Recent statements by President Trump and National Security Adviser John Bolton indicate the United States may soon withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The INF Treaty was a landmark achievement in arms control, eliminating nearly 3,000 nuclear delivery vehicles from U.S. and Soviet arsenals. Originally concluded between the United States and the...
The Russian news agency TASS has reported that it is preparing for “serial production” of a new mobile short-ranged air defense system, dubbed “Sosna.” TASS notes that the system is meant to replace Russia’s older Strela-10M system. Sosna can reportedly be equipped with 12 “Sosna-R” surface to air missiles, with a range of 10 kilometers...
North Korea will reportedly admit inspectors from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to conduct in-country inspections to assess measures taken by Pyongyang to improve the safety of commercial aircraft from North Korea’s ballistic missile launches. North Korea is one of 192 members of the ICAO and is therefore obligated to give prior notice of...
Later this spring, the Trump administration will release its 2018 Missile Defense Review (MDR), which is expected to better align U.S. missile defense policy with the present security environment. President Barack Obama’s 2010 Ballistic Missile Defense Review (BMDR) reflected the security environment of the time and the aspirations of the Obama administration. In particular, technological...
Recent budget moves will give the U.S. missile defense effort a major boost in funding over the coming year, likely allowing the purchase of additional Ground Based Interceptor missiles on top of the 44 already deployed for use by the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system against ICBMs headed toward the U.S. homeland.
Iran’s missile forces, in tandem with other strategic tools, support a complex national security strategy that both enables the projection of power across the region, and imposes costs on adversaries seeking to directly challenge Iran’s regime.
President Trump’s recent claim that U.S. ballistic-missile defenses are effective “97 percent of the time” has provoked much discussion about the capabilities of one U.S. defense system in particular: Ground-Based Midcourse Defense.
North Korea conducted a flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that it has designated the Hwasong-14. During the July 3 test, the Hwasong-14 traveled for around 40 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan, inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone...
Missle Defense Agency Press Release: May 30, 2017 HOMELAND MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM SUCCESSFULLY INTERCEPTS ICBM TARGET The U.S. Missile Defense Agency, in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force 30th Space Wing, the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense and U.S. Northern Command, today successfully intercepted an intercontinental ballistic missile target during a test...
The U.S. Army FY 2018 budget request has placed added emphasis on the need to expand and modernize its short-range air defenses and long-range precision fires capabilities, saying that this portfolio “contains the Army’s most urgent and pressing capability needs due to challenges not faced in almost 30 years. Given the possibility of conflict with...
