Australia commits to 'son of star wars'

[David Bromage]

The United States and Australia have signed a pact to develop a
controversial missile defence shield, known as 'son of star wars', as
they expressed concerns about proliferation of ballistic missiles
capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction.

Defence Minister Robert Hill and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
signed the memorandum of understanding at the State Department for joint
missile defence system development and testing.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1149054.htm



Mere coincidence this was done the same day India announced that the
Agni III will have intercontinental range?

Cheers
David

[zalzon]

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 11:21:55 +1000, David Bromage wrote:

> Mere coincidence this was done the same day India announced that the
> Agni III will have intercontinental range?


I doubt Australia sees any nuclear threat from India and vice-versa.

Essentially the only possible countries firing nukes from australia at
India would be the US or maybe Britain. Assuming these countries don't
intend to use australia for a pre-emptive strike against India, the
likelyhood of a nuclear war is slim to none.

Missile defence in aus is thus most likely directed at north korea &
china.

It used to be that north korea exported its missiles to pakistan and
the two tested it there. Whether that is still happening with US
controlling Pakistan is not known. Recently the pakistanis (who tend
to pull missiles out of thin air) claim to have tested an 'indegenously'
developed 3500kms missile. If indeed they are not bluffing about the
range (which I bet they are), then north korea should be assumed to
have a missile in that range class as well.

Others in the region like japan have their own covert ballistic
missile program disguised as space launch vehicles developed at great
cost.

[zalzon]

S. Korea: N. Korea Deploying New Missiles

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea (news - web sites)
has begun making and deploying new intermediate-range
ballistic missiles that could reach U.S. military
targets in Okinawa, Japan and the Pacific U.S. territory
of Guam, South Korea (news - web sites)'s Defense
Ministry said Thursday.

Since last year, South Korean and Japanese news media,
citing anonymous intelligence sources, have reported
North Korea's development of a new missile with a
1,860-2,500 mile range.

Testifying before the parliament's National Defense
Committee, Defense Minister Cho Young-kil said Wednesday
that those missiles have already been deployed.

Cho's comments were carried by domestic media on Thursday
and were confirmed by a ministry representative who spoke
on condition of anonymity.

"North Korea is continuing its missile development, engaging
in such activities as engine tests," Cho was quoted as saying.

read the rest at :

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&ncid=535&e=15&u=/ap/20040708/ap_on_re_as/nkorea_missiles_1

[David Bromage]

zalzon wrote:
> On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 11:21:55 +1000, David Bromage wrote:
>
>>Mere coincidence this was done the same day India announced that the
>>Agni III will have intercontinental range?
>
> I doubt Australia sees any nuclear threat from India and vice-versa.
>
> Essentially the only possible countries firing nukes from australia at
> India would be the US or maybe Britain.

What about China? Remember that China already occupies a small bit of
India they captured in 1962 and India holds a small bit claimed by China.

Cheers
David

[David Bromage]

zalzon wrote:
> I doubt Australia sees any nuclear threat from India and vice-versa.

No, but if India can hit Tongdao they can hit a lot of other places as well.

Cheers
David