The South Korean defense ministry has played down Pyongyang’s claim that it successfully tested a hypersonic missile on Jan. 5, saying that North Korea had instead launched a Maneuverable Reentry Vehicle.

A North Korean news agency claims the hypersonic glider maneuvered during flight to strike a target about 700 km (430 mi.) away. 

A Northrop Grumman announcement about a static test offers the first confirmation of the company’s role as the solid rocket motor supplier for the Lockheed Martin Precision Strike Missile.

A recent test release of the Raytheon GBU-53/B StormBreaker showed the effectiveness of the new small diameter bomb’s tri-mode seeker, as well as some operational limitations.

The U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin this month are finishing a major modernization program to integrate AIM-9X Block 2 and AIM-120D missiles onto the F-22 and recently began an incremental update program that will see the Raptor better able to communicate with other aircraft.

Australia’s requirement for Hellfire missiles likely will increase, as it recently announced plans to expand the MH-60R fleet in support of naval operations.

The U.S. nuclear weapons agency can start ramping up to mass production of the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb after delivering the first unit.

The U.S. Air Force aborted an attempted boost test flight of the Lockheed Martin AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) on Dec. 15, service officials say.  The aborted flight became the third unsuccessful attempt this year to test the new booster rocket developed for the AGM-183A, a prototype that consists of a single-stage booster and a hypersonic glide vehicle with a high lift-to-drag shape.