THIS WEEK IN MISSILE DEFENSE

October 26 - November 1, 2019

THE WEEK IN BRIEF

Click Here to Watch This Week in Missile Defense Video

On Monday, the Admiralty Shipyard in St. Petersburg, Russia launched a multi-mission “combat icebreaking” rescue tug designed to defend Russian interests in the Arctic. The Ivan Papanin is equipped with eight Kalibr-NK cruise missiles, a deck gun, a hangar for one helicopter, and two patrol boats.

On Wednesday, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) awarded Leidos, L3 Harris, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon a $20 million contract each to design space sensors that can track hypersonic and ballistic missiles. Each company has to design a prototype sensor payload by October 31^st, 2020.

Also on Wednesday, Russia’s new Borei class nuclear-powered submarine successfully test fired a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) armed with a dummy payload for the first time. The new class can carry twenty missiles and is harder to detect and a Bulava ICBM can hold ten warheads.

Additionally on Wednesday, Israeli Air Force chief Amikam Norkin said the multi-tiered air defense network was on alert amid a threat of attack by Iran. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran has intentions to attack from Yemen.

On Thursday, North Korea test fired its new large caliber multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) from South Phyongan Province in the center of North Korea. The two rockets traveled 370 kilometers (230 miles) and reached an altitude of 90 km (56 miles) before landing in the Sea of Japan. North Korea first introduced this system in August and also tested it in September.

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

MDAA CONGRESSIONAL ROUNDTABLE

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MDAA WEBSITE UPDATES AND FEATURES

Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS)

The aim of the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) is to track missiles through all three phases of flight (boost, midcourse, and terminal); discriminate between warheads and decoys; transmit data to other systems that will be used to cue radars and provide...

Learn more about the STSS.

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 (technically Israel has been at war with Syria for decades)...

Learn more about Israel.

KN-23

North Korea first displayed the KN-23 in a military parade on February 8th, 2018. The DPRK first tested the missile on May 4th, 2019 in what it described as test of a ‘tactical guided weapon’. The test was conducted from Wonsan and had a range of 240 km and an apogee (maximum height on the ballistic rectory) of 60 km.

Learn more about the KN-23.

MISSILE DEFENDER OF THE WEEK

Staff Sergeant Michelle Holt

SSgt Holt serves as a Crew Chief at the Overhead Persistent Infra-Red Battlespace Awareness Center (OBAC) for the 2d Space Warning Squadron at Buckley AFB, Colorado. SSgt Holt leads a three-person team to provide detection and reporting of Infra-Red events and Battlespace Awareness to more than 100 military, civilian, and contractor support personnel from the Air Forces of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. She is responsible for operations and maintenance of the $32.2B Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) and satellite engineering for the $3.2B Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite constellation. SSgt Holt was hand-selected to participate in Space Flag Academics and the Schriever War Games where she assisted in identifying the need for OBAC support in future Space Flag events. Her outstanding performance was identified and she received challenge coins from three General Officers during the exercise. SSgt Holt enabled global radar support by supporting a $59 million manned space launch and was nominated by the 2nd Space Warning Squadron for the 460th Operations Group Kehler Award. SSgt Holt enlisted in the Air Force in March 2013. She graduated from Basic Military Training at Lackland AFB, Texas in May 2013 and proceeded to Enlisted Undergraduate Space Training at Vandenberg AFB, California. Her background includes various duties in the Space Operations career field. She was stationed at Schriever AFB as a Space Console Operator in the 11th Space Warning Squadron from October 2013 - September 2016. She became evaluator certified in March 2015 and served as the primary mission evaluator for the 11 Space Warning Squadron until the squadron moved operations to Buckley AFB in 2016. She moved along with the mission to Buckley AFB and was reassigned to the 2nd Space Warning Squadron. SSgt Holt has served at the squadron level and has aspirations to become instructor qualified in the near future.