On April. 7, France conducted massive drills of its strategic nuclear forces that mobilized as many as 50 military aircraft including WC-135 Constant Phoenix atmospheric sampling aircraft. The French Air and Space Force said in a statement that the maneuvers included a mock nuclear air raid carried out over French territory under the Poker exercises. Poker drills are conducted several times per year without much publicity. Exercises include air-to-air refueling of fighters, low altitude penetration by fighter bombers and the simulated shooting down of a missile (once the nuclear charge has been deactivated). – ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW – Under […]
Strategic
Russian Strategic Rocket Forces, or RVSN, has received about 70 Typhoon-M combat anti-sabotage vehicles, multiple news outlets reported. The Typhoon-M combat anti-sabotage vehicles designed to guard Russian Strategic Missile Forces’ formations, rearmed with thermonuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles Yars and Topol-M. Since 2012, the formations of the RVSN has received about 70 combat anti-sabotage vehicles. The delivery of this equipment will continue in 2021. – ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW – Typhoon-M is base on the BTR-82 8×8 armoured personnel carrier chassis equipped with modern sensors, including radar, thermal imaging night vision and echolocation, jammers to disable IEDs. Combat anti-sabotage vehicles are […]
On 15 November, the U.S. ballistic-missile submarine force celebrated the 60th anniversary of the first strategic deterrent patrol by a Ship Submarine Ballistic Nuclear (SSBN). USS George Washington (SSBN 598) departed Cape Canaveral, Florida, with 16 Polaris missiles on the first strategic deterrent patrol, Nov. 15, 1960. George Washington was the lead ship in its class, and the first of 41 SSBNs launched by the U.S. Navy between 1960 and 1966. These submarines initiated the U.S. nuclear triad, and were aptly referred to as the “41 for Freedom.” – ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW – “For the last 60 years, the […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107752/24/1077522472_0:204:1600:1104_1200x675_80_0_0_0ff4b2cff30b8db51442b8a426459c5d.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/military/202010151080782915-russia-open-to-intensive-consultations-with-us-on-strategic-stability/ WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Russia is ready to continue consultations with the United States on the issues of strategic stability, but wants the dialogue to cover its major concerns, including American plans to deploy the global missile defense shield and place weapons in space, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov told Newsweek magazine. “Russia’s main concerns are the global missile defense system, the development of non-nuclear strategic offensive weapons within the framework of the concept of a global strike, the growing threats of weapons deployed in space, quantitative and qualitative imbalances in conventional weapons […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo-itemprop.png Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/military/202010041080663195-russia-us-to-hold-strategic-stability-consultations-on-monday-deputy-fm-says/ MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Representatives from Russia and the United States will hold consultations on the issue of strategic stability in the Finnish capital Helsinki on Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “A single day of consultations will be held on October 5 in Helsinki, continuing the discussions that took place in the summer,” Ryabkov said on Sunday. When asked if the New START treaty, the last remaining arms control agreement in force between Russia and the United States, would be on the agenda, the deputy foreign minister replied in the affirmative. “Yes, […]
The requirement for a Dornier Maritime Surveillance aircraft was raised during the visit of former President Abdulla Yameen to India in 2016. While it could not get implemented earlier, the present Ibrahim Solih government has been able to see it through. Accelerating the already improved bilateral ties under the Solih government, India has handed over Dornier aircraft to the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF) on Tuesday, which will play a crucial role in search and rescue, maritime/EEZ surveillance for the Maldivians in the northern atolls. Maldivian pilots, observers and technical personnel have been undergoing training to operate the aircraft since June […]
India has accumulated huge oil reserves during the pandemic, taking advantage of the depressed prices and lack of demand across the world. State-funded strategic crude oil reserves are meant to tackle emergency situations and allow the Modi government to tide over short-term supply disruptions. The Indian government revealed on Tuesday that it is scouting locations in the US and other countries to store crude oil to nullify the adverse impact on the economy if supply is disrupted for months. Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan emphasised that New Delhi has aimed to improve the crude and petroleum products storage capacity from the existing […]
In a recent tweet, US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) reasserted its own long-range bomber capabilities after Russia’s air force boasted of a bomber mission that lasted more than a whole day. On Monday, STRATCOM posted “a little #MondayMotivation to show what teamwork can accomplish” on its Twitter account, listing missions flown by its B-1B Lancer, B-52 Stratofortoress and B-2 Spirit strategic bombers that lasted dozens of hours each. However, this info-drop wasn’t out of the blue: last week, Lt. Gen. Sergey Kobylash, commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ Long-Range Aviation division, boasted that two of its Tu-160 White Swan bombers (NATO reporting […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/09/02/1080352387_0:0:2996:1686_1200x675_80_0_0_50989246a73166d2a2189880b2cc3435.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/us/202009021080352366-us-admiral-davidson-calls-china-strategic-threat-in-wwii-victory-anniversary-address/ WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US Indo-Pacific fleet Commander Admiral Philip Davidson during the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Hawaii accused China of attempting to undermine the international order and characterized the country as being “a strategic threat”. “An emboldened Communist party of China seeks to change the world to one in which Chinese national power is more important than international law. [China is trying] to coerce, to corrupt and to contest the rules-based international order”, Davidson said on Wednesday. Davidson delivered his speech aboard the battleship USS […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/104879/05/1048790548_14:0:2766:1548_1200x675_80_0_0_f5db81a92d3a523f81a0f42816bfb795.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Rishikesh Kumar. Sputnik International https://sputniknews.com/military/202009011080339005-india-russia-deploy-warships-for-no-contact-drills-near-strategic-malacca-strait-in-indian-ocean/ India and Russia have lined up a series of bilateral engagements over the next 10 days, including the visit of Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh to Moscow later this week. The talks will also touch on the issue of the early delivery of the S-400, quick reaction missile system; officials in New Delhi told Sputnik. India has deployed destroyers, frigates and corvettes to carry out a naval exercise near the strategically-located Strait of Malacca later this week. A government official in New Delhi told Sputnik that the INDRA NAVY–2020 exercise will take […]
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had reached a “historic peace agreement” on establishing full diplomatic ties. Under the deal, expected by the US president to be signed in three weeks, Tel Aviv has agreed to postpone its plans on sovereignty extension over the West Bank. The Emirates company, APEX National Investment, announced the signing of a strategic commercial agreement with Israel-based TeraGroup on Saturday, dedicated to the development of research on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the official Emirates News Agency (WAM). The agreement was signed during a press conference […]
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Tehran and Moscow have agreed to devise and conclude a long-term strategic cooperation agreement. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Zarif said the agreement was made during his Tuesday visit to Moscow, where he met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and talked with President Vladimir Putin on the phone for one hour due to the coronavirus pandemic. Describing his talks with Russian officials as fruitful, Zarif said he held intensive negotiations with the authorities in Moscow for four and a half hours that resulted in the agreement. He […]
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US Special Representative for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea said in a statement that the two countries agreed to launch technical working groups on strategic stability, adding that the first round of US-Russia strategic stability talks was “very positive”. “The first round of Vienna talks very positive. Detailed discussions on full-range of nuclear topics”, Billingslea said via Twitter on Monday. “Technical working groups launched. Agreement in principle on the second round”. Russian-US consultations on strategic stability concluded earlier in the day in Vienna. The Russian delegation was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, and the US delegation was headed […]
Moscow has dispatched several jets to monitor US bombers cruising near Russia’s Far East, just days after a similar encounter took place in the Baltic Sea. A Russian air defense unit spotted two American B-52H strategic bombers flying over the neutral waters of the Sea of Okhotsk. A squad of Su-30, Su-35, and MiG-31 jet fighters was immediately scrambled to “continuously” escort the US aircraft while they were present in the area, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The Russian military noted that the maneuvers were carried out in strict accordance with the international rules of conduct in neutral airspace. The encounter […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107932/68/1079326834_0:0:3212:1807_1200x675_80_0_0_620eca8c349e15cb5fc9169414e2c3a0.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/world/202006171079637933-us-scrambles-fighters-to-escort-russias-strategic-bombers-russian-mod-says/ MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Four Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers were escorted by US F-22 fighters at certain stages of their scheduled flight at the border between the countries, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday. “Four Tu-95MS strategic bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ long-range aviation conducted a scheduled flight over the neutral waters of the Chukchi Sea, the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk and the northern part of the Pacific Ocean … At several stages of the route, the Russian aircraft were escorted by the US Air Force’s F-22 fighters,” the Russian Defense […]
At least one rocket was fired into the heavily fortified Green Zone compound in the Iraqi capital, with a loud blast reported in the area. The attack reportedly resulted in no casualties and only minor damage. A Katyusha rocket landed within the Green Zone in the early hours of Thursday morning, setting off sirens at the US Embassy, Reuters reported, citing a witness. Nobody was killed in the blast, according to Iraq’s Security Media Cell, which added that the rocket is believed to have been fired from a nearby sports stadium. A local reporter shared footage of the aftermath of the […]
Russian jets were scrambled to intercept US B-1B Lancer strategic bombers, which approached the country’s airspace over the Black and Baltic Seas, with the high-altitude action captured on video. The American nuclear-capable warplanes heading in the direction of Russian airspace were first tracked by radar, before the Sukhoi Su-27P and Su-30SM were sent to greet them in the skies above neutral Black Sea waters. The jets approached the US bombers at a “safe distance,” with the move resulting in the B-1Bs reversing their course, the Defense Ministry said as it released the footage. The Russian planes then safely returned to base. […]
By Leif Johnson for VT Let us assume for the sake of argument that this Crisis is part of a considerably larger strategic plan of the Anglo-Americans, which ends in a state of war with the China-Russia bloc. That war could be surrogate wars, endless wars sapping the strength of the Sino-Russian bloc (as envisioned by George Orwell), or military confrontations short of nuclear war. I see that Russia has informed the U.S. that use of tactical nuclear weapons would mean full scale nuclear war. As Putin said a year ago, “Previously we had to catch up militarily to the […]
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CF-18 Hornet fighter jets, under the control of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), practiced identification and intercept of U.S. Strategic Command bombers on May 11 to demonstrate the air defense capabilities of Canada and the United States. The B-1B bombers as it entered the Canadian Air Defense Identification Zone and again as it entered the Continental U.S. NORAD Region were intercepted by RCAF CF-18 Hornets and USAF F-16 Fighting Falcons. NORAD CF-18s and F-16s, supported by KC-135 stratotankers, conducted intercepts of the USSTRATCOM B-1s as it entered the Canadian Air Defense Identification Zone and […]
Washington is seeking to get rid of prominent Venezuelan military figures including dissident generals in order to undermine the country’s resistance potential and Chavista movement, suggests former Hugo Chavez adviser Heinz Dieterich explaining the amphibious botched raid. On 3 May, the Venezuelan Armed Forces thwarted an amphibious mercenary operation and captured 13 individuals including two American citizens. As it turned out later, the botched naval raid was part of a broader plan masterminded by a group of dissident Venezuelan military personnel and the US private military company, Silvercorp USA, to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. US Seeking to Get Rid of […]