On September 21, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) conducted a successful live-fire test of a new precision guided missile. CASC did not provide a specific designation for the missile. The missile was reportedly fired from the Caihong-5 (CH-5, or Rainbow 5) medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The missile was fitted with...
On September 23, Iranian state-run television showed footage of a medium-range Khorramshahr ballistic missile test launch. “You are seeing images of the successful test of the Khorramshahr ballistic missile with the range of 2,000 km, the latest missile of our country,” said an IRIB presenter. Several U.S. media outlets subsequently ran stories indicating that Iran had...
On September 22, the Russian submarine Veliky Novgorod (B-268) fired an unknown number of Kalibr cruise missiles (SS-N-27/30A) from a submerged position at targets in Syria’s Idlib province. The missiles traveled 300 km before striking command centers, armored vehicles, and training facilities. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the missile launch was a counter-offensive...
On September 24, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) displayed the country’s S-300 surface-to-air missile system publicly for the first time. Iran showed the Russian-made defense system, along with Iran’s Sejjil and Ghadr medium-range ballistic missiles, near the Parliament building in Tehran for the IRGC’s annual Defense Week, which marks the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq...
On September 22, Iran displayed the Khorramshahr ballistic missile for the first time during a military parade in Tehran commemorating the Iran-Iraq War. The missile has a reported range of around 2,000 km and Iranian officials claim that it can carry multiple warheads, most likely a reference to submunitions. According to Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander...
On September 18, Israel’s Air Force reported that its Air Defense Division had established a second Iron Dome battalion to defend against aerial threats in Israel’s northern theater. “Israel’s northern theatre has always been the most threatened area,” Brig. Gen. Zvika Haimovich, Commander of the Aerial Defense Division said in a press release. “The theater...
On September 20, Russia successfully test fired a SS-29 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile on the final day of the Zapad 2017 military exercise. As part of the exercise, Russian missile crews practiced relocating the missile, testing its mobile variant rather than the silo-based variant tested on September 12. The missile was launched from Plesetsk launch...
On September 20, the Japanese Defense Ministry relocated Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air missile interceptors on the northern island of Hokkaido to an air defense base close to the flight paths of recent North Korean ballistic missile tests. The PAC-3 was transported to the southern city of Hakodate on the Oshima Peninsula from a base...
On September 18, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the successful test of the Iskander-M missile as part of the ongoing Zapad 2017 military exercises. The short-range ballistic missile was launched from the Kapustin Yar test range in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region, and travelled close to its maximum 500 km range before hitting a target...
On September 15, North Korea fired what is believed to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido for the second time in a month. Launched from Sunan just north of Pyongyang, the missile flew for 19 minutes, traveling 3,700 km, reaching an altitude of 770 km, and landing 2,200...
