According to reports, Romania has announced its intent to procure the Patriot air and missile defense system. Romania, a NATO member, would purchase the Patriot missile defense batteries to work with its integrated air and missile defense system, which also includes six recently purchased F-16 fighter jets and the Aegis Ashore missile defense radar deployed...
On April 21, 2017, the Indian Navy conducted the first test-launch of the sea-to-land variant of its Brahmos two-stage supersonic cruise missile. The Brahmos was launched from the Indian naval warship the INS Teg (F45) off the coasts of the Andman and Nicobar Islands. This variant of the Brahmos has a range of 290 km...
On April 20, 2017, Lockheed Martin announced that the Long Range Discrimination Radar passed its preliminary design review, an important step in meeting the 2020 deployment deadline. The preliminary design review required Lockheed to achieve a Technology Readiness Level 6, meaning it has passed the developmental phase, and a Manufacturing Readiness Level 6, which means...
According to ROK military officials, South Korea is in the final stage of developing its low-tier missile defense system. The development of South Korea’s Medium-range Surface-to-Air Missile (M-SAM) comes soon after successful testing and is one component of South Korea’s Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) system. The system will undergo a final evaluation next month in...
Note: Later information has revealed that the KN-17 refers to the Hwasong-12, not the Scud-variant as previously believed. On April 16, North Korea conducted a test of a new ballistic missile that blew up seconds after launch. U.S. officials say that the missile, dubbed the KN-17, is a single-stage, liquid-fueled Scud or No Dong variant with...
According to South Korea’s revised mid-term national defense budget, the country plans to increase its spending to 238.2 trillion won (US$210 billion) in order to improve its military force between 2018 and 2022. The improvements are meant to establish a “three-axis system” to outgun North Korea, and involve the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike system, the...
Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) introduced legislation to the house that would prevent the Patriot Guided Enhanced Missile (GEM-T) from being demilitarized and phased out. The GEM-T, the United States’ lowest cost interceptor, is employed by 5 countries in addition to the United States and has been used prominently by Saudi Arabia against the Yemen-based Houthi...
On April 6, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from destroyers based in the Mediterranean, targeting the Al Shayrat Airfield in Syria. The USS Ross (DDG-71) fired 36 of the missiles, while the USS Porter (DDG-78) fired the other 23 Tomahawks. Tomahawk missiles have a range of 1,250-2,500 km and have been an...
Note: Later information has revealed that the KN-17 refers to the Hwasong-12, not the Scud-variant as previously believed. Reports indicate that on the morning of April 5, 2017, North Korea tested a medium range ballistic missile from Sinpo, in the South Hamgyong province of North Korea. Although initial intel says that the missile was a...
On April 2, Israeli officials declared operational the newest component of Israel’s layered missile defense system, David’s Sling, at Hatzor Air Force Base near Ashdod. David’s Sling was jointly developed by Israel and the United States, and represents the layer of protection in-between the lower-tier Iron Dome, and the higher-tier Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems....
