On June 23, Russian naval vessels fired six Kalibr cruise missiles from the eastern Mediterranean Sea into Syria’s Hama province. The missiles were launched from two frigates, the Admiral Essen (751) and Admiral Grigorovich (745), and a submarine, the Krasnodar (K-148). Russia informed Turkey and Israel of the missile launch before reportedly striking ISIS command...
On June 21, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Japan Ministry of Defense conducted a development intercept test of a new Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA missile, an interceptor designed to operate as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system. The missile failed to intercept the medium-range ballistic target missile. The reason...
On June 20, Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced a successful test firing of its Long-Range Artillery (LORA) weapon system. The missile was fired from a container ship to its full 400 km range to a target at sea. The LORA also can operate from land as a ground-to-ground strike system. The test comes as IAI...
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...
On June 18, South Korea reportedly completed a successful test of its new medium range surface-to-air missile (M-SAM) the Cheolmae-2. The hit-to-kill M-SAM intercepted all five dummy ballistic missile targets in the test. With development complete, the missile has been rated fit for combat. South Korea will begin mass production of the missile later this year, accelerating the timeline...
On June 18, Iran launched six Zolfaghar missiles into eastern Syria targeting ISIS militants in the Deir ez-Zor region. The missiles were fired from Iranian bases in its western provinces of Kermanshah and Kurdistan and flew over 600 km before reportedly hitting their targets. The strike, which the IRGC has titled “Operation Laylat al-Qadar,” comes...
On June 7, the U.S. Navy completed the final land-launched flight test of its surface-to-air Standard Missile-6 Block IA (SM-6 Blk IA) at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The third of three required successful land flight tests demonstrated the SM-6 Blk IA’s improved technological capabilities and integration with the Aegis weapon system. At-sea testing is...
On June 15, the Senate passed legislation that would impose new U.S. sanctions that would target Iran‘s ballistic missile program, its support for terrorism, and human rights violations. Senators voted 98-2 in favor of the measure. The Countering Iran’s Destabilizing Activities Act of 2017 would impose sanctions on any foreign person or foreign entity that...
On June 15, Houthi militants fired a cruise missile against a UAE ship off the coast of Yemen, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Coalition forces have not named the ship, and it remains unclear whether it was military or civilian. According to Saudi state news agency SPA, the ship was reportedly undamaged, but one crew...
On June 13, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) posted a business solicitation to the Federal Business Opportunities website for a high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a sufficient payload capacity for a high energy laser system designed for boost phase intercept (BPI) of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in the 2023 timeframe. The solicitation...
