On Tuesday, August 2, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks selected the Air Force to oversee the development of a cruise missile defense to protect the United States. According to Hicks' spokesperson, Eric Pahon, the Air Force will be "the acquisition authority with respect to capabilities to defend the homeland against cruise missile threats." He noted that the Air Force was selected due to the need to combine intelligence from radars, aircraft and satellites in order to defeat the low-flying, highly maneuverable missiles that can be launched from the ground, aircraft or ships at hypersonic speeds to overwhelm current defenses.
Also on Tuesday, the US announced the sale of major missile defense systems to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) worth more than $5 billion. The State Department said Saudi Arabia would buy 300 Patriot MIM-104E missile systems, which can be used to bring down at long-range incoming ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as attacking aircraft. The value of the missiles and attendant equipment, trainings and parts is $3.05 billion, the department said. Separately, the US will sell THAAD surface-to-air missile systems to the UAE for $2.25 billion.
On Thursday, August 4, the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force fired 11 ballistic missiles into waters surrounding Taiwan as part of a series of military exercises, according to the Ministry of Defense in Taipei. According to the MoD, the PLARF fired 11 DF-15 short-range ballistic missiles into waters to the northeast and southwest of Taiwan. Additionally, the Chinese claimed to have conducted live fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The planned drills kicked off just after U.S. House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) visit to Taiwan this week. The visit was part of a larger Congressional delegation trip to the Western Pacific. For its part, the U.S. has positioned a carrier strike group and two big deck amphibious ships embarked with Marine F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters are underway to the east of Taiwan, defense officials confirmed to USNI News on Thursday morning.
Also on Thursday, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying a U.S. Space Force missile-warning satellite lifted off at 6:29 a.m. from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The SBIRS GEO-6 mission was the sixth and last of the Space Based Infrared System constellation of geosynchronous satellites equipped with scanning and staring infrared sensors to detect ballistic missile launches anywhere on the globe.
On Sunday, August 7, the Israeli Defense Force announced Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system achieved a 97 percent success rate intercepting incoming rockets, amid almost non-stop barrages launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group since Friday. The Sunday morning IDF data put the number of rockets and mortars launched toward Israel since Friday evening at 580. Iron Dome, which is used when the incoming projectile is headed for populated areas, intercepted 200 of them. In addition, 120 projectiles fell short and landed in the Gaza Strip.
