On October 1, the Missile Defense Agency released findings of its investigation into FTM-29’s failure. The joint U.S.-Japanese test took place on January 31, 2018, testing the co-developed Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA. MDA’s statement indicated that the missile’s “Hybrid Arm and Fire Device” (a sparkplug-like mechanism) failed to ignite the third-stage rocket motor responsible...
On September 14, South Korea launched KSS-III (Jangbogo-III) Dosan Ahn Chang-ho, the nation’s first missile attack submarine, in the waters in near Busan. Dosan Ahn Chango-ho had been under construction since 2016 and will likely be delivered in the next two years. It is the first of nine submarines slated to be built over the...
On September 10, Iran announced that it had successfully conducted a ballistic missile intercept test of its Bavar-373 air defense system last year. The Bavar-373 is an indigenously produced version of the Russian S-300 air defense system. Iran’s Deputy Air Defense Commander General Mahmoud Ebrahiminejad stated, “It [the Bavar-373] is more reliable and stronger than...
On September 11, the United States and Japan successfully intercepted a separating ballistic missile target with a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) IB Threat Update (TU) interceptor off the coast of Hawaii. The Japanese Aegis destroyer JS Atago (DDG-177) fired the SM-3 and intercepted the target in the test. According to the Missile Defense Agency press release,...
On September 8, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked Kurdish opposition targets in Iraq, using surface-to-surface missiles. Al Jazeera reported that seven missiles “hit the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) in the town of Koya, 300 km north of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad.” An...
Spain will not sell Saudi Arabia the laser-guided munitions it agreed to provide in a deal concluded in 2015. Spain intends to reimburse Saudi Arabia for the transaction. According to reporting by Al Jazeera, Madrid’s decision stems from “concerns about their [the munitions’] use against civilians in the war in Yemen,” which has been ongoing...
Reports indicate that Japan’s Navy will outfit at least two of its Maya-class destroyers with SM-6 missiles, furthering Japan’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) initiative. Launched on July 30, JS Maya (DDG-179) is outfitted with the Aegis ballistic missile defense system, and is scheduled to conduct an SM-6 interception test in the United States around...
On August 31, Reuters reported that Iran has transferred tens of Zelzal, Fateh-110, and Zolfaghar ballistic missiles to Shi’ite proxies in Iraq over the past few months. Iran may also be developing missile production infrastructure in Iraq. According to some sources reported by the news wire, “a decision was made some 18 months ago to...
Russian news agency TASS reported on August 30 that Russian Aerospace Forces have tested a new missile defense interceptor against an unspecified target. The launch took place at the Sary-Shagan test site in Kazakhstan. According to Deputy Commander of the Air and Missile Defense of the Aerospace Forces Andrey Prikhodko, the interceptor “successfully performed its...
The Russian navy conducted an exercise in which they fired P-1000 Vulkan, P-700 Granit, P-120 Malakhit and P-800 Oniks antiship cruise missiles at two surface targets, with seven striking the targets. The missile cruiser Varyag, the missile corvettes Razliv and Morov, and the nuclear-powered submarine Tomsk were among the vessels participating. As quoted by TASS,...
