N. Korea Fires Two Short-Range Projectiles Toward East Sea: JCS
Yonhap News Agency
North Korea fired two short-range projectiles from a western region toward the East Sea on Thursday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, amid a lack of progress in denuclearization talks with the United States and chilled inter-Korean ties. The projectiles were fired at 4:35 p.m. and 4:38 p.m. from areas in the city of Sunchon, South Pyongan Province, toward the East Sea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. Both flew around 370 km across the peninsula, reaching a maximum altitude of around 90 km, the JCS said, adding that South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are analyzing their exact type. Thursday's test also came as the North has stepped up pressure on the U.S. to meet the year-end deadline that it has set for Washington to come up with a new proposal on how to exchange denuclearization measures and sanctions relief. Earlier this month, the two sides held the first nuclear talks since February's no-deal summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but the meeting in Sweden ended without an agreement, with the North accusing the U.S. of failing to put forward a new proposal.
U.S. to Renew Waivers Allowing Non-Proliferation Work With Iran – Sources
Arshad Mohammed | Reuters
The United States plans to allow Russian, Chinese and European companies to continue work at Iranian nuclear facilities to make it harder for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The Trump administration, which last year pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions on Iran, will let the work go forward by issuing waivers to sanctions that bar non-U.S. firms from dealing with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said the sources on condition of anonymity. While the waivers’ renewal would allow non-proliferation work to continue at the Arak heavy water research reactor and the Fordow fuel enrichment plant, which AEOI oversees, it may also signal that Washington is leaving the door open to diplomacy. Under the 2015 deal, the Arak reactor was to be redesigned to render it unable to make bomb-grade plutonium under normal operation, while the Fordow plant was to stop enriching uranium and be converted into a nuclear, physics and technology center.
Bulava Ballistic Missile Launch from Brand-New Strategic Sub in White Sea
Thomas Nilsen | Barents Observer
Simultaneously as the Northern Fleet sails the largest submarine maneuverer since the days of the Cold War, the “Knyaz Vladimir” Borei-class sub for the first time launched a test missile that crossed the Arctic and hit the target on Kamchatka in the Far East. It was last week eight Russian nuclear-powered submarines sailed out from their bases on the Kola Peninsula, Norwegian media reported on Tuesday. Wednesday morning, a defense ministry video showed the launch of a ballistic missile from the White Sea. “For the first time with the newest strategic missile submarine “Knyaz Vladimir” of project Borey-A, test-fired a sea based Bulava ballistic missile,” the defense ministry report says. The launch was planned and is needed for “Knyaz Vladimir” to pass its acceptancy tests before being transferred to the fleet from the Sevmash shipyard that has built the submarine.
Indian Nuclear Power Plant’s Network Was Hacked, Officials Confirm
Sean Gallagher | Ars Technica
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has acknowledged today that malware attributed by others to North Korean state actors had been found on the administrative network of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP). The admission comes a day after the company issued a denial that any attack would affect the plant's control systems. In a press release today, NPCIL Associate Director A. K. Nema stated, “Identification of malware in NPCIL system is correct. The matter was conveyed by CERT-In [India's national computer emergency response team] when it was noticed by them on September 4, 2019.” The malware in question, named Dtrack by Russian malware protection company Kaspersky, has been used in widespread attacks against financial and research centers, based on Kaspersky data collected from over 180 samples of the malware. Dtrack shares elements of code from other malware attributed to the Lazarus threat group, which, according to US Justice Department indictments, is a North Korean state-sponsored hacking operation.
Northrop’s $3 Billion B-2 Upgrades Lagging by Almost Three Years
Tony Capaccio | Bloomberg
Upgrades to help America’s aging B-2 bomber fleet detect and evade the improving air defenses of rivals China, Russia and Iran are running almost three years late and over budget. The service now estimates it will take until at least until September 2024 before eight of the U.S.’s 20 stealth bombers are upgraded to have an initial combat capability, according to an Air Force statement. That’s 33 months later than the timetable established in 2016, when the project started, according to a program document submitted with this year’s budget request and the statement. The latest delay is being driven by an 18-month slip, to late 2020, in certifying key software that was supposed to have occurred in June. The software must be certified before flight testing. Northrop Grumman Corp., the original B-2 contractor, is also the prime contractor on the next-generation B-21 bomber, so the company’s performance has drawn particular Pentagon scrutiny. First used in 1999 over Kosovo, the B-2 is the only combat aircraft that can carry America’s heaviest non-nuclear bomb, the 30,000-pound GBU-57 “bunker buster.” The upgrade program is supposed to be a key example of the “increased lethality” and prowess in penetrating enemy air space called for in the Trump administration’s National Defense Strategy and by General David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff.
Countries Backing India Over Kashmir Will Be Hit By Missile: Pak Minister Sparks Controversy
Hamza Ameer | India Today
A Pakistani minister has sparked controversy by stating that “any country which will not stand with Pakistan over Kashmir will be taken as our enemy and our missiles will hit them also, if in a state of war”. Pakistan Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur recently claimed that the world was silent over Kashmir dispute and that ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan may result in an all-out war between the two arch-rivals. If the tensions with India escalate on the issue of Kashmir, Pakistan will be forced into war and those standing with India on the Kashmir issue would have to face the consequences, he said. Any country that would support India on Kashmir will be taken as an enemy of Pakistan. And missiles will be fired at that country also, he said during an interview at a local television.