On February 1, NATO announced that it would indefinitely suspend a meeting with Ukrainian officials regarding NATO’s missile defense system. As Ukraine is not a member of the alliance, NATO’s Aegis Ashore site would not be used to defend the country. However, this meeting would have addressed concerns about debris falling on Ukrainian territory if Iran...
A recent statement by a U.S. official to reporters suggests that Iran’s Khorramshahr missile, which Iran tested on January 29, may have been a variant of North Korea’s Musudan medium-range ballistic missile. The official suggested in an interview with Reuters that Sunday’s test was the first time the missile had been tested since July 2016....
On January 27, President Donald Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum on rebuilding America’s armed forces that calls for a new Ballistic Missile Defense Review. The review is tasked to “identify ways of strengthening missile-defense capabilities, rebalancing homeland and theater defense priorities, and highlighting priority funding areas.” A previous draft White House memorandum included...
On January 30, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korea’s acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn exchanged a phone call in which they reaffirmed their countries’ bilateral alliance and the future deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system to South Korea. According to the White House, “Trump reiterated our ironclad commitment to defend the ROK,...
On January 29, 2017, Iran test-fired a “Khorramshahr” medium range ballistic missile from a test site near Semnan, 140 miles east of Tehran. Reports claim that the missile flew about 965 km before apparently exploding during reentry. The Khorramshahr is a new, indigenously made Iranian missile and its development was announced by Defense Minister Hossein...
The Israeli Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) successfully completed the fifth series of tests of the David’s Sling Weapons System at Palmachim Air Base, Israel. The David’s Sling system is part of Israel’s multi-layer missile defense shield and is a collaboration between the United States and Israel designed to defend...
Breaking with tradition, the U.S. Army has submitted its revised 2017 and new 2018 lists of unfunded priorities ahead of the next budget submission. Both lists include offensive and defensive missile systems as part of an effort to modernize aging systems considered critical for U.S. military operations. The 2017 list includes a $1.3 billion request...
On January 24th, Pakistan conducted the first test of its nuclear-capable surface-to-surface “Ababeel” medium-range ballistic missile. The Ababeel has a reported range of 2,200 km and is Pakistan’s first ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads using Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology. The Pakistani military declared the test a success and claimed that the...
On Friday, January 20, 2017, The United States, South Korea, and Japan began a three-day naval-missile defense exercise in response to concerns of a possible North Korean ICBM test during President Trump’s inauguration. The exercises were conducted as a combined effort between the USS Stethem (DDG 63), the JDS Kirishima (DDG-174), and the ROKS Sejong the Great (DDG-991). Although...
Looking to modernize its air and ballistic missile defense force, Italy has joined France in backing Eurosam’s development of the Aster 30 Block 1 NT (B1NT) missile for the SAMP/T air defense system currently fielded by both nations. The B1NT is an extended range variant that increases the interceptor’s anti-ballistic missile capabilities, allowing it to...
