We endorse the position of General John Hyten, USAF, Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, who recently testified, “We’re going to have a Space Force someday. I think what the Committee has to decide is when is that going to happen, and I think now is the time…you want to get ahead of the problem, not trail it, not come in response to a catastrophe. Get ahead of the problem.” ~ From an Open Letter from 43 former Senior Defense Officials Read Full Story
Last week on the 77th anniversary of Jimmy Doolittle’s famous raid on Tokyo, I wrote a Newsmax article that I proposed to title, “No Space Pearl Harbor, Please!” I wanted it to key off that important historical event to emphasize lessons that we should not forget today. Instead, the Newsmax editors emphasized the important Doolittle raid itself, rather than an even more important (in my opinion) historical lesson that we dare not repeat. With that thought in mind, please review that article and see what you think. Then consider my follow-up comments. Read Full Story
Last month, many of us remembered President Reagan’s March 23, 1983 speech that launched his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which many remember as playing a crucial role in ending the Cold War. What is seemingly forgotten is the important role that space-based defenses played in realizing Reagan’s vision — and, even more important, their potential benefits for today. A challenge for Trump’s Space Force! Read Full Story
“ . . . If the allied military targets had been spread out, there wouldn’t have been enough Patriots in the world to defend them all. In 15-20 years, when very accurate missiles with mass destruction warheads are available to third world nations, the U.S. will need a regional wide area defense force to duplicate on a grand scale the Patriot’s pivotal role of defanging the Scud.” Lt. Gen. Charles A. Horner, Commander US Central Command, Tactical Air Forces, in Aviation Week, 11 February 1991 Read Full Story
The September 19, 2018 Washington Times published an article, entitled “Toward a Cost-Effective Ballistic Missile Defense,” by Rowland H. (Rhip) Worrell and me, which reviewed facts to back-up Undersecretary of Defense Michael Griffin’s claim that a space-based defense could be deployed for less than $20-billion. Read Full Story
“So far, the only promising [boost phase] defense system concept has been a space based or satellite borne interceptor. Such a system requires many thousands of interceptors in space, but at a given instant only a small fraction will be in a position to attack. The economic feasibility of such systems is heavily dependent upon equipment reliability and upon enemy countermeasures.” ~ Harold N. Beveridge in his 1960 Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) ‘Project Defender” report to the Director of Research and Engineering Read Full Story
“What I decided to do when I set out to write this book was to try to understand why the core values—the core qualities that make America great seemed to be in decline . . . whether it is the ability for Washington to get anything done, the kind of bipartisanship we used to enjoy on big issues . . . what I found was in many ways our core values have been hijacked . . .” Steven Brill, Author of Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind America’s Fifty Year Fall—and Those Fighting to Reverse It Read Full Story
“Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principals, to the people on whom you rely and who rely on you.” ~ John S. McCain, III — Sailor, Representative, Senator, American . . . Read Full Story
“I’ve made my own preliminary cost estimates… and I can’t figure out a way to make them (space-based interceptors) cost as much as some of the numbers I’ve seen tossed around the media (like) many tens of billions of dollars.” ($67 to $109 billion is commonly cited.) ~ Dr. Michael Griffin, Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Read Full Story
“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
We will be adding key policy briefs as we progress.