On Tuesday, Lockheed Martin and Military Aviation Works MZL1 announced that they had launched work on a new production plant in Eastern Poland. The plant will be responsible for producing missile armaments for Poland’s Patriot anti-aircraft and anti-missile system.
Also on Tuesday, it was reported that during the weekend, three Katyusha rockets hit the perimeter of Baghdad Airport. The rockets, suspected to originate from Iranian militia groups, damaged four civilian vehicles but did not result in any casualties
Additionally on Tuesday, it was reported that amid heightening tensions with China, India had test-fired its first hypersonic missile demonstrator the previous day. The Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) has a short-range and does not carry a warhead, but does operate at an increased speed.
On Thursday, Iran’s army began a three-day large scale naval maneuvers exercise near the Strait of Hormuz. The exercises involve surface vessels, submarines, aerial units, ground forces, and radar and missile systems, and included the test-firing of the “Ghader” land-to-sea cruise missile.
Also on Thursday, Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Director Vice Admiral Jon Hill stated that a new memo by the Pentagon codifies how the MDA operates. The memo updates the charter of the MDA and calls for increased oversights of programs and project cost estimates.
On Friday, resigning Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a final call for Japan to strengthen its ballistic missile defense capabilities. Abe's call asks his successor to continue strengthening Japan’s abilities and increase deterrence capabilities to address the threat from North Korea.
