On Wednesday, May 25, North Korea launched three missiles, one of which is presumed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The tests came days before US President Joe Biden’s first presidential trip to Asia.
Also on Wednesday, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak announced his country is launching the second phase of its mid-range air defense program by requesting the U.S. government sell it six Patriot batteries with related gear. The value of the planned procurement was not disclosed. The first Patriot contract, under which two Configuration 3+ batteries are to be delivered to Warsaw this year, came with a $4.75 billion price tag.“We draw lessons from what is happening across our eastern border,” the minister said while unveiling Poland’s acquisition of MBDA’s Common Anti-air Modular Missile, or CAMM, for the country’s envisioned Narew short-range air defense system.
On Monday, May 30, China made the second largest incursion into Taiwan's air defence zone this year consisting of 30 jets entering the area, including more than 20 fighters. Taiwan's defence ministry said late Monday it had scrambled its own aircraft and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor the latest Chinese activity.
On Tuesday, May 31, Russia successfully fired its new hypersonic Zircon cruise missile ahead of the weapon’s debut on warships in the coming weeks, its defence ministry said. It was launched from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate in the Barents Sea, and hit its target some 625 miles away in the White Sea, Russia’s defence ministry announced. “According to objective control data, the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile successfully hit a sea target located at a distance of about 1,000 km,” its statement read.
Also on Tuesday, May 31, South Korea approved a 750 billion won ($605 million) project Monday to upgrade its Patriot missile defense system by 2027, the state arms procurement agency said, in the wake of North Korea's recent missile provocations. The Defense Project Promotion Committee endorsed the project to procure an unspecified number of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile interceptors and upgrade the PAC-2 launchers into more advanced PAC-3 launchers, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
