On August 16, North Korea launched two missiles from Tongchon on the country’s east coast. According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the projectiles flew 230 km and reached a 30 km altitude before landing in the Sea of Japan. Following the exercise, an unnamed U.S. official stated that the United States would monitor...
On August 15, South Korea’s Ministry of Defense announced it would spend about $240 billion on missile defense in the 2020-2024 period. Under the budget plan, the Blue House would acquire two ground-based early warning radars, three Aegis-equipped destroyers, and the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) missile defense system, all of...
On August 13, Bahrain signed an agreement to purchase the Patriot air and missile defense system from the United States. The U.S. Department of State had previously approved the sale of 60 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) and 36 Patriot PAC-2 Guidance Enhanced Missiles (GEM-T), in addition to several launchers, radar sets, and control stations. According...
On August 9, India’s Defence Acquisition Council cleared the purchase of new ground-launched antiship missile batteries. The Next Generation Maritime Mobile Coastal Batteries planned for acquisition would use the Indo-Russian BrahMos cruise missile, which has an estimated range of 500 km. The supersonic missile first entered Indian service in 2007. Related Links: Coastal batteries with...
Speaking at the Space and Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. Army procurement official Daryl Youngman confirmed the purchase of two Iron Dome systems to fulfill its interim rocket and cruise missile defense requirements. According to reports, the United States will spend $373 million to acquire the two batteries, pursuant to a fiscal 2019...
On August 10, Iran unveiled the Falaq, an indigenously-upgraded surveillance radar with a range of 400 km. According to state media, the system is a domestically overhauled variant of the Gamma, a Russian-made phased-array radar. Related Links: Iran Army unveils ‘Falagh’ surveillance radar system, Mehr News Iran unveils ‘improved’ radar air defense system, Reuters
On August 10, North Korea successfully test fired new short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) from Hamhung on the country’s east coast. According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the two missiles flew 400 km and reached a 48 km apogee before landing in the Sea of Japan. Imagery released by North Korean media has suggested...
On August 9, NATO announced that its Aegis Ashore site in Deveselu, Romania completed a set of updates initiated in April. In a statement, NATO said that the updates were part of routine maintenance and “did not provide any offensive capability” to the system. With the completion of maintenance, NATO has moved to withdraw the...
On August 7, a U.S. Army official confirmed that the service would flight test its first ground-launched hypersonic missile in Fiscal Year 2022. Speaking at the 2019 Space and Missile Defense Symposium, LTG L. Neil Thurgood stated that the boost-glide vehicle would be used jointly across the services; the Army plans to field its first...
A major supplier of missile tubes for the U.S. Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine has mulled cancelling future production, according to a USNI News report. In a conference call on August 6, BWX Technologies CEO Rex Geveden cited labor shortages as reason for the move, which would pivot BWX’s business to nuclear reactor manufacturing after completing...
