Did Russian diesel submarines really hunt down a British nuclear submarine and prevent it from launching missiles on Syria? Or did the British successfully keep the Russians occupied with a submarine which was never intended to launch missiles in the first place?
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Warship diplomacy: British intervention in the Baltic from 1800-1801
Article recommendation: This account of the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 is worth reading. Alliances change, technology develops, yet human nature makes the French Revolutionary Wars discouragingly relevant today.
Powerful maritime patrol UAVs to Germany
U.S. State Department has approved the sale of MQ-4C Triton drones to Germany. It is a terrific UAV which will give Germany a powerful surveillance capability. And this time the drone has an approved anti-collision system, so there is hope for more success than in Germany’s earlier adventures with the EuroHawk.
American journal calls Kuznetsov a bad aircraft carrier, Russian media has a fit
Entertaining case where an American website makes a silly listicle about bad aircraft carriers, and the Russian media rolls out a team of military experts to discredit the story.
Fear of missile defense traces back to World War II for Russia
Article recommendation about the history of Russian concerns with Western missile defense technology. This is not a new thing, and there is little hope for arms control treaties that do not include missile defense.
Gerasimov on the characteristics of modern warfare
An analysis of general Gerasimov’s speech to the military academic community in March 2018. The speech confirms Gerasimov’s earlier statements about the nature of modern warfare. There is a clear focus on conventional military capabilities which is interesting considering president Putin’s dramatic talk about nuclear weapons earlier this month.
Let’s not question the future of Königsberg
Next time you think the Russians are paranoid for believing that NATO might attack them, keep this in mind: Jüri Saar has an article titled “The Future of Königsberg” in Diplomaatia, which is an Estonian think tank publication. In this he argues that the 1975 Helsinki Accords are no longer valid, and that Kaliningrad is […]
HMS Ocean retired and sold to Brazil
HMS Ocean was retired from the Royal Navy today. The helicopter carrier officially left service at a ceremony at HM Naval Base Devonport with the participation of Queen Elizabeth. Ocean has been the flagship of the Royal Navy since it was commissioned into service in 1998. Now she will be handed off to Brazil for […]
On the scholarship-policy gap in foreign politics
John Glaser has written an interesting commentary on War on the Rocks under the title “Truth, Power, and the Academy: A response to Hal Brands”. It is about the relationship between academic expertise and the political establishment in the United States. Last fall, Hal Brands wrote an article in The American Interest in which he […]
Book review: Near Abroad — Putin, the West and the Contest over Ukraine and the Caucasus
Gerard Toal has written an insightful book about the geopolitics of the former Soviet Union. Through case studies of South Ossetia and Ukraine, Toal unfolds the complexities of the geopolitical field and exposes prejudices on all sides.
Poland extends service life of Perry-class frigates until 2024
Poland has extended the service life of its two Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates until 2024. That reports Janes. The prolonged service time has required some additional maintenance work and upgrades of subsystems. ORP General Kazimierz Pulaski has already completed these works during a scheduled docking. This includes the installation of Link 16 and an upgrade […]
