On Wednesday, July 13, Russian defense officials announced that the Sarmat ICBM is being prepared for new tests. Named after the Sarmatian people of ancient times who populated the Eurasian Steppe, the RS-28 Sarmat is Russia's next-gen nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile that is equipped with multiple independent reentry vehicles (MIRV) and is designed to ensure Russian strategic parity with the United States. President Vladimir Putin announced last month that Russia's nuclear forces would be receiving their first batch of Sarmats by the end of 2022. Russia plans to build a total of 46 of ICBMs.
On Thursday, July 14, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced it had completed the first successful demonstration of the Operational Fires program's ground-launched hypersonic missile system capability. This included the inaugural use of a U.S. Marine Corps 10-wheel Logistics Vehicle System Replacement (LVSR) truck as a medium-range missile launcher, as well as the demonstration of missile canister egress, stable flight capture, and use of U.S. Army inventory artillery fire control systems to initiate the test mission. The announcement comes right on the heels of the U.S. Air Force disclosing a second consecutive successful test of its Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, hypersonic missile booster, which took place on July 12.
Also on Thursday, it was officially reported that approximately 100 soldiers from Britain’s 7th Air Defense Group posted at Ustka and Amari air bases participated in NATO’s Ramstein Legacy 22 exercise in Poland. Commander Col. Graham Taylor said that the major air defense exercise was held to improve procedural, technical, and human integration in real-world scenarios among NATO partners. British combat units that participated in the drill included the 12th Regiment Artillery, 16th Regiment Royal Artillery, and the 106th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery. The 12th and 16th regiments specialize in the Stormer and Sky Sabre missile defense systems, while Yeomanry serves as the British Army’s sole anti-warfare regiment. The commander explained that the drill was planned two years ago and was not intended as a countermeasure to the Russia-Ukraine war.
On Friday, July 15, the Iranian Navy announced the introduction of what it's calling its inaugural “drone-carrier” division. A corresponding unveiling ceremony aired on Iranian state TV showing the navy launching drones from various ships and even a submarine. From the broadcasted ceremony, a Kilo-class submarine designated as Tareq, an auxiliary ship named Delvar, and the landing ship Lavan can be seen. While certain specific details about the division were not divulged, Reuters did report that Iranian state TV claimed one unnamed vessel currently carries at least 50 drones. The Iranian state media outlet claims that the division’s primary operations will consist of transporting and operating these various unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are said to be made up of combat, surveillance, and kamikaze types. As to the actual type of drones to be employed by the division, reports indicate that UAVs such as Pelican, Homa, Arash, Chamroosh, Jubin, Ababil-4, and Bavar-5 were all utilized during the unveiling ceremony.
On Monday, July 18, Israel's Defense Ministry announced that an American prototype air defense system based on Israel’s Iron Dome had successfully completed a set of trials simulating threats the US Marine Corps is expected to face. The system — dubbed Marine Corps’ Medium-Range Intercept Capability (MRIC) — combines the Iron Dome’s launcher and Tamir interceptor missiles with a Marines radar and command center. In the first trial, MRIC hit several simultaneously-launched targets, which simulated cruise missiles, from different directions and on different trajectories, the ministry said.
