Tag Archives: crimea

U.S. Navy Seabees Building Maritime Operations Center on Black Sea Coast

U.S. Navy Seabees Building Maritime Operations Center on Black Sea Coast

Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1, level a sentry tower during exercise Sea Breeze 2017 at Shiroky Lan training base. US Navy Photo

Navy Seabees are building a maritime operations center on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, for use during annual U.S. and Ukrainian military exercises and to assist allied maritime operations. Read More

Sinking of Surveillance Ship Highlights Increase in Russian Navy Operations

Sinking of Surveillance Ship Highlights Increase in Russian Navy Operations

A Russian Kilo submarine passes the parade stand during the Russia Navy Day celebration in Vladivostok. US Navy Photo

This post has been updated to clarify the deployment of Russian Navy Kilo-class attack submarineRostov-na-Donu.

The sinking of the Russian signals intelligence ship Liman after a collision with a Togo-flagged freighter bound for Jordan puts the spotlight back on a Russian Navy that is increasingly active in the maritime domain in and around Europe and a Black Sea region that continues to be tense in the wake of the 2014 Ukraine crisis when Russia annexed Crimea. Read More

Panel: Russia and China Practicing More Hybrid, Information Warfare

Panel: Russia and China Practicing More Hybrid, Information Warfare

So-called ‘little green men’ in Crimea in 2014. Reuters Photo

Russia and China are effectively using tools as old as propaganda and as current as viral social media messaging to sow distrust abroad and split alliances to gain their way, three expert witnesses in a new age of conflict told the House Armed Services Committee. Read More

SECNAV Mabus Reflects on Time in the Pentagon

SECNAV Mabus Reflects on Time in the Pentagon

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus speaks during an all-hands call at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton on Oct. 21, 2016. US Navy

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus speaks during an all-hands call at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton on Oct. 21, 2016. US Navy

The biggest surprise Navy Secretary Ray Mabus had when he took office was how slowly the bureaucracy moves and the different tactics it uses to kill a program it doesn’t want. Read More

Kicking off Farewell Tour, SECNAV Ray Mabus Defends Record

Kicking off Farewell Tour, SECNAV Ray Mabus Defends Record

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus speaks to Marines and Sailors at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 19, 2016. US Marine Corps Photo

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus speaks to Marines and Sailors at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 19, 2016. US Marine Corps Photo

CAMP PENDLETON MARINE CORPS BASE, Calif. — On a self-described “sort of a thank-you tour,” Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus told a crowd of Marines that changes implemented during his tenure have bettered and strengthened the Marine Corps and is preparing them for the unpredictable future operational environment. Read More

Analysis: Russia, the MH-17 shootdown, the Dutch and Kremlin’s Requirement to Respond

Analysis: Russia, the MH-17 shootdown, the Dutch and Kremlin’s Requirement to Respond

Wreckage of the Flight MH-17. Dutch Openbaar Ministerie Photo

Wreckage of the Flight MH-17. Dutch Openbaar Ministerie Photo

The carefully prepared and detailed analysis released this week by Dutch authorities showing that a 9M38 anti-aircraft launched from a Buk-Telar 17 shot down the MH17 flight on July 17, 2014 is probably not a surprise to anyone. What is noteworthy is the extraordinary level of detail – even by Dutch standards – of the investigation, and the strategic choices it foists upon Vladimir Putin and his boyars in the Kremlin. Read More