“Although the program was cancelled due to opposition in Congress, and lack of interest during the Clinton Administration, the aerospace technology developed utilized a combination of essentially off-the-shelf commercial and military technology that is still available to U.S. aerospace development.” ~ Donald H. Baucom, The Rise and Fall of Brilliant Pebbles Read Full Story
In a June 18, 2018 speech to the National Space Council, President Trump stated, “I’m hereby directing the Department of Defense and the Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed forces . . . separate but equal from the Air Force. That’s a big statement.” Then he asked Gen. Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “Got it?” General Dunford replied, “We got it.” Read Full Story
“Through my entire career I have watched the space enterprise struggle with integration in the [space] multidomain. You watch the chief of staff and many of the generals try to figure out how to seamlessly stitch the space community into a networked architecture. In my opinion, that will [be] harder at first to figure out. What does a ‘Space Force’ look like? What are the primary missions?” Col. Russell Teehan, Director of the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate and Commander of Phillips Research Site, Kirtland AFB, NM at the NewSpace conference, Seattle, June 26, 2018 Read Full Story
“Someday, not too distant; there can come streaking out of somewhere (We won’t be able to hear it, it will come so fast.) some kind of gadget with an explosive so powerful that one projectile will be able to wipe out completely this city of Washington. . . . I think we will meet the attack alright [sic] and, of course, in the air. But I’ll tell you one thing, there won’t be a …pilot in the sky! That attack will be met by machines guided not by human brains, but by devices conjured up by human brains.” ~ General Henry H. Arnold, 1943 Read Full Story
The first four Directors of what is now the Missile Defense Agency believed we knew how to build a cost-effective space-based interceptor system called Brilliant Pebbles 30 years ago. Moreover, Brilliant Pebbles became the first product of President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) to enter a formal Demonstration and Validation program, approved in 1990 by the Pentagon’s top acquisition executive. The fully vetted by the Pentagon cost estimators, in conjunction with outside expert critical reviews, estimated the cost for development, deployment and operations of 1000 space based interceptors for 20 years to be $20 billion in today’s dollars. We need to “go back to the future!” with today’s more advanced technology which should lead to lower costs. Read Full Story
For the first time since I was a high school junior, the leaders of North and South Korea met last week in the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) where the armistice was signed ending the Korean War, but not the conflict and associated hostility that continues to this day. Is this really good news or will it just set the stage of a replay of past North Korean duplicity and U.S. accommodation? Read Full Story
Last Friday, immediately after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced North Korea would stop its ballistic missile tests and shut down its nuclear test site, President Trump tweeted: “This is very good news for North Korea and the World – big progress! Look forward to our Summit.” Read Full Story
. . . Ruby lips above the water, Blowing bubbles soft and fine, But alas, I was no swimmer, So I lost my Clementine.
Oh my darling, Oh my darling, Oh my darling Clementine, You are lost and gone forever, Dreadful sorry Clementine. Read Full Story
“Brilliant Pebbles, canceled by the Clinton Administration for ideological reasons, could be resurrected and begin deployment before 2024, total cost $20 billion or less. The current National Defense Authorization Act in Sections 1685 “Boost Phase Ballistic Missile Defense” and 1688 ‘Plan For Development Of Space-Based Missile Intercept Layer” opens the door for the return of ‘Star Wars!’” ~Peter Vincent Pry in Better SANE than MAD, published by The Mackensie Institute Read Full Story
“Wouldn’t it be better to save lives than to avenge them?” ~President Ronald Reagan … March 23, 1983 Read Full Story
We will be adding key policy briefs as we progress.