North Korea Tests Solid-Fuel Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile
Ankit Panda | Diplomat
North Korea conducted another test of its KN-11 (Polaris-1, or “Bukkeukseong-1″) submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in the Sea of Japan. According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the launch took place at 6:30 p.m. local time. In a statement released after the launch, North Korean state media stated that the test sought to “confirm the stability of the underwater ballistic launching system in the maximum depth of waters, flying kinetic feature under the vertical flight system of the ballistic missile powered by the newly developed high-power solid fuel engine, the reliability of the phased heat separation and the working accuracy of nuclear detonating device of the warhead.” The statement added that Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s supreme leader, was satisfied with the result of the test.
U.S., South Korea Reject North Korea's Nuclear Proposal
Elizabeth Shim | UPI
U.S. President Barack Obama spurned a North Korean proposition to end nuclear tests. Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong had requested the United States halt joint military exercises in South Korea over the weekend, the BBC reported. In exchange, the North would cease all nuclear tests, Ri had said. On Sunday, Obama told reporters Pyongyang would "have to do better than that," stressing the need for the North to use more appropriate lines of communication other than interviews with the media.
Russia Tests Hypersonic Glide Vehicle on Missile
Bill Gertz | Washington Free Beacon
Russia conducted a flight test of a revolutionary hypersonic glide vehicle last week that will deliver nuclear or conventional warheads through advanced missile defenses, U.S. defense officials said. The test firing of the hypersonic glider took place Tuesday and involved the launch of an SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missile from eastern Russia, said officials familiar with details of the test. Russia’s state-run Interfax news agency confirmed the test on Thursday.
U.S. to Aid Iran's Nuclear Pullback
Jay Solomon | Wall Street Journal
The Obama administration agreed Friday to buy 32 tons of Iran’s heavy water, a key component in atomic-weapons development, a new gambit in a growing White House effort to encourage Tehran to stick to the nuclear agreement reached last year. The move, immediately criticized by opponents of the original deal, came hours before Secretary of State John Kerry met his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, in New York to try to facilitate Iran’s access to tens of billions of dollars of oil revenues frozen by U.S. sanctions in recent years.
China to Develop Floating Nuclear Power Plants
Michael Forsythe | New York Times
All the radar systems, lighthouses, barracks, ports and airfields that China has set up on its newly built island chain in the South China Sea require tremendous amounts of electricity, which is hard to come by in a place hundreds of miles from the country’s power grid. Beijing may have come up with a solution: floating nuclear power plants.
Troubled Army Blimp Program Faces Deep Funding Cut
David Willman | Los Angeles Times
The Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee wants to slash nearly all spending for the Pentagon’s troubled $2.7-billion program to use radar-carrying blimps to search for enemy missiles approaching the East Coast. Budget-related documents made public Friday show that Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) wants to authorize only $2.5 million next year, or 6% of the $45.5 million sought by President Obama to sustain the program, called JLENS.