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Ballistic Missiles
A top South Korean official says Russia has supplied anti-air missiles to North Korea in exchange for it sending troops. The US, South Korea and others say North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine. What Russia would give North Korea in return has been the focus of keen attention. National Security Director Shin Wonsik told a SBS TV programme Friday that South Korea has found Russia has provided anti-air missiles and other equipment to reinforce its air defence network for Pyongyang, the capital. Shin says Russia has also give diverse economic assistance to North Korea. Seoul and Washington have voiced worries about possible Russian transfers of sensitive nuclear and missile technology to North Korea.
The United States has informed allies that it believes Iran has transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter. They did not offer any details about how many weapons have been delivered or when the transfers may have occurred, but they confirmed the US intelligence finding. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a matter that has not been disclosed publicly disclosed. The White House declined to confirm the weapons transfer but reiterated its concern that Iran is deepening its support of Russia. The White House has been warning Iran for months not to transfer ballistic missiles to Russia. "Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran's support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and lead to the killing of more Ukrainian civilians," National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement. "This partnership threatens ...
Ukraine's daring ground offensive has taken the fight to Russia, but not nearly as much as its leaders would like because, they say, the United States won't let them. The U.S. restricts the use of long-range ballistic missiles it provides to Ukraine, which wants to aim them at military targets inside Russia. Ukraine's offensive, along with a barrage of drones and missiles that Moscow launched this week, has intensified pressure on the Biden administration to ease its cautious approach to the use of Western weapons in escalating Ukrainian attacks. The Biden administration says its careful deliberations, including which advanced weapons it supplies to Ukraine and when, are necessary to avoid provoking retaliation from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Some analysts agree Putin would take a Ukrainian strike by an American long-range ballistic missile within Russia as an attack by the U.S. itself. But many other American and European supporters of Ukraine say the White House should see
US and South Korean troops kicked off a large-scale exercise Monday aimed at strengthening their combined defence capabilities against nuclear-armed North Korea, which again accused the allies of practicing an invasion. The annual summertime exercise comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the pace of both North Korea's weapons demonstrations and the US-South Korea combined military exercises have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat. The exercise began hours after North Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a statement repeating the North's contention that such exercises are provocative war drills for aggression. It said the North's nuclear ambitions are thus justified, adding that it is crucial to "constantly maintain the balance of power for preventing a war by stockpiling the greatest deterrence. The United States and South Korea described their joint drills as defensive in nature and have been expanding and upgrading their training in recent years to cope with the
India on Wednesday successfully flight-tested the second phase of its ballistic missile defence system, demonstrating home-grown capabilities to defend against hostile missiles having a range of 5,000 km. The flight test fully met all the trial objectives validating complete network centric warfare weapon system, the defence ministry said. The missile was tested at the integrated test range (ITR) in Odisha's Chandipur. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh complimented the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the successful flight test and stated that it has again demonstrated India's ballistic missiles defence capability. "The DRDO successfully flight-tested Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence System on July 24," the ministry said. The target missile was launched at 1620 hours mimicking an adversary ballistic missile, which was detected by weapon system radars deployed on land and sea and activated the interceptor system. "The Phase-II AD Endo-atmospheric missile was
North Korea launched at least one short-range ballistic missile off its east coast Monday, South Korea's military said, a day after the North vowed offensive and overwhelming responses to a new US military drill with South Korea and Japan. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was launched from North Korea's southeastern town of Jangyon at 5.05 am. It said an additional, unidentified ballistic missile launch trajectory was detected 10 minutes later, a suggestion that North Korea might have performed two missile launches. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said South Korea's military has boosted its surveillance posture and is closely exchanging related information with the United States and Japan. The launch came two days after South Korea, the US and Japan ended their new multidomain trilateral drills in the region. In recent years, the three countries have been expanding their trilateral security partnership to better cope with North Korea's evolving nuclear threats and China's ...
North Korea on Thursday fired a barrage of suspected ballistic missiles toward its eastern sea, according to South Korea's military, days after its attempt to launch a military reconnaissance satellite ended in failure but still drew strong condemnation from its rivals. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the North firing around 10 projectiles that appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles from an area near its capital, Pyongyang. It said the suspected missiles flew around 350 kilometers (217 miles) before landing in waters off the North's eastern coast. It said the South Korean military has increased surveillance and vigilance and is closely sharing information with the United States and Japan. Japan's coast guard issued a maritime safety advisory over the North Korean launches and urged ships to exercise caution if they find any fallen objects. Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that the suspected missiles were believed to have landed in waters
Booms and air raid sirens sounded across Israel early Sunday after Iran launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles in an unprecedented revenge mission that pushed the Middle East closer to a regionwide war. The attack marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Condemnation from the United Nations chief and others was swift, with France saying Iran is risking a potential military escalation, Britain calling the attack reckless" and Germany saying Iran and its proxies must stop it immediately." The Israeli military's spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Iran fired scores of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles with the vast majority intercepted outside Israel's borders. He said warplanes intercepted over 10 cruise missiles alone, also outside Israeli airspace. He said a handful of missiles managed to land in Israel. Rescuers said one
The Russian military on Friday reported a successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Russia's Defence Ministry said in a statement that the launch took place at the Kapustin Yar testing range in the south of the country as part of state testing of prospective missile systems, as well as confirmation of the stability of missiles in service. The test launched achieved its results in full, the ministry added, and confirmed high reliability of Russian missiles to ensure (Russia's) strategic security". The ministry didn't name the type of the missile that was test-launched. Russia regularly carries out test launches of ICBMs and other missiles as it seeks to modernise its weapons.
North Korea on Tuesday test-fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile toward waters off its eastern coast, South Korea's military said, adding to a series of weapons demonstrations that have raised tensions in the region. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was launched from an area near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, but it did not immediately confirm how far the weapon flew. The North had said last month that it tested a solid-fuel engine for its new-type intermediate-range hypersonic missile as it tries to expand its arsenal of weapons aimed at remote US targets in the Pacific, including the military hub of Guam. It was the North's first known launch event since March 18, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a live-fire drill of artillery systems designed to target South Korea's capital. Japan's coast guard shared an assessment of the country's Defense Ministry that the missile has already landed but still urged caution for vessels .
North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Monday morning, its neighbours said, days after the end of the South Korean-US military drills that the North views as an invasion rehearsal. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a parliamentary session that North Korea fired "a number of" ballistic missiles into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. He said the missiles fell outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone and no damage or injuries has been reported. Kishida denounced North Korea's repeated ballistic missile tests as acts "that threaten the peace and safety of Japan, the region and the international society". He said Japan strongly protested against North Korea over its testing activities, saying they violated UN Security Council resolutions that ban the North from engaging in any ballistic activities. South Korea's military said it also detected "several" suspected short-range ballistic launches by North Korea on ..
North Korea said Wednesday it conducted a test-firing of long-range cruise missiles with an aim to sharpen its counterattack and strategic strike capabilities, in its latest display of weapons threatening South Korea and Japan. The report by North Korean state media came a day after South Korea's military detected the North firing multiple cruise missiles into waters off its western coast, the third launch of such weapons this month. The event extended a provocative streak in weapons testing as North Korea continues to raise pressure on the United States and its Asian allies amid a prolonged freeze in diplomacy. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said that the weapon tested on Tuesday was the Hwasal-2 and that the launch did not affect the security of neighbors. The report didn't specify the exact numbers of missiles fired or the specifics of their flight performance. The North has previously described the Hwasal-2 as nuclear-capable and that their range is up to 2,00
The U.S. military fired another wave of ship- and submarine-launch missile strikes against Houthi-controlled sites Wednesday, U.S. officials said, marking the fourth time in days it has directly targeted the group in Yemen as violence that ignited in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war continues to spill over in the Middle East. The strikes followed the official announcement that the U.S. has put the Houthis back on its list of specially designated global terrorists. The sanctions that come with the formal designation are meant to sever violent extremist groups from their sources of financing. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not been made public yet. Despite the sanctions and military strikes, including a large-scale operation Friday carried out by U.S. and British warships and warplanes that hit more than 60 targets across Yemen, the Houthis are continuing their harassment campaign of commercial and military ships. The latest incident ...