From:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_smith_news/20000710_xnsof_air_force_.shtml
Air Force running out of cruise missiles
Service restarting production of vital Cold War-era weapon
The U.S. Air Force is running out of cruise missiles. In
response Air Force officials, concerned that the current
inventory of air launched cruise missiles will not be enough for
a future conflict, have decided to re-start production of the
Cold War era weapon.
The service decided to restart production of the air launched
cruise missile after the U.S.A.F. arsenal dropped to an all time
low of 60 weapons. The Air Force missile shortage reportedly was
caused by the Clinton administration, which used large numbers of
the robot missile weapons for strikes against Iraq and Kosovo.
In 1996, Air Force officers were openly critical of the Clinton
administration for wasting missiles following strikes against
Iraq. One specific example cited was the un-successful "Desert
Strike" operation where air launched cruise missiles with
fragmentary warheads were mis-targeted against hardened Iraq
bunkers on White House orders. The missile fragmentary warheads,
designed to destroy "soft" targets such as trucks, are
ineffective against hardened concrete bunkers.
The White House reportedly bypassed the U.S.A.F. Air Combat
Command and directly ordered airborne B-52s to fire the cruise
missiles against the Iraqi bunkers. The missiles exploded
harmlessly outside the Iraq bunkers, causing no damage. The
Iraqi bunkers were destroyed later by a second follow-on strike
using U.S. Navy Tomahawk missiles armed with conventional blast
explosive warheads.
The U.S. Air Force is currently converting 322 nuclear-armed
cruise missiles to carry conventional warheads in an effort to
bolster stocks. The conversion to conventional warheads will
leave the Air Force with less than 100 nuclear tipped missiles
for its strategic mission. The new order of 618 new missiles is
intended to boost the Air Force total to nearly one thousand
conventional weapons.
The weapon purchase favors Boeing maker of the current cruise
missile in Air Force service. The Air Force noted that no new
improvements or variations in size are required and the
specifications also note that there must be "minimal" changes to
the support equipment and aircraft. The decision is seen as a
temporary measure to arm B-52 and B-1 bombers with the popular
robot flying bomb.
Boeing has offered to the Air Force to re-start a new air
launched cruise missile production line. However, Boeing sources
told WorldNetDaily that most of its cruise missile manufacturing
equipment has been sold or was dismantled after the Cold War
ended. Other leading candidates include missile proposals from
Lockheed/Martin and Raytheon. Air Force funding for the new
cruise missile program was not included in the 2000 fiscal
budget. The service hopes to field the new missile by 2005 and
plans to start development in 2001.
The Clinton administration has previously been criticized for the
cruise missile shortage. In 1999, Senator Frank Murkowski, R.
Alaska, blasted the Clinton administration for the current
air-launched cruise missile shortage and warned that a shortage
of the Navy's ship-launched cruise missile also is looming.
Murkowski said potential adversaries, such as North Korea, "are
beefing up their own missile capability."
The missile shortage appears just as the People's Republic of
China is developing a new cruise missile reported to be nearly
identical to the U.S. Navy Tomahawk. In an article published
early this year by Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems editor Duncan
Lennox, "China's new cruise missile programme 'racing ahead'" the
People's Liberation Army is already testing a copy of the U.S.
Navy Tomahawk cruise missile.
"The use of Western RGM/UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles since
1991 against six countries has allowed China opportunities in
reverse engineering," noted Lennox. "More than 600 Tomahawk
missiles were launched in attacks against targets in Iraq between
1991-98, in Bosnia in 1995, in Afghanistan and Sudan in 1998, and
in Serbia and Kosovo in 1999. As there are at least six reported
cases when these missiles landed more or less intact without the
warhead exploding, some were believed to have been recovered and
transported to China."
"A wide range of advanced technologies associated with cruise
missile design may therefore have been made available to China,"
wrote Lennox. "These include: INS/GPS guidance; computer
hardware and software; electronics; power supplies; airframe;
wings; fuel system; and small turbofan engines."
China's development of a nuclear-armed cruise missile was first
reported in a 1995 Russian document that suggested that a
complete production facility was transferred to Shanghai.
According to Lennox, China is already deploying this new
long-range nuclear tipped cruise missile.
"Recent developments within China's new cruise missile
programmes, although not confirmed officially, indicate that
rates of progress have been faster than anticipated," wrote
Lennox. "Reports suggest that an improved engine became
available in 1992, and that an HN-2 version entered service in
1996 with a range increased to between 1,500 and 2,000km."
"A warhead weight of 300 to 400kg is expected with this design,
which could be nuclear with a yield of 90kT or high explosive
submunitions," wrote the Jane's Defense Editor. "Guidance in
mid-course is inertial, with terrain comparison and possibly GPS
updates. Terminal guidance is believed to be by terrain
comparison, using a TV camera to view the target area and refine
the aim point."
In contrast to the Jane's article, the new Chinese cruise missile
program received little interest in a June 2000 Pentagon report
on the future course of military-technological development in the
People's Liberation Army.
"China also is developing LACMs (land attack cruise missiles),"
states the June 2000 Defense Department report. "These missiles
appear to have a relatively high development priority. Chinese
research and development of LACMs is being aided by an aggressive
effort to acquire foreign cruise missile technology and
subsystems, particularly from Russia. The first LACM to enter
production probably would be air-launched and could be
operational by mid-decade."
Yet, a newly published report shows that dangerous cruise missile
inventories held by potential U.S. adversaries are actually at an
all time high. According to a July 2000 article published in the
U.S. Naval Proceedings by Brigadier General Bruce Byrum U.S.M.C.,
"Cruise Missile Defense From the Sea?" the airborne robot bomb is
the "weapon of choice" for future dictators.
"More than 75 countries now have some 75,000 cruise missiles in
their arsenals, many of which can be easily converted to
land-attack roles," wrote Gen. Byrum. "At least 17 states are
producing 130 different types of cruise missiles and a dozen
countries are exporting these weapons to practically anyone with
the sufficient cash or credit to acquire them."
Gen. Byrum concluded, "Indeed, because of the relative ease of
indigenous production or modification using
commercial-off-the-shelf technologies, and at prices well less
than $1 million each, they are becoming the weapon of choice for
regional powers intent on intimidation and aggression. Making a
mockery of international missile technology control regimes,
land-attack cruise missiles inventories are expected to double by
2010."
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FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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