Government/Military

President Obama lashed out at Iran for supplying thousands of rockets and missiles to terrorists groups that launch them in attacks on Israel. Leaders in Tehran are supplying the means of attacks, or financing, for terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, Obama said in his first formal White House news conference. Hamas terrorists in...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said nothing has been decided on a U.S. response to repeated Russian demands that Washington kill the planned European Missile Defense (EMD) system. She was asked whether the United States is prepared to pull back the EMD shield plan in exchange for gaining Russian cooperation in dealing with Iran. Tehran...

The Obama administration is willing to delay plans to construct the European Missile Defense (EMD) system as a shield against Iranian missiles, if Russia will help the United States pressure Iran to halt its nuclear materials production program that Westerners fear will be used to build atomic bombs, news agencies reported. That dovetails with the...

Every $1 Billion In Defense Outlays Sustains 6,500 Jobs Across Nation Legislation saying that defense spending couldn’t fall to less than 4 percent of U.S. economic output was unveiled by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee....

NASA will gain $1 billion under the congressional economic stimulus bill that aims to slow the U.S. plunge into the deepest recession in recent years. That $1 billion would include funds for NASA science projects, including moves to hire more scientists to track global climate change. The measure also provides $830 million for the National...

The Airborne Laser (ABL), a defensive system that kills enemy missiles shortly after they launch, may have other applications such as air-to-air combat against enemy planes, killing enemy cruise missiles or hitting other threats, briefers with The Boeing Co. [BA] said. Currently, the ABL has undergone most of its years-long development, leading this year to...

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) will again chair the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee science and space subcommittee that oversees NASA. Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), chairman of the full committee, and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, the ranking Republican on the full panel, announced leaders of the subcommittees. Nelson has been a...

China is planning to build at least two nuclear powered aircraft carriers, according to a report in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper in Tokyo. The only plus for the United States here is that construction might not begin until 2020 on the carriers that would be based on designs for the discontinued Russian Ulanovsk Class carriers...

The European Space Agency (ESA) water mission is poised for launch between July and October, the agency reported. Following word from Eurockot that launch of the Earth Explorer SMOS satellite can take place then, ESA, CNES and the prime contractor Thales Alenia Space are now making detailed preparations for the last crucial steps before ESA’s...

ESA extended the operations of its Mars Express, Venus Express and Cluster missions to the end of the year. The decision to extend the three successful missions was taken on 4 February this year. Mars Express, launched in June 2003, has been orbiting the red planet since the end of 2003, and has produced a...