Saturday, February 13, 2010

Air Force says laser defense weapon destroys missile in test off Calif coast

Laser weapon knocks down missile off Calif coast

LOS ANGELES — A high-powered laser destroyed a target missile in flight off the Central California coast in a milestone test of a futuristic but troubled national defense system, the Air Force announced Friday.

A laser weapon mounted on a Boeing jumbo jet tracked the missile as it accelerated over the ocean off the Point Mugu Naval Warfare Center Thursday night, then fired an energy beam that heated the missile until it cracked and broke up, according to statements from theAir Force and two aerospace companies involved in the program.

The test is a boost for a program that has had billions in cost overruns and saw its budget sharply cut last year by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who called the concept "fatally flawed" and destined if for minimal research-and-development.

While the success of the test is a technological triumph, it won't save the airborne laser program from being placed on life-support, a defense analyst said.

"The program results are, unfortunately, two years behind the secretary's decision to cancel the program," said Jim McAleese of Mcaleese and Associates, a lawyer and defense consultant in Virginia who is not affiliated with the project.

The laser program was designed to kill missiles at short range. The 2011 budget for the Missile Defense Agency concentrates instead on two ship-based missiles — the Aegis and the SM-3 — that are more useful for regional conflicts involving, say, Iran or North Korea, Mcaleese said.

"As a practical matter, absent something extraordinary, the program has already receded backwards into a technology incubator as opposed to proceeding into production and fielding," he said.

During Thursday's test, the so-called Airborne Laser Testbed was flown on a modified Boeing 747-400F that took off from Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, Boeing said.

The system used two low-energy lasers to target the missile as it was boosting into the sky from a sea platform, then fired a megawatt-class Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser, or COIL, according to theAir Force and the Missile Defense Agency.

"While ballistic missiles like the one ALTB destroyed move at speeds of about 4,000 miles per hour, they are no match for a superheated, high-energy laser beam racing towards it at 670 million mph," Northrop Grumman Corp. said in a statement. "The basketball-sized beam was focused on the foreign military asset, as the missile is called officially, for only a few seconds before a stress fracture developed, causing the target to catastrophically split into multiple pieces."

"This experiment marks the first time a laser weapon has engaged and destroyed an in-flight ballistic missile, and the first time that any system has accomplished it in the missile's boost phase of flight," Boeing Co. said in a statement. "ALTB has the highest-energy laser ever fired from an aircraft, and is the most powerful mobile laser device in the world."

However, the Air Force said the weapon destroyed a solid-fuel target missile in flight on Feb. 3, although the statement did not provide details. It said the same kind of solid-fuel missile was hit by the laser in a second test Thursday night at Point Mugu but the beam shut off before it could destroy the rocket, theAir Force said.

Much of the research on the program was done in Southern California, which would have benefited economically had the program gone operational.

The airborne laser program began in 1996 and is one in a series of missile defense programs that originated in President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative in 1983 — the much-maligned "Star Wars" missile shoot-down effort that was criticized as impractical, expensive and overreaching.

The airborne laser program itself was years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget when the defense secretary decided to cancel money for a second aircraft and opted to shunt the existing weapon into research and development.

"This was supposed to put high-powered lasers on a fleet of 747s," Gates said in a speech last year. "After more than a decade ofresearch and development , we have yet to achieve a laser with enough power to knock down a missile in boost phase more than 50 miles from the launch pad — thus requiring these huge planes to loiter deep in enemy air space to have a feasible shot at a direct hit."

Gates said the program would have needed 10 to 20 operational aircraft at around $1.5 billion each.

Nokia 2730 Price In India, Specifications

NEW DELHI, INDIA - After meeting with lukewarm response to some of its most hyped models last year Nokia is determined to maintain its reign in the mobile handset market this year. It is facing stiff competition from Korean rivals like Samsung and LG in both mid range and high end handset segment. That explains why the Finnish mobile company is introducing feature rich mobile handsets at lucrative price in the Indian market. 3G is being touted by the tech experts as the technology for future and that is why a number of mobile handset companies are launching 3G enabled sets. However, not all 3G enabled sets are affordable. Nokia wants to break this trend and that is the reason it has unveiled the 2730 Classic model in India which offers impressive specifications for its price.

The Nokia 2730 may become the lowest priced 3G handset and its price and specification strikes the right balance. The price of the handset has been set around INR 4500. This is likely to gel well with the price sensitive Indian buyers. The phone has a decent and elegant look like the majority of the Nokia Classic series phones. The USP of the phone is its extensive web browsing capabilities.



The Nokia 2730 offers specifications like Bluetooth, 2 MP camera, music player and Stereo FM radio. The Price of the phone is just right for the Indian customers. The battery backup of the Nokia models is always on the higher side and this one is no exception. This is likely to become a popular handset.

BSF approaches MHA for suspension of Commandant

Srinagar, Feb 13 (PTI) The BSF today shunted out Commandant R K Birdi from his battalion and approached the Home Ministry for his suspension over his alleged role in the killing of a 16-year-old boy, that triggered strong protests here.

BSF suspended 14 personnel who were with constable Lakhwinder Kumar when he had opened fire at Zahid Farooq Shah on February 5 at Brain-Nishat. Kumar has already been placed under suspension.

Birdi, the commandant of 68th Battalion, was moved to the headquarters in Sanatnagar, in the wake of allegations by Kumar that he had opened fire at the teenager on Birdi's orders.

Official sources said the BSF has recommended that the Commandant be suspended. As per rules, action against a Commandant-level officer can be taken only under orders of the Home Ministry.

Director General BSF Raman Shrivastava has ordered a Staff Court of Inquiry in the matter.

Vancouver 2010 Olympic logo under the eye of a storm

Washington, Feb 13 (ANI): Reports have it that the emblem for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics is under the eye of a storm, as it has evoked criticism for its inability to reflect the native art and culture of the Vancouver region and the rest of British Columbia.

The emblem depicts an inukshuk, a symbol used by the Inuit people, or Eskimos, of Canada''s Arctic regions.

For centuries, the Inuit have stacked rocks to create inukshuk, which act as guideposts for people traversing the vast tundra.

The emblem is dubbed Ilanaaq-"friend" in an Inuit language-and is an "eternal expression of the hospitality of a nation that warmly welcomes the people of the world with open arms every day," according to the Vancouver 2010 Web site.

But Ilanaaq has generated controversy among some First Nations-Canada''s term for non-Inuit American Indian groups.

According to a report in National Geographic News, the groups feel the symbol doesn''t reflect the native art and culture of the Vancouver region and the rest of British Columbia, such as totem poles.

Some First Nations indigenous leaders have said that the symbol lacks influence from native cultures of the Vancouver region, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

"The First Nations community at large is disappointed with the selection," Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, told the CBC in 2005.

"The decision-makers have decided not to reflect the First Nations and the Pacific region in the design of the logo," he said.

"I can''t help but notice the remarkable resemblance it has to Pac-Man," Phillip added.

Former Nunavut commissioner Peter Irniq told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 2005 that the humanoid Vancouver 2010 symbol is technically an inunguat-"imitation of man".

Ilanaaq shouldn''t be called an inukshuk, Irniq told the CBC, adding that the Olympic Committee failed to consult with Nunavut elders before choosing Ilanaaq''s design.

Some Vancouver-area indigenous leaders have suggested a totem pole might have made a better Vancouver 2010 emblem, since the art form is native to British Columbia.

The totemic figures of Canada''s Pacific-coast native cultures usually represent ancestors or supernatural beings. (ANI)

LG BL40 and LG BL 20

Rank and file - Meghalaya: It’s raining chief ministers

The tiny Meghalaya had 21 governments in 38 years. Just two of them completed their five- year terms. The pine-lined ‘abode of clouds’ has more to boast of. In 1978, a mere six years after formation, the state elected D.D. Pugh chief minister by lottery. In 2001, an Independent legislator, F.A. Khonglam, became CM. And now, there are four people enjoying the chief minister’s rank.
United we rule; Donkupar Roy (left) with D.D. Lapang

D.D. Lapang became chief minister last May. Two others shared his rank— State Planning Board chairman Donkupar Roy and Meghalaya Economic Development Council chairman J.D. Rymbai, both former CMs.
As if that was not enough, Lapang offered the same status to friend and state Congress president Friday Lyngdoh on January 28. Lyngdoh will not have executive powers, but will function as “political adviser” to Lapang, according to a government notification.
Lyngdoh had the deputy CM rank before the elevation. “Roy and Rymbai are former chief ministers from a different party,” says opposition MLA Manas Choudhuri. “But I see no logic behind the elevation of Lyngdoh.” Congress insiders say it was appeasement. Lyngdoh has of late been voicing grievances of Lapang’s detractors.
The Congress has 28 MLAs and the support of 10 from the United Democratic Party in the 60-member Assembly. The main opposition is former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma’s Nationalist Congress Party with 15 MLAs. At least eight rebel MLAs in the Congress are loyal to Lyngdoh.
But the CM-rich government has few takers. “This is a bizarre attempt to ensure the longevity of the Congress government, and will put immense pressure on the state exchequer,” says Kong Norris, a schoolteacher. “Apart from four CMs the state also has a couple of deputy CMs—Mukul Sangma and Bindo Lanong.” Opposition leader Conrad Sangma says “the government is wasting money just to stick to power, and that, too, when the state does not have enough funds to pay salaries of its employees.”
Lapang is unfazed. He says more MLAs would be raised to CM rank, if required. His is the third government in the state since the March 2008 elections. Any bets on how long it will last?