In the grey skies over Ukraine, a pair of Su-24 Fencer jets glide low over the treetops. Under their wings hang missiles with a distinctively boxy, angular shape. They pitch up, release the weapons, and bank away. The missiles drop, deploy wings, and vanish—hugging the terrain at 500 mph, invisible to radar, on their way […]
In the treacherous waters of the Indian Ocean and the volatile borders of the Middle East, the threat comes from all directions. Supersonic cruise missiles, kamikaze drones, and swarming aircraft. To survive, a navy needs a shield that is 360-degree, rapid, and deadly accurate. That shield is the Barak-8. also known as the LRSAM (Long
On a calm morning in March 2024, the skies over Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha roared to life. The event was coded “Mission Divyastra” (Divine Weapon). It was the first flight test of the Agni-V equipped with Multiple Independently targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology. With this test, India officially kicked down the door
In the world of cruise missiles, there are the slow and steady (like the US Tomahawk), and then there is the BrahMos. Named after the Brahmaputra River in India and the Moskva River in Russia, the BrahMos is a symbol of one of the most successful military partnerships in modern history. It is widely acknowledged
While Iron Dome is the celebrity of Israel’s missile defense, appearing on nightly news whenever rockets fly from Gaza, it is only the first line of defense. Above it sits a more powerful, more sophisticated, and far more lethal big brother: David’s Sling (Hebrew: Kela David), formerly known as “Magic Wand.” If Iron Dome is
In the scorched skies over southern Israel, white smoke trails zig-zag like angry serpents, followed by thunderous booms. It is a scene that has become grimly familiar in the 21st century. But amidst the chaos of rocket fire from Gaza or Lebanon, a technological miracle often occurs: The rockets dissolve into clouds of grey shrapnel
Reflecting on the history of naval warfare, there are moments when technology fundamentally changes the game. The invention of the torpedo. The rise of the aircraft carrier at Pearl Harbor. The anti-ship cruise missile in the Falklands. Military historians argue we are currently living through the next great shift: The era of the Anti-Ship Ballistic
For much of the Cold War, China’s air defense consisted of outdated Soviet knock-offs. That changed dramatically in the late 1990s and arguably culminated with the introduction of the Hong Qi-9 (Red Banner-9) or HQ-9. The HQ-9 is China’s premier long-range Surfact-to-Air Missile (SAM) system. It is the shield that guards Beijing, the protector of
On October 1, 2019, during the massive military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, sixteen massive, camouflage-painted trucks rolled through Tiananmen Square. While the parade featured drones, tanks, and stealth jets, the world’s intelligence agencies were fixated on these trucks. They carried the Dongfeng-41 (DF-41), a weapon that had been
While ICBMs like the Sarmat threaten the end of the world, the 9K720 Iskander-M (NATO: SS-26 Stone) is the missile that actually fights wars. In the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the Iskander-M has been Russia’s “sniper rifle.” It is a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) designed to take out high-value targets like command centers, air defenses,
