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For much of the Cold War, China’s air defense consisted of outdated Soviet knock-offs.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,
In Western military circles, it is known by the ominous NATO reporting name “Satan II.” In Russia, it is the RS-28 Sarmat, the crown jewel of their strategic nuclear forces. Unveiled by Vladimir Putin during his infamous 2018 State of the Nation address, the Sarmat is not designed for tactical battles. It is a doomsday
On frigid mornings in the Barents Sea, the Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov has been seen launching streaks of fire that disappear into the horizon almost instantly. These are the test fires of the 3M22 Tsirkon (Zircon), a weapon that Russian President Vladimir Putin has described as “invincible.” The Zircon is a hypersonic cruise missile. It
No weapon system in the 21st century has caused more geopolitical headaches, diplomatic rifts, and sanction threats than the S-400 Triumf (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler). It is a missile system that broke the NATO alliance’s unity (Turkey), deepened the Sino-Russian partnership (China), and forced the US to threaten its strategic partner (India) with CAATSA
In the high-stakes chess game of global missile defense, Russia has made a move that has Western military strategists scrambling to update their playbooks. That move is the S-500 Prometheus. While the S-400 Triumf has grabbed headlines for years as a potent anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) system, the S-500 (Russian: C-500 Прометей) represents a quantum leap forward.
Of all the missile defense systems in the US arsenal, only one has the specific, high-stakes job of protecting the entire continental United States from a nuclear Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) attack. That system is the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD). While THAAD and Patriot protect troops and specific regions, and Aegis protects the fleet, GMD
Buried in reinforced concrete silos scattered across the Great Plains of North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming, lies the American apocalypse switch. The LGM-30G Minuteman III is the land-based leg of the United States’ nuclear triad. For over 50 years, these intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) have stood on alert, ready to launch within minutes of a
