On January 15, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched several loitering munitions, ballistic missiles, and rockets during a military exercise in the country’s northeastern Dasht-e-Kavir desert. In the drill, named Prophet Mohammad 15, the IRGC struck static targets with several suicide drones and twelve or more Zolfaghar, Zelzal, and Dezful ballistic missiles. According to Iranian state media,...
On January 14, North Korea held a military parade to commemorate its eighth Workers’ Party Congress, displaying a variety of theater and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. In addition to showcasing KN-23, -24, and -25 ballistic missile launchers, North Korea revealed an unnamed tactical missile and a new submarine-launched ballistic missile labeled “Pukguksong-5ㅅ”. According to South Korean...
On January 14, Romania’s government approved the purchase of the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), a subsonic antiship missile codeveloped by the United States and Norway. In a contract estimated at $286 million, Romania will acquire four ground-based launch vehicles and associated command, control, and support equipment by 2024. The NSM has an estimated range of...
On January 13, the U.S. Department of Defense began formal acquisition of the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS), an Army command-and-control system for air and missile defense. Following a four-year delay in its $2.7 billion development phase, IBCS completed a successful test in 2020 and is expected to enter Army service in 2022. IBCS began...
On January 11, Taiwanese military sources confirmed that Taiwan had deployed a small number of extended-range Hsiung Feng IIE cruise missiles. Developed by Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), the extended-range missile has a range of 1,200 km, double that of the baseline variant. The move comes on the heels of a...
On January 8, Iranian state media reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) established an underground missile base near the Persian Gulf. Several cruise missiles and launchers were visible in state-released photographs of the site. According to state media, Iran aims to construct several coastal bases to house long-range ballistic and cruise missiles. Related...
On December 25, Japan’s Ministry of Defense announced it would begin mass production of the ASM-3A, an air-launched supersonic antiship missile. Japan began developing the ASM-3 in FY 2010 and completed a flight test in 2017. Following a review of defense requirements, Tokyo postponed acquisition of the ASM-3 in favor of an upgraded variant with...
On December 15, Russia tested an anti-satellite missile, according to a statement by the U.S. Space Command. According to the release, the weapon tested was a direct-ascent anti-satellite missile capable of destroying satellites in low Earth orbit. The statement separately announced that Russia had continued to develop a co-orbital anti-satellite weapon, which was tested in...
On Dec 15, Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced the completion of a major air and missile defense exercise, employing Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow weapons systems in a series of flight tests. In the exercise, the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), in cooperation with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), successfully intercepted a variety...
On December 11-12, Russia test fired a Tsirkon hypersonic missile and four Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) in a series of naval launches. On December 11, Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov (417) fired a Tsirkon hypersonic missile from the White Sea, striking a coastal target over 350 km away in Northern Russia’s Arkhangelsk region. On December...
