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Weapons in space would undermine global stability – Russia

RT | March 11, 2015

The deployment of weapons to outer space must be prohibited, as an attack from Earth’s orbit could potentially target any country in the world at any time and ruin global stability, a Russian delegation said at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

The risks of this becoming a reality are now more “likely in light of scientific and technological developments,” the Russian representatives said, as quoted by TASS.

Speaking at the plenary session on the prevention of an arms race in space, they drew attention to the draft treaty introduced by Russia and China last year.

The Russian delegation noted “it is not a complete recipe, but rather an invitation to work together on its future development.”

The address stated that it is important to use the time when there are no weapons in space “to start substantive work on the text.”

At the same time, it has been a priority to pursue global policy initiatives to encourage countries not to become the first to place weapons in space, the delegation said, referring to “voluntary political commitments that would confirm peaceful nature of [nations’] space activities.”

The prevention of the placement of weapons in orbit has been an important goal of Russia’s foreign policy.

Russia has been promoting various initiatives that would prohibit the weaponization of space. One such project includes the draft resolution ‘No First Placement of Arms in Outer Space,’ presented at the UN General Assembly.

The draft resolution outlines further action to keep outer space free from weapons. One of the points included in the resolution is to discuss the issue at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, in order to create and adopt a binding international treaty on the prevention of placing arms in space.

The initiative was originally proposed by Russia and China in 2008, with an updated Russian-Chinese draft submitted to the Conference on Disarmament in June 2014.

Some space activities fall under international regulation of space law, as well as a series of treaties on nuclear disarmament and nuclear test bans. However, not all types of weapons are covered within this legal framework.

Read more:

Russia’s no arms in outer space initiative gains support

Why Russia is against weapons in space

March 12, 2015 Posted by | Militarism | , , , | Leave a comment

Russia’s no arms in outer space initiative gains support

Dr Alexander Yakovenko | RT | November 26, 2014

Preventing the deployment of weapons in outer space remains one of the key objectives of Russian diplomacy. We believe that space should be used solely for peaceful scientific research purposes in the interest of development and progress of the world.

That is why Russia is eager to promote initiatives that prohibit the weaponization of space and help develop international cooperation.

Among them is the Russian draft resolution on No First Placement of Arms in Outer Space presented at the UN General Assembly. Co-sponsored by 33 countries, the resolution was for the first time given overwhelming support by the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) during the current session, with 126 votes in favor and 4 against (the United States, Israel, Georgia and Ukraine). The voting has confirmed that the Russian initiative to prevent the weaponization of space is winning growing support in the international community. The text will now be submitted to the plenary of the General Assembly for adoption.

The draft resolution provides the basis for further action to keep outer space free from any kind of weapons and to ensure that all countries have an equal opportunity for its peaceful use. One of the key provisions is the idea of early talks at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva with a view to drafting and adopting a binding international treaty to prevent the placement of arms in outer space and the threat or use of force against outer space objects. Such a treaty was first proposed by Russia and China in 2008. An updated Russian-Chinese draft was submitted to the Conference on Disarmament in June this year.

The draft resolution also includes an appeal to all states to adopt a political commitment on no first placement of arms in outer space. So far, 11 countries have made declarations, namely Argentina, Armenia, Belarus, Brazil, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan.

Adopting a commitment not to be the first to place weapons in outer space by all nations with major space capabilities would greatly facilitate a legally binding ban on the placement of any kind of weapons in outer space and the threat or use of force against outer space objects. Further efforts to spread this pledge across the globe would be a major contribution to the efforts of all the UN member countries towards equal and indivisible security and stability.

Dr Alexander Yakovenko serves as Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and served as Deputy foreign minister (2005-2011).

November 27, 2014 Posted by | Militarism, Timeless or most popular | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pentagon: Missile defense ‘kill vehicle’ still plagued with problems after years of failure

RT | September 9, 2014

A Pentagon investigation of the “kill vehicle” warhead, part of a weapons system plagued with years of failed tests, found dozens of quality control problems, according to a new report.

The Pentagon’s inspector general said in the report released Monday that the “kill vehicle,” a warhead meant to intercept missiles, fell short of quality standards in 48 specific cases, including issues with software testing, supply chain demands, and design changes, making the kill vehicle “susceptible to quality assurance failures.”

The warhead, known as the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) is built by Raytheon Co. and is part of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system led by Boeing Co. EKVs are launched by a Ground Based Interceptor (GBI), “which is designed to engage high-speed ballistic missile warheads in space,” according to Raytheon. The current procurement cost for each GBI is around $75 million, said Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Admiral James Syring in July 2013.

The inspector general report, the first of two on the EKV, said the US Missile Defense Agency has agreed with concerns over the interceptor warhead and has started to address 44 of the 48 issues identified.

The GMD missile defense system was deployed in 2004 even before it completed testing to be able to counter what the George W. Bush administration claimed was a looming missile threat from North Korea.

The EKV finally conducted its first successful missile intercept in June after years of failed attempts.

“A combination of cost constraints and failure-driven program restructures has kept the program in a state of change. Schedule and cost priorities drove a culture of ‘use-as-is’ leaving the EKV as a manufacturing challenge,” the report said.

“With more than 1,800 unique parts, 10,000 pages of work instructions, and 130,000 process steps for the current configuration, EKV repairs and refurbishments are considered by the program to be costly and problematic and make the EKV susceptible to quality assurance failures,” it added.

The Pentagon inspector general wrote that most quality management systems on the weapons program were in compliance, but problems were evident. The report found 15 major and 25 minor quality problems with Raytheon’s EKV work. Boeing’s work on the entire system had six major and one minor problem.

Most of the issues identified in the report have been corrected, the inspector general said, but Raytheon is still working on four issues.

Raytheon has a $636 million development and sustainment contract to produce the EKV, though the Pentagon is seeking one of the major defense contracting firms to develop a more reliable, second generation EKV, Reuters reported. Weapons giants Boeing, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp. are all in the running.

September 9, 2014 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment