Missile Defense, Missile | featured news

Star Wars is back! Sort of. The Air Force will launch a key satellite for its space-based missile alert system Friday, hoping to overcome years of developmental delays in the dogged pursuit of an eye-in-the-sky threat-warning system.

China will have 2,000 missiles aimed at its rival Taiwan by the end of the year, several hundred more than the current number, despite fast-warming trade ties between the two sides, an island defense study said.

As the White House pushes for cuts in the U.S. nuclear arsenal, the Pentagon is developing a weapon to help fill the gap: missiles armed with conventional warheads that could strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.

Japan says it will intercept and destroy any parts of a North Korean rocket that might fall on its territory.

North Korea announced its intention to launch the satellite in February. Regional powers worry the claim is a cover for the launch of a long-range missile capable of reaching Alaska. National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said earlier this month that all indications suggest North Korea will in fact launch a satellite.

U.S. envoy Stephen Bosworth said Saturday he wanted dialogue with North Korea but also spoke against the communist nation's move to launch a long-range missile, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

The U.S. military is prepared to shoot down a North Korean missile or rocket if President Obama should give the order, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command said Thursday.