Military divers from the Pacific Fleet have completed a record dive to 416 meters with the new rescue ship “Igor Beluosov”. But the overall status of Russia’s submarine rescue force is still poor.
Sinking dock leaves Russian ship repair industry in misery
It caught headlines when “Admiral Kuznetsov” almost sank along with the floating dock “PD-50”. But the really big news is that Russia no longer has this dock for its ship repair industry. Plus, it is another scandalous story about incompetence in the Russian shipyards.
Norwegian frigate “Helge Ingstad” sinks after collision
The Norwegian frigate “Helge Ingstad” is sinking after a collision with a Maltese tanker. It is a surreal event to observe. Will be interesting to hear more details about what went wrong. Here are a few quick thoughts.
We should think about why Russia breaks the INF Treaty
Before the INF Treaty collapses, it is worth pondering why Russia is building a missile that breaks it. I argue that it is because they want a conventional missile akin to Tomahawk. It is silly if we turn this into a nuclear race.
Corruption sends high-ranking naval officer to jail in Russia
The leader of the Department of Navigation and Oceanography in the Russian Defense Ministry faces prison after being found guilty of fraud.
U.S. Navy plans to develop two new classes of submarine
The U.S. Navy plans to develop a new cruise missile submarine and a new attack submarine. It is an expensive solution that comes just days after president Trump’s announcement of defense cuts.
We need better IR theories to explain Russia
Traditional theories about International Relations are simply not good enough to explain what is going on between Russia and the West. Andrej Krickovic delivers the argument in this policy memo for PONARS Eurasia.
Estonia leaves UNIFIL because Finland does
Finland has decided to leave the UN Mission in Lebanon, so the integrated Estonian platoon has to leave as well. This raises some interesting questions about benefits and dangers to cooperation among Europe’s armed forces.
Russia is not on the verge of apocalypse
The notion that Russia is about to collapse is way too common in Western discourse. Mark Galeotti reacts against this trend in an almost entertainingly scathing review of one such apocalyptic article.
Chkalovsk air base in Kaliningrad reopens after expansion
The primary military air base in Kaliningrad has reopened after a major refit and expansion. Now Russia can operate more and larger aircraft from Chkalovsk.
