On November 29, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it test fired a Zircon hypersonic cruise missile. Russia’s Admiral Gorshkov frigate launched the Zircon while in the White Sea, successfully striking a target 400 km away. The Zircon has a claimed range of 1,000 km and is planned to equip Russian cruisers, frigates, and submarines.
On November 19, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency chose Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon Missiles and Defense to complete an “accelerated concept design” of the Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI). The GPI is MDA’s primary hypersonic defense program and is designed to intercept hypersonic weapons kinetically in the endoatmospheric glide phase. GPIs will equip U.S....
On November 15, Russia conducted an antisatellite missile test, reportedly using an S-500 Prometey interceptor to intercept a long-defunct Soviet signals intelligence satellite. The intercept created over 1,500 pieces of trackable debris. Russia last tested an antisatellite missile in December 2020, although that test did not involve a kinetic intercept.
On October 21, a U.S. Department of Defense hypersonic vehicle test failed after the system’s booster malfunctioned shortly after launch. According to a Pentagon statement, the hypersonic system being tested was not associated with the Army/Navy-developed Common Hypersonic Glide Body weapon currently under development. The flight test attempt reportedly took place in Alaska, but officials...
On October 27, India flight tested an Agni-V ballistic missile from a test range in Odisha. In a release, India’s ministry of defense claimed the test was successful, and was conducted “in line with India’s stated policy to have ‘credible minimum deterrence’ that underpins [its] commitment to ‘No First Use.'” The Agni-V is a solid-fueled,...
On November 1, Russia concluded a large-scale air and missile defense exercise at a range in the country’s Astrakhan region. In a release, Russia’s Ministry of Defense stated the drills involved over 1,000 servicemembers and over 300 pieces of military hardware, including the S-400V4, Buk-M3, and Tor-M2 surface-to-air missile systems. During the drills, air defense...
On October 19, North Korea flight tested a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) near Sinpo on the country’s east coast. According to South Korea’s military, the SLBM flew 590 km and reached a maximum altitude of 60 km. North Korean state media hailed the launch as a success, noting that the “new type SLBM” incorporated...
In July and August, China tested two hypersonic weapons, according to “people familiar with US intelligence assessments.” The first weapon, tested July 27, incorporated a fractional orbital bombardment system-like launch vehicle, which partly orbited the Earth before releasing a hypersonic weapon that reentered the atmosphere. Officials stated the weapon “missed its target by about two-dozen...
On October 13, the U.S. Army successfully flight tested the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), a short-range ballistic missile, to an undisclosed range of over 499 km. In a press statement, missile producer Lockheed Martin stated that the test demonstrated PrSM’s “longest flight to date.” The PrSM program entered its engineering and manufacturing development phase in...
On October 12 and 13, the Iranian Army and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched several surface-to-air missiles in a drill of air defense forces in Central Iran. The exercise, named Modafe’an-e Aseman-e Velayat 1400 [Defenders of Sky of Velayat 1400], included a variety of indigenous air defense systems, including Iran’s 3rd Khordad, Mersad, Talash, 15th...
