On October 5, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced two of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet submarines, the Veliky Novgorod (B-268) and the Kolpino (B-271), fired ten SS-N-30 Kalibr cruise missiles from a submerged position at ISIS targets near the town of Mayadin in the Deir ez-Zor province. The strike targeted ISIS command posts, ammunition depots,...
On October 5, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television reported that the Kingdom had agreed to buy Russia’s S-400 air defense system. The announcement came during a visit by Saudi King Salman to Moscow. In addition to the S-400 ‘Triumf’, the Memorandum of Agreement signed between the two countries also includes Saudi procurement of other weapon systems. The...
On October 3, Secretary of Defense James Mattis disclosed the approval of Congressional defense committees to reprogram $416 million from other accounts, including unspent Army maintenance and operations funding, into several missile defense programs. The reallocation would shift $47 million into the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program for 10 to 20 new missile silos for a...
The Russian military is conducting exercises involving over 60 road-mobile Topol, Topol-M, and Yars intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchers. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the maneuvers are taking place between the Tver region northwest of Moscow and the Irkutsk region located in eastern Siberia. These drills follow the joint Russian-Belarusian Zapad exercise that...
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced Tuesday that nine of Australia’s new planned frigates, scheduled to enter construction in 2020, will be fitted with the Aegis combat system, which will allow them to perform both air and missile defense missions. In announcing the decision, Turnbull emphasized that “Recent events in our region have proven that...
On October 2, the United States Air Force announced the completion of a $68 million upgrade to the LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles at Minot Air Force Base to decrease load and launch times. The upgraded component, called a Data Transfer Unit (DTU), replaced aging systems responsible for loading the missile with data and...
On Tuesday the Russian Strategic Missile Forces test fired a Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from the Kapustin Yar testing range in the southern Astrakhan region. The purpose of the launch was to test advanced warheads for Russian ballistic missiles, according to the Russia’s defense ministry. The experimental warhead reportedly hit its target at the Sary Shagan range...
On September 21, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) conducted a successful live-fire test of a new precision guided missile. CASC did not provide a specific designation for the missile. The missile was reportedly fired from the Caihong-5 (CH-5, or Rainbow 5) medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The missile was fitted with...
On September 23, Iranian state-run television showed footage of a medium-range Khorramshahr ballistic missile test launch. “You are seeing images of the successful test of the Khorramshahr ballistic missile with the range of 2,000 km, the latest missile of our country,” said an IRIB presenter. Several U.S. media outlets subsequently ran stories indicating that Iran had...
On September 22, the Russian submarine Veliky Novgorod (B-268) fired an unknown number of Kalibr cruise missiles (SS-N-27/30A) from a submerged position at targets in Syria’s Idlib province. The missiles traveled 300 km before striking command centers, armored vehicles, and training facilities. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the missile launch was a counter-offensive...
