On January 10, Russian officials acknowledged plans to deploy a second S-400 air defense division to occupied Crimea. Vadim Astafyev, Russia’s Southern Military District spokesman, told the state-run TASS news agency that the incoming system would be placed on combat duty in Crimea “soon.” The first S-400 division was earmarked for delivery in July 2016...
On December 26, Russian forces test fired an RS-12M Topol ICBM from the Kapustin Yar range, near the Kazakh border in western Russia. The test was reportedly designed to test features aimed at evading detection and penetrating missile defenses. “During the tests, specialists obtained experimental data that will be used in the interests of developing...
On December 29, Turkish defense officials announced the completion of a deal with Russia to acquire the S-400 air and missile defense system. Turkish news media reported that Turkey would purchase one battery of four S-400 units at a cost of $2.5 billion. The Turkish Defense Industries Undersecretariat stated that Turkey maintains the option of...
Russia has declared three new Voronezh radars operational in Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, and Altay Krais. The early warning radar system possesses a 6,000 km range, and according to Colonel General Alexander Goloyko, it is designed to “provide continuous radar monitoring of all directions vulnerable to a potential missile attack.” The addition of these three radars brings...
National Security Council official Christopher Ford revealed in a speech at the Wilson Center on November 29 that the Russian missile violating the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty is the land-based cruise missile Novator 9M729 (NATO designation: SSC-8). The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement saying that Russia is not violating the treaty,...
On November 23, the Russian Aerospace Force (VKS) successfully tested an upgraded version of the 53T6 Gazelle ballistic missile interceptor. The test was conducted at the Sary-Shagan site, located in Kazakhstan. The 53T6 is deployed in Russia’s anti ballistic missile systems protecting Moscow. Pavel Podvig, an independent Russian missile analyst, commented “Given that the launch...
The Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully test-fired the BrahMos-A supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi Su-30MKI multirole fighter jet on November 22, 2017. The missile was “gravity dropped,” after which the engine started, propelling the missile towards its target in the Bay of Bengal off India’s eastern coast. BrahMos was a joint venture between India’s...
On November 17, the Russian Navy celebrated the launch of its new Borei-A-class nuclear-powered submarine, the Prince Vladimir, from the Sevmash Shipyard in the Arkhangelsk region. In comparison to three current Borei-class subs produced under the Project 955 program, the new generation will carry four additional missile tubes for Russia’s SS-N-32 Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile,...
According to unnamed U.S. officials, the United States is conducting research and development on a new ground-launched cruise missile (GLCM) in response to Russian violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. “The idea here is we need to send a message to the Russians that they will pay a military price for violation of...
On November 3, the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s Varshavyanka class Kolpino (B-271) submarine fired six SS-N-30 Kalibr cruise missiles from a submerged position in the Mediterranean Sea at targets located in Syria’s Abu Kamal region on the country’s southeastern border with Iraq. A representative from the Russian Ministry of Defense told journalists that Russian forces...
