CV32

From RIA Novosti Russia to launch new nuclear submarine Sunday - Ivanov 15:43 | 09/ 04/ 2007 MOSCOW, April 9 (RIA Novosti) - A fourth-generation strategic nuclear submarine will be launched during a special ceremony at a shipbuilding yard in northern Russia Sunday, a first deputy prime minister said Monday. The Yury Dolgoruky, a Borey-class nuclear missile submarine, was built at the Sevmash plant in the northern Arkhangelsk Region. It will be equipped with the Bulava ballistic missile, which is adapted from the Topol-M (SS-27). Sergei Ivanov said at a government meeting that the submarine will undergo sea trials in 2007 and will be fully equipped with weaponry in 2008. After that, it will be commissioned by the Russian Navy. The submarine has a length of 170 meters (580 feet), a body diameter around 13 meters (42 feet), and a submerged speed of about 29 knots. It can carry up to 16 ballistic missiles. Two other Borey-class nuclear submarines, the Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh, are currently under construction at the Sevmash plant, with a fourth submarine on the future production schedule list. President Vladimir Putin said in March last year that Russia's submarine fleet is a major component of Russia's defense policy, and that fourth-generation submarines armed with Bulava missiles would form the core of an entire fleet of modern submarines.

File Name: Pakistani Blockade File Submitter: CV32 File Submitted: 9 Apr 2007 File Category: IOPG India is at war with Pakistan. The Indian government has imposed a blockade around Pakistan. Everything, including food and medicine is not allowed into Pakistani ports. With millions of civilians in dire need of food and medical supplies the US under a UN mandate decides to break the blockade. Click here to download this file

File Name: Carrier Clash File Submitter: CV32 File Submitted: 9 Apr 2007 File Category: MEDC Carrier Clash HDS3 MEDC Battleset The premise of the scenario is as follows: The East-West conflict rages on. In this scenario Blue atempts to locate and destroy all Red targets. ORDERS FOR BLUE 1. This is a SINKEX. Locate and destroy all red targets in your OPAREA. Click here to download this file

File Name: Invasion of Norway File Submitter: CV32 File Submitted: 9 Apr 2007 File Updated: 14 Oct 2008 File Category: GIUK DB Used: Original database Authors: Fred Galano Battleset-GIUK: .sci - EC2000 - EC2000 The discovery of oil deposits in northern Norway has led to border disputes between Russia and Norway. Recently Russia has seized territory in northern Norway including a Norwegian airbase. NATO is tasked with sending in SEALs to take out Russian SAM sites and to repel the invasion. Click here to download this file

File Name: Fight to the What 2 File Submitter: CV32 File Submitted: 9 Apr 2007 File Category: GIUK Intel reports indicate Russia is using the current stalemate and resulting semi-truce to bring in reinforcements for the Northern Fleet from their far eastern military districts. National Command Authority has ordered Strike Fleet Atlantic to conduct offensive amphibious operation aimed at securing Iceland from Russian control in an attempt to forestall the coming Russian attack. Click here to download this file

From CBC News Vimy Ridge remembered Shock and Awe, 1917 Last Updated April 2, 2007 Gary Graves, CBC News Easter 2007 is the 90th anniversary of the First World War Canadian military attack on Vimy Ridge in France. CBC is commemorating the events with special broadcast coverage, online photo galleries: Four Days in April about the battle and Building the towers about Canada's war monument, and thoughts from a young Canadian student visiting war memorial sites in Europe. The towering 10-storey white limestone Vimy Memorial Monument near Arras, France, fell into disrepair as rain eroded the soft stone and winters cracked some of the building blocks. After three years of restoration work, which included dismantling and rebuilding much of the structure, the dedication of the restored monument takes place Monday, April 9. We may marvel at the firepower of the hundreds of missiles and smart bombs used in U.S. attacks on Iraq, but an overwhelming battlefield fusillade creating shock and awe is not a new idea. In fact, Canadian soldiers fighting in the First World War were pioneers of the tactic. It was at Vimy Ridge, a strategic 14-kilometre long escarpment that overlooks the Douai plain of France. German occupying troops controlled the ridge using a network of trenches that snaked along the crest and down into the valley, connecting with another network of natural caves. 150,000 French and British soldiers had died trying to take it back. Allied commanders believed the ridge to be impregnable. But the Canadians had a plan, the first battle strategy for this new nation's commanders to conceive and execute on their own. Even military "experts" of the time admitted dubiously that the Canadians' plan couldn't be any worse than the British tactics at the Somme, which cost 24,000 Canadian casualties. So the Canadian army – all four divisions, totalling 100,000 men – got the go-ahead. The ground assault had been planned meticulously for months. Full-scale replicas of the Vimy terrain were built to rehearse unit commanders on what to expect both from the enemy and from Canadian units on either side. Canadian spotters had identified and mapped about 80 per cent of the German gun positions. Five kilometres of tunnels were dug in order to move Canadian troops and ammunition up to the front without their being seen by German observers. And for a couple of weeks leading up to the battle, Canadian and British artillery pounded the Germans with 2,500 tons of ammunition per day. At 5:30 in the morning on Easter Monday, April 9, 1917, the assault began. It was raining. It was freezing cold. And it began with a huge artillery barrage… shock and awe 1917-style. Over 1,100 cannons of various descriptions, from British heavy naval guns mounted on railway cars miles behind the battlefield, to portable field artillery pieces dragged into place by horses, mules or soldiers just behind the Canadian lines, fired continuously – in some cases until they exhausted their ammunition. The Canadian battle plan was simple: the withering barrage provided a screen for the Canadian troops to hide behind. Hundreds of shells would land at once, spraying plumes of muddy earth upward like a polluted version of some giant decorative water fountain. Every three minutes the 850 Canadian cannons would aim a little higher, advancing the row of shellfire forward by 90 metres. The attacking Canadian foot soldiers were expected to keep up, advancing, taking and occupying German positions, moving forward, never stopping, never racing ahead. Falling behind would make them clearer targets for German guns mounted higher up the ridge. Getting ahead of the artillery would put them in danger of being blasted by their own guns. The giant naval cannons focused on the reinforced concrete bunkers protecting German heavy gun emplacements. The immense but inaccurate shells sent plumes of dirt, concrete and shrapnel skyward with every impact. The craters left behind were as large as houses. The fight to take Vimy Ridge cost Canada dearly, but it would become the cornerstone of the nation's image of its place in the world. In four days, 3,600 Canadian soldiers died, another 5,000 were wounded. But the ridge was taken, much of it in the first day. The valour of the troops, the originality of the plan, the success where larger, more established armies had failed, all contributed to a new nation's pride. The battle was hailed as the first allied success of the long war, achieved mostly due to the innovation of using a creeping, continuous massive artillery barrage to protect squads of advancing troops. Both sides used the tactic in future battles. But even today we're paying the cost. At Vimy and other former First World War battlefields, the ground is so full of unexploded ordnance that visitors are warned not to stray from marked pathways. The risk from shells that fell and never exploded is still so high that it's too dangerous, nearly a century later, to walk onto the actual battlefield to search for remains of soldiers listed as "missing." Today, there's a large park at Vimy Ridge, dedicated to Canada. The striking memorial features a 30-tonne limestone figure carved from a single block, a hooded figure representing Canada herself, gazing down on a single tomb overlooking the Douai plain. The twin stone pillars list the names of 11,285 Canadian soldiers who died in France and whose remains were never found.

Material excerpted from Advanced Gaming Systems Inc., aka AGSI: What is Harpoon ? Tom Clancy used it as his database for his book The Hunt for Red October and again with Mr. Larry Bond to game out the convoy battles in Red Storm Rising. It was the naval miniatures rule set Harpoon authored by Mr. Bond. Those rules were successfully computerized in 1989 (Harpoon) on Macintosh and IBM PC compatibles, and a second product, intended as a replacement (Harpoon II), was created in1996. In spite of problems with various publishing firms, both products continued to thrive thanks to the international fan base connected by the Internet. After giving up on a planned third product (Harpoon 4) the fans once again rose to the occasion and overhauled both products to create Harpoon Classic 2002 for MS Windows and Harpoon 3 for MS Windows and the Macintosh. In June 2006 we [AGSI] shipped Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare with Matrix Games (PC Only) and by Fall we will ship Harpoon Classic Commander's Edition with them too (PC only). We will continue to publish the Mac Harpoon 3 for the time being. Some of the earlier editions of computer Harpoon were used by the Brazilian War College and the USAF Staff and Command School. Unofficial use has been reported in the Netherlands, Greece, Turkey, UK, Korea, and at the US Fleet & US Naval War College. Starting in 2002 the Australian Defense Department funded two variants of Harpoon 3: Harpoon 3 Multi-Player (H3 MP), and Harpoon 3 Professional (H3 Pro). Harpoon History * 1975 Lt. Larry Bond learns NAVTAG. As a longtime wargamer decides he can do better. * 1979 Adventure Games publishes the first commercial version of the miniatures rules Harpoon. * 1979 Don Gilman purchases Harpoon for reference material, writes Bond a letter while working the graveyard shift on the Corps Quad at Texas A&M University. * 1982 GDW acquires rights to publish Harpoon. Agrees to register Trademark. * 1986 Don Gilman reads Red Storm Rising and The Hunt for Red October and notices the credit given to Mr. Bond and Harpoon. * 1986 The 3rd Edition of Harpoon is published by GDW. Chris Carlson works tirelessly behind the scenes on various modeling issues * 1987 Don Gilman fails in acquiring computer rights to Red Storm Rising, but is offered computer rights to the Harpoon game. * 1987 Agreement reached with Gilman Louie of Spectrum Holobyte/Sphere for Harpoon. Terminated a few months later.Original Harpoon 1979 * 1987 Applied Computing Services (ACSI) reaches agreement reached with Three Sixty Pacific (TSPI) to fund and publish Harpoon. * 1988 Development begins, falters, two managers replaced. The Digital Illusions staff members are hired by Three Sixty. * 1989 Gordon Walton leads the team in shipping Version 1.0 Harpoon. * 1989-1993 Attempts to market Harpoon to the US Navy fail. The US Naval Institute does distribute the product as their first professional product a few years later. * 1991 ACSI signs an agreement with Kesmai Corporation to develop an on-line version of Harpoon. * 1990-1993 BattleSets® are produced, the game is now v1.3. Sales are record breaking. * 1993 Kesmai's Harpoon OnLine goes into limited beta testing on GEnie. * 1993 Mr. Bond publishes Command at Sea a WWII miniatures rules - a derivative of the Harpoon system. * 1994 Kesmai is purchased by Newscorp. Adjustment is made to their contract, all military rights are returned to ACSI. * 1994 Carl Norman leads the team that ships Harpoon II. * 1994 TSPI goes Tango Delta. IntraCorp buys the assets of TSPI. ACSI and Bond are unsuccessful in preventing the transfer of the Harpoon II contract and rights. New contract is moreharpoon2_game_1.jpg exclusive in that Harpoon II may be 1 or 2 player only, no military, no online rights are conferred. * 1995 ACSI licenses Alliance Interactive to upgrade and publish Harpoon Classic in accordance with the agreement with TSPI/IntraCorp.. A Windows version is added. * 1996 Mr. Bond publishes the miniatures rules: Harpoon 4 * 1996 Kesmai's Harpoon OnLine goes into limited public beta testing. * 1996 Alliance makes the last modification to Harpoon Classic, for Windows 95 and calls it Harpoon Classic 97. Interactive Magic is the co-publisher. Sales are good for this "B" product. > * 1996: Carl Norman leaves Intracorp/360, but arranged to have Mike Robel brought on board. Frank Hale/Mike Robel lead the small team that as a last act publishes Harpoon II Admiral's Edition, including the basic game, scenario editor, and database editor. Mike Robel folds the Intracorp office and returns to DoD Simulation Development. * 1996 IntraCorp goes Tango Delta. * 1997 Harpoon OnLine goes into final beta on AOL and Compuserve. Computer Gaming World gives it a 4.5 star review in the March issue. * 1997 Harpoon OnLine goes live on AOL, Gamestorm, CompuServe and others. * 1997 Adjustments are made to the licensing agreement between ACSI and Bond/Carlson, the copyright and trademarks are transfered to Bond and Carlson. ACSI retains interest in Harpoon, Harpoon II, Online and Military rights. * 1997 ACSI transfers all of its rights and interest in the Harpoon property to Advanced Gaming Systems Inc. (AGSI). * 1997 A contract is signed for Computer Harpoon 4 (CH4) with SSI, Carl Norman is the Producer.. * 1998 SSI fires original CH4 developers. SSI and its parent company are sold 2-3 times. End up as a division of Mattel. * 1999 CH4 Final Design Milestone * 2000 Harpoon Online is dropped by AOL/Kesmai. * 2001 SSI is purchased by The Learning Company, who is purchased by Mattel, who divests itself of the gaming business via a 3rd party and the SSI games end up at Ubisoft (a French company that purchased many US Game companies). * 2001 UBISoft cancels CH4 * 2001 AGSI authorized updates to Harpoon II Admiral's Edition for both the Mac and PC as well as Harpoon Classic 97 (HC97) for Windows. * 2001 Jesse Spears ships Harpoon 3 for the Mac. * 2001 www.harpoonhq.com starts selling HC97 and H2AE for $20 for one and $25 for both FOB customer's location. * 2001 UBISoft restarts CH4 development * 2002 February Jesse Spears ships Harpoon 3 PC ships through Naval Warfare Simulations' site. * 2002 March - Second official military sale is made to the Australian Ministry of Defense * 2002 August - Harpoon Classic 2002 ships as an upgrade only to Harpoon Classic 97 . * 2002 October - Work begins on Harpoon 3 Pro by adding GIS features and writing specifications for Multiple Player, Umpire Assist, and game logging (i.e. Hot Wash-up). * 2003 July - Open Beta begins for Harpoon Classic 2002 Gold. * 2003 July - Harpoon 3 Pro - has HTI features delivered for Beta testing. * 2003 October - Harpoon Classic 2002 Gold ships. * 2003 November 24 - UbiSoft Cancels Harpoon 4 * 2003 ? - ACSI is dissolved, a long suffering survivor of the Recession. * 2004 March - Harpoon 3.6.1 Ships * 2004 March - Harpoon 3 Multi-Player goes Beta * 2004 May - Press Release on the future of Computer Harpoon * 2005 February - Work restarts on Harpoon Classic 2005 * 2005 April - AGSI signs with Matrix Games to publish Harpoon products as Harpoon Commander's Edition (HCE) and Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare (ANW) * 2005 May - Community Beta for H3 ANW begins. * 2005 October - Northrop Grumman utilizes Harpoon 3 Professional w DIS enhancements. * 2006 June - Work completes on H3 ANW, Harpoon 3 Pro DIS, Matrix Games ships Harpoon 3 ANW. * 2006 August - Research begins on "Harpoon, the Untold Story of a the Video Game with 9 Lives" * 2006 October - Serious Games Presentation on the long standing dual use of the Harpoon system. What is Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare (ANW) ? This major new commercial release (v3.7 and soon 3.8 of the engine) is published by Matrix Games.. It includes both single player and multiplayer versions of the game - inlcuding the server. The product also includes an updated database and several new multiplayer scenarios, This release also includes a professional installer and launcher system - to allow for easy tuning of the many configuration options addressed by this sophisticated simulation. The manuals have been overhauled and re-organized into two: Basic (Game and Scenario Editor) and Advanced (Database Editing and advanced topics). The game ships with the Scenario Editor. The Database Editor is available for free (see the link for AGSI to request one). Features: * Multiplayer 2 to 6 or more players * Spectator mode for Multiplayer * VCR Record and Playback of games * Support for Player databases and scenarios * Scenario Editor * New Manual * New Installer * New Launcher program to facilitate settings and launching of the Server, Client or Single Player products * Updated documentation * Includes both Single Player and Multiplayer * Windows Only, Mac players with new machines may use emulation. The Harpoon 3 (H3) PC version is being discontinued effective July 1, 2006. The Mac version is unchanged (v3.6.3). What is Harpoon Classic ? Tom Clancy used the Harpoon Classic database for The Hunt for Red October and used the tool again with Mr. Larry Bond to game out the convoy battles in Red Storm Rising. What was that tool? It was the naval miniatures rule set Harpoon authored by Mr. Bond. Harpoon Classic 2002 Gold is the current generation of the original Harpoon computerization of Larry Bond's game, first published in 1989 by Three Sixty Pacific. This was the first software ever sold as a professional education product by the US Naval Institute. Harpoon Classic 2002 (HC) Gold Features: * Based on Larry Bond's Harpoon 3rd Edition Rules * Microsoft Windows compatible: 98, ME, NT4, 2000, and XP * Four combat areas (North Atlantic, Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom Gap, Indian Ocean/Persian Gulf, and the Mediterranean) * Wicked computer opponent * Easy to play, hard to master * Further optimization and defect removal of the EXE * New Platform Editor * Updated Scenario Editor * Updated, expanded, and enhanced database * Updated EC2003 Scenarios (based on B.I. Hutchinson's EC2000 BattleSet) * Massive library of user created scenarios Harpoon Commander's Edition (HCE) Features: * WestPac Battleset Starter * Land Units (AD Fixed, AD Mobile, Armored, UnArmored) partial implementation. * Neutral and Unknown (indeterminate) sides partial implementation * Replaced Radar model, much better variability in detection ranges is possible, stealth modeling. * Area ECM upgraded. * Improved SARH logic * Improved AI aircraft AAW evasion * Increased weapons types per loadout/multimount * SAM Firing rate tweaked * Lots and lots of bug fixes * In Community Beta Winter 2005 * To be published by Matrix Games Pricing/upgrades (if any) are all subject to announcement 30 days before shipping. All prior statements regarding intended pricing are retracted. Est ship date no sooner than Feb 2007. Notes: * The computer copyright for Harpoon was registered to ACSI but transferred to Bond and Carlson and licensed back to AGSI. * The trademark to Harpoon is registered to Larry Bond and Chris Carlson and licensed to AGSI. * The trademark to BattleSet and Staff Assistant were registered to ACSI but transferred to Bond and Carlson and licensed back to AGSI. * Microprose won the rights to Red Storm Rising and did a great tactical submarine simulation. Gilman's design was for a series of interconnected games. Oddly enough, Spectrum Holobyte became Sphere and bought Microprose and then was assimilated by Hasbro.

A link to some very nicely done line drawings of warships, including some future concept types, but sadly no Iowa BB for Tony. Should be of interest to Pete and Rene, at least. Find them here

Remember, loose lips sink ships !

From what I know, the MEK has its roots in efforts in the 60's to challenge the Shah, and played a large role in the effort that brought down his regime, but eventually developed into what is probably one of the largest (if not the largest) opposition groups to the present regime. Saddam supported the group in the 1980s and 1990s, and the MEK helped him to suppress the Kurds and others. Useful in the same way that leeches are useful in helping to heal wounds, I guess. Trustworthy ? Umm, no.

From Defence Talk Defiant Iran to announce 'nuclear news' Agence France-Presse | Apr 9, 2007 Iran on Monday marks its first national day of nuclear technology with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expected to again defy Western pressure by announcing a stride forward in its atomic drive. Just days after Iran released 15 British sailors to end a potentially dangerous stand-off with London, Ahmadinejad will visit the country's most sensitive nuclear site in the central town of Natanz. The nuclear day marks the first anniversary of Iran's production of uranium sufficiently enriched to make nuclear fuel, and is also expected to be marked by demonstrations across the country. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly promised to announce "good nuclear news" in the near future, and is widely expected to use his visit to the heavily defended uranium enrichment plant to do so. Any major announcement of progress is likely to further strain tensions with the West, which fears Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and wants Tehran to suspend enrichment. But the Islamic republic insists its nuclear drive is solely aimed at supplying energy for a growing population. Iranian officials have remained tight-lipped over the nature of the news, which is expected to relate to progress towards enriching uranium on an industrial scale at Natanz. Iran's stated aim is to install 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges at a massive underground hall at the plant, and local media have speculated that the announcement will focus on progress towards this goal. "In February they were supposed to announce the installation and launch of 3,000 centrifuges, but it did not happen so it is expected that the good news involves the installation and launch of the centrifuges," the Fars news agency said. Tehran originally wanted to have the 3,000 installed by March, but so far it has officially confirmed only that it has put in place two cascades of 164 centrifuges apiece. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, there are at least 1,000 centrifuges in Natanz at different stages of installation, but only around a third have yet been fed with uranium hexafluoride gas feedstock. The UN Security Council has already imposed two packages of sanctions against Iran over its failure to heed ultimatums from the world body to suspend uranium enrichment. Uranium enrichment is highly sensitive because the process can be used both to make fuel for nuclear energy plants and the explosive core of a nuclear bomb. Iran insists it has every right to the full nuclear fuel cycle. Last April Iran announced it had succeeded in enriching uranium to 3.5 percent, good enough for nuclear fuel but still well off the 90 percent levels required to make an atomic weapon. Tehran on Sunday again dashed any hopes that after the release of the British sailors it might take a softer line on demands that it halt uranium enrichment. "We will not discuss the legitimate rights of Iran," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told a news conference. "We can negotiate about the concerns of the different parties and the non-diversion of the Iranian nuclear programme," said Hosseini, referring to Iran's insistence that its atomic drive is peaceful. "We are doing nothing that is against the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and so there is no reason or logic for a suspension," he said.

From Navy Times Sailor feared Iranians measured her for coffin The Associated Press Posted : Monday Apr 9, 2007 6:01:03 EDT LONDON — One of the British sailors detained by Iran for nearly two weeks believed she was being measured for a coffin, a newspaper reported Monday. The Sun newspaper also reported that Faye Turney, 25, was told by her captors that her 14 male colleagues had been released while she alone was being held. Another sailor, Arthur Batchelor, 20, said he was singled out by his captors because he was the youngest of the crew. The interviews were the first results of the Ministry of Defense's decision to allow the former captives to sell their stories to the media. The financial arrangements for Turney and Batchelor were not disclosed, but Turney said the offer she accepted was not the largest she had been offered. The Sun said Turney feared at one point that she would be killed. “One morning, I heard the noise of wood sawing and nails being hammered near my cell. I couldn't work out what it was. Then a woman came into my cell to measure me up from head to toe with a tape,'' The Sun quoted Turney as saying. “She shouted the measurements to a man outside. I was convinced they were making my coffin.'' Turney said she asked one Iranian official where her male colleagues were. “He rubbed the top of my head and said with a smile, 'Oh no, they've gone home. Just you now,''' she said. At another time, Turney said the same official asked her how she felt about dying for country. By her fifth day in detention, she said she was told that she could be free within two weeks if she confessed that the crew had intruded into Iranian waters. “If I didn't, they'd put me on trial for espionage and I'd go to prison for several years. I had just an hour to think about it,'' The Sun quoted her as saying. “If I did it, I feared everyone in Britain would hate me. But I knew it was my one chance of fulfilling a promise to Molly (her daughter) that I'd be home for her birthday on May 8. “I decided to take that chance, and write in such a way that my unit and my family would know it wasn't the real me.'' Batchelor said in an interview with the Daily Mirror that he found his capture “beyond terrifying.'' “They seemed to take particular pleasure in mocking me for being young,'' he said. “A guard kept flicking my neck with his index finger and thumb. I thought the worst.'' Retired Maj. Gen. Patrick Cordingly said Monday he believes the sailors and marines were being used “almost as a propaganda tool'' by the British government. “I was depressed because I thought the team [was] so good on the press conference — they didn't overplay their unpleasant experience and we could all imagine what they had gone through,'' Cordingly said in a British Broadcasting Corp. radio interview. “I think it's unfortunate the [Ministry of Defense] are using the sailors and Marines in this way. They are using them almost as a propaganda tool and it seems to be encouraging us to feel irritated with Iran rather than dialogue going on.”

From Aviation Week DSP Satellites See Aggressive New Chinese Missile Testing By Craig Covault China is beginning an unprecedented surge in the flight test of new ballistic missiles at the same time that the U.S. is starting a lengthy transition of missile-warning satellite systems, critical for providing intelligence on this test activity. The current Defense Support Program (DSP) missile-warning spacecraft and new Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) spacecraft, just starting to be launched, have a primary job of attack warnings. But the powerful infrared telescopes on the DSPs are especially providing vital intelligence on new Chinese, as well as Iranian, missiles and tactics. DSP development is managed by the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) at Los Angeles AFB, Calif. Several U.S. Air Force/ Northrop Grumman DSPs are operational in geosynchronous orbit and the final $400-million DSP spacecraft will be launched this summer (see cover and photo on p. 49). The Air Force and Northrop Grumman granted this Aviation Week & Space Technology editor an unprecedented close-up of this key military spacecraft as it undergoes final launch preparations on a missile-warning and intelligence-gathering mission expected to last until 2022. One can only wonder at the sweeping global military and political changes this 2.5-ton spacecraft will encounter in that period. Judging by what the DSP's powerful infrared telescopes and their dedicated operational teams have witnessed during 37 years of past operations, the differences will be legion. But with an eye on the future, this final DSP is also carrying a special payload designed specifically to detect even extremely small nuclear tests that might be done in space, the kind that could be attempted covertly by Iran or North Korea. The new payload was mandated by a secret late-1993 White House/ National Security Council directive. The 33-ft.-tall DSPs are equipped with long infrared telescopes and Los Alamos and Sandia nuclear detectors. The DSP saga spans decades and was born out of potential conflict with the Soviets in the 1960s. The program has been blessed with diverse characters and cursed by seemingly insurmountable problems. But DSPs have prevailed over the long haul and, more than any other military space system, have been immersed in both war and peace. DSPs helped prevent conflict during the Cold War because the Soviet Union could not launch a surprise attack with DSPs on the watch. And DSPs have monitored the plumes of rocket-fire in every war around the world since the early 1970s. They have detected virtually all medium- or long-range ballistic missiles fired during those conflicts including the intensive missile bombardments of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Then they went on to provide attack-warning data on dozens of missiles fired by Iraq at U.S. and allied forces during the 1991 Persian Gulf war. All during this period they have supplied intelligence on thousands of foreign missile tests and space launches and super critical information on Russian and Chinese ballistic missile submarine operations. Many of their orbital parking locations are in fact optimized for the earliest warning of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) attacks from the Arctic or other key ocean patrol areas. DSPs even report and characterize the static firing of missile propulsion systems during ground testing. And since at least 1989 when advanced DSPs began to be launched, they have also watched for the afterburner plumes of hostile aircraft, possibly headed to attack U.S. aircraft carriers. So the spacecraft provide a degree of limited aircraft attack warning in certain theaters. If, for example, Iranian jet fighters were to take off on afterburner to begin high-speed attacks toward U.S. or British ships in the Persian Gulf, DSPs monitoring that area have the capability to observe and immediately report this from their positions 22,300 mi. in space. But now the accelerating activity in China, coupled with testing by Iran, pose a challenge to U.S. missile-warning operations as the transition begins between the two systems--the aging DSP and the new Sbirs (AW&ST Nov. 20, 2006, p. 22). Russia continues to be watched intensively. "China's missile testing is surpassing anything since the Soviet Union's missile buildup of the 1960s," says John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org. "It's as if China was in near war-time production of missiles . . . in what amounts to the largest missile production and test rate since the Cold War." While recent media focus has been on Iranian missiles, "there is much more going on inside the Chinese missile programs than is generally known to the public," according to another analyst with GlobalSecurity.org. China's January anti-satellite weapons test was only the most spectacular manifestation of this new strategic push by China, he says. Sbirs, like DSP, will also be vital for gathering intelligence on missile development and test in addition to providing a more accurate warning capability, especially for tactical ballistic missiles. DSPs do not take images but rather acquire infrared data in different wavelengths that is then converted to warning or intelligence information. Sbirs spacecraft will have much more capability to "see" tactical and long-range ballistic missiles. The DSP system, however, will remain the primary warning constellation till 2012-13 when Sbirs becomes operational, says USAF Lt. Col. Todd Walkowicz, deputy commander of the Sbirs Space Group at SMC. Individual spacecraft like DSP-23 (left) and DSP-22, launched in 2004, will likely remain in warning and intelligence service till 2017-22, given the long lifetime trends of current spacecraft, says Peggy Paul, Northrop Grumman DSP program manager. "What the Air Force has been telling the contractors, and what we have been very much responding to, is that this DSP-23 spacecraft is essential for the transition to Sbirs," Paul says. And with new Chinese flight-test activity to monitor, the DSP program has major initiatives underway to extract more intelligence- and warning-related information out of the infrared data stream from each of the spacecraft, says USAF Lt. Col. Joe Coniligio, DSP program director at SMC. This is helping the system meet the challenges posed by China, Iran and North Korea, says Edward Tagliaferri, who joined the DSP program in 1970 and is its senior technical consultant. The DSPs are increasingly observing China demonstrate new missile tactics and strategy, in addition to the frequent tests that are being detected, both military and civilian managers tell AW&ST. "The Chinese and Iranians [each] have very vigorous test programs and the number of [ballistic missile launch] events we are seeing with DSP are increasing," says Tagliaferri. "And it's not just new missiles, but also new tactics and all kinds of new capabilities." China is testing ballistic missiles as often as once a week, Pike notes. DSP managers say the exact numbers are classified, but that the activity in China and Iran is frequent and growing. U.S. intelligence agencies say that by 2010, China's strategic nuclear forces will likely comprise a combination of four enhanced ICBM systems including the impressive new solid-fueled, road-mobile DF-31 ICBMs (see photo, p. 48). Its strategic nuclear force will also include the new submarine-launched ballistic missiles fired from their new Type 094 ballistic missile submarines, now undergoing tests at sea. DSP spacecraft have been monitoring the trial of all these systems. The spacecraft and other intelligence data also indicate that China will deploy several new conventional and nuclear armed variants of these MRBMs and intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) for "regional contingencies"--meaning Taiwan and Japan. Conventionally armed IRBMs or ICBMs raise new strategic issues and threats. The DSP program has been able to keep up with the demands for new intelligence-warning data from these tests in China and Iran by maintaining a "vibrant prototyping capability," which basically milks the most out of each spacecraft infrared detector array, says Coniligio. Although the specifics are classified "we are still gleaning capabilities out of this older system today that it was never intended to perform," he says. "Even though DSP is a legacy system, it is a phenomenal system. And we are still finding new ways to exploit the capabilities it offers." The key is continuous innovative analysis of infrared missile plume and other signatures from the DSPs' 6,000-detector mercury cadmium telluride medium-infrared telescope that rotates at 6 rpm. to "polish the Earth" with offset telescope angles (see p. 52). A portion of the high-resolution detectors are optimized for "above-the-horizon" rocket plume signatures against the blackness of space, as well as other detectors, to obtain data against water, terrain and cloud backgrounds. A dual color/second wave-band capability in the 4.3-micron bands helps protect DSPs from laser jamming. It also enables the DSPs to monitor more modern missile low-exhaust plume intensity. The spacecraft have impact-detection sensors, robust computer hardening and system autonomy along with multiple ground link capability. More than 20 nations are now ballistic missile-capable. Total non-U.S. ballistic missile flight tests are growing by about 10% to approximately 100 flight tests per year, according to Army Brig. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, deputy director of the Missile Defense Agency. "Ballistic missiles pose a growing, potentially catastrophic threat" to the U.S. and its allies, he told a Marshall Institute forum in Washington (AW&ST Mar. 5, p. 24). In addition to its infrared telescope and side-mounted (red-capped) endo- and exoatmospheric nuclear blast detectors, this final DSP-23 is equipped with a special Space Atmospheric Burst Reporting System (Sabrs) package to prove out hardware that is to be added at a later date to the Sbirs GEO-3 spacecraft. The Sabrs device (note the yellow box on cover and p. 50 photos) has five miniature nuclear detection sensors that will be used on Sbirs to replace the heavier detectors carried on all DSPs. The system is also specifically designed to detect any space or high atmospheric tests conduced by "particularly low-performance entry-level weapons in problematic regions," according to Los Alamos information on the system. That means the ability to detect any covert tests in space or on the ground---the type of small crude nuclear weapons such as those that could be fielded by North Korea or Iran. Sabrs can measure neutrons, gamma rays and X-rays to accomplish its mission, The 53-lb. payload is being carried in the instrument compartment bay that years ago was set aside for a laser crosslink, subsequently canceled after a costly and unsuccessful McDonnell Douglas development. The critical need for U.S. DSP capabilities into the next decade mandated development of a proactive and creative sustainment phase, says Alexis Livanos, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Space Technology. To support this sustainment, Northrop Grumman developed the Telemetry and Orbital Test Station (TOTS) facility for the spacecraft bus at the main plant in Redondo Beach, Calif., and at the Satellite Payload Orbital Test Station (SPOTS) facility at Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, Azusa, Calif., for management of the IR system. The DSP was originally developed and integrated by TRW and the telescope was developed Aerojet. The TOTS and SPOTS stations receive DSP housekeeping and mission data and efficiently monitor, maintain and, most recently, command the satellites from these sites, Livanos says. Constant monitoring enables the engineering team to gauge the specific character of each spacecraft to precisely manage its system for longer life, critical for DSP to bridge the transition to Sbirs, Paul says. "For example, fuel management techniques, power subsystem management and IR sensor temperature management enabled us to add 6-8 years to each satellite's operational life," Livanos notes. Spacecraft with a 3-5-year design life have been providing missile-warning and intelligence data for 10-15 years because of these measures, Paul says. The standard DSP constellation calls for four spacecraft positioned around the Earth with one in-orbit spare that can be quickly substituted if necessary. This extraordinary life-extension capability enables there now to be about 8-10 functional DSPs, although the exact number is classified. Multiple spacecraft enable two or more to be targeted over the same areas for more frequent coordinated scanning, providing stereo and other unique missile plume signature data. In 37 years there has only been one complete failure of a DSP spacecraft, on Flight 5 the mid-1970s, due to a hydrazine propellant line rupture. But DSP-19 in 1999 took a wild ride on a malfunctioning Titan-launched Inertial Upper Stage that left that satellite stranded in a highly elliptical transfer orbit instead of operational geostationary orbit. It has been an example about "how to turn lemons into lemonade," Paul says. The DSP-19 telescope has been used for unique observations as it climbs high and low over the Earth passing twice daily through the Van Allen Belts. The high radiation dose is providing excellent data on radiation effects on already robust military spacecraft systems. DSP-23 was to have been launched from Cape Canaveral early this month on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy. But the flight is being delayed until midsummer so that cracks in the Pad 37 launch table, caused by a liquid oxygen leak in pad plumbing, can be repaired. The massive Boeing launcher was not at fault and not damaged in the late February incident (AW&ST Mar. 19/26, p. 42). DSPs have been launched on four versions of the Titan, the space shuttle and now the Delta IV Heavy. The engineering for integration of this final DSP spacecraft with the Heavy has been underway for several years. The DSP-23 early orbit testing (EOT) phase will also mark another first for the program, says USAF Lt. Col. Anthony D. Cruciani, Jr., chief of DSP operations and sustainment. Once the DSP-23 separates from the Delta IV-H upper stage its EOT team will take over the mission. The early phase consists of commanding the satellite through a 30-day initialization, characterization and checkout period prior to its transition to 14th Air Force to join the operational DSP constellation. Due to the September 2006 closure of the legacy DSP EOT site at Schriever AFB, Colo., the initial checkout and activation of a DSP will be performed for the first time from the Sbirs Mission Control Station at Buckley AFB in Aurora, Colo., Cruciani says. "The DSP-23 EOT team comprises individuals handpicked from the 2nd Space Warning Sqdn., Sbirs System Wing from SMC, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Sandia National Labs and Los Alamos National Labs," he says. The team spent the past year developing a concept of operations, installing EOT-specific equipment, and training. An independent readiness team charted by Air Force Space Command assessed the DSP-23 EOT team and concept of operations as "ready to go," he says. The added long life of the DSPs is especially critical to the transition to the Sbirs program, which has experienced significant slips. The first Highly Elliptical Orbit Sbirs spacecraft is turning in stellar test results from orbit, imaging U.S. and other launch activity. It went into orbit last fall from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on a Delta IV Medium with a National Reconnaissance Office data relay spacecraft. The launch date for HEO-2 remains classified, but will be within the next few months, probably with a similar host payload. The first GEO geosynchronous orbit Sbirs spacecraft is set for launch around October 2008 and is progressing well in testing, says USAF's Walkowicz. The activation of Sbirs increment II is planned for December 2012 and that is when the new spacecraft would take a dominant missile-warning role over the DSPs. "We are going to have a pretty significant 4-5-year period here where we have a mixed constellation in a transitional period before we go to full Sbirs Increment II certification," Tagliaferri says. "DSP is considered a full part of Sbirs portfolio for the transition to the new system." That indicates a busy time ahead for DSP as it enters its fourth decade of service, nearly 15 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but with the additional complication of China and Iran in ascendancy, and a strategically important Chinese missile test pace raising the stakes. Jeffrey Richelson in his book America's Space Sentinels about the DSP program, notes that: "While DSP and its successors may be legacies of the Cold War--they are not relics."

Most of the effort yesterday was to move scenarios over into the new board system, and to add quite a few older scenarios that either hadn't been posted at all or had only been hosted elsewhere. And, yes, when HCE is released, you can expect some more new releases. Some of them are justing waiting for the release.

File Name: Shinano Redux File Submitter: CV32 File Submitted: 7 Apr 2007 File Category: GIUK Shinano Redux EC2000 Battle for the Norwegian Sea You are commander of the USS Archerfish, the fourth hull of the Seawolf class. (Which is modeled in this scenario by the SSN-23). The Russians have borrowed from an American idea and built a mobile offshore base. The structure is now enroute from the White Sea to the North Cape, where it is expected to take part in the ongoing wartime operations against NATO. Since the Russians already control the Norwegian Sea, the movement of this new asset into a threatening position is not acceptable. You must penetrate hostile waters, find and sink the Russian MOB. The enemy is expecting you, so you can be certain there will be plenty of ASW activity in this theater. (Released September 2002). Click here to download this file

File Name: Shinano Redux File Submitter: CV32 File Submitted: 7 Apr 2007 File Category: GIUK DB Used: Original database Authors: Brad Leyte Battleset-GIUK: .sci - EC2000 - EC2000 Shinano Redux EC2000 Battle for the Norwegian Sea You are commander of the USS Archerfish, the fourth hull of the Seawolf class. (Which is modeled in this scenario by the SSN-23). The Russians have borrowed from an American idea and built a mobile offshore base. The structure is now enroute from the White Sea to the North Cape, where it is expected to take part in the ongoing wartime operations against NATO. Since the Russians already control the Norwegian Sea, the movement of this new asset into a threatening position is not acceptable. You must penetrate hostile waters, find and sink the Russian MOB. The enemy is expecting you, so you can be certain there will be plenty of ASW activity in this theater. (Released September 2002). Click here to download this file

File Name: Heatwave (RCALM3) File Submitter: CV32 File Submitted: 7 Apr 2007 File Category: MEDC Heatwave (Part 3 of 3) HDS3 MEDC Battleset All of the scenarios in this series are based on the premise that the post Cold War world is not typified by peace, but is instead punctuated by fragmentation, revolution and chaos. In July 1994, the unrest in Algeria that had been simmering for years finally exploded into a major armed conflict. The terror campaign that had been carried out by Islamic extremists since the early 1990s reached an awful crescendo when they finally seized power of the country. Algerian government forces, demoralized and fearful of repercussions against their families, lay down their arms and capitulated to the rebel army by August 1995. It did not take long for the new Islamic government to gain support from Iran and Libya for its anti-Western stance. A major program to build a powerful Algerian military was funded by trading oil to Russia for arms. In March 1995, Algerian forces began harassing Western ship traffic in the Western Mediterranean. On 27 August 1995, a civilian airliner carrying French and Italian diplomats, travelling from Morocco to Tunisia, was hijacked by Islamic extremists. The hijackers were given sanctuary in Algeria and the passengers held for ransom. A Coalition of Western nations responded. (Released July 2000). Click here to download this file

File Name: Poison Oasis (RCALM2) File Submitter: CV32 File Submitted: 7 Apr 2007 File Category: MEDC Poison Oasis (Part 2 of 3) HDS3 MEDC Battleset All of the scenarios in this series are based on the premise that the post Cold War world is not typified by peace, but is instead punctuated by fragmentation, revolution and chaos. In July 1994, the unrest in Algeria that had been simmering for years finally exploded into a major armed conflict. The terror campaign that had been carried out by Islamic extremists since the early 1990s reached an awful crescendo when they finally seized power of the country. Algerian government forces, demoralized and fearful of repercussions against their families, lay down their arms and capitulated to the rebel army by August 1995. It did not take long for the new Islamic government to gain support from Iran and Libya for its anti-Western stance. A major program to build a powerful Algerian military was funded by trading oil to Russia for arms. In March 1995, Algerian forces began harassing Western ship traffic in the Western Mediterranean. On 27 August 1995, a civilian airliner carrying French and Italian diplomats, travelling from Morocco to Tunisia, was hijacked by Islamic extremists. The hijackers were given sanctuary in Algeria and the passengers held for ransom. A Coalition of Western nations responded. (Released July 2000). Click here to download this file