Sukhoi PAK T-50-3 takes maiden flight ...

Breaking: Standoff at Colorado air base

(CNN) -- An airman armed with a handgun barricaded himself inside a building at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, base officials said in a statement Monday.

No shots had been fired and no injuries reported, according to a spokeswoman at the base's public affairs office.

The airman, assigned to the base's 50th Security Forces Squadron, was barricaded inside a building where personnel get paperwork and equipment before being deployed, according to the base. No weapons are normally stored in the building, the spokeswoman said, but the airman was armed with a personal handgun.
The building was evacuated and law enforcement units had responded, said the statement posted on the air base's website.

"Our first responders are trained to handle situations such as this and we are working with our community partners to resolve this situation as quickly and safely as possible," Col. James P. Ross, 50th Space Wing commander, said in the statement.
No operations on the base were immediately affected, according to the base, which is home to the 50th Space Wing, the unit responsible for satellite command and control for the Department of Defense.

Hypersonic weapon tested ...

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Thursday held a successful test flight of a flying bomb that travels faster than the speed of sound and will give military planners the ability to strike targets anywhere in the world in less than a hour.

Launched by rocket from Hawaii at 1130 GMT, the “Advanced Hypersonic Weapon,” or AHW, glided through the upper atmosphere over the Pacific “at hypersonic speed” before hitting its target on the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands, a Pentagon statement said.

Kwajalein is about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii. The Pentagon did not say what top speeds were reached by the vehicle, which unlike a ballistic missile is maneuverable.


Scientists classify hypersonic speeds as those that exceed Mach 5 — or five times the speed of sound — 3,728 miles (6,000 kilometers) an hour.

The test aimed to gather data on “aerodynamics, navigation, guidance and control, and thermal protection technologies,” said Lieutenant Colonel Melinda Morgan, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

The US Army’s AHW project is part of the “Prompt Global Strike” program which seeks to give the US military the means to deliver conventional weapons anywhere in the world within an hour.

On August 11, the Pentagon test flew another hypersonic glider dubbed HTV-2, which is capable of flying 27,000 kilometers per hour, but it was a failure.

The AHW’s range is less than that of the HTV-2, the Congressional Research Service said in a report, without providing specifics.

The Pentagon has invested 239.9 million dollars in the Global Strike program this year, including 69 million for the flying bomb tested Thursday, CRS said.

Another day - another drone strike.

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A suspected U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's tribal region killed six suspected militants on Thursday, intelligence officials told CNN.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said the suspected drone fired four missiles on a militant hideout in the area of Razmak in North Waziristan, one of the seven districts of Pakistan's volatile tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Based on a count by the CNN Islamabad bureau, Thursday's suspected drone strike was the 64th this year compared to 111 in all of 2010.

The intelligence officials asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

US sending Marines to Australia - sending China a message.

Canberra, Australia (CNN) -- The United States announced an agreement with Australia Wednesday that will expand military cooperation between the long-time allies and boost America's presence in the region.

The agreement was revealed during a joint news conference between U.S. President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in the nation's capital, Canberra.

Obama is on a two-day trip to Australia, his first visit as commander-in-chief.

"I am very pleased that we are able to make these announcements here together on Australian soil," Obama said. "Because of these initiatives that are the result of our countries working very closely together as partners, we are going to be in a position to more effectively strengthen the security of both of our nations and this region."

President Obama arrives in Australia Obama stresses Asia-Pacific importance
Under the agreement, up to 250 U.S. Marines will be sent to Darwin and the northern region of Australia for military exercises and training. Over the next several years their numbers are expected to climb to 2,500 -- a full Marine ground task force.
While U.S. officials cited the need to respond to regional natural disasters as a reason for the agreement, concern over China's military expansion is widely acknowledged as a driving factor.

"What we look at is how does our general force posture allow us to protect U.S. interests, protect our allies, and ... secure the region broadly," Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters traveling with the president. "China is obviously a piece of the Asia Pacific region, an emerging power."

Rhodes later added that the deal is "part of the U.S. sending a signal that we're going to be present, that we're going to continue to play the role of underpinning security in this part of the region. Part of that context is a rising China."
Analysts note that the deal sends a message to China in a less confrontational way than building up bases closer to Chinese shores.