On Sunday, Yemen’s Houthi rebel group claimed to launch “a winged cruise missile…towards al-Barakah nuclear reactor in Abu Dhabi.” The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has denied these reports, and claims that no missiles entered UAE airspace. This is the second time this year that the Iran-aligned Houthis have claimed to fire a long-range cruise missile...
Fragments from four ballistic missiles fired into Saudi Arabia this year by Yemen’s Houthi rebels appear to be Iranian in origin, according to a confidential UN report drafted by sanctions monitors obtained by Reuters. “Design characteristics and dimensions of the components inspected by the panel are consistent with those reported for the Iranian designed and...
On November 30, Romania signed an official Letter of Offer and Acceptance to receive U.S. Patriot Advanced Configuration-3+ (PAC-3) air and missile defense systems. Approved by the U.S. State Department on July 11, the $3.9 billion sale will include: seven Patriot Advanced Configuration-3+ firing units, 56 Patriot MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missile-TBM (GEM-T) missiles and 168...
Following North Korea’s test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, the state-run KCTV news agency released a statement designating the missile as the Hwasong-15. Of note, the statement also claimed the missile is “tipped with [a] super-large heavy warhead” and can reach any portion of the continental United States. The statement elaborated: “The development and advancement...
On November 28, the State Department approved separate $250 million Foreign Military Sales to Poland for both the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and up to 150 AIM-120C-7 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM). Included in the sale of the HIMARS are 16 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) M31A1 unitary warheads, 9 GMLRS...
Four Patriot Adanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Cost Reduction Initiative (CRI) missile interceptors and one PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) recently completed an operational test-firing at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Led by the U.S. Army, PAC-3 interceptors successfully detected, tracked, and defeated four tactical ballistic missile targets. These upgraded systems feature improved command and control...
On November 28, North Korea conducted what is believed to be its third test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Launched from the vicinity of Pyongsong, South Pyongan Province, the missile flew for 50 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan in Japan’s exclusive economic zone. The South Korean military said the missile reached...
On November 21, the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee released the chairman’s FY 2018 budget recommendations for the Department of Defense. The bill suggests a $581.3 billion base budget for DoD ($15.4 billion above the President’s budget request), and $64.9 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations. The committee also approved an additional $4.5 billion dollars in emergency...
The Naval Iron Dome system, first tested in May 2016, completed its final round of testing on Monday. The successful test, in which Grad rockets were fired both individually and in barrages, resulted in the system being declared fully operational by the Israeli Defense Forces. The “Iron Dome of the Sea” was a multi-year joint...
On November 23, the Russian Aerospace Force (VKS) successfully tested an upgraded version of the 53T6 Gazelle ballistic missile interceptor. The test was conducted at the Sary-Shagan site, located in Kazakhstan. The 53T6 is deployed in Russia’s anti ballistic missile systems protecting Moscow. Pavel Podvig, an independent Russian missile analyst, commented “Given that the launch...
