MISSILE DEFENSE MONDAYS

February 25 - March 2, 2020

THE WEEK IN BRIEF

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On Thursday, the U.S. Navy and Raytheon successfully intercepted an airborne Navy target during a test of the SM-2 Block IIIB missile. Production of the SM-2 Block IIIB restarted in 2017 after it was stopped in 2013. Over 280 of the missiles from the restarted line are expected to be delivered to Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the Netherlands in 2020.

Also on Thursday, it was reported that Russia had successfully test launched the Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile for the first time from a ship in early January. The missile was launched from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate in the Barents Sea and flew over 500 km to hit a ground target in the northern Urals.

On Monday, North Korea launched two large caliber rockets from one of its new multiple launch rocket system (MLRS). The test launch occurred during a North Korean military exercise near the coastal town of Wonsan. The large caliber rockets reached an apogee of about 35 km before landing 240 km to the northeast.

Click here to read all of the headlines from the week.

MDAA ALERTS

Great Urgency

The homeland defense of U.S. territory and states is the number one objective of our national security, without it there is no global leadership for a prosperous and safe world. The United States global influence depends on its economic power backed up by its military’s global credibility.

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Legacy

We recognize and thank the former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, John Rood, for his service to the country and his advocacy and championing of missile defense to make our nation and the world safer.

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MDAA WEBSITE UPDATES AND FEATURES

3M22 Zircon

The 3M22 Zircon or the SS-N-33 is a maneuvering anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile developed in Russia. The Zircon’s estimated range is 500 km at a low level and up to 750 km at a semi-ballistic trajectory, but the state-owned media in...

Learn more about the Zircon.

Army/Navy Transportable Radar Surveillance (AN/TPY-2)

Manufactured by Raytheon and specifically designed for ballistic missile defense, the Army/Navy Transportable Radar Surveillance (AN/TPY-2) is deployed to enhance the ballistic missile defense system by adding robustness against a...

Learn more about the TPY-2 radar.

KN-23

North Korea first displayed the KN-23 in a military parade on February 8^th, 2018. The DPRK first tested the missile on May 4^th, 2019 in what it described as test of a ‘tactical guided weapon’.

Learn more about the KN-23.

MISSILE DEFENDER OF THE WEEK

Lieutenant Colonel

Jacob Stevens

Lt Col Stevens is the Integrated Tactical Warning/Attack Assessment (ITW/AA) Branch Chief and lead ITW/AA Exercise Director, Assessor/Authority Training Division, Training and Exercises Directorate, North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command (NORAD and USNORTHCOM) at Peterson AFB, Colorado. He is responsible for developing and leading exercises that train NORAD and USNORTHCOM General Officers how to assess and characterize missile, space, and air events worldwide for the President, Prime Minister, Secretary of Defense, Minister of National Defense, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other national and civil agencies. When on shift in the NORAD-USNORTHCOM Current Operations Center as a Missile and Space Domain Chief, Lt Col Stevens leads a domain that characterizes missile events in support of Commander, NORAD and USNORTHCOM missile attack assessments. Additionally, he monitors the system integrity of the $1.8B strategic and theater missile warning systems, assuring continuous warning coverage and notification to national and military senior leaders. Lt Col Stevens was commissioned into the Air Force in 2002 through the AFROTC program at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has held various assignments as an A-10 Thunderbolt II and A-29 Super Tucano pilot including Chief of Scheduling, Flight Commander, Instructor, Evaluator, and Assistant Director of Operations. This includes three deployments to Afghanistan in support of combat operations. He had a career broadening assignment with the Air Force Personnel Exchange Program, in which he had the opportunity to attend the German Basic Course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. After that, Lt Col Stevens served as an Exchange Staff Officer with the German Air Force’s Operational Forces Command in Cologne, Germany. Prior to his current position, he was an Assistant Director of Operations in the 81st Fighter Squadron at Moody AFB, Georgia, where he served as an A-29 Instructor/Evaluator pilot and Air Advisor for the Afghan and Lebanese Air Forces.