On August 29, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Navy conducted a successful Aegis BMD test with the Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) guided missile. Aegis BMD detected, tracked, and intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) target in its terminal phase. The Missile Defense Agency released the following statement regarding the test: Aegis BMD System Intercepts...
On Saturday, August 26, North Korea launched three short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) from Kittaeryong, in its southeast Kangwon province. Initial reports from South Korea stated that a Multiple Launch Rocket System was used to fire 300-mm rockets. South Korean military officials revised this initial assessment after joint evaluations with the United States and now assesses...
On August 28, North Korea flew what is believed to a be a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. The missile was launched shortly before 6 a.m. Japan local time, and reportedly traveled over 2,700 km before landing in the Pacific Ocean. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the missile...
On August 23, the U.S. Air Force have selected Lockheed Martin and Raytheon to develop the Long Range Standoff (LRSO) weapon. Both companies were awarded contracts valued around $900 million and given 54 months to “mature design concepts and prove developmental technologies” for the new missile, according to an Air Force spokeswoman. In fiscal year...
According to North Korea’s state-run newspaper, Kim Jong Un has ordered an increase in the production of solid fuel missile engines. Following a visit to a military research facility where Kim inspected the manufacturing process of intercontinental ballistic missile warheads, he instructed workers to increase their production of “solid-fuel rocket engines and rocket warhead tips…”...
On August 24, China test fired a Dong Feng 4 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The test was carried out from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, in China’s Shanxi province. The launch took place as Chinese and Indian forces remain in a standoff near Doklam, a disputed territory between Bhutan and China in the Himalayas. The...
On August 21, the U.S. Air Force awarded contracts to Boeing and Northrop Grumman, $349.2 million and $328.6 million respectively, for the development of a new ICBM to replace the nearly 50 year old LGM-30G Minuteman III. Part of the nascent Ground Based Strategic Deterrence project (GBSD), the companies will have until August 2020 to...
On August 21, a U.N. report on North Korean sanctions violations outlined chemical, ballistic missile, and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK. According to the report, “Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria. Another Member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a...
On August 22, the U.S. Navy announced a successful live-fire test of the Harpoon block 1C antiship missile from Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado (LCS-4) off the coast of Guam. An MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial system and an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter, part of the Coronado’s air detachment, provided targeting support as the Harpoon successfully...
On August 17, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and Foreign Minister Taro Kono met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to discuss the possible acquisition of an Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense system. Following a succession of North Korean missile tests, the Japanese Defense Ministry has accelerated its...
