Russia in 2030

It has become increasingly clear that Russia is on the inexorable path toward restoring its territory on the old map of the USSR. Whether Moscow will be able to achieve such a grandiose scheme to recreate another Soviet Union-size Rodina has been traditionally believed to depend on the strength and willingness of NATO and Europe to counter such Russian ambition. The assumption is that if the counterthrusts from the West are robust enough, Moscow will fail in its attempt, otherwise Russia’s territorial map will look like the Soviet Union in 2030.

This dichotomy of thrust and counterthrust by Russia on the one side and the West on the other is for the most part inadequate largely because there is also another crucial factor in deciding the outcome of Russia’s territorial expansion, namely, China and its own territorial ambition that goes against Russia’s objectives in much of Central and East Asia.

The Old Man of the Sea: 2040 US Battle Fleet Won’t Have Changed Since 1990

In an attempt to forecast what the US Navy fleet will look like in 25 years, US military analyst Captain Michael Junge arrives at an unsettling conclusion: “in the end, the bulk of the US battle fleet in 2040 will not only look just like the fleet in 2015, but also just like the fleet in 1990.”

Captain Junge has reprimanded the US Navy for failing to modernize and radically upgrade its existing battle fleet.

China Practices Pacific D-Days with Tanks and Hovercraft

 

High tech giant hovercraft storm a beach, capping off a giant operation of warships, helicopters, artillery and marine infantry

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In mid-July, a large amphibious task force of Type 071 landing platform dock (LPD), Type 072 landing ships, and escorting frigates practiced a high-tech landing assault. After preparatory bombardment by cannons, rocket and target shooting of simulated helicopters and drones, the Type 072 landing craft launched ZDB-05 infantry fighting vehicles, the world’s fastest amphibious armored vehicles, to storm the beaches. Overhead, PLANMC marines deployed from Z-8 transport helicopters, flown from the Type 071 LPD, to seize positions behind simulated enemy lines.