On Tuesday, August 16, it was reported that US-led coalition forces had repelled multiple drones near the US-led coalition At-Tanf base in Syria, according to a press release from the coalition. The attempted attack did not result in casualties or damage, a release from Combined Joint Task Force — Operation Inherent Resolve, the global coalition to defeat what remains of the ISIS caliphate in Iraq and Syria, said. US-led coalition forces repelled all but one of the drones that attacked in the vicinity of At-Tanf base. One drone detonated within a compound used by Maghaweir al-Thowra partner forces resulting in “zero casualties or reported damage,” stated the release.

On Wednesday, August 17, North Korea fired two cruise missiles from the coastal town of Onchon into waters off its west coast, according to a South Korean Defense Ministry official. North Korea is not banned from firing cruise missiles under United Nations sanctions and last did so in January. Unlike ballistic missiles, cruise missiles are propelled by jet engines and stay closer to the ground, making them harder to detect. Most cruise missiles are not designed to carry nuclear warheads. North Korea has had a flurry of recent missile tests, with Wednesday’s marking the 18th launch this year.

On Thursday, August 18, China’s state-owned broadcaster, CCTV, reported that the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) Xinjiang Military Command conducted tests of an updated surface-to-air defense missile in the region’s high-altitude plateau at the height of more than 4,500 meters (14,760 feet). According to Yue Gang, a former PLA colonel, the drills involved a new type of HQ-17A short-range air defense (SHORAD) missile. The timing of the live fire drills by Xinjiang Command is noteworthy, as it comes ahead of the bilateral military drills between the US and India, ‘Yudh Abhyas,’ slated to occur in October, involving two weeks of a high-altitude military exercise in Uttarakhand’s Auli.

Also on Thursday, it was announced that the first four sites for Saudi Arabia’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems are expected to be completed by the end of 2026 and all seven by April 2028, according to a document released on 15 August by the US Army Corps of Engineers as part of a request for proposal (RFP). The RFP was released to find a contractor to monitor construction projects in Saudi Arabia that were listed in the document. It gave the estimated completion date for a storage facility for THAAD ballistic missile interceptors at Al-Kharj in central Saudi Arabia as January 2025 and the first battery site at Ras al-Ghar on the kingdom’s Gulf coast as February 2026. This will be followed by the battery sites at Yanbu and Taif in the west and King Khalid Military City (KKMC) in the north later that year.

On Friday, August 19, it was reported that the Army transferred some of its satellite operations to the Space Force on Monday, marking the latest move to reorganize and grow the youngest military branch. In addition to control of the communication satellites, 500 people will be transferred from the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, based in Huntsville, Alabama, and will now answer to Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado as part of the expansion.

On Sunday, August 21, it was reported that Japan is considering the deployment of 1,000 long-range cruise missiles to boost its counterattack capability against China, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Sunday. The missiles would be existing arms modified to extend their range from 100 kilometers (62 miles) to 1,000 kilometers, the newspaper said, citing government sources. The arms, launched by ships or aircraft, would be stationed mainly around the southern Nansei islands and capable of reaching the coastal areas of North Korea and China.

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