Mikhail Barabanov in Moscow Defense Brief: Russia holds the Zapad drills along its western borders once every four years; the previous such event took place in 2013. This year, however, the reaction from some of Russia’s neighbors to the west has been nothing short of hysterical. […] For all the Western concerns, the scenario of […]
Archives for December 2017
Norway buys K9 Thunder howitzers from South Korea
Norway has bought the K9 Thunder 155mm self-propelled howitzer, reports the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency. The contract includes 24 new howitzers and an unspecified number of K10 designated ammunition resupply vehicles. In addition to this there is an option for the purchase of another 24 howitzers. The initial cost is 1.8 billion NOK, and that […]
Use of rape as a weapon is the (disgusting) norm in civil war
Patrick Burke for War is Boring: But not every civil war results in mass rape. In fact, only 64 percent of the 91 civil wars between 1980 and 2012 featured wide-scale or systematic rape, according to data from Harvard Kennedy School associate professor Dara Kay Cohen’s recent book Rape During Civil War. Surprising use of […]
Russia’s aircraft carrier begins three year modernization
A contract has finally been signed regarding the modernization of Russia’s only aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, reports TASS. The work is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2018 and to last for three years. Originally the modernization should have started in September, but due to a lack of finances the work could not […]
More on Germany’s trouble to keep equipment moving
Sébastien Roblin for The National Interest in a piece called Germany Does Not Have One Working Submarine: One unfortunate consequence is that the submarine crews are completely unable to gain badly needed operational experience. Only by mid-2018 will three German submarines be operational, followed by possibly a fourth that November. But the kicker is that […]
Good article about what a war with Russia would look like
In connection with Zapad 2017, Russia said that the exercise was about training defensive maneuvers. BILD has an article that claims otherwise: However, BILD recently spoke to two leading analysts from a western intelligence service who revealed that Zapad 2017 was neither an “anti-terror exercise” nor “purely defensive”, but a “dry run” for a “full-scale […]
Three random things that aren’t too important for U.S. military
Forward Observer has made a list of three things that the U.S. military needs to fight in NATO-aligned Europe. The list is: Installation of GPS navigation in those Blackhawk helicopters that don’t have it already. Better cold weather gear and boots. An ADR safety certification of cars and trucks laden with hazardous materials. They could […]
Poland connects the European security puzzle
Natalia Wojtowicz suggests that Poland can play leading role in connecting regional security initiatives to make EU and NATO strategies more coherent.
Putin joke shows Russian narrative about the West
This week Russian president Vladimir Putin held a press conference in Moscow in the presence of no less that 1600 journalists. And if anybody should doubt the narrative that exists in Russia about the West, I think the following answer to a question about international relations and defense spending gives a good illustration: “We didn’t […]
Hardliners rise to power in Russian leadership rotation
In November, Russia made a large rotation of top leaders in the armed forces. Russian Defense Policy has looked at the people who have risen to glory. The overall trend is that successful command in combat is a key qualification for promotion. The most prominent command change is that the Aerospace Forces got a new […]