THE AEGIS WARSHIPS AND "MISSILE DEFENSE"

On Feb 20, 2008 the USS Lake Erie (Aegis warship) fired a modified tactical Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) at a malfunctioning U.S. spy satellite. The impact occurred at about 150 miles above the Pacific Ocean and at an impact velocity of around 22,000 mph.

We were told at the time that the falling satellite had to be taken out because the hydrazine fuel on-board would be a danger to people on Earth if it fell near them. (Later I was to read in one article that the fuel tank was nearly empty at the time of the shoot down.)

Many of us have long maintained that the test was really intended to prove that the Pentagon had developed anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons capability.

The Aegis warship that did this ASAT test, with the SM-3 "missile defense" system on-board, is the same kind of Navy ship that will be deployed on Jeju Island in South Korea and is being used to surround China's coastal region. They are also the same ships that recently began maneuvers in the Black Sea creating tensions with Russia as the U.S. and NATO militarily encircle that nation.

The Russian and Chinese don't believe that these systems are really for defense. They correctly understand that "missile offense" is an integral part of U.S. first-strike attack planning.