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Ukraine says it has destroyed a sophisticated Russian air defence system in occupied Crimea. Kyiv's security service (SBU) and navy carried out the attack on a Russian facility near Yevpatoriya using cruise missiles and drones, a Ukrainian intelligence source told the BBC. Video footage on social media showed a fire and smoke near the city, in the west of the Russian-occupied peninsula. Moscow has yet to directly comment on the claim. (snip) According to the BBC's intelligence source, the Ukrainian operation used drones to take out radar equipment, then cruise missiles to hit air defence missile launchers. "After disabling the...

Ukraine’s audacious strike on Sevastopol’s naval infrastructure has apparently severely damaged a landing craft and a submarine. Aside from inflicting significant naval losses, the sidelining of a major naval dry dock facility complicates Russia’s ability to operate on the Black Sea. In modern warfare, dry docks have always been a high-priority target. As complex pieces of heavy machinery, necessary for the basic maintenance of any naval force, dry docks—facilities where ships can be floated in and repaired after water is pumped out—are not easy things to fix. America is spending billions to refresh undamaged dry docks. Repairing battle damage will...

Within days of confirmation by the UK Defense Secretary that the country had sent long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, its first use had already been recorded and widely shared on social media. A missile attack on the Luhansk region in the eastern Ukrainian region on May 12 was carried out by Anglo-French-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles, the representative office of the Lugansk People’s Republic in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of Issues Related to War Crimes of Ukraine reported on its Telegram channel. “According to updated information, on May 12, 2023, during a rocket attack on...

You Si Kun, President of Taiwan’s Legislative Assembly, or Yuan, gave a speech on Taiwan Overseas Network where he declared that the country’s domestically produced Yun Feng supersonic cruise missile is capable of reaching Beijing. The message follows ominous warnings made by Chinese military officials directly to their U.S. counterparts to avoid the Taiwan Strait, claiming it is not international waters. However, the United States, along with the vast majority of the international community, does not accept China’s claims in this regard. This also comes as U.S. President Joe Biden recently vowed to defend Taiwan amid a crisis, although the...

Tainan, Jan. 26 (CNA) Taiwan's Air Force on Tuesday conducted a rare public drill of loading a type of locally made cruise missiles that reportedly has a range within reach of coastal Chinese provinces to one of its fighters, amid increasing military threats from the other side of the Taiwan Strait. In a drill held at the southern Tainan air base, flight crew from the First Tactical Fighter Wing deployed the Wan Chien (10 thousand swords) air-to-ground cruise missiles on an Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) jet. The missile, developed by the military's top research unit, the National Chung-Shan Institute of...

It’s often fascinating when a seemingly forgotten film showing Soviet-era military technology is uncovered, not least because the weapons systems involved are frequently of a seriously impressive scale, or otherwise represent a remarkable approach to the various challenges of the era. Fitting both those descriptions is a 1959-vintage film about the Burya strategic cruise missile. The movie, which Dmitry Stefanovich, who tweets as @KomissarWhipla, brought to our attention, has been uploaded to YouTube in two parts. It was filmed in color and stretches to an impressive 74 minutes’ running time. While the quality of the footage may leave something to...

The Army is working overtime to ramp up to output of one of its next-generation vehicle-mounted laser weapon systems. Defense contractor Dynetics is currently working to increase the power of the 100 kilowatt High Energy Laser Tactical Vehicle Demonstrator (HEL-TVD) to roughly 300 kw, roughly the output needed to defeat an incoming cruise missile, the company announced on Friday. Initiated in 2017, the HEL-TVD program sought to develop and mount a 100 kw laser on an existing Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) truck to provide a counter rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM) capability... In its announcement, Dynetics noted it...

Full Title: President Putin says five men killed in huge explosion in northern Russia that caused sudden radiation spike died trying to create a weapon that ‘has no equal in the world’ Russian President Vladimir Putin has told widows of the five scientists who died in a nuclear explosion earlier this year that their husbands were working on 'the most advanced and unmatched technical' weaponry. Putin's comments came during a ceremony of state decorations at the Kremlin today where he awarded the deceased employees of Russia's state nuclear company with the Order of Courage, posthumously.

Fighter Weapon Systems Officers (WSOs) from Israeli Air Force’s (IAF) 102nd (Flying Tiger) Squadron are undergoing training on the use of the ‘Delilah’ cruise missile. The officers are graduates of Flight Course 177 and are taking part in a week-long seminar at the Aerial Munition Center (AMC) in Hatzor Air Force Base (AFB). The Fighter Division aircrews make use of several simulators at the AMC to drill use of electro-optical guided munitions. As part of the exercise, aircrews will be trained on the detection of targets using the Delilah missile. Personnel will undergo basic drills during the initial part of...

Could this be a forerunner of Zircon? This model of an experimental hypersonic missile was displayed in 2016 by TsIAM. (Photo: Vladimir Karnozov) While addressing the Russian Federal Assembly on February 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin touched on the Zircon, describing it as “a hypersonic missile able to accelerate to about Mach 9.” The Russian president said this is “yet another innovation, work on which proceeds successfully and shall be completed on schedule.” It has a firing range of “over one thousand kilometers” (540 nm) and “is able to destroy both sea-going and land targets,” he added. Notably, Putin’s figures...

Ground and sea launches are accomplished with a jettisonable rocket booster. After firing, the Neptun deploys fold-out wings. (Photo: RNBO) UkrOboronProm (UOP), the head organization of the Ukrainian defense industry companies, has announced that the country has successfully conducted a trial launch of the new Neptun cruise missile. Developed by the lead contractor, the State Kiev Design Bureau "Luch," the cruise missile hit a maritime target at a distance of 100 km (62 miles). The principal supporting contractors are Motor Sich (engine), Radioniks (guidance), and the Kharkiv Aviation Factory (airframe). “We continue to strengthen the defense capabilities of our armed...

China's relentless cyber espionage campaign against the Pentagon has been one of the central reasons why that country's technological warfighting capabilities have aggressively matured over a relatively short period of time. In fact, we now see the fruits of their hacking operations on a daily basis via advanced 'indigenous' weapon systems, some which are now entering into operational service. But a previously unreported intrusion into a Navy contractor's computer network has provided the Chinese military with information on the service's electronic warfare and threat library, cryptographic radio systems used on submarines, specific sensor data, and detailed information on a previously...

Russia's Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has presented video of the country's new Su-57 fighter—you can read our full analysis on this often misunderstood aircraft here—launching a new cruise missile from its internal weapons bay. This is the first video we know of not only of this missile being tested, but also of the Su-57s weapons bays in use. In his statement, Shoigu mentions the Russian Ministry of Defense's large effort to test and evaluate new weapons on the Syrian battlefield, but it's not clear if this launch took place over the war-torn country or not. He says the test occurred...

Britain's 'depressing' array of ageing ships and fighter jets unable to fire cruise missiles meant that France took the lead in striking Syria, it was revealed today. The UK fired eight Storm Shadow missiles out of 105 used to punish Bashar al-Assad for his chemical attack in Douma last Saturday - fewer than the French and the Americans. The Royal Navy's Type 45 Destroyer HMS Duncan played second fiddle to the French ship The Languedoc who fired missiles at Syrian targets while the British type-23 frigate was moved away. The £1billion ship has a space on the deck where a...

A Russian warplane this weekend flew over a French warship at low altitude in the eastern Mediterranean, a deliberate breach of international regulations, a French naval source said on Tuesday. The weekly magazine Le Point said the Russian plane had flown over frigate Aquitaine over the weekend and was fully-armed. It also added that the Aquitaine could be used in strikes against the Assad regime. The incident comes as tensions mount between Russia and Western nations following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria on April 7. At least 60 people were killed in the attack, according to a Syrian...

The French weekly financial newspaper La Tribune reported on Friday that a deal between Cairo and France over the sale of 12 Rafale jet fighters to Egypt has been blocked because the US is refusing to export a component of a cruise missile that is part of the plane. French sources quoted in the report asserted that the delay in the deal is due to the shortage of the American component of the scalp missiles and not a funding issue as in the past. La Tribune noted that Dassault Aviation and MBDA declined to confirm reports about the Scalp cruise...

Has Iran given cruise missiles to Hizballah as well as Yemen’s Houthis? The maiden operational launch of Iran’s Soumar Kh-55 cruise missile was apparently entrusted to Yemen’s Houthis against a UAE target. ... Yemen’s Houthi rebels last week showed on their TV channel video footage of Iran’s most highly advanced Soumar Kh-55 cruise missile, which can carry a nuclear warhead. They claimed to have fired it at the unfinished Abu Dhabi power plant on Dec.3. The United Arab Emirates refuted this claim, saying that any missile reaching their air space would have been intercepted by advanced Emirati air defenses. But...

Japan is at a strategic crossroads of sorts. The days of strict adherence to Article Nine of the country's constitution are coming to an end as threats both new and old grow and evolve. Tokyo seems to be willing and able to move beyond the strategic confines of its post WWII past to become a more capable and longer-reaching military force that can project power well beyond its own territory and even its region. But considering what seems like an exponentially expanding threat posed by North Korea, as well as an increasingly hostile dispute with China over the Senkaku Islands,...

Pictures have emerged in China of a new submarine-launched variant of the YJ-18 supersonic anti-ship missile. The pictures show two slides from a presentation given by a retired People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy) Rear Admiral at a Univertisty in August. Launch capsule of the YJ-18 submarine launched variant The first picture shows a launch capsule (the vehicle for the underwater part of the launch) which appears similar in shape and size to the Russian Kalibr capsule. The second image shows the missile breaking the surface during a test launch. While some open sources refer to the submarine...

A South Korean F-15K Slam Eagle launched the Taurus KEPD missile on September 12. (Photo: Republic of Korea Air Force) Amidst nuclear tensions with neighboring North Korea, the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) conducted its first live test of the Taurus KEPD 350 air-launched cruise missile on September 12. A ROKAF Boeing F-15K Slam Eagle released the missile, which struck a target near the Korean city of Gunsan after traveling 400 km (248 miles). South Korea signed an order for 177 KEPD 350Ks from Taurus Systems, an MBDA Deutschland-Saab Dynamics joint venture, in November 2013, after the U.S. denied...