missile defense exercise is receiving special media attention because it comes on the heels of a ten-day Iranian naval exercise, plus Iranian threats of closing the Strait of Hormuz.
Israeli Defense Forces played down the timing of the announcement, calling such periodic exercises “routine:”
“These exercises, which are part of a long-standing strategic partnership, are planned in advance and part of a routine training cycle designed to improve the interoperability of our defense systems. Like other bi-lateral exercises, Austere Challenge 12 represents another milestone in the strategic relationship between the US and Israel, as well as a step forward in promoting regional stability".
“The exercise scenario involves notional, simulated events as well as some field training, and is not in response to any real-world event".
“The exercise has been planned for at least two years and therefore has no relevance to any world events".
The AP quoted a senior military official who said on condition of anonymity:
"Thousands of American and Israeli soldiers from different units will take part, and the drill will test multiple Israeli and U.S. air defense systems against incoming missiles and rockets".
In a speech last month, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta previewed the exercise, citing it as an example of what he called,
"The administration’s unprecedented levels of defense cooperation with Israel to back up our unshakable commitment to Israel’s security".
And on Sunday’s Face the Nation, Panetta stated two red lines for the U.S.:
"Our red line to Iran is do not develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us. I think they need to know that, that if they take that step, that they’re going to get stopped. We made very clear that the United States will not tolerate the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz. That’s another red line for us and that we will respond to them.".
See also, What Would Trigger A US Strike On Iran’s Nuclear Facilities?
And Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey on the same show said he believes,
" Iran has the capability, for a period of time to block the Strait of Hormuz, but we would take action and reopen the Straits".
Efraim Inbar, who is director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University, says that even if it’s not intended as a response to Iranian moves:
“Any military exercise has political implications. The military organ is always connected to political even if that’s not the intention on the part of the Americans or Israelis. It’s a clear political signal to the bad guys. After we saw the military exercise by the Iranians last week, everybody with political sensitivity tends to believe this is a counter-flexing of muscle".
Inbar also addressed expressions of isolationism in the U.S., something which has been gaining more media attention due to the presidential campaign of GOP candidate Ron Paul:
“This type of exercise expresses the importance of Israel to the U.S. particularly when the U.S. is seen as being weak in the region. It is leaving Iraq, it is on its way out of Afghanistan. Israel is probably the only place a U.S. military airplane will eventually be able to land in the Middle East".
“U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation is beneficial to both sides. The U.S. is a super power and we are a small state but in our area contrary to what isolationists say in the U.S., we all still need allies, or what used to be called ‘calling stations’. Israeli ports are open to the U.S. In fact, the only port where the U.S. can probably bring ships safely in the Eastern Mediterranean is to Israel. Looking at the other countries: Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, the Mediterranean is becoming an Islamist lake".
And an Israeli Air Force officer emphasized that not only Israel gains from the relationship:
“The Americans are eager to conduct this exercise, we are their laboratory in the field of missile defense. A laboratory because Israel has extensive firsthand experience of absorbing incoming rockets and missiles from Hamas and Hezbollah and regularly activates its Iron Dome system to combat the threat".
The Telegraph reported from London that the UK will deploy its largest warship, the HMS Daring, to the Persian Gulf to,
“send a significant message to the Iranians”.
The UK destroyer is due to arrive in late January.
And Oil Supplies?
Western powers have agreed a contingency plan to tap a record volume from emergency stockpiles which could replace nearly all the Gulf oil that would be lost if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz.
Posted in 2012, administration, Arms Race, energy, fanatics, Iran, islam, Israel, jihad, Middle East, muslim brotherhood, muslims, Nuclear, nuclear weapons, Obama, Oil, politics, rogue states, UK | 
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Computer virus hits U.S. Drone Fleet
That raises the possibility, at least, that secret data may have been captured by the keylogger, and then transmitted over the public internet to someone outside the military chain of command. Drones have become America's …
Publish Date: 10/07/2011 23:37
http://io9.com/5847823/computer-virus-hits-us-drone-fleet
US military drones infected with virus that could steal data
U.S. military drones out of Creech AFB in Nevada are infected with a keylogger virus that could leak classified intelligence.
Publish Date: 10/07/2011 23:06
http://www.newsytype.com/12537-military-drones-keylogger-virus/
Wired.com reported on Friday October 8, 2011 that a fleet of U.S. military drones on a Nevada Air Force base was infected by a keylogger virus that tracked every key and button that the pilots pressed.
A report that top Air Force sources strongly reject however.
According to the article, the virus first came to light when it’s behavior was spotted by officials at Creech Air Force Base nearly two weeks ago.
What Did An Undisclosed Source Tell Wire.com ?
"It logged every keystroke of the pilots in the control room on the base as they remotely flew Predator and Reaper drones on missions over Afghanistan and other battle zones".
"We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back".
Intentionally Planted Or A Freak Occurrence?
It’s not immediately clear whether the virus hit the system intentionally or by accident, but the existence of a relatively easy to write computer virus on what should be the most extraordinarily secure of military systems is surely cause for concern!
And the fact that experts have not yet figured out how to delete it, perhaps brings to mind Stuxnet which infected Iranian computers and caused damage to nuclear sites.
The Official Reaction
A senior Air Force source with knowledge of the drone program and familiar with the virus said;
"Wired’s story is "blown out of proportion" and "vastly overwritten".
"The planes were never in any jeopardy of ‘going stupid’ and the virus is not affecting operations in any way".
"It showed up on a Microsoft-based Windows system".
"We have a closed-loop system and heavily protected cockpits and the planes were never in jeopardy".
How Did The Virus Infect The System?
The virus was apparently introduced when the Air Force was transferring data maps between systems using external hard drives.
And in the last 12 hours the Air Force is said to have run some clearing software to make sure no viral agents were lying dormant in the system.
They apparently found some nondescript viral agents at what was described as a "third or fourth-level function" and dealt with them.
How Secure Are US Military Computers?
Anup Ghosh, who is a former scientist with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and is chief scientist with security company Invincea, had this to say:
"The existence of ordinary-seeming computer viruses on what should be the most extraordinarily secure of military systems is far from shocking"
"The drones are controlled by standard PCs so none of this should be surprising".
"The system should be replaced or re-imaged with a virus-free, bit-for-bit copy of the data on the drive in order to get rid of the infection".
"They’re just computers, after all".
The last comment seems incredibly flippant when we’re talking about a supposedly highly secured network! It seems shocking to me!
And This Isn’t The First Time!
In 2009, U.S. troops discovered drone footage on the laptops of Iraqi insurgents.
The insurgents had stolen the video with easy to access software that cost $26.00
In the fall of 2008, a cyberworm inched its way through military networks as well.
Representatives from both Creech Air Force Base and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, the maker of the predator and Reaper drones, declined to comment.
