MISSILE DEFENSE MONDAYS July 20 - July 26, 2021 THE WEEK IN BRIEF On Tuesday night, American transport planes landed in Israel for the in-person phase of the joint Juniper Flacon exercise between the United States and Israel. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the air-defense exercise was largely held remotely. It was also reported on Tuesday that Russia had released video footage for the first time of a S-500 missile test. The Russian military confirmed that the test was successful, as the air defense system intercepted a high-speed ballistic target. On Thursday, the Air Force announced that Peterson, Schriever, and Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Bases would officially become Space Force Bases. The three bases in Colorado are home to the largest concentration of Space Force members and house several space-based operations, including missile defense. On Saturday, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), in conjunction with the U.S. Navy, launched four SM-6 Dual II missiles from the USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114) to intercept two short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) targets launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii. The test was described as the most complex test conducted by MDA to date and resulted in the intercept of at least one of the SRBM targets. On Sunday, TASS Russian News Agency announced that Russia would conduct a test of the Tsirkon hypersonic missile from a nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine. The planned test comes after Russia successfully tested the Tsirkon missile at a ground-target from a frigate on July 19. Click here to read all of this week's headlines. MDAA WEBSITE UPDATES AND FEATURES Israel Israel is a very close ally for the United States and this position enables Israel to share some of the most advanced U.S. technologies. Geopolitics of the Middle East region and very hostile neighbors dictates the country to pursue and sometimes pioneer missile defense strategies... Learn more about Israel. Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) The Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) is the product of the need for continuous tracking of inbound ballistic and hypersonic missiles. HBTSS is expected to provide birth to death tracking of ballistic and hypersonic missiles. Learn more about HBTSS. MISSILE DEFENDER OF THE WEEK Captain Ryan Vath Capt Vath is the Deputy Chief, Space & Missile Warning at the 613th Air Operations Center (AOC), at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH), Hawaii. Capt Vath leads an eight-member team of space experts that plan and execute theater space operations and missile warning into the Joint Forces Air Component Commanders Air Tasking Order. Capt Vath is also responsible for ensuring Space Domain Awareness, Personnel Recovery actions, and Dynamic Targeting space support within the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) area of responsibility. During this period, Capt Vath’s aptitude, professionalism, and dedication to the mission yielded 185+ hours of missile defense operations through the 24/7/365 utilization and monitoring of the Missile Defense System, Processing and Display Subsystem-Mitigation. His actions directly contributed to the successful missile defense of 36 nations and the United States homeland. Capt Vath ensured PACAF and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) senior leaders were provided with timely missile warning and attack assessment information for 165 ballistic missile activities across the DoD’s largest area of responsibility. Additionally, Capt Vath’s commitment to excellence in missile defense drove the establishment of an unprecedented multi-site resiliency plan for intelligence collection systems valued over $25 billion. A significant result of this plan enabled the collection and distribution of three million intelligence products, some of which were used for battle damage assessment of a Presidentially directed strike on weapons of mass destruction. Finally, Capt Vath’s exemplary work in missile defense was distinguishable when he overhauled his units’ mission qualification training program. Capt Vath aligned 17 chapters and 600 pages of material with the DoD instruction systems development model. This alignment was subsequently used to train 700+ operators/engineers and remains vital to missile defense preparation. Captain Vath entered the Air Force in September 2012 through Officer Training School from Sierra Vista, Arizona. Capt Vath completed Officer Undergraduate Space Training in Aug 2013 and since then has held a variety of Space and Missile Defense positions. In his previous position, Capt Vath was the Assistant Director of Operations, National Reconnaissance Office, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Prior to this, Capt Vath also held the position of Chief, Wing Contingency Operations at the 50th Operations Support Squadron, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado leading assessments of unit combat capability, training, and procedure development.  Click here to view all the awardees from the 2020 Indo-Pacific Air & Missile Defender of the Year. NEWS MISSILE DEFENSE NEWS Destroyer USS Donald Cook Arrives in Florida After 7 Years in Europe-7/20/2021-USNI News US troops land in Israel for in-person part of so-far virtual air defense drill-7/21/2021-The Times of Israel MDA Tech Bridges Gap Between Disparate Sensors, Fire Control Systems-7/22/2021-Missile Defense Agency Pentagon eyes new missile-defense sensor and seeker technologies to defeat ICBMs and hypersonic munitions-7/23/2021-Military & Aerospace Electronics Pacific Missile Range Facility 2 tests to be held on Kauai-7/23/2021-Star Advertiser Missile Defense Agency fires four missiles in test today off Kauai-7/26/2021-Star Advertiser Missile Defense Agency fires four missiles in test today off Kauai-7/26/2021-Star Advertiser Taiwan to test-fire Patriot III missiles at US missile range-7/26/2021-Taiwan News Russian shipbuilders to float out advanced Yasen-M-class submarine on July 30-7/26/2021-TASS Russian News Agency THREAT NEWS Two rockets fired from Lebanon at Israel, no damage-Israeli army-7/20/2021-Reuters Russia Warns Pentagon That Hypersonic Missiles in Europe Could Lead to Conflict-7/20/2021-Newsweek-7/20/2021-Newsweek Has Iran launched a new stealth missile boat?-7/20/2021-The Jerusalem Post Russia Shows Advanced S-500 Live Fire Test-7/21/2021-The Moscow Times Russia developing Tsirkon hypersonic missile according to schedule-7/22/2021-TASS Russian News Agency Russia will conduct test-launch of Tsirkon hypersonic missile from Severodvinsk Yasen-class submarine-7/26/2021-Navy Recognition Russian shipbuilders to float out advanced Yasen-M-class submarine on July 30-7/26/2021-TASS Russian News Agency OTHER NEWS Asian countries stockpile powerful new missiles-7/21/2021-Taipei Times India successfully test-fires new-generation Akash surface-to-air missile-7/21/2021-Rediff.com Peterson, Schriever, Cheyenne Mountain to become Space Force bases-7/22/2021-Space News Austin Says Alaska Is Strategic Hotspot for Indo-Pacific, Arctic Operations-7/26/2021-U.S. Department of Defense Stay Connected: ‌ ‌ ‌ MDAA | 515 King Street, Suite 330, Alexandria, VA 22314 Unsubscribe [email protected] Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!