Russia: Medvedev Promises New Subs
26 September 2008
By Denis Dyomkin / Reuters
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY — President Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that plans to modernize its armed forces will not be affected by the current financial crisis.
Archive for the ‘Defense’ Category.
ROK, Norway Sign Agreement on Defense Co-op
2008-09-22 14:01:17 Xinhua
South Korea and Norway on Monday signed an agreement on defense cooperation, calling for exchange of defense goods and related technologies, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said.
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US Senate Passes $612bn Defence Spending Bill - update1
18 September 2008
The US Senate overwhelmingly approved a $612.5bn defence spending bill on Wednesday for fiscal 2009, including $70bn for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Russian strategic bombers in Venezuela for ‘training’: Chavez
Agence France-Presse | Sep 11, 2008
CARACAS: Two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers were in Venezuela on Wednesday for “training flights,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said, adding he would be piloting one of the aircraft.
“I hope that stings, ‘pitiyanquis’,” he said, using a derogatory term for Venezuelan opponents who have perceived US sympathies.
“What’s more, I’m going to take the controls of one of these monsters,” boasted the president, a former paratrooper and left-wing politician who has avowed antagonism towards the United States.
“It’s been a while since these planes have been around these parts, and Russia decided a couple of years ago to revive its strategic aviation program,” Chavez said during the inauguration of a medical center.
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US withdraws nuclear bombs from Britain
Agence France-Presse | Jun 27, 2008
WASHINGTON: The United States has removed its nuclear arsenal in Britain, ending its half-century deployment there and reducing its European nuclear deployment to six locations in five countries, a report said.
The withdrawal follows the removal of nuclear weapons from the Ramstein Air Base in Germany in 2005 and Greece in 2001, according to the The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) Strategic Security Blog, citing unidentified sources.
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Spain and Saudi Arabia sign military cooperation deal
Fri Jun 6, 1:44 PM ET
MADRID (AFP) - Spain and Saudi Arabia have signed a military cooperation agreement during a visit by Saudi Defence Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the government said Friday.
The agreement is aimed at “developing and strengthening military cooperation” between the two countries, in particular in the fields of training and of scientific and technical cooperation.
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Analysis: China’s fighter planes
Published: May 29, 2008 at 4:39 PM
By ANDREI CHANG
HONG KONG, May 29 (UPI) — Front-line combat units of China’s People’s Liberation Army air force will have at least 112 J-10 fighter jets by the end of the year, an analysis of current deployments and in-progress production reveals.
There are multiple indications that the 2nd Regiment of the No. 1 Division of the People’s Liberation Army air force has received a full complement of the domestic-made, next-generation fighter jets run by the 4th J-10 — J-10A — Fighter Regiment.
Each such regiment normally is equipped with 28 fighters; 28 link-structured aircraft hangars have been constructed at Chifeng Air Base, where the regiment is based. The exterior structure of these hangars is very similar to those at the Changxing Air Base run by the No. 3 Division, and the runway at Chifeng seems to have undergone renovation.
The PLA air force currently has three other J-10 regiments. They are the 132nd Regiment under the No. 44 Division, based at Luliang in southern Yunnan province, the 8th Regiment under No. 3 Division, based at Changxing in the east coast province of Zhejiang, and the 5th Regiment under the No. 2 Division, based at Guilin in the southeast province of Guangxi, which borders Vietnam.
Defense Focus: Cruiser strategy
Published: May 28, 2008 at 4:27 PM
By MARTIN SIEFF
UPI Senior News Analyst
WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) — The new series of live-firing exercises by the Russian missile cruiser Varyag in the Pacific Ocean this week offers a revealing look at the current balance of competing weapon systems in surface warfare.
The Varyag is nearly 20 years old, but following an extensive refit it is once again a formidable, state-of-the-art, world-class warship excellently designed and armed for its mission, which is to destroy U.S. aircraft carriers in the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean.
But although the Varyag ship-for-ship is as formidable as any surface combat vessel afloat, it suffers from the great strategic limitations imposed on the Russian navy by a very limited and long-troubled shipbuilding capacity that still has not recovered from the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism.
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Who will pay for peacekeeping?
The Integrated Regional Information Networks | May 20, 2008
JOHANNESBURG: The southern African contribution to the African Standby Force (ASF) to fulfil the African Union’s (AU) peacekeeping ambitions will depend heavily on South Africa, but with its army already overstretched, underfunded and struggling to meet existing commitments, regional military experts believe this will be a burden the country cannot carry.
Five regional brigades - southern, eastern, central, western and northern – were scheduled for activation in 2010 to respond to threats to peace on the continent. In southern Africa the ASF would be deployed through the Southern African Development Community (SADC) under AU or UN mandates, and would be on standby in the regional body’s host country, Botswana.
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