On May 3, the United States tested its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile for the second time in recent weeks. As in the April 26 test, the unarmed missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and flew 4,200 miles, landing near the Marshall Islands. The Minuteman III is the only land-based missile...
On May 1, 2017, U.S. officials declared that the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea has reached initial operational capability. According to Col. Robert Manning III, a spokesman for the United States Forces Korea, the system “is operational and has the ability to intercept North Korean missiles.” The South Korean Defense Ministry echoed Manning’s...
Between April 6 and April 13, the U.S. Navy successfully tested four Standard Missile 6 Block 1 (SM-6 Blk 1) interceptors outfitted with the most recent hardware and software packages, designed to improve the system’s air and missile defense and surface warfare capabilities. According to U.S. Navy, two of the flights set SM-6 records for...
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...
On March 15, the Navy conducted a successful flight test using the AN/SPY-6 (V) Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) to track a target from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii. According to a March 30 statement made by Naval Sea Systems Command, the flight test, referred to as ‘Vigilant Hunter,’ achieved its...
On March 16, President Trump announced his nominees for several Department of Defense (DoD) posts. Among them were Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan and DoD-veteran David Trachtenberg. Shanahan, nominated for Deputy Secretary of Defense, worked as vice president for Boeing Missile Defense Systems. Trachtenberg, nominated for the role of Principal Deputy of the Under Secretary of...
On March 14, 2017, the United States, South Korea, and Japan began two days of drills in the Sea of Japan in order to better respond to a potential ballistic missile attack. The drills involve the guided-missile destroyers USS Curtis Wilber (DDG-54), ROKS Sejong the Great (DDG-991), and JDS Kirishima (DDG-174), three Aegis-equipped ships two...
On March 6, the United States deployed the first elements of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea, per a statement by the United States military. Two THAAD launch vehicles arrived to the U.S. military’s Osan Air Base late in the evening of the same day North Korea tested four ballistic missiles. The head of...
On March 6, North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, three of which flew over 1,000 km and landed within 350 km of mainland Japan. According to Noh Jae-chon, a South Korean military spokesman, the missiles were launched from Tongchang-ri in northwest North Korea. Although the type of missile tested remains unknown,...
