On January 20, Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted a short-range ballistic missile fired by Houthi militants. The missile was reportedly targeting the southwestern city of Najran, located close to the Saudi-Yemen border, and a common target of Houthi missiles. There were no reports of casualties or damage. This attack marks the fourth ballistic missile launch...
On January 18, India conducted its fifth test launch of the nuclear-capable Agni-5 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The missile was fired from a road-mobile launcher stationed in Abdul Kalam Island, off Odisha State in eastern India, just before 10 a.m. (local time). It traveled over 4,800 km in approximately 19 minutes. According to India’s Ministry...
On January 18, Russian state-run news agency TASS announced that Moscow has begun delivery of S-400 Triumf air defense missile systems to China. “The implementation of the contract has begun, the first shipment has been sent to China,” a source familiar with the sale told TASS. The shipment reportedly includes a control station, a radar...
On January 16, Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted a short-range ballistic missile fired by Houthi militants. The missile was reportedly targeting the southwestern city of Jizan, located close to the Saudi-Yemen border. There were no reports of casualties or damage. Pro-Houthi media outlets also report a second ballistic missile targeting a military facility in Najran,...
On January 12, a leaked UN report confirmed that Yemen’s Houthi rebels were using missiles of Iranian origin. The investigating panel writes that they had “identified missile remnants, related military equipment and military unmanned aerial vehicles that are of Iranian origin and were introduced into Yemen after the imposition of the targeted arms embargo” in...
On January 10, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that it will not replace Boeing as the prime integrator for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system. An Independent Readiness Review Team (IRRT) composed of subject matter experts found that the Missile Defense Agency was not ready to assume the GMD weapon system prime role at...
On January 13, an emergency alert warning of an incoming ballistic missile was broadcast to Hawaii residents and visitors. The message, which was displayed on cell phones and televisions statewide just before 8:10 a.m., said: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” The false message was sent when...
On January 10, Russian officials acknowledged plans to deploy a second S-400 air defense division to occupied Crimea. Vadim Astafyev, Russia’s Southern Military District spokesman, told the state-run TASS news agency that the incoming system would be placed on combat duty in Crimea “soon.” The first S-400 division was earmarked for delivery in July 2016...
On January 12, the Chinese Navy (PLAN) inducted a new 4,000-ton Type 054A Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigate into service. The stealth frigate, christened Rizhao (598), was commissioned at a naval shipyard in northeast Liaoning Province. It is armed with HQ-16 medium-range air defense missiles, a 32-cell vertical launching system, and can carry a variety of...
On January 9, the Chinese military released test-fire images and video footage of what appears to be indigenous Dong Feng-11 or Dong Feng-16 missiles. The PLA Daily released the images, but the paper did not specify when or where the tests were conducted. Both the DF-11 and DF-16 are short-range, surface-to-surface ballistic missiles. The DF-11...
