US Admiral Advocates Ship Based Missile Defense
 Washington (AFP) February 28, 2000 - The US Navy's top officer has advocated that the Pentagon broaden its missile defense systems to include ship-launched interceptors, the Washington Post reported Monday.

In a confidential memo addressed to US Defense Secretary William Cohen, Admiral Jay Johnson argued that ships provide a mobile layer of added protection which would enhance proposed landbased anti-missile systems.

Navy officials have long argued that ships provide a cost-effective way of deploying interceptors that can be used to knock enemy warheads out of the sky, the daily reported.

President Bill Clinton is to decide over the next several months whether to proceed with the construction of a limited anti-missile system. Taiwan army to get supersonic missiles in two years: reports

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    MILSPACE
     Marshall Islanders Want Big Bucks For More Missile Tests
     Majiro (AFP) February 24, 2000 - Marshall Islanders seeking a vast increase in US payments for using a test range central to Washington's plans for a national missile defense system have hired a high-profile US law firm to get them a "better deal."

    Senator Ataji Balos, who represents Kwajalein Atoll home to a major US missile test range, announced Thursday that Kwajalein landowners have hired the law firm of Mississippi-based Richard F. Scruggs.

    Scruggs is an American attorney credited with engineering the first victory against the US tobacco industry in the mid-1990s, which resulted in a four billion dollar settlement for the state of Mississippi.
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    SPACE.WIRE