The S-400 long range surface-to-air missile system that forms the backbone of Russia’s air defence network has demonstrated a new ballistic missile strike capability in the Ukrainian theatre, with the system having been modified to launch RM-48U missiles against ground targets. These missiles have recently gained prominence for their use against industrial targets in Ukraine, with the attacks triggering a major fire in Kiev’s Sviatoshynskyi District.
Browsing: All news
Category Added in a WPeMatico Campaign
Editor’s note: This is the sixth article in a limited series celebrating American defense technologies born from wartime and their effects on broader national security, politics, and society. This series will run for several weeks to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, and winners will be selected by a reader vote undertaken through our newsletter later this summer. Prior installments can be found at the Arsenal of Innovation page.
In the Pacific War, the U.S. Navy’s underwater demolition teams prepared the way for U.S. and allied amphibious landings on enemy-held islands. Through beach reconnaissance, obstacle breaching, mine clearance, and other missions, these teams paved paths for the first waves of amphibious assaults conducted by naval task forces and subsequent landings by marines and soldiers throughout the island hopping campaign. These critical first steps of an amphibious operation were incredibly risky in World War II.
In the speech announcing his invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin took only minutes to arrive at the original sin in his catalogue of Western crimes. Before Iraq, before Libya, before Syria, came Belgrade: “First a bloody military operation was waged against Belgrade, without the U.N. Security Council’s sanction but with combat aircraft and missiles used in the heart of Europe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has emphasised the importance of the Navy’s nuclear forces in the country’s deterrent, stressing its “huge significance.” Singling out the Posidon nuclear powered torpedo, which carries nuclear warheads, he observed: “As for the Posidon we have been talking a lot about, this uncrewed underwater vehicle is at the final stage,” he said at a meeting with Russian Navy servicemen. “We are about to complete [the work on it] and put it on combat alert.
The growing use of long-range one-way attack drones in the Russian-Ukrainian War has posed new challenges for air defence planning, leading militaries across much of the world to assess how best to economically intercept relatively inexpensive unmanned aircraft without exhausting inventories of costly modern missiles. While Russia has increasingly relied on fighters to intercept Ukrainian drones approaching strategic targets, questions have been raised regarding the high cost of employing advanced air-to-air missiles against targets that often cost under $10,000 to produce.
Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qasim al-Aboudi has publicly accused Ukraine of conducting covert operations on Iraqi territory, alleging that security forces have arrested several individuals who confessed to carrying out attacks on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence. This represents one of the most significant cases of Ukrainian intelligence operations extending beyond the European theatre and into the Middle East, following prior operations that similarly targeted Western adversaries in Syria, Sudan and West Africa.
The U.S. Air Force’s recent decision to expand production capacity for the B-21 Raider next generation stealth bomber appears intended to pave the way for a significantly larger fleet than the current program of record. The Department of the Air Force announced a $4.5 billion agreement to increase annual B-21 production capacity by 25 percent, accelerating deliveries while maintaining cost and performance targets.
Following confirmation that the world’s largest and most heavily armed combat ship the Admiral Nakhimov will re-enter service in the Russian Navy later in 2026, the nuclear powered warship’s advanced capabilities have gained considerable attention. The vessel stands out not only for being the longest ranged and fastest major surface combatant in the world, but also the most heavily armed, with 96 vertical launch cells for long range surface-to-air missiles from the S-400 system, and 80 more for cruise missiles including the hypersonic Zircon missile.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that large surface combatants will form the centre of Russian naval development, signalling that Moscow has no intention of abandoning ambitions to maintain a blue-water navy despite years of prioritising submarines and smaller missile ships. His remarks follow recent confirmation by Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Alexander Moiseyev that work is progressing on a new 9,500 ton ocean-going surface combatant, which has widely been interpreted as an announcement of a new destroyer program.