The Department of Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium (DOTC) has awarded Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Technovative Applications contracts to generate concept designs for replacing the Patriot air-and-missile defense (AMD) radar. The Army is looking for a radar that has a 360-degree, lower-tier sensor that will be able to address the increasingly complex missile threat...
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...
A new challenge faces the joint force: the prospect of conflict with a near-peer adversary who has spent two decades going to school on the U.S. way of war. Potential adversaries have integrated air defenses and precision-strike weapons that can hold forward-based U.S. forces at risk, complicate maneuver and impair freedom of action.
On July 29, South Korean officials said the country will allow the deployment of four additional Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) launchers. The four THAAD units are already in South Korea, but President Moon Jae-in had delayed deployment pending an environmental assessment. Two THAAD units have been deployed since May 2017. On July 30,...
On July 27, Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile close to Mecca, according to the Arab military coalition. Houthi-Saleh forces launched the 800 km Borkan-1 from northern Yemen. The missile was intercepted 69 km south of the city. Houthi-Saleh news sources state that the Burkan-1 missile was aimed toward King Fahd Air Base, located approximately...
On July 12, the Trump Administration released a statement regarding its objections to specific provisions within the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Of its 27 listed objections, three concern U.S. missile and missile defense programs. First, the administration objects to the provision on development of an intermediate-range ground-launched cruise missile, over concerns that the...
On July 10, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of seven Patriot Configuration-3+ firing units worth up to $3.9 billion. In addition to the necessary technical equipment to operate the system (radars, control station, antenna, launching stations and electrical power plants), the State Department approved the purchase of 56 Patriot MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missile-TBM...
On July 10, U.S. Patriot missiles arrived at Lithuania’s northern Siauliai military airbase in preparation for NATO’s Tobruk Legacy air defense military exercises occurring July 11-22. The exercise, “demonstrates that such moves are no longer a taboo in the region,” according to Lithuanian Defense Minister Raimondas Karoblis. Lithuania has been calling for assistance in deploying...
On July 5, Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the United States to sell an undisclosed number of Patriot systems to Poland. In March 2017, Warsaw announced its interest in purchasing as many as eight Patriot systems by the end of the year, but stipulated that the systems must...
On June 20, the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee released its proposals for the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Subcommittee will meet at 10:30 AM on Thursday, June 22 to publicly discuss the mark. The proposals include several key reforms and updates on U.S. missile defense policy, including: requiring the...
