DefenceTalkRussia’s new Angara launch vehicle will not be used as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) First Deputy Head Alexander Ivanov said on Monday, July 14, reports ITAR-TASS. “This will not be done. This is a space vehicle only. Because of its characteristics, it cannot be used as an intercontinental ballistic missile,” […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russias-angara-rocket-not-to-be-used-as-icbm-60178/

DefenceTalkAir Force Global Strike Command met a major milestone June 16, when maintainers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, removed the last multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle in the Air Force intercontinental ballistic missile inventory from a Minuteman III. The reentry vehicle is the portion of the missile that houses the nuclear warhead. Re-configuring the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/malmstrom-afb-completes-final-minuteman-iii-missile-configuration-59958/

DefenceTalkAir Force Secretary Deborah Lee James today outlined new incentives and measures designed to change the culture of the service’s nuclear force. Following a cheating scandal involving intercontinental ballistic missile launch officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, and the subsequent relief of nine officers, a commander’s retirement and 91 other airmen receiving discipline, James […]https://www.defencetalk.com/air-force-secretary-outlines-changes-for-nuclear-force-59953/

DefenceTalkRussia on Tuesday carried out a successful test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, news agencies reported citing the defence ministry, amid a standoff between Moscow and the West over Ukraine. Interfax and ITAR-TASS quoted the defence ministry as saying a successful test of the RS-12M Topol ICBM had been carried out from Russia’s Kapustin Yar […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-conducts-test-launch-of-ballistic-missile-59655/

DefenceTalkRussia on Thursday test-launched several ballistic missiles during planned exercises overseen by President Vladimir Putin, news reports said, as a crisis raged in neighboring Ukraine. The Russian military fired a Topol intercontinental ballistic missile from its northern test site in Plesetsk, as well as “several” shorter-range missiles from its submarines in the Northern and Pacific […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-test-fires-several-ballistic-missiles-59530/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea has been testing engines for an inter-continental ballistic missile, a US think-tank said Friday, as Pyongyang announced a top military reshuffle that coincided with signs of a looming nuclear test. The US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said satellite images of the North’s Sohae rocket launch site suggested one “and maybe more” recent […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-icbm-engine-tests-stoke-nuclear-fears-59485/

DefenceTalkThe Russian Strategic Missile Forces test-fired on Monday an RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from a launch site in northwest Russia, the Defense Ministry said. According to a ministry’s spokesman, Col. Igor Yegorov, the launch was carried out at 10.40 a.m. Moscow time (06:40 GMT) from a mobile launcher at the Plesetsk space center. The […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-tests-fires-yars-ballistic-missile-59316/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea on Wednesday test-fired two Nodong-type ballistic missiles into the sea, upping the ante after a series of short-range missile and rocket launches in recent weeks, the South’s defence ministry said. The tests came as US President Barack Obama hosted a landmark Japan-South Korea summit in the Hague and pledged “unwavering commitment” to Tokyo […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-test-fires-two-ballistic-missiles-59142/

DefenceTalkThe Minuteman missile is a core component of the U.S. nuclear triad originally created in the late 1950s. Minuteman missiles were deployed in underground silos in the Great Plains in the early 1960s to deter a Soviet nuclear attack. Some critics claim the Minuteman is a Cold War era weapon irrelevant to today’s force, but […]https://www.defencetalk.com/modernization-of-minuteman-iii-needs-to-begin-now-59000/

DefenceTalkRussia test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from a test site in southern Russia on Tuesday evening, a Russian defense ministry spokesman said. Kapustin Yar is about 450 km (280 miles) east of the Ukrainian border. The launch coincided with reports of large deployments of apparently Russia-commanded troops in Crimea, which President Vladimir Putin denied […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-test-fires-icbm-to-target-in-kazakhstan-58927/