Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will pay a visit to Beijing in October, Adm. William Fallon, head of US Pacific Command told reporters Wednesday. The Pentagon could soon invite Chinese military experts to observe exercises on the Korean Peninsula, Fallon added. Rumsfeld would be making his first trip to China, which he has accused of not being forthcoming on the scope of its broad military buildup.
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.