"...Sgt. Travis Rogers took note of the excessive manpower, time and safety requirements each time his team had to swap out a key piece of gear on an Apache helicopter during rapid refueling and rearming.
The AH-64 Apache’s Reduced Crashworthy External Fuel System, or RCEFS, on the Hellfire missile launcher occasionally needs replacing during the brief refuel and rearm periods that occur in training or combat. ...Currently the cart is in its testing phase at Fort Campbell, according to a service release."
Reference: www.navytimes.com
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"...Taiwan will spend NT$70.6 billion (US$2.2 billion) on weapons from the US next year amid the escalating threat from mainland China.
The island’s defence ministry said Taipei has signed contracts with the United States for 21 procurement projects, totalling NT$716.6 billion, with final payments scheduled to be made in 2031.
“Of this total, approximately NT$373.1 billion has already been paid...29 HIMARS rocket systems, and 100 Harpoon land-based missile systems."
Reference: www.scmp.com
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"...If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a ceasefire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. ...Hegseth has been an advocate of Israel"
Reference: www.timesofisrael.com
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"...The authorization by the Biden administration for Ukraine to use US long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory marks a new and dangerous escalation in the US-NATO war against Russia. The move, followed just two days later by Ukrainian attacks using the weapons, underscores the unrelenting drive by US and NATO powers to intensify the conflict, regardless of the catastrophic consequences. ..."
Reference: World Socailist Website (www.wsws.org)
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"...KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine fired six American-supplied longer-range missiles at Russia’s Bryansk region, Moscow said Tuesday...The developments marked a worrying new escalation in the conflict that has repeatedly ratcheted up international tensions"
Reference: nationalpost.com
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"...President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday formally lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of its nuclear weapons, a move that follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russian territory with American-supplied longer-range missiles.
The new doctrine allows for a potential nuclear response by Moscow..."
Reference: apnews.com
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"...The Pentagon will send Ukraine at least $275 million in new weapons, U.S. officials said Tuesday, as the Biden administration rushes to do as much as it can to help Kyiv fight back against Russia in the remaining two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The latest tranche of weapons comes as worries grow about an escalation in the conflict..."
Reference: www.military.com
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"...A woman was killed and dozens of others were wounded in several rocket barrages fired by Hezbollah on Monday, as the terror group launched more than 100 rockets at northern Israel and one missile at the country’s center throughout the day.
The woman, identified as Safaa Awad, 41, was killed and dozens of others wounded..."
Reference: www.timesofisrael.com
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"...President Biden has authorized Ukraine's military to use U.S.-provided long-range missiles on targets inside Russian territory, senior U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News on Sunday.
The senior U.S. official said the weapons will mostly focus on the Kursk region of Western Russia. The decision was first reported by The New York Times.
According to the official, Biden's decision was spurred by the Russian decision to invite 10,000 North Korean soldiers into the fight against Ukraine..."
Reference: www.foxnews.com
MORE READING: This is not Ukraine's first use of long-range missiles to strike Russia "Ukraine Uses Long-Range Missiles Secretly Provided by US to Hit Russian-Held Areas, Officials Say"; Associated Press | By Lolita C. Baldor and Tara Copp; Published April 24, 2024 at 3:02pm ET
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"...Norwegian defense firm Kongsberg won a five-year contract from the US Navy worth around US$900 million to supply anti-ship missiles, in what the company says is its biggest missile contract ever. ...The fixed-price contract is valued at 10 billion Norwegian kroner (US$896 million), with options that could lift the cumulative value to about 12 billion kroner.
The company will also supply the missile to the U.S. Marine Corps for the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS."
Reference: www.navytimes.com
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"...The years-long saga over the question of where U.S. Space Command is to be headquartered will be resolved in the first week of President-Elect Donald Trump’s administration, Chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee and Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers says.
Anticipated as one of President Trump’s many first executive actions, it will reverse President Joe Biden’s political, and arguably illegal decision in 2023 to headquarter Space Command in Colorado, despite numerous assessments identifying Huntsville as the superior location based on merit and operational criteria – including a 2022 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report obtained by Yellowhammer News declaring Huntsville as the No. 1 pick over No. 5 Colorado. ..."
Reference: yellowhammernews.com
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"...REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – A U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command Technical Center team’s low-cost target served as a search track to test the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor system.
A Black Dagger Zombie missile target..."
Reference: www.army.mil
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"...Watch the US Air Force carry out dramatic nighttime Minuteman III test..."
Reference: www.federaltimes.com
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"...Former President Trump told supporters Sunday that he wants to put former NFL player and failed GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker in charge of a new missile defense shield...Walker, a staunch ally of Trump, appeared at a rally in Macon, Ga. ...Trump, who spoke after Walker, said if elected, he would “build a missile defense shield all made in the USA,” and “put Herschel Walker in charge of that little sucker.”
Trump over the past year has declared that he would create an “Iron Dome” for the United States in a second term, referring to the missile defense system used by Israel.
On Sunday, he said “a lot of” such a system would be built in Georgia."
Reference: thehill.com
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"...Arab and Iranian officials also said Iran does not plan to limit its response to drones and missiles, like the previous attacks. Any missiles used in the future, the officials added, would have more powerful warheads.
In the attack on Oct. 1, the WSJ reported, Iran said it mostly used four different types of medium-range ballistic missiles...."
Reference: www.foxnews.com
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"...AIM-9X Block II has lock-on after launch capability for the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter and the F-22 Raptor advanced tactical fighter. ..."
Reference: www.militaryaerospace.com
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"...The North’s Korean Central News Agency identified the missile as a Hwasong-19 and called it “the world’s strongest strategic missile” and “the perfected weapon system. ...The Hwasong-19 was estimated to be at least 28 meters long (92 feet) while advanced U.S. and Russian ICBMs are less than 20 meters long (66 feet)"
Reference: www.military.com
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"...The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Denmark of AIM-120D-3 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles and related elements of logistics and program support for an estimated cost of $744 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today. ...The Government of Denmark has requested to buy up to two hundred three (203) AIM-120D-3 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM); and up to nine (9) AIM-120D-3 AMRAAM guidance sections ... The estimated total cost is $744 million. ... There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale."
Reference: www.dsca.mil
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"...The Japanese Defense Ministry said the ICBM-class missile was launched northeastward from near Pyongyang at around 7:11 a.m. and fell at around 8:37 a.m. outside Japan's exclusive economic zone west of Hokkaido's Okushiri Island, with no damage to planes and ships reported. ...logged a flight time of 86 minutes and traveled a distance of about 1,000 kilometers with a record altitude of over 7,000 km, is possibly "a new type"
Reference: english.kyodonews.net
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"...The strikes, which Israel’s Kan public broadcaster said reflected capabilities developed over two decades, indicated much greater freedom of operation for Israeli warplanes in striking Iran if the current conflict continues to escalate, as well as a setback in Tehran’s ability to continuously fire missiles at the Jewish state, which Jerusalem apparently hopes will serve as a deterrent against further attacks on the Jewish state.
The strikes targeted sites that reportedly include the secretive Parchin base near Tehran, which was used in the past for research and development of nuclear weapons, as well as a factory that manufactures drones.
The attacks on the air defenses caused “deep alarm” in Iran, The New York Times reported...
"
Reference: www.timesofisrael.com
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"...The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder Missiles and related elements of logistics and program support for an estimated cost of $251.8 million. ...The principal contractor will be RTX Corporation, located in Arlington, VA. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale. ... There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale."
Reference: www.dsca.mil
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"...The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System and related equipment for an estimated cost of $1.16 billion. ...requested to buy three (3) National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) medium-range air defense solutions, that include: three (3) AN/MPQ-64F1 Sentinel radar systems; one hundred twenty-three (123) Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles-Extended Range (AMRAAM-ER); two (2) AMRAAM-C8 guidance sections; and four (4) Multifunctional Information Distribution Systems (MIDS). Also included are fire distribution centers (FDC); Canister Launcher Systems (CLS); electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) systems; Tactical Control Center (TCC) systems; FDC indoor training simulator; radar communication nodes; MIDS Link 16-capable radios; IPS 250X High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptions (HAIPE); KIV-77 Identification Friend-or-Foe (IFF) Crypto Applique; AN/PSN-13 Defense Advanced Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers (DAGR) with Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM); AN/PYQ-10 Simple Key Loaders (SKL), code loaders and cable sets; AIM-120 control sections and containers; AMRAAM and AMRAAM-ER Captive Air Training Missiles (CATMs); AIM-120ER load trainers; weapon system support and support equipment; spare parts, consumables, accessories and repair and return support; classified software; classified and unclassified publications and technical documentation; studies and surveys; U.S. Government and contractor technical support, engineering and logistics support services; warranty services; Systems Integration and Checkout (SICO); and other related elements of logistics and program support. The total estimated cost is $1.16 billion. ... There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale."
Reference: www.dsca.mil
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"...The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Switzerland of PATRIOT Sustainment and related equipment for an estimated cost of $450 million. ...The prime contractors will be RTX Corporation, located in Tewksbury, MA; Lockheed Martin, located in Dallas, TX; and Leidos, located in Huntsville, AL. ... There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale."
Reference: www.dsca.mil
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"...The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of TOW 2A tube-launched, optically-tracked, wireless-guided, radio frequency missiles (BGM-71E-4B-RF), TOW 2B tube-launched, optically-tracked, wireless-guided, radio frequency missiles (BGM-71F-3-RF), and support and related elements of logistics and program support for an estimated cost of $440 million. ..."
Reference: www.dsca.mil
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"...The U.S. is running low on some types of air-defense missiles, raising questions about the Pentagon’s readiness to respond to the continuing wars in the Middle East and Europe and a potential conflict in the Pacific.
Interceptors are fast becoming the most sought-after ordnance during the widening crisis in the Middle East, as Israel and other U.S. allies face an increasing ...
"
Reference: Wall Street Journal
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