Thursday, December 25, 2025

World Defense News


Dec
25

First Operational Use of U.S. New M270A2 Rocket/Missile Launcher in South Korea Near North Korea Border 
The U.S. Army announced on December 21, 2025, that Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 38th Field Artillery Regiment, assigned to the 210th Field Artillery Brigade, successfully executed the first live-fire exercise of the M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket System on South Korean soil. Conducted at Camp Casey earlier this month, the milestone marks the debut of the Army’s modernized tracked rocket artillery system in a forward-deployed environment, underscoring a broader effort to enhance precision fires and readiness across U.S. Forces Korea. Read full Defense News at this link ...
 

Russia is reportedly preparing to deploy a variant of North Korea’s Hwasal-1 Ra-3 strategic cruise missile in combat operations against Ukraine, according to information shared by the OSINTWarfare account on X on December 25, 2025. The claims, attributed to multiple Russian sources, suggest the missile variant could be equipped with a one-ton high-explosive warhead and have an estimated operational range of 130 to 250 km, marking a potentially significant shift in Moscow’s strike capabilities.
 

The U.S. Air Force has quietly expanded its unmanned aerial presence in the Caribbean, with newly released imagery confirming the deployment of a seventh MQ-9A Reaper operating from Rafael Hernández Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
 

On December 25, 2025, North Korean state media KCNA reported that Kim Jong Un had inspected the construction of an 8,700-ton “nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine” at a domestic shipyard. According to the KCNA report and the photographs released with it, the vessel is intended to serve as a strategic nuclear attack submarine within the country’s naval modernization plans.
 

The United States is committing new discretionary funding in its Fiscal Year 2026 acquisition plan to sustain and expand the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) air defense missile system, including the procurement of 25 additional interceptors and continued support for interceptor obsolescence mitigation and the Stockpile Reliability Program.
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China has drawn key lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war that it now applies to a potential Taiwan conflict, according to a December 2025 report by the U.S. Department of War. After analyzing Russia’s failures in logistics, joint operations, and urban combat, the PLA has shifted from expecting a quick invasion to preparing for a prolonged, high-intensity campaign focused on sustained logistics, joint force integration, and information warfare.
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On 22 December 2025, TDW Gesellschaft für verteidigungstechnische Wirksysteme mbH and STARK announced via their official LinkedIn channels that they had successfully completed a live firing of the LION STRIKE 110 warhead integrated into the VIRTUS loitering munition during a test campaign in Germany.
 

On 23 December 2025, Airbus reported that Spain’s Ministry of Defence has ordered 18 C295 transport aircraft to replace the CN235 and C212 fleets used to train Spanish Air and Space Force pilots and paratroopers. The decision comes as European air forces place renewed emphasis on day-to-day readiness, including the ability to move troops, sustain airborne units, and keep training pipelines resilient.
 

The U.S. Army has officially reset the future of its main battle tank forces, approving a sweeping Engineering Change Proposal that redesignates the next Abrams variant as M1E3, according to the Fiscal Year 2026 Army Acquisition Program submitted to Congress.
 

South Korea’s domestically developed KF-21 Boramae fighter jet will enter full air-to-ground combat service beginning in 2027, significantly earlier than initially planned, according to information released by Yonhap News on December 23, 2025, citing the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. Officials said the decision reflects steady progress in flight testing, avionics integration, and weapons certification as the program transitions from development into early production.
 

On 23 December 2025, Rheinmetall announced that it had handed over the first Skynex short-range air defense system to the Italian Army, following a ceremony on 18 December at the Comando Artiglieria Controaerei base in Sabaudia. The delivery, under a €73 million contract awarded in January 2025, marks the introduction in Italy of a new generation of networked, gun-based air defense.
 

According to information released by the Security Service of Ukraine and supported by videos circulating on social media, Ukrainian special operations units executed a carefully sequenced strike against Russian naval assets in the Black Sea region in December 2025.
 

On December 24, 2025, according to BusinessKorea and an official disclosure on Korea’s DART financial reporting system, LIG Nex1 announced that it had signed a key development contract for the “Short-Range Air-to-Air Guided Missile-II System Development – System Integration and Guided Missile Integration Prototype” project.
 

On 23 December 2025, Belgium’s Defence Minister Theo Francken presented a new layer of counter-drone protection at the Special Operations Regiment headquarters in Heverlee, where the Belgian Defence Ministry unveiled a Saab Giraffe 1X mobile radar alongside the first Piorun short-range air-defence systems.
 

On December 23, 2025, Reuters reported that RTX subsidiary Raytheon secured a $1.7 billion contract to deliver four Patriot air and missile defense systems to Spain. The announcement comes as European governments accelerate investment in air and missile defense to address a wider range of threats, from cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to large-scale, mixed raids. In Raytheon’s framing, the purchase is directly tied to national readiness and sovereignty, and it is structured as a U.S.
 

Belgium has formally introduced the Polish-made Piorun man-portable air defense system into its Special Operations Regiment, marking a notable upgrade to the country’s short-range air defense posture. According to information released by the Belgian Ministry of Defence, the first system was handed over on December 23, 2025, during an official ceremony in Heverlee, underscoring growing concern among NATO militaries about the vulnerability of dismounted forces to drones and low-flying aircraft.
 

On 23 December 2025, Saab announced that Lithuania has placed new orders worth SEK 1.3 billion for AT4 weapons and ammunition for the Carl-Gustaf system under a framework agreement coordinated by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV). This latest contract comes as Vilnius continues to expand its defence budget to record levels in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine and growing pressure on NATO’s eastern flank.
 

On 23 December 2025, open-source intelligence platforms on X reported a new wave of U.S. strike and support aircraft deploying into the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility as Washington tightens its maritime blockade around Venezuela.
 

On December 23, 2025, Taiwan’s Military News Agency under the Ministry of National Defense reported that the Army’s 584th Armored Brigade conducted a battalion-level combat-readiness reconnaissance and patrol in the Hsinchu area with its newly formed M1A2T tank battalion.
 

Russia has officially confirmed work on a new fifth-generation strategic nuclear submarine, marking a significant escalation in its long-term naval nuclear ambitions. Speaking during the 125th anniversary of the Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering, Presidential Aide and Russian Naval Board Chairman Nikolai Patrushev said the bureau is actively developing the next-generation submarine, according to reporting by the Russian state-aligned news agency Interfax.

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