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Today Vladimir Putin gave an unscheduled live address to the nation. He claimed that on Nov. 19, six ATACMS missiles — and on Nov. 21, several Storm Shadow missiles — had been used by Ukraine for strikes against targets in Russia’s Kursk and Bryansk regions. According to Putin, Russia retaliated on Nov. 21 with a combined strike against a Ukrainian defense industry facility. In addition, “a field test was conducted in combat conditions” for one of Russia's newest medium-range weapon systems: a nuclear-free hypersonic ballistic missile. “Our engineers named it 'Oreshnik' [‘Hazel’],” Putin declared with a smile. (video at link)

/begin my translation Exclusive: One of Missiles N. Korea Test-fired is SS-22Its range is extended to 1,000 km, and can carry 500 kg nuclear warhead2006-07-10 04:18:47   Of six missiles N. Korea launched on July 5th, which are suspected to be Nodong and Scud missiles, one could be N. Korean version of SS-22 medium range missile(s.) A high-level N. Korean defector I met told me about what Japanese Defense Agency suspects to be 'new type of Scud' as follows: "N. Korean military prefer Scud to Nodong. Nodong requires a lot of time for injecting (liquid) fuel and charge, making easy to be detected. Starting...

India has test-fired a variant of its home-grown nuclear-capable Agni ballistic missile from a test site on its east coast(AFP/File/Raveendran ) India tests nuclear-capable ballistic missile BHUBANESHWAR, India (AFP) - India has test-fired a variant of its home-grown nuclear-capable Agni ballistic missile from a test site on its east coast, a defence official said. The surface-to-surface intermediate range Agni-II, with a maximum strike range of 2,500 kilometres (1,560 miles), was fired from a mobile launcher on Wheeler Island off eastern Orissa state, the official said on Sunday. It was India's third test of the Agni-II. The missile was first...

The following is my translation of a portion of the longer article in Korean from Donga Ilbo, a major S. Korean daily. The title of the longer article is, when translated, 'China, "can't take it anymore", U.S., "feels obligated to help Taiwan"' /begin translation Taiwan's Full-fledged Arms Buildup On Jan. 1st, 2004, Taiwan's military activated the new Missile Command, to counter the threats of Chinese missiles. It was part of the biggest reorganization in the 80 year history of Taiwanese military. The command would eventually become the fourth branch of military, on the equal standing with army, navy, and airforce....

New missile for Pakistan army By Zaffar Abbas BBC correspondent in Islamabad A new medium-range missile system has been formally handed over to the Pakistan military. Shaheen missile - Pakistan will 'not compromise' its defence needs The Shaheen-1 missile system is indigenously developed and has a range of 750 kilometres. In January, another surface-to-surface missile system, Ghauri, was also formally handed over to Pakistan Army's Strategic Force Command. President General Pervez Musharraf attended Friday's official ceremony. Praise An official announcement said the surface-to-surface missile can carry all types of warheads, including nuclear ones. President Musharraf praised the scientists and engineers...