Page 4 - Missile Test

India conducts first test of MIRV-equipped Agni-V missile; PM hails DRDO

Single Agni-V missile will be able to carry multiple warheads and strike different targets thanks to MIRV technology

Amid tensions, N Korea conducts first test flight of new cruise missile

North Korea said Thursday it conducted its first flight test of a new cruise missile, as it expands its military capabilities in the face of deepening tensions with the United States and neighbours. The report in state media came a day after South Korea's military said it detected the North firing several cruise missiles into waters off its western coast. The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff did not provide more specific assessments, including the number of missiles fired or their flight characteristics. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the Pulhwasal-3-31 missile is still in its development phase and that the launch did not pose a threat to neighbours. It described the missile as strategic, implying an intent to arm them with nuclear weapons. The cruise missile launches were North Korea's second known launch event of the year, following a Jan. 14 test-firing of the country's first solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile, which reflected its efforts to advanc

S Korea calls on divided UN council 'to break silence' on N Korea's threats

South Korea called on the divided U.N. Security Council on Thursday to break the silence over North Korea's escalating missile tests and threats. It's a big question, South Korea's U.N. Ambassador Hwang Joonkook told reporters after an emergency closed meeting of the council on the North's first ballistic missile test of 2024 on Sunday. South Korea is serving a two-year term on the council. The Security Council imposed sanctions after North Korea's first nuclear test explosion in 2006 and tightened them over the years in a total of 10 resolutions seeking so far unsuccessfully to cut funds and curb its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The last sanctions resolution was adopted by the council in 2017. China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution in May 2022 that would have imposed new sanctions over a spate of intercontinental ballistic missile launches. Since then, the two veto-wielding permanent council members have blocked any council action, including media ...

Tested solid-fuel missile tipped with hypersonic weapon, says North Korea

North Korea on Monday claimed it flight-tested a new solid-fuel intermediate-range missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead as it pursues more powerful, harder-to-detect weapons designed to strike remote US targets in the region. The report by North Korea's state media came a day after the South Korean and the Japanese militaries detected the launch from a site near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, in what was the North's first ballistic test of 2024. The launch came two months after North Korea said it successfully tested engines for a new solid-fuel intermediate-range missile, which reflected a push to advance its lineup of weapons targeting US military bases in Guam and Japan. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday's launch was aimed at verifying the reliability of the missile's solid-fuel engines and the maneuverable flight capabilities of the hypersonic warhead. It described the test as a success. KCNA did not mention whether North Korean leader Kim

DRDO successfully flight-tests new Akash missile off Odisha coast

Lighter and more deadly, the Akash-NG will protect airfields in the northeast

DRDO successfully conducts flight-test of new-generation AKASH missile

India on Friday conducted a successful flight test of the new generation AKASH missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha, officials said. The flight test was conducted by DRDO against a high-speed unmanned aerial target at very low altitude. During the flight test, the target was successfully intercepted by the weapon system and destroyed, they said. "It has validated the functioning of the complete weapon system consisting of the missile with indigenously developed Radio Frequency Seeker, Launcher, Multi-Function Radar and Command, Control & Communication system", the officials said. The system performance was also validated through the data captured by a number of radars, telemetry and electro-optical tracking system deployed by ITR, Chandipur. The flight test was witnessed by senior officials from DRDO, Indian Air Force (IAF), Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The AKASH-NG system is a state-of-the-art ...

Russia launches heavy missile attack on Ukraine; 1 dead, 30 injured

Ukraine came under strong Russian missile attacks early Monday that struck near the front lines of fighting in the east as well as in central and western parts of the country, killing one person and injuring at least 30. The heaviest casualty toll was in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where a woman died in a missile attack outside the city of Kryvyi Rih and 24 were injured in a strike on the town of Novomoskovsk. In Kryvyi Rih itself, more than 20 houses and a shopping centre were damaged in a missile attack, said regional governor Serhii Lysak. At least four missiles hit Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, injuring one person, said mayor Ihor Terekhov. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov also said two people were injured and two more were trapped under rubble after a strike on the village of Zmiiv. In Zaporizhzhia, a major city along the Dnipro River, two people were injured in a missile strike on a residential district, said regional governor Yurii Malashko. Over the past 24 ..

US flies long-range bomber for joint drills with South Korea, Japan

The United States flew a long-range bomber for joint drills with South Korea and Japan on Wednesday in a show of force against North Korea, days after the North performed its first interconnectional ballistic missile test in five months. The trilateral training off South Korea's southern island of Jeju was meant to strengthen the countries' joint response against North Korean nuclear threats, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The exercise involved a B-1B bomber and South Korean and Japanese fighter jets, the statement said. It said the B-1B's flyover is the 13th time that a US bomber has been temporarily deployed near and over the Korean Peninsula this year. A B-1B is capable of carrying a large conventional weapons payload. North Korean has previously called the bomber's deployment a proof of US hostility and had reacted with missile tests. North Korea on Monday launched a Hwasong-18 ICBM into the sea in a drill it said was meant as a warning over the US and

West accuses Iran of illegally testing missiles, transferring drones

The Western powers in the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran accused Tehran on Monday of developing and testing ballistic missiles, transferring hundreds of drones to Russia, and enriching uranium to an unprecedented 60 per cent level for a country without a nuclear weapons programme all in violation of a UN resolution endorsing the deal. Iran and its ally, Russia, dismissed the charges by Britain, France and Germany, strongly supported by the United States, which pulled out of the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018. The six-party agreement was aimed at ensuring that Iran could not develop atomic weapons. Under the accord, Tehran agreed to limit enrichment of uranium to levels necessary for the peaceful use of nuclear power in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. The sharp exchanges came at the Security Council's semi-annual meeting on the implementation of its resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal. Both Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Iravan

India successfully test-fires 'Pralay' missile off Odisha coast: Official

India on Tuesday successfully test-fired its surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) 'Pralay' from the Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast, a Defence official said. The missile has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The missile, launched around 9.50 am, met all its mission objectives, the official said. A battery of tracking instruments monitored its trajectory along the coastline, he said. 'Pralay' is a 350-500 km short-range, surface-to-surface missile with a payload capacity of 500-1,000 kg, the official said. 'Pralay' has been developed for deployment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and Line of Control (LoC), he added.

Russia mounts massive missile, drone attack on Ukraine after retaliation

Moscow unleashed a massive missile and drone barrage on western Ukraine Sunday, following through on its promise to retaliate for a Ukrainian attack on a Russian tanker. Russian and Ukrainian shelling across the country overnight killed in at least six people, officials said. Separately, Moscow's second-largest airport briefly suspended flights early Sunday following a foiled drone attack near the Russian capital. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 70 attack drones and missiles, including cruise missiles from aircraft over the Caspian Sea and Iranian-made, Shahed-136/131 strike UAVs. Serhiy Tyurin, deputy head of Ukraine's Khmelnytsky region military administration, said three waves of missiles hit the Starokostiantyniv area, damaging several buildings and igniting a fire at a warehouse. The strike may have been intended for the city's airfield, officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the facilities of aircraft engine manufacturer Motor Sich in the ...

China says it successfully conducted mid-course missile interception test

China says it carried out a successful ground-based mid-course missile interception test in an apparent sign of progress in its ability to bring down weapons incoming from space. The Defence Ministry says the operation was carried out late Friday night within Chinese territory and achieved the desired test objective. The test was defensive in nature and not targeted against any country, the ministry said, giving no other details such as whether it actually struck an object, how many interceptors were fired and where they landed. Such systems, which consist of ground-based interceptor missiles and a huge array of radars and fire control systems, aim to bring down ballistic missiles, including ICBMs carrying nuclear or other warheads, while they are flying in space midcourse on the way to their targets. Referred to by the U.S. as ground-based mid-course defense, or GMD, such systems are hugely complex and expensive to build, test and maintain, and China's capabilities in the field ar

Russia says it has test-fired anti-ship missiles in the Sea of Japan

Russia's Defense Ministry says Moscow has test-fired anti-ship missiles in the Sea of Japan. The ministry said on Tuesday that two boats launched a simulated missile attack on a mock enemy warship about 100 kilometers (60 miles) away. The ministry said the target was successfully hit by two Moskit cruise missiles. The Moskit, whose NATO reporting name is the SS-N-22 Sunburn, is a supersonic anti-ship cruise missile that has conventional and nuclear warhead capacity. It says the exercise took place in the Peter The Great Bay in the Sea of Japan but does not give more precise coordinates. Japan's Defense Ministry had no immediate response. The US Navy's 7th Fleet did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

North Korea tests submarine-launched cruise missile, Seoul confirms

North Korea said Monday it has conducted submarine-launched cruise missile tests, days after its leader Kim Jong Un ordered his troops to be ready to repel its rivals' frantic war preparation moves. The test on Sunday came a day before the U.S. and South Korean militaries begin large-scale joint military drills that North Korea views as a rehearsal for invasion. North Korea's official news outlet, the Korean Central News Agency, said Monday that the missile launches showed the North's resolve to respond with overwhelming powerful forces to the intensifying military maneuvers by the the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppet forces. KCNA also implied that the North aims to arm the cruise missiles tested with nuclear warheads. It said the missiles flew for more than two hours, drawing figure-eight-shaped patterns in waters off the country's eastern coast, and hit targets 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away. The missiles were fired from the 8.24 Yongung ship, KCNA said, referenci

N Korea test-fires long-range cruise missiles in waters off eastern coast

North Korea on Friday said it test-fired long-range cruise missiles in waters off its eastern coast a day earlier, adding to a provocative streak in weapons demonstrations as its rivals step up military training. The launches came as the United States and South Korea held a simulated military exercise in Washington, DC, aimed at sharpening their response to North Korean nuclear threats. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said that Thursday's launches were aimed at verifying the reliability of the missiles and the rapid-response capabilities of the unit that operates those weapons. The agency said the exercise involved four missiles, which flew for nearly three hours, drawing oval and figure-eight shaped patterns above the sea, and showed that they can hit targets 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) away. North Korea first tested a long-range cruise missile system in September 2021 and has since described those weapons as strategic, wording that implies they are being ...

IAF successfully test-fires extended range version of BrahMos air missile

The Indian Air Force on Thursday successfully test-fired the extended range version of BrahMos air launched missile against a ship target from a SU-30MKI aircraft, the government said. The missile achieved the desired mission objectives in the Bay of Bengal region, it said. "The Indian Air Force today successfully fired the extended range version of BrahMos air launched missile against a ship target from a SU-30MKI aircraft," according to a statement issued by the defence wing of the Press Information Bureau. With this, IAF has achieved a "significant capability boost" to carry out precision strikes from SU-30MKI aircraft against land or sea targets over very long ranges, it said. "The extended range capability of the missile coupled with the high performance of the SU-30MKI aircraft gives the IAF a strategic reach and allows it to dominate the future battle fields," the government said. The dedicated and synergetic efforts of IAF, Indian Navy, Defence Research and Development ...

North Korea performs key test to build more agile strategic weapons system

North Korea has tested a high-thrust solid-fuel motor as a key step toward building a new strategic weapons system, state media reported Friday, as the country pushes to develop more agile and powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to strike the US mainland. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the successful static firing test at the country's northwest rocket launch facility on Thursday, the official Korean Central News Agency said. KCNA said the test, the first of its kind in North Korea, carried strategic significance as it provided a sure sci-tech guarantee for the development of another new-type strategic weapon system. It said Kim expected the new weapon would be built in the shortest span of time. North Korea is likely referring to a solid-fuelled ICBM, which is among an array of high-tech weapons systems that Kim vowed to introduce during a major ruling Workers' Party conference early last year. Other weapons systems Kim promised to manufacture include

Seoul announces additional sanctions on Pyongyang for missile tests

South Korea announced additional sanctions on North Korea in response to growing security threats from Pyongyang, highlighted by its long-range missile launch last month

India condemns recent intercontinental ballistic missile launch by N Korea

India has joined the US and a dozen other nations to condemn North Korea's recent intercontinental ballistic missile launch, with New Delhi voicing concern over the proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies, saying they have an "adverse impact" on peace and security in the region, including on India. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj told the UN Security Council meeting on North Korea on Monday -- the Council met for the second time this month on the issue -- that New Delhi condemns the recent intercontinental ballistic missile launch by North Korea. The latest North Korean missile launch on November 18 which landed about 125 miles from Japan's coastline came after other ballistic missile launches in the preceding months. Kamboj said these launches constitute a violation of the resolutions of the Security Council relating to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and affect the peace and security of the region and beyond. US Ambassador

US, allies clash with Russia, China over North Korea latest missile tests

The United States and its allies on Monday strongly condemned North Korea's latest intercontinental ballistic missile test and called for action to limit its nuclear and missile programs, but Russia and China opposed any new pressure and sanctions on Pyongyang. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that the Biden administration will be circulating a proposed presidential statement, which would condemn North Korea "for all its unlawful ballistic missile launches and other dangerous and destabilizing activity," as well as call for Pyongyang to abide by UN sanctions banning all ballistic missile and nuclear tests. Presidential statements -- a step below a legally binding council resolution require agreement from all 15 council members to be adopted, and the comments by Russia and China on Monday indicated resistance to any condemnation of North Korea's action. Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said the reason for the ..