COLONEL KAI RAYDON, Space Shuttle aircraft commander
CIVIL AIR PATROL CADET MASTER SERGEANT DOUG LENZ, Cadet Lieutenant Katelyn VanWie’s NCOIC
MAJOR-GENERAL HESARAK AL-KAN BUZHAZI, former chief of staff of the Iranian military
CIVIL AIR PATROL CADET LIEUTENANT KATELYN VANWIE, aka Shahdokht Azar Assiyeh Qagev, heir presumptive of the Peacock Throne of Iran
IMAM SAYYED MOSTAFA SHĪRĀZEMI, religious leader of Iran
MASOUD AHMADAD, president of Iran
BRIGADIER GENERAL MANSOUR SATTARI, Buzhazi’s aide
BRIGADIER-GENERAL KAMAL ZHORAM, commander of the Second Rocket Brigade of the Pasdaran-i-Engelab, or Revolutionary Guards Corps
GENERAL HOSEYN YASSINI, commander-in-chief, Iranian armed forces
FLIGHT CAPTAIN ALI-REZA KAZEMI, transport pilot
LIEUTENANT GENERAL MUHAMMAD BADI, commander of the Pasdaran (Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps)
COLONEL/GENERAL ALI ZOLQADR, replacement Pasdaran commander; Major Kazem Jahromi, his aide
AYATOLLAH HASSAN MOHTAZ, Director of the Supreme National Security Deputate and military adviser to the Faqih
MAJOR PARVIZ NAJAR, Lieutenant Mara Saidi, Katelyn’s bodyguards
COLONEL JAMAL FATTAH, chief political officer, Iranian embassy, Ashkhabad, Turkmenistan
LEONID ZEVITIN, president of the Russian Federation
GENERAL KUZMA FURZYENKO, Russian chief of staff
REAL-WORLD NEWS EXCERPTS
PENTAGON PLANNING FOR SPACE BOMBER
— By Robert Windrem, MSNBC NEWS, August 14, 2001
— An experimental NASA spacecraft could well be the harbinger for a small armada of billion-dollar space bombers—“space operations vehicles” that could be launched from a U.S. base and fire weapons at almost any target on Earth, all within 90 minutes of a presidential order.
…The next generation of America’s bomber fleet will be a far cry not only from World War II’s B-17 but from the stealthy B-2 bomber as well. Speed to target is likely to be just as high a priority as a bomber’s payload in the 21st century.
…In June, Rumsfeld directed the Pentagon to investigate “suborbital space vehicles” that “would be valuable for conducting rapid global strikes,” according to a Pentagon planning document issued under his name. And as recently as last month, Boeing said it was talking to the Air Force about investing millions of dollars more in Boeing’s X-37.
Then, in congressional testimony this month, Gen. Michael Ryan, the Air Force chief of staff, acknowledged that a futuristic “space bomber” is being contemplated by the Pentagon’s long-range planners…
STRATEGIC FORECASTING INC., www.stratfor.com, 9 November 2004
— An Iranian official said Nov. 9 that Iran has acquired the capability to produce medium-range ballistic missiles in mass quantity. Defense Minister Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani told journalists in Tehran that the Islamic republic is able to manufacture in bulk the Shahab-3 missile, whose range was recently upgraded to 1,250 miles.
IRANIANS REFUSE TO TERMINATE NUCLEAR PLANS
— by Elaine Sciolino, New York Times—26 November 2004—VIENNA — Iran refused Thursday to abandon plans to operate uranium enrichment equipment that could be used either for energy purposes or in a nuclear bomb-making project, European and Iranian officials said.
The refusal threatened to scuttle a nuclear agreement Iran reached 10 days ago with France, Britain and Germany to freeze all of Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, the European officials added. It also gave new ammunition to the Bush administration, which asserts that Iran has a secret nuclear weapons program and cannot be trusted…
U.S. FORCE EYES RAPID SATELLITE CAPABILITY
— Jane’s Defense Weekly, 7 January 2005—The U.S. Air Force, along with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), plans to conduct a flight experiment mid-year to see if it can rapidly place a light satellite payload into orbit aboard a small space launch vehicle. If successful, the demonstration could herald a new technology for space access, said officials involved with the launch.
RUSSIANS HELPING IRAN CREATE EUROPE MISSILE THREAT:
British Paper (AFP) Oct. 16, 2005
— Former members of the Russian military have been secretly helping Iran obtain the technology needed to make missiles capable of hitting European capitals, a British newspaper claimed on Sunday.
Citing anonymous “Western intelligence officials,” The Sunday Telegraph said the Russians were go-betweens as part of a multimillion-pound deal they negotiated between Iran and North Korea in 2003.
“It has enabled Tehran to receive regular clandestine shipments of topsecret missile technology, believed to be channeled through Russia,” the newspaper reported in a front-page article.
The allegations came after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice feuded openly with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov over Iran’s nuclear programme while on a brief trip to Moscow on Saturday.
…According to the Telegraph, Iran would be able to use its new technology to build a missile with a range of 3,500 kilometres (2,200 miles).
“It is designed to carry a 1.2-ton payload, sufficient for a basic nuclear device,” the newspaper said.
It quoted a senior U.S. official as saying Iran’s programme as “sophisticated and getting larger and more accurate. They have had very much in mind the payload needed to carry a nuclear weapon.
RUSSIA WARNS AGAINST MILITARY FORCE
—© Stratfor Inc., August 17, 2005
— Military force against Iran would be “counterproductive and dangerous,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Aug. 17. The ministry called for a diplomatic solution to the tensions surrounding Tehran’s nuclear program, warning of “grave” and unpredictable outcomes if force were employed.
ARMS SALE TO TEHRAN FUELS TENSIONS WITH ISRAEL
— Janes Defence Weekly, 14 December 2005
—© Janes’ Information Group
— Tel Aviv
— Russia confirmed earlier reports on 5 December of the deal with Iran, which includes the upgrading of Iranian Su-24 attack aircraft and MiG-29 multirole fighter aircraft, along with the acquisition of an unspecified number of patrol boats, 32 Antey Tor-M1 (SA-15 “Gauntlet”) low- to medium-altitude surface-to-air missile systems (16 tracked, 16 wheeled) and the upgrade of an unspecified number of T-72 main battle tanks. Russian news agency Interfax reported that the missiles would be deployed to protect Iran’s soon-to-be-completed nuclear reactor in Bushehr.
The Tor-M1 can simultaneously detect and track up to 48 airborne targets out to a range of 40 km and can engage targets at a maximum range of 12 km and at altitudes from 10 m to 6,000 m. During a test in Russia, the Tor-M1 achieved a high kill probability against cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and jet fighters…
LOW-COST ACCESS TO ORBIT: MARINES TO THE RESCUE, by Taylor Dinerman, www.thespacereview.com, 6 January 2006…
In July 2002, the Marine Corps released a Universal Needs Statement that defined the Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion (SUSTAIN) concept that, if successful, will give the U.S. a “…heretofore unimaginable assault support speed, range, altitude, and strategic surprise” capability. SUSTAIN is an RLV that will carry a squad (13 men) into space and land it anywhere on Earth within two hours with, among other requirements, “flexible launch on demand to any orbital inclination.”