that was fast

No sooner had we written about the report and marketing of Directed Energy Weapons at Lexington Institute when BOOM Adm. James O. Ellis was testifying to the Senate Armed Services subcommittee yesterday. They don't let the grass grow under their feet do they?

The head of the U.S. Strategic Command, which controls the nation's nuclear weapons delivery systems, told Congress yesterday that future global strike plans would increasingly involve advanced conventional weapons.

'This innovative approach will enable the command to deliberately and adaptively plan and rapidly deliver limited-duration, nonnuclear combat power anywhere in the world,' Adm. James O. Ellis told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee yesterday.

Conventional and 'non-kinetic' weapons, which put out electronic pulses as their kill mechanism, along with special operations capabilities for precision guidance, will be incorporated 'into the nation's strategic war plan to further reduce our reliance on nuclear weapons,' Ellis said.

The catering at the luncheon must have been really good.

What makes Adm. James O. Ellis so special that he testifies at a hearing? Well, he got the plum job of being the new head of a new agency when Strategic Command merged with Space Command

The United States Strategic Command, or USSTRATCOM, is headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.  The command is one of nine U.S. unified commands under the Department of Defense.

The command is responsible for both early warning of and defense against missile attack and long-range conventional attacks. The command is charged with deterring and defending against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

How come it sounds like they want to build new weapons of mass destruction and not get rid of them? Bpost must be missing some important detail here.

If you want to follow Congressional hearings on National Security, check the updated page at Federation of American Scientists Adm Ellis' testimony isn't on-line yet but is already listed in the directory.