On October 6, vessels from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom participating in the inaugural Formidable Shield 2017 (FS17) exercise tested the ships’ ballistic and cruise missile defense capabilities. Designed to improve NATO allied interoperability in an integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) environment, FS17 tested participants’...
On October 6, a senior Raytheon official announced the successful intercept of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) by a Stinger missile mounted on a Stryker combat vehicle during a SHORAD demonstration at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Attempting to fill the Army’s capability gap in Europe for mobile short range air defenses (SHORAD),...
On October 6, the U.S. State Department approved a potential $15 billion Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and related support, equipment, and services. The deal comprises 44 THAAD launchers, 360 missile interceptors, seven AN/TPY-2 radar systems, and other related parts, training, and equipment. A day before the...
U.S. Army soldiers successfully tested the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS). Referred to as a Soldier Checkout Event (SCOE), the tests took place at Tobin Wells in Fort Bliss, Texas over the course of three weeks in August. According to a Northrop Grumman statement, IBCS fought “26 simulated air battles against...
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the Department of Defense agency responsible for arms sales, announced that the State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale of the AIM-120C-7 Advanced Medium-range Air-to-air Missile (AMRAAM) to Japan. According to the DSCA press release, the Japanese government has requested the possible sale of 56 AMRAAMs...
On October 5, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced two of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet submarines, the Veliky Novgorod (B-268) and the Kolpino (B-271), fired ten SS-N-30 Kalibr cruise missiles from a submerged position at ISIS targets near the town of Mayadin in the Deir ez-Zor province. The strike targeted ISIS command posts, ammunition depots,...
On October 5, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television reported that the Kingdom had agreed to buy Russia’s S-400 air defense system. The announcement came during a visit by Saudi King Salman to Moscow. In addition to the S-400 ‘Triumf’, the Memorandum of Agreement signed between the two countries also includes Saudi procurement of other weapon systems. The...
On October 3, Secretary of Defense James Mattis disclosed the approval of Congressional defense committees to reprogram $416 million from other accounts, including unspent Army maintenance and operations funding, into several missile defense programs. The reallocation would shift $47 million into the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program for 10 to 20 new missile silos for a...
The Russian military is conducting exercises involving over 60 road-mobile Topol, Topol-M, and Yars intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchers. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the maneuvers are taking place between the Tver region northwest of Moscow and the Irkutsk region located in eastern Siberia. These drills follow the joint Russian-Belarusian Zapad exercise that...
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced Tuesday that nine of Australia’s new planned frigates, scheduled to enter construction in 2020, will be fitted with the Aegis combat system, which will allow them to perform both air and missile defense missions. In announcing the decision, Turnbull emphasized that “Recent events in our region have proven that...
