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...
During a hearing a before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, Daniel Russel, Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, testified that “Given the accelerating pace of North Korea’s missile tests, we intend to deploy on an accelerated basis. I would say as...
A Monday September 12, 2016 test at White Sands Missile Range demonstrated the ability for an F-35 to pass data to the Aegis Combat System through the Navy Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air, resulting in the successful intercept of a cruise missile target with a Standard Missile-6. The F-35 used its own sensors to pick up...
President Barack Obama nominated Lieutenant General Samuel Greaves to be the next director of the Missile Defense Agency. Greaves currently serves as the Commander of the U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center. In this role he oversaw the Air Force’s acquisition efforts on military space programs, to include satellites and launch vehicles. Prior...
In an agreement signed on September 14, 2016, the United States pledged to provide Israel with $38 billion in military assistance over the next decade. This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which replaces one expiring in FY2018, is the largest single pledge of military assistance in U.S. history. The agreement allocates $5 billion over the 10-year...
On September 5, 2016, North Korea test-fired a salvo of three No-Dong ballistic missiles. The missiles were launched from areas around the Hwangju county in North Hwanghae province and traveled around 1,000 km until they landed in the Sea of Japan. Japan’s Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said the launch constituted a “serious threat” to the country’s...
