A Russian strike aircraft operating over Syria. Russian Defense Ministry Photo
On Monday — less than half a year after Russia announced its intervention in Syria — President Vladimir Putin stated that beginning Tuesday, Russia would begin withdrawing “the main part” of its air forces from the country’s civil war. Read More
Russian airborne soldiers march in Moscow in 2013. photo by Vitaly V. Kuzmin
Russia’s meddling in countries along its borders “ has deep roots” and likely would continue after President Vladimir Putin finally leaves the Kremlin, an expert in political risk said Wednesday. Read More
A stumbling Russian economy does not signal any shift in Kremlin spending less on its military and internal security forces, or the beginning of widespread political upheaval, a leading Moscow economist said Monday. Read More
The following is the Feb. 9, 2016 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Read More
National Intelligence director James Clapper and Defense Intelligence Agency director Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart on Feb. 9, 2016 before the Senate Armed Services Committee. C-SPAN Image
The “most significant” threat to the United States and its allies from a non-state actor remains the Islamic State, the U.S. National Intelligence director told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday, citing its continued successful recruitment of foreign fighters and establishment of affiliates in places such as Libya. Read More
A rendering of the Project 09851 nuclear submarine Khabarovsk used with permission. H I Sutton Image
Russia’s plan to create a giant nuclear torpedo capable of wiping out a costal city could be farther along than just graphics on a briefing slide and gives purpose to a mysterious nuclear submarine, currently under construction. Read More
An AV-8B Harrier assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 162 (Reinforced), 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26th MEU), launches from the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) on Nov. 19, 2015. US Navy Photo
Naval forces resumed air strikes against the Islamic State this week after a one-month pause in participation in Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the Navy announced today. Read More
The Russian Honor Guard stand-by as part of a ceremony in 2006. U.S. DoD Photo
Although “Russia is not a rising power . . . even in military terms,” Moscow can still “disturb and do harm,” one of the nation’s leading scholars on strategy told attendees at a Center for Strategic and International Studies forum Friday. Read More
A briefing slide of the alleged Status-6 nuclear torpedo captured from Russian television via the BBC
A proposed Russian submarine launched doomsday weapon — the existence of which was almost certainly leaked by the Kremlin — gives clues to the Russian mindset for the development of new strategic weapons in the face of the West’s increasing ballistic missile defense capability and Russia’s shrinking national assets, a naval analyst told USNI News on Thursday. Read More
Russian fighters over Syria. Sputnik Photo
Russia is having its Desert Storm moment in Syria. The near-daily release of Russian fighter cockpit videos and missiles being launched from Russian ships in the Caspian Sea is making millions of Russians feel proud and strong. For instance, on Oct. 21, Russian media reported that 53 strike sorties struck 72 “terrorist targets.” Oddly those same reports are even convincing some in the United States that Russia is somehow more effective in Syria than the United States and its allies. Read More
