America Is Not Ready for Exploding Drones

Venezolana de Television via AP

 

An apparent assassination attempt in Venezuela shows how technology is moving faster than governments can counter it.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was intoning something about economic renewal, flanked by his wife and a handful of high officials, in a country gripped by poverty, starvation, and shortages. Then, in a moment broadcast live on television that has since gone viral, his wife’s face changed. For an instant she seemed to duck as she reached for the official next to her; Maduro glanced up with apparent concern. The camera panned to the National Guardsmen in formation on the street before him as dozens suddenly started running. According to the government and witnesses, they had seen explosions in the sky.

Meanwhile in Siberia: Chinese planes overfly top secret nuke facility

Four Chinese airplanes operated by the Chinese civil aviation authorities penetrated deep into Russia’s airspace on July 24.

The planes flew over the forbidden city of Severst where the ultra-secret Siberian Chemical Combine is located, according to various Russian media reports.

Russian Fighter Conducts Dangerous Intercept of U.S. Recon Jet

Lets not forget about the USS Donald Cook, which the Russians shut off like a simple television set and leaving it as a sitting duck in the Black Sea, using advanced electronic warfare technology. Didn’t hear that one in the news? Don’t be so shocked.

 

Pentagon calls Black Sea aerial provocation ‘unsafe and unprofessional’

A Russian Su-27 jet fighter came within 20 feet of a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea on Monday in Moscow’s latest military provocation involving dangerous aerial encounters.

“On Jan. 25 an RC-135 aircraft flying a routine route in international airspace over the Black Sea was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 in an unsafe and unprofessional manner,” Navy Capt. Daniel Hernandez, chief spokesman for the U.S. European Command, told the Washington Free Beacon. “We are looking into the issue.”

Defense officials said the Su-27 flew alongside the RC-135, an electronic intelligence-gathering aircraft, and then performed what they said was an aggressive banking turn away from the intelligence jet.

The thrust from the Su-27 “disturbed the controllability” of the RC-135, said one official familiar with details of the incident.

Russian military aircraft violated Estonia’s airspace

An-72 military cargo aircraft of the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday at 12:10 local time violated the airspace of Estonia near the island of Vayndloo, according to delfi.ee.

NORAD, US Northern Command to Participate with Mexican Air Force in Tactical Exercise

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) will participate alongside the Mexican Air Force in a tactical exercise, AMALGAM EAGLE 15, to be conducted June 30 to July 2, 2015.

Mexico and the United States will participate in a strategic response to an illegal flight entering the airspace between the bordering countries.

Ukraine crisis: House of Lords criticises EU and Britain for ‘sleepwalking into crisis’ as Moscow and Nato remain on diplomatic collision course

France and Germany, which had brokered the Minsk accord last week, were yesterday trying to hold together the increasingly fragile ceasefire in Ukraine amid reports that fighting was spreading once again. Kremlin-backed separatists and Cossack fighters triumphantly paraded through the shattered town of Debaltseve, a strategic point they had captured in the past 48 hours.

Russia threatens to retaliate against U.S. military

Warns airspace over Syria under protection of Moscow

TEL AVIV – Russia has delivered a behind-the-scenes threat to retaliate if airstrikes carried out by the U.S. or its allies target the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Middle Eastern security officials told WND.

The security officials said Russia complained Sunday in quiet talks with United Nations representatives that the Obama administration’s current aerial campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria is a violation of international agreements regarding control of Syrian airspace.

The officials said Russia warned it could potentially retaliate if U.S. or Arab airstrikes go beyond targeting Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, and instead bomb any Syrian regime targets.

Russian Warplanes Go on 24-Hour Duty in Snap Alert Drill

MOSCOW, May 28 (RIA Novosti) – MiG-31 Foxhound interceptors are going on round-the-clock duty in northern Russia as part of a snap combat readiness check of the nation’s aerospace defense capabilities, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

Israeli jets stage mock raids over south Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s state news agency says Israeli warplanes have staged mock raids over villages in southern Lebanon, breaking the sound barrier.

Saudi Arabia says will intercept IAF jets heading to Iran

Saudi Arabia has reportedly informed Israel that it would intercept IAF fighter jets should they breach its airspace en route to Iran, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday.

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Jerusalem sources told the newspaper that the Americans were “leveraging the Saudi threat in an attempt to dissuade Israel from launching a unilateral offensive on Iran’s nuclear facilities.”

Full article: Saudi Arabia says will intercept IAF jets heading to Iran (Israel Defense)

Communist Bloc Military Updates: Russian Air Force probes Bulgarian airspace via Black Sea incursion, Warsaw Pact-turned-NATO member Bulgaria fails to repel intrusion, Turkish Air Force responds instead…

In recent weeks, the Russian Air Force has dispatched its Tu-22M bombers to probe NATO air defences over both the Baltic and Black Seas. Known in the West as the Backfire, the Soviet-built Tu-22M (pictured here), along with the Tu-95 Bear and Tu-160 Blackjack, is one of three types of strategic bomber in Moscow’s inventory.

The Tupolev Design Bureau is presently developing Russia’s first stealth bomber, but no such combat-ready aircraft is expected to fly until as late as 2025, although Russia’s first stealth fighter prototype took to the skies two years ago. In the meanwhile, the Russian Air Force is upgrading the electronics and weapons systems aboard selected Blackjack and Backfire aircraft. With the exception of the US Air Force’s B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the long-range bombers flown by both countries are based on aviation technology that is anywhere from 30 to 50 years old.

Earlier this month, NATO fighter jets based Lithuania intercepted a Tu-22M cruising through “neutral” airspace over the Baltic Sea. According to officials in the neighboring republic of Latvia, the Russian military was conducting exercises in the Kaliningrad exclave. Latvian Defence Minister Artis Pabriks said his country had not been officially notified of the exercises, which, in any case, is “not technically required.” The former Soviet republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia joined NATO in 2004.

Full article: Communist Bloc Military Updates: Russian Air Force probes Bulgarian airspace via Black Sea incursion, Warsaw Pact-turned-NATO member Bulgaria fails to repel intrusion, Turkish Air Force responds instead… (Once Upon A Time in the West)