On Wednesday, June 15, A U.S. Army Patriot missile defense system and an Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft combined to shoot down a dummy cruise missile over the Pacific. The drill marked the first time a Patriot system had been fired from the island nation of Palau, and the first time a Patriot had combined with a stealth fighter for a live-fire drill outside of testing in the U.S., according to Maj. Nicholas Chopp, a spokesman for the Hawaii-based 94th Air and Missile Defense Command. The target was shot down just over 20 miles from the island at an altitude of 10,000 feet using radar data provided by an F-35A assigned to the 354th Air Expeditionary Wing, which also launched from Palau, Chopp said.
On Friday, June 17, The U.S. Navy concluded its latest Valiant Shield exercise by sinking the decommissioned frigate USS Vandegrift (FFG-48) using a Standard Missile 6, or SM-6, in a demonstration of what the service term “coordinated multi-domain, multi-axis, long-range maritime strikes.” The sinking exercise (SINKEX) not only served as the finale for the two-week series of maneuvers but also shed light on the SM-6’s still-evolving offensive anti-surface warfare capability, which it adds to an already impressive roster of applications. As well as its core ability to shoot down air-breathing threats like aircraft and cruise missiles, the SM-6 can be used to swat incoming ballistic missiles in the terminal phases of flight, target certain hypersonic weapons in some instances, and even has a serious land-attack capability.In the demonstration of the SM-6’s anti-ship role on June 17, an example of the missile was launched from the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Benfold (DDG-65) and targeted the decommissioned Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate USS Vandegrift.
On Sunday, June 19, Ten Chinese military aircraft flew into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), marking the eighth day of intrusions this month. Four People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, two Chengdu J-10 fighter planes, two Shenyang J-11 jet fighters, and one KJ-500 airborne early warning and control plane were tracked in the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). Meanwhile, one Xian H-6 bomber entered the southwest and southeast corners of the identification zone. So far this month, China has sent 21 aircraft into Taiwan’s ADIZ, including 15 fighter jets, one bomber, and five spotter planes.
On Monday, June 20, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand announced Canada will spend $4.9 billion over the next six years to modernize air and missile detection capabilities within NORAD. Additionally Canada pledged $40 billion over the next two decades for the joint U.S.-Canadian North American defense organization. During the press conference, Minister Anand stated, “In close coordination with the United States, we will establish the backbone of a brand-new northern approaches surveillance system to enhance surveillance and early warning threats to our continent.” It is still unclear as to whether Canada will sign on to a ballistic missile defense system with the United States.
Also on Monday, China claimed a successful test of a land-based ballistic missile intercept system amid heightened tensions in Asia. Beijing has in recent years been ramping up research into all sorts of missiles, from those that can destroy satellites in space to advanced nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, as part of a modernization overseen by President Xi Jinping. “It looks like China is making steady progress on what appears to be hit-to-kill missile defense technology – a cutting-edge strategic military capability,” said Tong Zhao, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace based in Beijing.
