On Tuesday, several rockets struck the Afghanistan capital of Kabul as the country marked its independence day. Rockets fell near the presidential palace and the defense ministry, with multiple casualties reported. The attack comes a week after the government agreed to release 400 Taliban prisoners.
On Thursday, Iran showed off two new weapons, a cruise missile and a ballistic missile. The new cruise missile was said to have a range of 1,000 km and will be deployed by the Iranian Navy. The new ballistic missile was said to have a range of 1,400 km.
Also on Thursday, 12 rockets were launched from Gaza into southern Israel, nine of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. Three people were treated for shock as interceptor fragments fell on the town of Sderot and the IDF responded with three waves of airstrikes.
Also on Thursday, the Army's test of the Integrated Battle Command System (ICBS) yielded a successful near-simultaneous intercept of a cruise missile and a ballistic missile. The test had a Patriot and Sentinel radar work together to provide high-fidelity data on both threats.
On Saturday, Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono and Lt. Gen Kevin Schneider, commander of U.S. Forces Japan, agreed that both sides will continue to work towards building a new missile defense system for Japan. Minister Kono highlighted that North Korean missiles remain a threat and that alternate missile defense solutions are still being explored.
On Sunday, it was reported that Turkey has signed another contract with Russia for additional S-400 missile defense systems. Turkey has already acquired $2.5 billion in S-400s, a move which dramatically damaged its relationship with the U.S. and fellow NATO allies.
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