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A Russia's Pacific Fleet submarine parades off the port city of Vladivostok during the Navy Day celebrations on July 30, 2023. (Photo by Pavel KOROLYOV / AFP) (Photo by PAVEL KOROLYOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia claims to have tested a new submarine’s Bulava nuclear-capable missile

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According to Russia, a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile from one of its submarines that is capable of carrying nuclear warheads was successful. The launch on Sunday, November 4, occurs just a few days after Russian President, Vladimir Putin withdrew his country’s endorsement of the worldwide nuclear test prohibition pact, which Moscow claimed was necessary to align it with US policy.

Although important nations like the US and China have never signed it, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1996 forbids all nuclear explosions, including live nuclear weapons testing. Russia also withdrew from the New START pact, the final significant nuclear arms limitation agreement between Moscow and Washington, earlier this year, although it declared it would still abide by the treaty’s limits on nuclear weapons.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed in a statement on Sunday (11/5) that the Bulava sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile had been successfully fired by the new nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine cruiser Emperor Alexander the Third. The missile was fired from an undersea site in the White Sea off the northern coast of Russia, and it struck a target hundreds of kilometers distant on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East. According to the Federation of American Scientists, the missile is intended to carry up to six nuclear warheads.

One of Russia’s latest Borei-class nuclear submarines, the Emperor Alexander the Third, is quieter and more maneuverable than earlier models. It can carry 16 Bulava missiles apiece. According to the ministry of defense, the Russian navy presently has three Borei-class submarines in service, one more is wrapping up testing, and three more are under development. These submarines are meant to constitute the main naval component of the country’s nuclear capabilities.

According to the ministry statement, “firing a ballistic missile is the final element of state tests, after which a decision will be made to accept the cruiser into the Navy.” The centerpiece of Moscow’s nuclear triad was intended to be the 12-meter (39-foot) Bulava missile, which can travel more than 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles).

Putin has boosted military expenditure since taking office in 1999 and worked to reassemble Russia’s conventional and nuclear weapons following the instability that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union over three decades prior. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has seriously strained ties with the US and the EU, who are particularly concerned about Putin’s propensity to escalate nuclear threats. He stated last month that he was unsure if Russia should carry out more nuclear tests.

According to a study from April, Russia may be having trouble producing new weapons. The Center for Strategic and International Studies research provides startling statistics on the military losses suffered by Russia: an estimate of about 10,000 units of vital equipment, including trucks, artillery pieces, aerial drones, and tanks, were lost. According to the same research, Moscow lost between 1,845 and 3,511 tanks in the first year of the conflict. The losses of its more recent, modified T-72B3 main battle tank, which was delivered for the first time in 2013, were particularly detrimental.

According to CNN, Russian is also having trouble importing contemporary, high-tech parts, including microchips, due to Western sanctions and is unable to obtain them from its own domestic sources. These parts are necessary for manned and unmanned aircraft, missiles, and electronic warfare systems for the battle they started in Ukraine.

Artist’s concept of Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapons Concept (HAWC) vehicle. (Credit: DARPA)

Angkatan Udara AS Sukses Uji Coba Pertama Rudal Hipersonik

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Angkatan Udara AS sukses melakukan uji coba pertama dari rudal hipersonik peluncuran udara. Prototipe lengkap dari Rapid Response Weapon yang diluncurkan dari udara atau dikenal sebagai ARRW itu diluncurkan dari B-52 di lepas pantai California pada hari 9 Desember 2022. Rudal AGM-183A mencapai kecepatan hipersonik lebih dari lima kali kecepatan suara dan meledak di area yang ditargetkan dan semua tujuan tes telah terpenuhi, menurut Angkatan Udara AS pada 12 Desember 2022.

ARRW adalah rudal boost-glide yang menggunakan roket pendorong untuk mempercepat proyektil ke kecepatan hipersonik. Kendaraan luncur kemudian berpisah dari pendorong dan menggunakan kelembaman untuk melakukan perjalanan ke sasarannya dengan kecepatan hipersonik.

Tes ini adalah uji coba pertama dari keseluruhan sistem, yang dikenal sebagai tes All-Up-Round dimana peluncuran sebelumnya difokuskan pada roket pendorong. Rudal ARRW mengalami serangkaian kegagalan dalam pengujian tahun lalu, memaksa Angkatan Udara untuk menunda proyek tersebut.

Pentagon telah meningkatkan penekanan pada pengujian dan pengembangan senjata hipersonik sejak China dan Rusia telah menunjukkan kemajuan dalam program hipersonik mereka sendiri. Rusia telah mengerahkan rudal hipersonik Kinzhal di Ukraina salah satu penggunaan rudal hipersonik pertama di medan perang.

Senjata hipersonik bergerak dengan kecepatan lebih dari Mach 5, atau sekitar 4.000 mil per jam, membuatnya sulit dideteksi dan dicegat tepat waktu. Rudal juga dapat bermanuver dan memvariasikan ketinggian, memungkinkan mereka untuk menghindari sistem pertahanan rudal saat ini.

Pada bulan Mei, sistem hipersonik lain yang disebut Common Hypersonic Glide Body gagal selama tes lengkap pertamanya karena “anomali”, kata Pentagon. Tes sistem sebelumnya, sebuah usaha patungan antara Angkatan Darat dan Angkatan Laut, juga gagal. Sejak itu, Pentagon telah bekerja untuk meningkatkan kecepatan pengujian hipersonik dan upaya penelitian dan pengembangannya, meminta universitas untuk membantu beberapa aspek rudal canggih yang lebih rumit.

Sebelumnya militer AS diketahui telah melakukan uji peluncuran roket yang sukses sebagai eksperimen untuk pengembangan senjata hipersonik di Fasilitas Uji Penerbangan Wallops di Virginia pada 26 Oktober 2022. Pentagon berharap untuk mempersiapkan operasi senjata hipersoniknya pada tahun 2025 dan mengatakan pengembangan senjata hipersonik adalah salah satu “prioritas tertinggi” apalagi saat ini Rusia dikatakan telah menggunakan rudal hipersonik untuk menyerang Ukraina.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield participates in a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting to discuss recent missile tests by North Korea on May 11, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

US presidency of UN Security Council: North Korean Military Activities still raised concern

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The United States has requested United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to hold a meeting this weekend to discuss North Korea’s recent military activities. The US also push the member of the council to strengthen sanctions against Pyongyang.

This May, Washington holds the presidency of UNSC and has been considering bringing up the issue at the meeting since last week. The public meeting is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in New York,

In the last several months, North Korea has intensified its missile tests, some of which are threatening the West and its alliance. The latest test was conducted last Saturday (May 7th) by firing a ballistic missile from a submarine. 15 missiles test reported so far this year has been described by many countries as a way to show off their power and it succeed to raised concerns.

The recent launch came just days before the newly elected South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol took office. Yoon who is set to be sworn in on Tuesday known for his promise to take a hard line against North Korea. A different approach from the foregoing president.

US ambassador for the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that the White House hopes the member of the UNSC to vote to further sanction North Korea. But China and Russia—which both hold veto power—seem would like to oppose the proposal.

“It is a challenge, it is a threat to international peace and security that the UN Security Council and its members have recognized in the past,” US Department of State spokesman Ned Price told reporters last week, about North Korea’s test launches.

According to Al Jazeera, a US State Department official believes that on May 6, Pyongyang is “preparing its Punggye-ri test site and could be ready to conduct a test there as early this month”. Punggye-ri was the only known nuclear test site in North Korea established in the early 2000s. The last nuclear tests known to the public were conducted at the site in September 2017.

Besides further sanctions, the US has pushed North Korea to return to discuss denuclearisation talks. Which have been stalled for 3 years because Pyongyang’s demands for sanctions relief were not granted by the prior president of the US, Donald Trump. Last month, Kim Jong Un said that he would step up the development of banned nuclear weapons.

“We will continue to take steps to strengthen and develop our nation’s nuclear capabilities at the fastest pace,” Kim said, according to a transcript published by the official Korean Central News Agency. The North’s nuclear weapons were “a symbol of national power” and should be diversified, he added.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

US steps up surveillance on North Korea, now Pyongyang planning to launch satellites to watch them

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The United States intensifying “intelligence, readiness and surveillance collection activities” to increase its readiness in the region following recent ballistic missile launches by Pyongyang announced on March 9th of 2022 by US Indo-Pacific Command.

The US Indo-pacific command is stepping up its intelligence and surveillance activities in the Yellow Sea located between China and the Korean Peninsula, according to CNN. The recent launches conducted by North Korea considered violating multiple UN Security Council resolutions and pose a threat to the region and the international communities.

In accordance with the US’ act, Kim Jong Un said that North Korea will launch a number of reconnaissance satellites in coming years to provide real-time information on military actions by the United States and its allies.

“He noted that the purpose of developing and operating the military reconnaissance satellite is to provide the armed forces of the DPRK with real-time information on military actions against it by the aggression troops of the U.S. imperialism and its vassal forces in south Korea, Japan and the Pacific,” the North Korean state news agency get KCNA said.

“In light of this, on March 7, 2022, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command ordered intensified Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance collection activities in the Yellow Sea, as well as enhanced readiness among our ballistic missile defense forces in the region. Our commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remains ironclad,” the statement read.

“The North has been conducted as you all have documented now a series of additional launches and tests, provocative launches and tests, and we are, we believe we are duty bound to make sure that our readiness meets the requirements,” the official told reporters on Wednesday.

Two days before, on March 5th, North Korea launched a single ballistic missile that flew about 270 kilometers, and reached an altitude of 560 kilometers according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Since the beginning of the year, North Korea has been actively tests their missiles that concerns a lot of country notably the US and South Korea. In early January, a suspected ballistic missile that was later claimed by Pyongyang was a hypersonic missile launched whose many experts assumed it was listed among the “top priority” project in its five-year plan.