“We Aren’t Slaves”: Erdogan Says Russian S-400s A “Done Deal”, Hints At Future S-500 Upgrade

S-500 Air Defense System, which Erdogan said Turkey could upgrade to in the future, in defiance on Washington. Image via Military and Commercial Technology blog

 

“This is over” — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week as US Congress continues discussion and debate on holding up delivery of Lockheed-produced F-35 stealth jets purchased previously by Turkey due to Ankara’s intent to receive Russian S-400 anti-air defense systems from Russia.

New Pentagon report names Russia, China as threats to US space capabilities

 

A new space report by the Pentagon has named Russia and China as key threats to US space capabilities, according to a document released on Thursday.

“The United States faces rapidly growing threats to our space capabilities. China and Russia, our strategic competitors, are explicitly pursuing space warfighting capabilities to neutralize US space capabilities during a time of conflict,” the report said. “Other potential adversaries are also pursuing counter-space capabilities such as jamming, dazzling, and cyber-attacks.”

U.S. Military Set To Deploy THAAD Anti-Missile System In Germany

 

The United States is looking to establish a powerful missile shield in Germany in a potential move that would further inflame tensions with both Moscow and Tehran.

Though NATO has long insisted that its missile defense systems are not directed at Russia, the Kremlin has repeatedly condemned what it sees as NATO encroachment in Eastern Europe, especially after countries like Romania — which is not engaged in any ongoing conflict with Russia — have recently installed their own US-supplied ballistic missile systems, with renewed multi-billion dollar Patriot missile expansions to follow.

Iran on Pathway to Fully Restart Nuclear Weapons Program

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sits among senior army staff / Getty Images

 

Top lawmakers urge Trump not to leave deal

Iran is on the pathway to fully restarting its contested nuclear weapons program due to insufficient international inspections of its military sites and caveats in the landmark nuclear deal that permit it to reengage in nuclear enrichment work within the next several years, according to experts who testified Wednesday before Congress.

Russia May Send 100K Troops to NATO’s Borders

In this Aug. 2, 2017, photo, Russian paratroopers mark Paratroopers Day in Moscow’s Red Square. The Russian military says major war games, the Zapad (West) 2017 maneuvers, will not threaten anyone. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

 

Russia showed off its growing naval strength last month ahead of huge land exercises on NATO state borders set to begin Thursday.

The exercises are part of President Vladimir Putin’s effort to demonstrate Russia’s full recovery from being a military basket case following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia’s Northern Fleet claimed to have sent about 50 ships, submarines and support vessels into the Barents and Baltic Seas in August on a series of anti-submarine, anti-mine and search-and-rescue operations, a Russian Navy spokesman told Russia’s Interfax news agency.

Ukraine Hosts US Military to Be Permanently Stationed on Its Soil

Photo: Strategic Culture Foundation

 

United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Seabees (C.B. – construction battalion), of the Naval Construction Force held a groundbreaking ceremony for a maritime operations center on Ochakov Naval Base, Ukraine, July 25. According to the Navy.mil, the official website of the US Navy, the maritime operations center is one of three projects that are currently planned to be executed by the Seabees in Ochakov and will serve as a major planning and operational hub during future military exercises hosted by Ukraine. The Seabees arrived in Ochakov in April to establish contracts, obtain construction permits and perform other logistical tasks for the maritime operations center project.

NATO Beefs Up Logistics Infrastructure for Offensive Operations

 

Some very important news is kept out of spotlight and undeservedly so. Bits of information pieced together indicate that very quietly the North Atlantic alliance is gearing up for large-scale combat operations. War preparations are not limited to weapon systems deployments and troop movements that hit headlines. No combat can be waged without logistics.

US deploys all its nuclear-capable strategic bombers to Britain for the first time amid growing tensions with Russia

Show of force: The B-1 Lancer (left), B-2 Spirit (centre) and B-52 Stratofortress (pictured right) together at RAF Fairford

 

• Two B-2 stealth bombers arrived at RAF Fairford with three B-25 Stratofortresses and three B-1 Lancers
• The fleet of nuclear-capable strategic bombers are in Gloucestershire to support planned NATO exercises
• But they also send a powerful show of strength to Putin’s Russia, in echoes of the Cold War
• In recent months NATO jets have been repeatedly scrambled to intercept Russian bombers

The US has deployed several nuclear-capable strategic bombers to Britain for the first time as tensions with Russia continue to grow.

USAREUR General: Terror threat in Europe highest in world

Commander of U.S. Forces in Europe, General Curtis Scaparrotti speaks during a news conference in Tallinn, Estonia, March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

 

(WASHINGTON, DC) The threat posed by violent extremism is higher in Europe than anywhere else in the world, apart from actual war zones and hotspots, US European Command head General Curtis Scaparrotti said, commenting on Wednesday’s terrorist attack in London.

“The number of threat streams that we have of this type within Europe – it’s probably higher in Europe than any other part of the globe, with the exception of the places we’re actually physically fighting [terrorists], like Syria […] Afghanistan and Iraq,” the senior US military leader in Europe, who is also NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

Russian Military Forces Staging Near Ukraine

Remember, although not guaranteed, August is the month of war.

 

Russian T-80 tanks take part in a tactical military exercise in Armenia / AP

 

EUCOM: ‘Extremely concerned’ by regional tensions

The Pentagon has identified eight staging areas in Russia where large numbers of military forces appear to be preparing for incursions into Ukraine, according to U.S. defense officials.

As many as 40,000 Russian troops, including tanks, armored vehicles, and air force units, are now arrayed along Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia.

Additionally, large numbers of Russian military forces will conduct exercises in the coming days that Pentagon officials say could be used as cover for an attack on Ukraine.

Russia Building New Underground Nuclear Command Posts

U.S. intelligence detects dozens of hardened bunkers for leaders

Russia is building large numbers of underground nuclear command bunkers in the latest sign Moscow is moving ahead with a major strategic forces modernization program.

U.S. intelligence officials said construction has been underway for several years on “dozens” of underground bunkers in Moscow and around the country.

Disclosure of the underground command bunkers comes as Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of U.S. European Command, warned recently that Russia has adopted a nuclear use doctrine he called “alarming.”

First on CNN: Russians ‘barrel roll’ over another U.S. Air Force plane

The Russian SU-27 approached alongside within 25 feet of the U.S. aircraft and then flew inverted over the top of the plane to the other side, Lt. Col. Michelle L. Baldanza, a U.S. Army spokesperson, said in a statement.

“The SU-27 intercepted the U.S. aircraft flying a routine route at high rate of speed from the side then proceeded to perform an aggressive maneuver that posed a threat to the safety of the U.S. aircrew in the RC-135,” Baldanza said.

How Russia’s advantage in electronic warfare could ‘ground’ US Air Force

One of the consequences of falling for the trap in the Middle East of chasing thousands of replaceable ghost terrorists for decades: The enemy studies your every move.

 

Russian electronic-warfare powerhouse KRET—Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies —has started testing a powerful new ground-based jamming system that could cut the crucial data-links that enable the United States military to conduct operations around the world. The system is designed to be used in conjunction with advanced Russian-built air defense systems like the S-300V4 and S-400 to disrupt air operations.

Russian Jet Threatened U.S. Recon Aircraft

Barrel rolls over plane in latest Baltic Sea provocation

A Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft on Thursday in the latest military provocation by Moscow over the Baltic Sea, the U.S. European Command said Saturday.

“On April 14, a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft flying a routine route in international airspace over the Baltic Sea was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 in an unsafe and unprofessional manner,” said Navy Capt. Danny Hernandez.

“This intercept comes shortly after the unsafe Russian encounters with USS Donald Cook,” he added. “There have been repeated incidents over the last year where Russian military aircraft have come close enough to other air and sea traffic to raise serious safety concerns, and we are very concerned with any such behavior.”

Experts say Russia will likely get away with buzzing U.S. destroyer

Russia’s dangerously close flight maneuvers against a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea this week violate a deal signed in 1972, but analysts say there’s not much the U.S. can do to enforce the “rules-of-the-road”-type agreement.

The agreement between the U.S. and Russia on “the prevention of incidents on and over the high seas” was designed to stop incidents like the one this week that saw Russian Su-24 jets fly very close to the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea.