US Patriot missiles may have failed in Saudi Arabia

“Governments lie about the effectiveness of these systems. Or they’re misinformed, and that should worry the hell out of us.” Jeffrey Lewis, an analyst who led the research team, told the Times.

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Israel: Defense Ministry halts Arrow-3 test

According to Moshe Patel, Israel Missile Defense Organization Director, the simulator missile -which was supposed to simulate a ballistic missile fired at Israel- was fired but it quickly became clear that it was not functioning as expected and therefore the test was stopped before the Arrow system could be tested.

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DARPA EXACTO

According to DARPA’s website, the EXACTO system should “greatly extend the day and night time range over current state-of-the-art sniper systems,” minimise the time required to engage with targets, and also reduce misses.

Ok, but, ¿What is really EXACTO? Well, DARPA recently released a video showcasing the technology: Basically, the project is focused to develop a bullet sized micro missile to get one shot, and one kill.

DARPA wants these micro-missiles to be an easily deployable technology, so it's designed them to be compatible with standard smooth-bore rifles and fit into traditional cartridges. The agency says their most recent tests suggest that even a novice shooter using these missiles for the first time could hit moving targets, but the stated goal is to make sniper's jobs easier and eventually adapt the technology to other calibers. The dream would be an arsenal of guns that the soldiers don't even have to aim.

Self-guided weapons technologies have been around us for quite some time: The first American laser-guided bombs, which used optical sensors to hone in on targets, were launched during the Vietnam War. Scaling down the electronic systems needed to put these technologies in something the size of a bullet, however, has been a trickier task. So nowadays we have micro missiles equipped with optical sensors positioned on the surface of the nose that collect in-flight data which is sent to internal systems for interpretation, then fed to the tracking system before it delivers the projectile on to the target.

Downing down NK missiles: The need of a new approach

Concerned that the missile defense system designed to protect American cities is insufficient by itself to deter a North Korean attack, the Trump administration is expanding its strategy to also try to stop Pyongyang’s missiles before they get far from Korean airspace.

Congressional documents are actually talking about “additional investments” in “boost-phase missile defense.” The goal is to hit long-range missiles at their point of greatest vulnerability: while their engines are firing and the vehicles are stressed to the breaking point, and before their warheads are deployed.

In interviews, defense officials, along with top scientists and senior members of Congress, describe the effort as a response to the unexpected progress that North Korea has made in developing ICBMs capable of delivering a nuclear bomb to the continental United States: “It is an all-out effort,” said Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who returned from a lengthy visit to South Korea last month, convinced that the United States needed to do far more to counter North Korea. “There is a fast-emerging threat, a diminishing window, and a recognition that we can’t be reliant on one solution.”

One first approach is to have stealth fighters such as the F-22 or the F-35 scramble from nearby bases in South Korea and Japan at the first sign of North Korean launch preparations. The jets would carry conventional air-to-air missiles, which are 12 feet long, and fire them at the North Korean long-range missiles after they are launched. But they would have to fly relatively close to North Korea to do that, increasing the chances of being shot down.

A second approach -hinted at in an emergency request to Congress last week for $4 billion to deal with North Korea- envisions the stepped-up use of cyber weapons to interfere with the North’s control systems before missiles are launched. Using cyber weapons to disrupt launches is a radical innovation in missile defense in the past three decades, but in the case of North Korea it is also the most difficult: It requires getting into the missile manufacturing, launch control and guidance systems of a country that makes very limited use of the internet and has few connections to the outside world — most of them through China, and to a lesser degree Russia.

And a third approach is to develop a UAV that would fire potent laser beams at rising missiles. But recent plans would have it make its debut no sooner than 2025 — too late to play a role in the current crisis or the Trump presidency.

Russia gets ready to avoid WW3

In recent weeks, Russia’s nuclear-capable forces practiced missile launches and flyovers in apparent offensive measures for a conflict scenario.

Russian troops near the Black Sea coast have carried out drills for an scenario in which Russia was attacked by a chemical or nuclear weapon, the country's military has revealed.

Spread across three Russian regions between the Black and Caspian seas, the drills involved more than 5,000 troops, the Ministry of Defense announced in a statement.

Units specializing in chemical weapons were deployed in the Krasnodar and Stavropol regions, while at least 100 personnel in the neighboring Rostov region launched a parallel decontamination drill.

¿Has China really backed down over South Korea missile shield row?

Back in 2016 – after the United States and South Korea decided that US Forces Korea would deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defence shield system in South Korea – relations between Beijing and Seoul fell off a cliff.

China unofficially sanctioned South Korean firms, including Lotte, the conglomerate that would eventually cede land to the South Korean government in the country’s south to allow for a deployment of the missile system. For Beijing, the US deployment of THAAD was never about the missile interceptors: Rather, Beijing has long expressed open concern – even through its foreign minister – about the powerful X-band AN/TPY-2 radar that accompanies the THAAD system.

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Orbital ATK and AMRDEC: Additive Manufacturing for Rocket Motors

As part of the Army’s Missile Science and Technology Enterprise objectives, Orbital ATK and AMRDEC have developed a prototype of motor built using Additive Manufacturing, to demonstrate and mature new and emerging materials technologies to enhance system effectiveness and achieve insensitive munitions compliance for next generation weapons.

“Orbital ATK has been very successful in taking additive manufacturing out of the academic world and incorporating it into our industrial design and operations,” said Pat Nolan, Vice President and General Manager for Orbital ATK’s Missile Products Division, part of the Defense Systems Group. “Our goal is not just to create industry firsts, but to create practical, reliable solutions that increase our products’ effectiveness while reducing the time it takes to get them into the field.”

The motor was developed in partnership with the AMRDEC (U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. It incorporates leading-edge materials technologies designed to improve the performance and safety of a next generation anti-tank missile system. The prototype boost motors featured a high strength graphite epoxy composite case, a reduced sensitivity minimum signature rocket propellant, and 3-D printed components. Assembly and testing of the prototype motors was conducted at Orbital ATK’s Tactical Propulsion and Ordnance facility in Rocket Center, WV. The test firings successfully validated boost motor and component performance across the full operational temperature range, closely matching pre-test predictions and meeting all test objectives.

India Is Developing Its Own Missile-Defense Shield

A decade later, New Delhi has finally begun setting up a two-layer ballistic missile defense shield that initially will protect New Delhi and Mumbai. The Prithvi Air Defense (PAD) system will provide long-range high-altitude ballistic missile interception during an incoming missile’s midcourse phase, while the Advanced Air Defense system offers short-range, low-altitude defense against missiles in the terminal phase of their trajectory. Reportedly the first batteries have begun installation in two villages in Rajasthan.

At first glance, the Prithvi Air Defense missile seems quite capable, with a range of 1,250 miles and a maximum altitude of 260,000 feet, making it an exospheric interceptor. The missile is programmed prior to launch by the BMD command center on an intercept trajectory, which it maintains using an inertial navigation system. It receives midcourse updates to its trajectory using data from the Swordfish radar, and then in the terminal approach phase switches to its own active radar seeker and destroys the target with a proximity-fused warhead.

For defense at low-altitudes, the solid-fuel Advanced Air Defense system, or Ashwar, uses an endospheric (within the Earth’s atmosphere) interceptor that knocks out ballistic missiles at a maximum altitude of 60,000 to 100,000 feet, and across a range between 90 and 125 miles for local defense. The AAD has performed successfully in most tests against targets at altitudes of 50,000 feet, though an improved model failed a test in April 2015 before succeeding in subsequent attempts. It is claimed the Mach 4.5 missile might also have application against cruise missiles and aircraft.

However, a major limitation of the PAD is that the second phase of the two-stage rocket uses liquid fuel. As liquid rocket fuel corrodes fuel tanks when stored for long, the PAD could not be on standby 24/7. Instead, it would need to be gassed up during a period of crisis in anticipation of trouble. This is less than ideal for a weapon intended to defend against an attack which might come at any moment.

South Korea: Duty-free shops still reeling from THAAD impact

In mid-March, China banned the sale of group tours to Seoul in retaliation against the installation of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in southeastern South Korea, which Beijing sees as a security threat. The move has dealt a harsh blow to local duty-free shops, as Chinese tourists were their main customers.

Industry leader Lotte Duty Free saw its sales fall 6.6 percent on-year to 2.6 trillion won ($2.3 billion) during the January-June period, with its operating income nose-diving 97 percent to 7.4 billion won. The company posted an operating income of 37.2 billion won in the first quarter, but it plummeted to an operating loss of 29.8 billion won in the second quarter.

¿What means THAAD?

Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), formerly Theater High Altitude Area Defense, is an American anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to shoot down short, medium, and intermediate range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase (descent or reentry) by intercepting with a hit-to-kill approach.

THAAD was developed after the experience of Iraq's Scud missile attacks during the Gulf War in 1991. The THAAD interceptor carries no warhead, but relies on its kinetic energy of impact to destroy the incoming missile. A kinetic energy hit minimizes the risk of exploding conventional warhead ballistic missiles, and the warhead of nuclear tipped ballistic missiles will not detonate on a kinetic energy hit.

¿What means Scud?

Scud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

The term comes from the NATO reporting name "Scud" which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies.

The Russian names for the missile are the R-11 (the first version), and the R-17 (later R-300) Elbrus (later developments).

The name Scud has been widely used to refer to these missiles and the wide variety of derivative variants developed in other countries based on the Soviet design.

Putin: "THAAD in SK Target Russia, China"