Western officials report that a Russia has deployed Iskander ballistic missiles to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave bordering the Baltic NATO states and Poland. Moscow has previously deployed the missiles to Kaliningrad for training exercises, but all indications suggests this deployment to a permanent, and in response to the U.S. / NATO Aegis Ashore missile defense system...
The Russian military test-fired two submarine-launched ballistic missiles and a ground-based Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile in the midst of growing tensions between Moscow and Washington over Syria. The SS-N-23 SLBM launches took place from a Pacific Fleet sub in the Sea of Okhotsk and a Northern Fleet sub in the Barents Sea. The Topol-M launch took place...
The USS Mason was again targeted by coastal defense cruise missiles launched from Houthi controlled territory inside of Yemen late Saturday night local time. The Mason launched defensive countermeasures, potentially including defensive missiles, and was not struck two U.S. officials said. Initial reports suggest that one incoming missile was intercepted while the other fell into...
On October 9, the USS Mason fired two Standard Missile-2 Block IV interceptors and an Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile in response to multiple cruise missiles launched at it and the USS Ponce off the coast of Yemen. The attack comes after a cruise missile launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen struck a UAE vessel on...
Over the weekend, Russia emplaced a new, modified version of the S-300 (SA-23) air defense system at its naval base at Tartus in Syria. The system expands the range of Russia’s anti-air capability into Turkey and eastern Syria and comes after the collapse of a U.S.-Russia brokered ceasefire and the suspension of talks with Moscow...
After protests to the original siting decision, South Korea has decided to move the deployment site for the American Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to near a golf course in Seongju county. An agreement to deploy the system to South Korea was made in July and soon after Seoul announced that it would...
On October 1, a UAE auxiliary ship was hit by four rockets reportedly launched by Houthi rebels while sailing near Yemen in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a strategic shipping lane. This ship was contracted to UAE and supported the Saudi-led Arab coalition that has been defending Yemen’s internationally-recognized government since March 2015. While the ship...
Following its August 2016 SLBM test and a September 2016 nuclear test by North Korea, evidence indicates that Pyongyang has started construction of a new ballistic missile submarine. Commercial satellite imagery shows heightened activity around the Sinpo South Shipyard, where the majority of North Korea’s submarines have been built. The shipyard recently underwent a revitalization...
Turkey’s Defense Minister Fikri Isik announced that Ankara is developing an indigenous missile defense system to intercept rockets launched by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). ISIL has repeatedly launched Katyusha rockets into Turkish territory during the conflict, last week hitting the town of Kilis. The system in question, reportedly named “Korkut,”...
Japan and South Korea completed a Foreign Military Sales Agreement to purchase the Aegis Baseline 9 Combat System in a deal announced August 12. The agreement will equip two Japanese Atago-class destroyers and three South Korean Sejong-class destroyers with the capability to simultaneously conduct air defense and ballistic missile defense missions. The South Korean vessels...
