Under the MDA's previous THAAD schedule, the missile defense capability would be deployable worldwide in fiscal year 2012, Army Col. Charles Driessnack, MDA's project manager told reporters in Huntsville, Ala. Aug. 16 at the Army's annual Space and Missile Defense conference, InsideDefense.com News Stand reported Aug. 24.

However, when combatant commanders began "screaming" that they wanted to get the capability to the field as quickly as possible, the agency formulated a plan to run testing activities concurrently, to shave two years off the program -- placing the system in the field at the end of FY-09 or in early FY-10, Driessnack said.

As previously planned, the agency will purchase two THAAD fire units -- the first to be delivered in FY-09 and the second coming the following fiscal year -- while developmental activities are ongoing, InsideDefense.com News Stand said.

Driessnack said buying this equipment early will give soldiers time to train on the system in preparation for the limited user test.

By running the testing and training activities in parallel, MDA officials have been able to cut two years from the testing program and more than $100 million, he added.

THAAD is a ground-based system designed to protect forward-deployed troops and population centers from short-range, medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. It uses a hit-to-kill, kinetic-energy warhead to intercept missiles during their final phase of flight, either outside the atmosphere or very high up in the atmosphere, the report said.

In November 2005, MDA conducted its first THAAD flight test since 1999, when the system was put back on the drawing board to make it more reliable, more easily manufactured and easier to test. In May, the second flight test of the revamped system was conducted and was billed as a success. However, this "walk-up" missile characterization flight test was slipped several months, InsideDefense.com News Stand said.

In July, during the third THAAD flight test, the system intercepted a target for the first time. Although this test was designed primarily to demonstrate the interceptor seeker's ability to characterize a ballistic missile target in the high-endoatmosphere, the system successfully intercepted a non-separating unitary Hera target, the report said. According to the MDA's plan, two more tests will be conducted at the New Mexico range. -0- Israel upgrades nuke strike fleet

The Israeli government has admitted that they had finally, after over two years of negotiations, signed a deal with Germany to receive two more Dolphin class submarines, capable of carrying nuclear-armed cruise missiles, StrategyPage.com reported Sunday.

It appears that Israel will receive two that are already built, or under construction. Israel already has three Dolphins, which they received five to six years ago. These are now being upgraded by a team of German engineers. The upgrades include larger fuel capacity, converting more torpedo tubes to the larger 650mm, or 26-inch, size, and installing new electronics, StrategyPage.com said.

The fuel and torpedo tube mods appear to have something to do with stationing the subs off the coast of Iran, the report said. Larger torpedo tubes allow the subs to carry longer range missiles. The larger fuel capacity makes it easier to move Dolphins from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, the report said. Egypt will not allow Israeli subs to use the Suez Canal. So the Dolphins have to go around Africa. Currently, that is apparently being accomplished via a refueling stop in friendly Eritrea. But if that access is denied in the future, the larger fuel capacity will enable the Dolphins to make it all the way on their own.

Larger fuel capacity also allows the subs to spend more time on station off the Iranian coast. Currently the Dolphins can stay at sea for about 40 days, moving at about 8.4 miles per hour, on the surface, for up to 4,800 miles. Larger fuel capacity could extend range to over 6,000 miles, and endurance to about 50 days, StrategyPage.com said.

The two new Dolphins will cost about $650 million each, with Germany picking up a third of the coast, as part of their reparations for the Holocaust. The Dolphins have a fuel-cell based propulsion system that enable them to stay under waters for over a week at a time. The Dolphins are also very quiet, and very difficult for the Iranians to hunt down and destroy. The first three Dolphins did not have the Air Independent Propulsion system, StrategyPage.com said.

Israel equipped it's new Dolphin class submarines with nuclear cruise missiles in 2002. Israel also fitted their 80-mile-range Harpoon missiles with nuclear warheads. These missiles are fired from the subs torpedo tubes. The 1,625-ton Dolphins can carry 16 torpedoes or missiles and have 10 forward torpedo tubes, four of them the larger 650mm, or 26-inch, size. The Dolphins are considered the most modern non-nuclear subs in the world. The first three and cost $320 million each. They have a crew of 35 and can dive to a depth of more than 600 feet, the report said.

The Israelis have developed a cruise missile, which is has a range of 900 miles and carries a 200-kiloton nuclear warhead, the report said.. -0- South Korea plans drone defense against missiles

South Korea plans to develop drone bombers to counter North Korea's artillery capabilities amid its efforts to bolster its missile defense systems, Yonhap news agency reported

A source close to the project, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Yonhap that South Korea's Agency for Defense Development has already begun the project to develop drone jets in four or five years time.

Unlike unmanned surveillance planes, the new jets would be able to strike the North��s missile and artillery units, which are often concealed in underground facilities, along the heavily-fortified inter-Korean border, Yonhap said.

The project comes amid South Korea's reported plans to expand its missile defense systems.

South Korean officials were quoted as saying the Seoul government decided to create a new missile defense command, shortly after North Korea test-launched seven ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on July 4, Yonhap said.

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