Note: Later information has revealed that the KN-17 refers to the Hwasong-12, not the Scud-variant as previously believed. On April 29, North Korea test-fired another KN-17 short-range ballistic missile. According to the South Korean military, the missile traveled approximately 34 km and reached an altitude of about 70 km before disintegrating. The launch constitutes North...
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...
On April 21, 2017, the Indian Navy conducted the first test-launch of the sea-to-land variant of its Brahmos two-stage supersonic cruise missile. The Brahmos was launched from the Indian naval warship the INS Teg (F45) off the coasts of the Andman and Nicobar Islands. This variant of the Brahmos has a range of 290 km...
On April 20, 2017, Lockheed Martin announced that the Long Range Discrimination Radar passed its preliminary design review, an important step in meeting the 2020 deployment deadline. The preliminary design review required Lockheed to achieve a Technology Readiness Level 6, meaning it has passed the developmental phase, and a Manufacturing Readiness Level 6, which means...
According to ROK military officials, South Korea is in the final stage of developing its low-tier missile defense system. The development of South Korea’s Medium-range Surface-to-Air Missile (M-SAM) comes soon after successful testing and is one component of South Korea’s Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) system. The system will undergo a final evaluation next month in...
Note: Later information has revealed that the KN-17 refers to the Hwasong-12, not the Scud-variant as previously believed. On April 16, North Korea conducted a test of a new ballistic missile that blew up seconds after launch. U.S. officials say that the missile, dubbed the KN-17, is a single-stage, liquid-fueled Scud or No Dong variant with...
According to South Korea’s revised mid-term national defense budget, the country plans to increase its spending to 238.2 trillion won (US$210 billion) in order to improve its military force between 2018 and 2022. The improvements are meant to establish a “three-axis system” to outgun North Korea, and involve the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike system, the...
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...
In policy pronouncements over the last two administrations, the protection of the American homeland was regularly identified as the first priority of U.S. missile defense efforts. Homeland missile defense today is provided by the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program and other elements of the larger Ballistic Missile Defense System...
Note: Later information has revealed that the KN-17 refers to the Hwasong-12, not the Scud-variant as previously believed. Reports indicate that on the morning of April 5, 2017, North Korea tested a medium range ballistic missile from Sinpo, in the South Hamgyong province of North Korea. Although initial intel says that the missile was a...
