Raytheon is replacing the US Army's Patriot radar with the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor. Some of the prototypes are undergoing testing with the army. (Raytheon)

The US Army is testing two of its new air-defence sensors at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico, the service recently announced.

The Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) has begun contractor verification testing (CVT), the army's Program Executive Office Missiles and Space (PEO MS) announced on 18 May. The army envisions the radar as a key technology for air defence in Guam and as a replacement for the Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target (Patriot), service officials said.

Raytheon Missiles and Defense won a USD383 million contract in 2019 to build six prototypes for the service. Joe DeAntona, Raytheon Missiles and Defense's vice-president of business development, told Janes in March 2023 that the service had begun some testing of the sensors.

A Khorramshahr-4 is test-launched on an unspecified date. (Iranian Defence Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The Iranian military unveiled what was presented as a new, more accurate variant of the Khorramshahr, its most powerful ballistic missile, on 25 May.

Called the Khorramshahr-4 (Kheibar), the missile was displayed at an event attended by Defence Minister Amir Mohammad Reza Ashtiani and shown being launched from the missile testing facility in Semnan Province in a video and images.

The Iranian media reported that the new variant has a more advanced engine that uses hypergolic fuel, giving it a range of 2,000 km with a 1,500 kg warhead. Unlike other types of fuel/oxidiser combinations, the new propellant can be kept in tanks for years, shortening the preparation time for a launch to 12 minutes, making it a tactical weapon, it was claimed.

The new propellant also requires smaller tanks, reducing the Khorramshahr's motor section to about 13 m with the warhead adding about 4 m to the missile's length, it was reported. The airframe is also made of a stronger composite material.

Estonia and Latvia are jointly procuring the IRIS-T air-defence system. (Diehl)

Estonia and Latvia are jointly procuring the IRIS-T air-defence system, the two Baltic states' defence ministers announced in Riga on 21 May. Latvian Defence Minister Ināra Mūrniece and her Estonian counterpart, Hanno Pevkur, said the joint purchase would create a new ‘Livonian shield' protecting their countries' airspace.