Americas
Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group ships are heading to the Mediterranean Sea for exercise Neptune Strike ’22, the Pentagon said. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says the deployment is not a response to increased tensions with Russia. He stressed that planning for Neptune Strike ’22 began in 2020. “The exercise itself is not designed against the kinds of scenarios that might happen with respect to Ukraine. It really is a NATO maritime exercise to test … really a wide range of maritime capabilities that we want to make sure we continue to improve.”
The US Army Contracting Command Issued a Sources Sought notification for an organic small unit-level Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS) precision guided loitering weapon system. The LMAMS is expected to be capable of either automatically locking on both stationary and moving targets or manually controlled by one operator during the weapon’s terminal engagement phase, according to a sources sought notice on SAM.gov.
Middle East & Africa
The UAE Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system destroyed a ballistic missile fired by Iran-backed Houthi militants last Monday, marking its first known use in a military operation. The THAAD took out the midrange ballistic missile used to attack an Emirati oil facility near Al-Dhafra Air Base that hosts US and French forces, Defense News reported.
Europe
Russia is sending Su-35 fighters to Belarus for military drills. Previous reports state that 12 aircraft are being dispatched. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation said that the crews will work out flights to the maximum range, landing on Belarusian airfields, and also joint preparations with Belarusian specialists for re-flights.
Belgium Naval & Robotics (BNR) and Naval Group-ECA consortium tested the solution for rallying, recovering, maintaining and launching surface drones (Launch And Recovery System or LARS) in Toulon recently. On January 13, a demonstration of the deployment and recovery operation of the fully remotely operated USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) and a presentation of the test results took place in the presence of the Royal Belgian and Dutch navies as part of the rMCM (Replacement Mine Counter Measure) program.
Asia-Pacific
Upmedia reports that Taiwan will begin the development of an air-launched variant of the HF-3 supersonic anti-ship missile. The weapon will be carried by the indigenous IDF fighter and around $314 million has been allocated for the project which will be called Hsiung Chih. This will be Taiwan’s first anti-ship missile that can be fired from land, sea and air.
Today’s Video
Watch: Russia: Russian Su-35S fighter jets begin re-deployment to Belarus
