WAR 01-05-2019-to-01-11-2019___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

[Housecarl]

(349) 12-15-2018-to-12-21-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...2-28-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(350) 12-22-2018-to-12-28-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...2-28-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(351) 12-29-2018-to-01-04-2019___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...1-04-2019___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

------------------------------

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...-protests-in-congo/ar-BBROLSu?ocid=spartandhp

US positioning troops in Gabon to potentially respond to violent protests in Congo

By Caroline Kelly, CNN 6 hrs ago

The US has deployed approximately 80 troops to Gabon to potentially assist US citizens, personnel and diplomatic facilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo if violent protests over elections threaten their security, President Donald Trump told Congress in a letter Friday.

Most voters in Congo went to the polls Sunday -- after more than two years of delays and countless protests -- to elect the successor to President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power for 18 years. But the election's credibility has come under suspicion after ongoing delays in reporting the results.

"The first of these personnel arrived in Gabon on January 2, 2019, with appropriate combat equipment and supported by military aircraft," Trump's letter to Congress read. "Additional forces may deploy to Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or the Republic of the Congo, if necessary for these purposes."

"These deployed personnel will remain in the region until the security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo becomes such that their presence is no longer needed," the letter continued.

Trump said he sent the letter to inform Congress in order to be consistent with the War Powers Resolution. The move marks the first major deployment of US troops in a potential contingency operation under acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan.

Protests erupted in the eastern region of the country after the election was delayed until March in three cities, as the nation faces ongoing ISIS threats and a resurgence of the Ebola virus.

The State Department called on the DRC's National Independent Electoral Commission to release the results of the election and respect the "voices and votes" of those who had cast their ballots.

"We strongly urge (the commission) to ensure that votes are counted in a transparent and open manner, with observers present, and that the results reported by (the commission) are accurate and correspond to results announced at each of DRC's 75,000 polling stations," the department said in a statement.

The department also criticized late election materials and the delayed elections in the three opposition-heavy cities, which it said "disenfranchised voters."

In response to protests following the elections, the Congolese government shut down internet services on Sunday. The US Embassy in Kinshasa urged Americans to leave the country and to "remain alert for potentially dangerous situations."

A State Department travel advisory has been in place since mid-December, urging Americans to "reconsider travel" to DRC "due to crime and civil unrest."

 

[Housecarl]

Well there goes the last of that "peace dividend".....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://freebeacon.com/national-sec...recision-strike-missiles-in-western-atlantic/

Russia to Deploy Precision Strike Missiles in Western Atlantic

Kalibr cruise missiles will target Washington, East Coast cities

BY: Bill Gertz
January 4, 2019 5:00 am

Russia is deploying long-range, precision cruise missiles to the western Atlantic that American defense officials say will allow Moscow to target Washington and other East Coast cities with conventional or nuclear attacks.

Moscow is adding Kalibr land attack cruise missiles to both warships and missile submarines that Moscow plans to use in Atlantic patrols near the United States, sorties that were once routine during the Cold War.

The new sea-based Kalibr deployments are expected in the coming months, according to officials familiar with intelligence reports of the Russian maritime operations.

The land-attack version of the Kalibr, known as the SS-N-30A by NATO, is a relatively new weapon and was showcased for the first time by Moscow in attacks on Syria that began in 2015.

Russia has stated that over 100 Kalibr missile strikes were carried out against Islamic terrorists and other anti-Syrian government rebels.

The Office of Naval Intelligence in 2015 said the Kalibr is deployed on Russia's new Sverodvinsk-class nuclear attack submarine as well as older submarines and surface warships. A total of 32 Kalibrs can be launched from missile tubes on the new submarine.

Nuclear-armed Kalibrs will be deployed on Russia's new Borei-class missile submarines as well as the attack submarines.

Most of Russia's surface warships and many coastal vessels are being outfitted with the long-range missile.

The missile is considered very lethal because it flies close to the sea surface, frustrating efforts to detect and strike the missile with anti-missile systems.

"Russia plans to deploy Kalibr capability on all new design construction of nuclear and non-nuclear submarines, corvettes, frigates, and larger surface ships," the ONI said in a report, noting the missile gives even modest vessels "significant offensive capability."

"The proliferation of this capability within the new Russian Navy is profoundly changing its ability to deter, threaten or destroy adversary targets."

The missile also comes in anti-ship and anti-submarine variants.

According to ONI, the Kalibr land attack missile has a range of between 930 miles and 1,550 miles.

That range means a ship or submarine armed with Kalibrs and located 1,000 miles off the U.S. coast could target all American cities stretching from Boston to Miami and as far west as Chicago.

Kalibr is a concern for U.S. military commanders in Europe as a result of their deployment on ships and submarines in the Mediterranean and areas near Europe.

The missile has been compared to the Navy's Tomahawk cruise missile.

Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, NATO commander and commander of the European Command, told Congress last spring he is concerned about the submarine-launched Kalibr.

"The activity level of their maritime forces is up in Europe," Scaparrotti told the House Armed Services Committee, adding that the deployments were not normal.

"Most of their ships now have a Kalibr system on them," he said. "It is both conventional and can be nuclear, if they choose to do so. It's a very good system. It provides reach and precision, and, of course, wherever they have a ship, whether it's undersea or on the surface, many of their ships now have the Kalibr system on them."

Scaparrotti said the Russians are making "rapid progress" in developing the new Severodvinsk nuclear attack submarine, more capable Kilo submarines, and Kalibr cruise missiles.

Vice Adm. James Foggo III, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe, described the Kalibr as a missile "I'm very interested in."

"It's a capable weapon system and from where the Russians operate it's capable of targeting any capital in Europe," he said. "Do I think they'll do that? No, I don't, because I think that the NATO Alliance operates from a position of strength."

Foggo said it's important for the United States to know the location of Russian submarines in the European theater at all times.

Asked during a Pentagon briefing if all Russian submarines can be detected where they sail, Foggo said: "Well, I prefer not to comment on the tactical details and the operational issues. But I can tell you that we hold an acoustic advantage, and we will continue to do that. Our boats are the best in the world."

He also warned last year about the growing threat of Russian undersea warfare capabilities.

"Russia has renewed its capabilities in the North Atlantic and the Arctic in places not seen since the Cold War. For example, Russian forces have recently reoccupied seven for their former Soviet Union bases in the Arctic Circle," Foggo said.

"The improved capability of Russia to be able to project power into this [European] region and these strategic routes from the Arctic into the North Atlantic and the [Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom] Gap is something that we need to pay particular attention to."

Russian submarines, Foggo said, "today are perhaps some of the most silent and lethal in the world, with the exception of our own."

Kalibr missiles deployed on a variety of launch platforms have "shown the ability to reach pretty much all the capitals in Europe from any of the bodies of water that surround Europe."

"We know that Russian submarines are in the Atlantic, testing our defenses, confirming our command of the seas and preparing a very complex underwater battlespace to try to give them an edge in any future conflict," Foggo said Oct. 4 in a podcast. "And we need to deny them that edge."

A Navy spokesman had no comment and a spokesman for the Northern Command, which in charge of defending the U.S. homeland, also declined to comment.

Mark Schneider, a former Pentagon nuclear analyst, said the Russians have stated that the Kalibr will be a major weapons system for the Russian navy and will be dual-capable—armed with both conventional and nuclear warheads.

"The Russians say the long-range version of the Kalibr is a nuclear capable missile with a range of 2,000 or 2,500 kilometers [1,242 miles or 1,553 miles]," Schneider said.

Russian state-run media reports have identified the new Severodvinsk-class submarine with Kalibr missile as part of the strategic nuclear forces, he added.

"There is no reason it can’t be used against the U.S.," Schneider said. "Its range is comparable to the early Polaris missiles which were our strategic deterrent in the 1960s."

The Kalibr is one of two main weapons systems that Russia plans to use in any future strikes on the United States. The second is the advanced Kh-101 air-launched cruise missile that can be armed with either conventional or nuclear warheads.

The Washington Free Beacon reported in 2015 that Russian bombers practiced cruise missile strikes on the United States from launch areas off the coast of Canada in September 2014.

Last month, Russia President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow will soon deploy a new hypersonic missile capable of defeating U.S. missile defenses. The new missile called Avangard was flight tested last month and traveled at a reported Mach 30—more than 20,000 miles per hour—while maneuvering and changing altitude.

Putin has stated that Russia may produce a land-based version of the Kalibr because of the U.S. pullout from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

Also in December, Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of Russian magazine National Defense, stated that Russia could deploy its submarines close to the United States.

"Our submarines, too, might have surfaced suddenly some place in the Gulf of Mexico to shock America," Korotchenko said. "We have the corresponding forces of our submarine fleet there. We do not do that for the simple reason our purpose is not to show off in such a silly way, but to cope with the assigned tasks."

Russia claimed in state media earlier this year that in 2013 a Russian submarine sailed into the Gulf of Mexico undetected.

A Russian submarine officer asserted that an Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with Kalibr cruise missiles came within "missile strike distance from one of the main bases of American submarines," an apparent reference to the Kings Bay submarine base in Georgia.

The Free Beacon reported in 2012 that the Akula-class submarine sailed in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, the chief of naval operations at the time, Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, denied the incursion in a letter to Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas). "Based on all of the source information available to us, a Russian submarine did not enter the Gulf of Mexico," Greenert said.

The Kalibr also comes in an export version known as the Klub that are deployed in a launch cannister disguised as a shipping container, making it an ideal missile to fire from the deck of a merchant vessel.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.dw.com/en/explosion-outside-afd-office-in-eastern-germany/a-46955231


Explosion outside AfD office in eastern Germany

Police detained three people after a blast damaged the office of the far-right AfD party in the German city of Döbeln. Anti-terror investigators see the blast as an escalation following other acts of anti-AfD vandalism.

Date 04.01.2019

German authorities may soon release three suspects who were detained following a blast near the AfD's local office in Döbeln, officials said on Friday.

The men, local Germans aged 29, 32, and 50, are suspected of detonating an "unknown substance" in the street on Thursday evening.

The explosion damaged the door and windows of the AfD office and set fire to promotional materials inside, prompting firefighters to deploy to the scene. Nearby cars were reportedly also damaged. No injuries were reported.

On Friday, prosecutors said they suspected the three men were behind the attack, but added that they would not request their detention because there was insufficient grounds to do so.

"The attack against the AfD office in Döbeln is extraordinary given that the explosion meant accepting that people could be harmed," the state police said. A task force for investigating extremism and terrorism, it added, was probing Thursday's incident.

Police said there had been a series of attacks against AfD offices in the eastern state of Saxony in recent weeks, but added that most of them were limited to vandalism.

An AFD office in Saxony-Anhalt was vandalized with red paint in November
Attacks 'helps the AfD'

Saxony's Interior Minister Roland Wöller said the state would not tolerate such attacks and pledged a severe response.

"We are dealing with a completely new level of violence against politicians," he said.
Martin Dulig, Saxony's deputy prime minister and a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), condemned the attack Friday morning on Twitter.

"There's no justification for the attack on the AfD office in Döbeln," he wrote. "Violence is not a means of democracy. The AfD must be fought politically and not with explosives. This attack helps the AfD and hurts democracy."

dj,dv/sms (AFP, dpa, EPD, Reuters)
Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.

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Related Subjects Germany, Alternative for Germany party (AfD)
Keywords Germany, AfD, explosion
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Date 04.01.2019

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Instant News Alerts
‏ @InstaNewsAlerts
4h4 hours ago

#BREAKING: Pentagon Chief of Staff Kevin Sweeney has retired-@BreakingNLive

 

[night driver]

Not too many folks here really NEED this but I thought t would help those unaware....

Aesop on Gabon.

http://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2019/01/calm-down.html

Relax. Marines have been securing and evacuating embassy legations
since at least 1900, IIRC. (And that's A.D., not Hours.)

Multiple folks have sent me links to this story as though it's anything to panic about:
https://www.breitbart.com/news/us-sends-troops-for-possible-violent-congo-vote-protests/

Like we're either sending them to lick Ebola patients, and/or take over the country if the elections don't go right, with a whole 80 guys.

Guys, especially those who have zero military service, please: read the damn things before running around in circles.

"While Congo has been largely calm on and after election day, Trump’s letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said about 80 military personnel and “appropriate combat equipment” had deployed to nearby Gabon to support the security of U.S. citizens and staffers and diplomatic facilities.
More military personnel will deploy as needed to Gabon, Congo or neighboring Republic of Congo, Trump’s letter said."
Translation: if the locals lose their shit, we may have to evacuate US and other allied nationals, and would want to bolster the probably six to ten guys who constitute the entire US Embassy guard there at present.

The Marines have Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force - Crisis Response Units, as does the rest of the .Mil, to make sure what happened at the Teheran US embassy in 1979 was a one-off situation.

The personnel and equipment sent to AFRICOM were overwhelmingly augmentation to the US embassy forces and evacuation facilitators, should that become necessary, not presidential election peacekeepers. We do that all the time with the Turd World, because we have to.

They'll probably also include an SF team or three familiar with the area, to set up a secure mission control and launch site out of country on safe ground for communication, command and control, and helo and aircraft support, should any of that become necessary.

A primary contingency mission of every Marine BLT afloat is emergency embassy and dependent evac. Sending in some guys to tally heads, pre-survey routes, LZs, recon the potential hostile forces and allies, etc. and augment the small embassy detail is common sense.

There are probably also a number of additional communications personnel, both to run radios and set up additional comms, or, worst case, to help secure and/or destroy everything in the secure vault there. And a Joint Attack Controller or two, to either bring in aircraft for lifts, or to drop some hate on anyone who chooses to f*** with the American embassy or its personnel.

So take a breath, and relax. We're not conquering a country the size of Texas with 80 guys.
Besides, some of those guys are probably in the Air Farce, and they'll be just as scared if things go sideways as the other civilians. (I kid.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

Instant News Alerts
‏ @InstaNewsAlerts
1h1 hour ago

#BREAKING: In an unexpected move, #Malaysia’s King Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan steps down from the throne-@News_Executive

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-russia-naval-idUSKCN1P003M

World News January 5, 2019 / 11:16 PM / Updated 11 hours ago

Iran plans naval drills with Russia in Caspian Sea

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran and Russia are preparing to hold joint naval exercises in the Caspian Sea, including rescue and anti-piracy drills, the commander of the Iranian navy was quoted on Sunday as saying.

“Tactical, rescue and anti-piracy war games between Iranian and Russian naval forces are being planned and will be implemented in the near future,” the semi-official news agency Mehr quoted Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi as saying.

Iran and Russia have held several naval drills in the Caspian Sea, including in 2015 and 2017.

Iran and Russia have close ties, including in Syria where they both back President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s civil war.

Khanzadi reiterated Iran’s opposition to the military presence of any country from outside the region in the Caspian Sea, saying: “All countries around the Caspian have the same approach,” Mehr reported.

Russia said last year it was firmly committed to deepening ties with Iran despite a U.S. decision to quit an international nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Tehran.

Reporting by Dubai newsroom; editing by Richard Pullin

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.yahoo.com/news/egyptian-policeman-dies-trying-defuse-bomb-outside-church-054505522.html

World

Egyptian policeman killed while defusing bomb outside church

Associated Press • January 6, 2019

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Interior Ministry said a policeman was killed as he was trying to defuse an explosive device near a church in a residential Cairo district.

The ministry said the blast late on Saturday also wounded the commander of the bomb squad and another policeman. The device was in a suitcase concealed on the rooftop of a building close to the church in the Nasr City suburb in eastern Cairo, added the ministry, which oversees the police.

The blast came just two days before the Orthodox Coptic Church, the dominant denomination among Egypt's estimated 10 million Christians, celebrates Christmas. It also came a little more than a week after a roadside bomb hit a tourist bus near the Giza Pyramids, killing three Vietnamese tourists and their Egyptian driver.

Saturday's incident likely will force authorities to further tighten security around churches ahead of the Coptic Orthodox Christmas. Already, armed policemen guard churches, and security guards check the identity of visitors. Metal detectors have also been set up outside churches.

The heightened security followed a spate of attacks claimed by the Islamic State group that has targeted churches and buses carrying pilgrims to remote desert monasteries, killing more than 100 Christians over the past few years.

As was the case last year, the Coptic Christmas mass is expected to be held at a new cathedral in Egypt's new administrative capital that is being built east of Cairo.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Saturday's blast, which bore the hallmarks of IS, which spearheads an insurgency centered in the northern region of the Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt has been battling Islamic militants for years, with the army and police now engaged in an all-out campaign to eradicate them, throwing into battle tens of thousands of troops backed by armor, fighter jets, helicopter gunships and warships.

9 reactions

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3
EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
Brazil's national police deployed to curb wave of unrest (link: http://f24.my/4E8V.T) f24.my/4E8V.T via
@FRANCE24

Brazil's national police deployed to curb wave of unrest
france24.com
6:02 PM · Jan 6, 2019 · https://t.co/n9ukiEZ90m?amp=1

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3
EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
"China, China, China" - Acting US SecDef Succinctly Summarizes World's Biggest Threat | Zero Hedge

"China, China, China" - Acting US SecDef Succinctly Summarizes World's Bigggest Threat
zerohedge.com
6:03 PM · Jan 6, 2019 · https://t.co/Eq7QkJAFCC?amp=1

 

[Housecarl]

And they're off.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.france24.com/en/20190107-gabon-soldiers-seize-state-radio-shots-libreville-bongo

Gabon soldiers read message on state radio as shots heard in Libreville

Date created : 07/01/2019 - 08:20
Latest update : 07/01/2019 - 10:01

Soldiers in Gabon took control of the national radio station in the early hours of Monday and read a short statement announcing the establishment of a “National Restoration Council” in the absence of the country’s ailing president, Ali Bongo.

A New Year's address by Bongo "reinforced doubts about the president's ability to continue to carry out of the responsibilities of his office," said Lieutenant Kelly Ondo Obiang, the leader of the self-declared Patriotic Movement of the Defence and Security Forces of Gabon.

An AFP correspondent said shots were fired near the radio station in the centre of Libreville, capital of the oil-rich West African nation, with military vehicles blocking access to the site.

In a video circulating on social media, Ondo Obiang is seen in a radio studio wearing military fatigues and a green beret as he reads the statement, which was broadcast at around 4:30 am local time (5:30 am GMT). Two other soldiers with large assault rifles stand behind him.

Ondo Obiang called on the military and Gabonese youth to join his movement and occupy public buildings and airports throughout the country.

"If you are eating, stop; if you are having a drink, stop; if you are sleeping, wake up. Wake up your neighbours... rise up as one and take control of the street," he said in his radio message.

Bongo, 59, was hospitalised in October in Saudi Arabia after suffering a stroke. He has been in Morocco since November to continue treatment.

A spokesman for the presidency told Reuters he would make a statement shortly.

In his speech on New Year's, Bongo acknowledged health problems but said he was recovering. He slurred some of his words and did not move his right arm, but otherwise appeared in decent health.

In his absence, the Constitutional Court transferred part of the powers of the president to the prime minister and the vice president.

The Bongo family has ruled the oil-producing country for nearly half a century. Bongo has been president since succeeding his father, Omar, who died in 2009. His re-election in 2016 was marred by claims of fraud and violent protest.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP)

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.france24.com/en/20190106-brazils-national-police-deployed-curb-wave-unrest

Brazil's national police deployed to curb wave of unrest

Date created : 06/01/2019 - 09:49
Latest update : 06/01/2019 - 13:02

A special deployment of Brazilian troops began fanning out in the northern city of Fortaleza Saturday with orders to stop a spike in violent attacks by criminal gangs against banks, buses and shops, officials said.

By the end of the weekend, 300 soldiers will be patrolling that city and other towns in Ceara state in a bid to halt the rampage, national public security secretary Guilherme Teophilo said, according to government news agency Agencia Brasil.

The intervention is the first test of new President Jair Bolsonaro's strict law-and-order platform since he took office last Tuesday.

His justice minister ordered the deployment after concluding that Ceara police were overwhelmed. Some 50 suspects have been arrested.

The gangs terrorizing Fortaleza could be seen torching service stations in security videos aired by Brazilian media. Dozens of attacks have been registered this week, forcing residents to stay at home and leaving main roads deserted.

In one attack, explosives badly damaged a pillar supporting a flyover road in the town of Caucaia, just to the west of Fortaleza.

The triggers for the wave of violence were being investigated, but intelligence reports published by media suggested gangs were revolting against tough new measures recently imposed in the state's prisons.

The changes include blocks on cellphone signals and an end to a policy of separating inmates according to gang affiliation.

Two gangs have set aside their rivalry to join forces against the government, the G1 news website reported, citing security officials.

Bolsonaro has vowed to crack down on Brazil's rampant crime by extending immunity to soldiers and police using lethal force and easing gun laws so "good" citizens can challenge armed criminals.

The far-right president, a 63-year-old former paratrooper, has made "restoring order" a centerpiece of his four-year mandate.

'Rapid and effective'

Much of that task falls to his justice minister, Sergio Moro, a former star judge who headed up Operation Car Wash, an investigation into Brazil's biggest-ever corruption scandal.

Bolsonaro on Friday praised Moro's decision to send in troops as "apt, rapid and effective."

Ceara's governor belongs to the leftwing Workers Party which was driven into opposition by the election of Bolsonaro and his ultraconservative allies.

Brazil has the third biggest prison population in the world, behind the United States and China, with nearly 73,000 inmates as of 2016. Penitentiaries are overcrowded and prey to gangs that often viciously turn on each other.

The three gangs active in Ceara are the Red Command (CV by its initials in Portuguese) that grew out of organized criminal activity in Rio de Janeiro, the First Command of the Capital (PCC) based in Sao Paulo, and a group called the Guardians of the State (GDE).

Of those, the CV and the PCC are said to have sealed a "non-aggression" pact against each other in Ceara to focus against the government forces.

The 300 troops sent to reinforce state security forces will have a big task. Nearly 80 attacks have been reported in towns across Ceara state this week. The Brazilian state is larger than Costa Rica or Croatia.

(AFP)

 

[danielboon]

Press TV Breaking
‏

@BREAKING_PTV
6h6 hours ago
More
#China sternly warns U.S. against sailing through disputed #SouthChinaSeaPress TV Breaking
‏

@BREAKING_PTV
6h6 hours ago
More
U.S. guided-missile destroyer sails near disputed #Paracel Islands in South #China Sea

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3 Retweeted

Max Abrahms
‏
Verified account

@MaxAbrahms
6h6 hours ago
More
An attack on the Kurds is an attack on the United States, the United States tells its NATO ally, Turkey.

 

[danielboon]

ELINT News
‏

@ELINTNews
2h2 hours ago
More
#UPDATE: The US destroyer came within 12 nautical miles of the Chinese-claimed Islands on Monday in another freedom of navigation operation

 

[Housecarl]

EndGameWW3 Retweeted

Max Abrahms
‏
Verified account

@MaxAbrahms
6h6 hours ago
More
An attack on the Kurds is an attack on the United States, the United States tells its NATO ally, Turkey.

The way Erdogan is, as well as his "proxy" force, they're very likely going to have to "further explain" this to them....

 

[Zagdid]

Libya Threatens Bulgaria with Retaliation over Ship Seizure

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/art...ion-for-bulgaria-over-ship-seizure-01-08-2019 (fair use)
08 JAN 19 Martin Dimitrov BIRN Sofia

The Libyan authorities have threatened to detain all Bulgarian ships that enter its waters after a state-owned Libyan company's vessel was seized by private bailiffs off the coast of Bulgaria in December.

Bulgarian Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski told Bulgarian national television on Tuesday that the row between Bulgaria and Libya over a detained Libyan vessel is merely a "private legal matter" after Libya threatened to seize all Bulgarian ships that enter its waters.

Libya issued its threat on Monday, after a private Bulgarian security company and a bailiff, accompanied by members of the Bulgarian maritime administration and coastguard service, boarded and detained the MT Badr oil tanker on December 21, Bulgarian newspaper 24 Hours reported on Monday.

The MT Badr is owned by the General National Maritime Transport Company, GNMTC, a Libyan state company.

The 24 Hours report cited what it said was a copy of an order that it claimed was issued by the head of the Libyan maritime administration, Omar Abdella Jawsi, to the ports in his country, which was made public by Arab and Bulgarian media.

In the order, the move to seize ships is described as a reciprocal measure against the “actions of the Bulgarian authorities”.

According to the 24 Hours report, the Libyan authorities are planning on raising the case at the UN General Assembly.

However the Bulgarian authorities maintain the case is a purely commercial matter.

BIRN contacted the Libyan embassy in Sofia, but received no answer by the time of publication. The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

The MT Badr case was first reported on December 31 by investigative website Bivol.

Bivol reported that the 62,000-ton MT Badr oil tanker eventually left Bulgarian territorial waters on December 27 under a Panamanian flag, with a new name and a new crew made up of Ukrainian nationals.

In a press release issued on December 26, GNMTC claimed that the ship's seizure in Bulgaria was illegal and contradicted a Bulgarian Supreme Court ruling on the same vessel in January 2018, which ordered that the ship be released after it was held on a previous occasion.

But the port in Burgas where the ship was held ignored the ruling and required it to remain within Bulgarian waters, where it did so until December 27.

 

[danielboon]

U.S. to blame if any South China Sea clash: Chinese researcher
The warning came as Chinese and U.S. trade teams ended talks in Beijing that have raised hopes an all-out trade war could be avoided, but fears remain that strategic tension between two countries are growing.BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. naval operations in the South China Sea could spark conflict and the United States would be to blame if a clash occurred, a Chinese military researcher said on Wednesday..“Both countries warships definitely have to come into close proximity and it’s easy for there to be a misunderstanding or an error of judgment, even a collision,” Zhang Junshe, a researcher at China’s PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, told reporters.

“If there is a collision, the root cause is the United States.”

On Monday a U.S. guided-missile destroyer sailed near disputed islands the South China Sea in what China called a “provocation”, just as the trade talks began.

Zhang said whenever U.S. warships entered waters that China claimed, China had no option but to send warships to deal with them.

Since Trump took office, there have been 14 incidents of U.S. Navy vessel entering waters that China claims to carry out what the U.S. military calls freedom of navigation operations, Zhang said.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea and denounces the United States and its allies over naval operations near Chinese-occupied islands.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan have competing claims in the region.

He Lei, former vice president of China’s Academy of Military Sciences, said “foreign forces” that attempted to prevent the unification of China and Taiwan could compel Beijing to use force to bring the self-ruled island under its control. “Foreign forces that pose as world police to interfere in China’s affairs, to obstruct and damage China’s unification, are the main culprits that could force the mainland to use force to resolve the Taiwan issue,” he told reporters.

U.S. President Donald Trump last week signed into law the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, which reaffirms the U.S. commitment to Taiwan, including arms sales.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Jan. 2 said nobody could change the fact Taiwan was part of China. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...480e&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

 

[danielboon]

ELINT News Retweeted

Liveuamap MiddleEast
‏

@lummideast
32m32 minutes ago
More
Iran's Foreign Minister: Pulling out of the nuclear deal is one option but not the only option https://iran.liveuamap.com/en/2019/9-january-irans-foreign-minister-pulling-out-of-the-nuclear … via @SkyNewsArabia_B #Iran

 

[danielboon]

ISIS fighters captured by YPG near Hajin: Mohammad Dawlat, 22, Tajikistan Askar Zarmanbetov, 27, Ukraine Lucas Glaß, 31, Germany Bimuraev Begjan, 30, Russia https://isis.liveuamap.com/en/2019/9-january-isis-fighters-captured-by-ypg-near-hajin-mohammad … via @DefenseUnits

 

[danielboon]

ELINT News Retweeted

DEFCONWarningSystem Staff
‏

@Drumboy44DWS
9m9 minutes ago
More
This morning, the large landing ship "Caesar Kunikov" of Russia's Black Sea Fleet returned to the Main Base - Sevastopol

 

[danielboon]

ELINT News Retweeted

Liveuamap
‏
Verified account

@Liveuamap
6m6 minutes ago
More
A Mirage 2000D fighter jet with two on board vanished from radars in East of France https://france.liveuamap.com/en/2019/9-january-a-mirage-2000d-fighter-jet-with-two-on-board-vanished … via @airlivenet #France

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.janes.com/article/85578/china-conducts-first-jl-3-slbm-launch

Naval Weapons
China conducts first JL-3 SLBM launch
Richard Scott, London - Jane's Missiles & Rockets
08 January 2019

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has carried out a first flight test of the new JL-3 submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile (SLBM).

During the test, which was conducted on 24 November 2018, a JL-3 missile was launched from the sole Type 032 Qing-class auxiliary submarine in Bohai Bay. Reports suggest that the missile did not fly to its maximum range during the test, which was most likely focused on proving the launch tube ejection, broach, and ignition stages.

The JL-3 SLBM is intended to arm the next-generation Type 096 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) class, the first of which is expected to enter service in the late 2020s.

Want to read more? For analysis on this article and access to all our insight content, please enquire about our subscription options at ihsmarkit.com/janes

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Beyond the horizon: NSM missile homes in on Harpoon replacement market
Success in the US Navy's Over-the-Horizon Weapon System competition is set to re-energise Kongsberg's efforts to grow sales of its Naval Strike Missile worldwide. Richard Scott reports
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[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.realcleardefense.com/ar...us_middle_east_strategic_alliance_114084.html

Options for the U.S. Middle East Strategic Alliance

By Colby Connelly
January 08, 2019

Colby Connelly is an MA Candidate in Global Security Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He previously worked in Saudi Arabia for several years. He can be found on Twitter @ColbyAntonius. Divergent Options’ content does not contain information of an official nature nor does the content represent the official position of any government, any organization, or any group.

----

National Security Situation: Disunity among U.S. partners in the Persian Gulf threatens prospects for the establishment of the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA).

Date Originally Written: January 6, 2019.
Date Originally Published: January 8, 2019.

Author and / or Article Point of View: The author is a graduate student interested in U.S. security policy towards Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.

Background: The Trump Administration has expressed the intention to create a Sunni Arab alliance aimed at countering Iranian influence in the Middle East through the establishment of MESA, often referred to as the “Arab North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)[1].” Prospective MESA member states are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Jordan, and Egypt. Such an alliance would constitute a unified bloc of U.S.-backed nations and theoretically indicate to the Iranian government that a new, highly coordinated effort to counter Iranian influence in the region is taking shape.

Significance: Since the inception of the Carter Doctrine, which firmly delineates American national security interests in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. has developed extensive political, security, and economic ties with through the GCC. GCC members include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. While the Trump Administration envisions the GCC members making up the backbone of MESA, in recent years the bloc has been more divided than at any time in its history. The GCC is effectively split between Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, who favor more assertive measures to counter Iranian influence in the Middle East, and Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman, who advocate a softer approach to the Iranian question. How to approach Iranian influence is one issue among others that has contributed to the ongoing boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt since 2017. The Trump Administration has encouraged a settlement to the dispute but has made little headway.

Option #1: The Trump Administration continues to advocate for the formation of MESA.

Risk: Forming MESA is a challenge as there is no agreement among potential members regarding the threat Iran poses nor how to best address it[2]. Historically, GCC states are quicker to close ranks in the face of a commonly perceived threat. The GCC was formed in response to the Iran-Iraq war, and the bloc was most united in its apprehension to what it perceived as U.S. disengagement from the Middle East during the Obama Administration. So long as the GCC states feel reassured that the U.S. will remain directly involved in the region, they may see no need for national security cohesion amongst themselves. The ongoing GCC crisis indicates that Arab Gulf states place little faith in regional institutions and prefer bilateralism, especially where security issues are concerned. The failure of the Peninsula Shield Force to ever develop into an effective regional defense body able to deter and respond to military aggression against any GCC member is perhaps the most prolific example of this bilateralism dynamic[3].

Further, a resolution to the ongoing boycott of Qatar by GCC members would almost certainly be a prerequisite to the establishment of MESA. Even if the Qatar crisis were to be resolved, defense cooperation would still be impeded by the wariness with which these states will view one another for years to come.

Gain: The formation of a unified bloc of U.S. partner states committed to balancing Iranian influence in the Middle East may serve to deter increased Iranian aggression in the region. This balancing is of particular relevance to the Strait of Hormuz and Bab El-Mandab Strait; both of which are chokepoints for global commercial shipping that can be threatened by Iran or armed groups that enjoy Iran’s support[4]. In backing MESA, the U.S. would also bolster the strength of the relationships it already maintains with prospective member states, four of which are major non-NATO Allies. As all prospective MESA members are major purchasers of U.S. military equipment, the alliance would consist of countries whose weapons systems have degrees of interoperability, and whose personnel all share a common language.

Option #2: The Trump Administration continues a bilateral approach towards security partners in the Middle East.

Risk: Should an imminent threat emerge from Iran or another actor, there is no guarantee that U.S. partners in the region would rush to one another’s defense. For example, Egypt may be averse to a military engagement with Iran over its activities in the Gulf. This may leave the U.S. alone in defense of its partner states. A bilateral strategy may also lack some of the insulation provided by multilateral defense agreements that could dissuade adversaries like Iran and Russia from exploiting division among U.S. partners. For instance, Russia has courted Qatar since its expression of interest in purchasing the Russian S-400 air defense system, which is not interoperable with other U.S.-made systems deployed throughout the Gulf region[5].

Gain: The U.S. can use a “hub and spoke” approach to tailor its policy to regional security based on the needs of its individual partners. By maintaining and expanding its defense relationships in the Gulf, including the U.S. military presence in Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, the U.S. can ensure that both itself and its allies are equipped to handle threats as they emerge. Devoting increased resources and efforts to force development may deter Iranian aggression more so than simply establishing new regional institutions, which with few exceptions have often held a poor track record in the Middle East. An approach that favors bilateralism may sacrifice some degree of power projection, but would perhaps more importantly allow the U.S. to ensure that its partners are able to effectively expand their defense capabilities.

Other Comments: None.
Recommendation: None.

-----

This article appeared originally at Divergent Options.
Endnotes:
[1] NATO for Arabs? A new Arab military alliance has dim prospects. (2018, October 6). Retrieved from The Economist: https://www.economist.com/middle-ea...-new-arab-military-alliance-has-dim-prospects
[2] Kahan, J. H. (2016). Security Assurances for the Gulf States: A Bearable Burden? Middle East Policy, 23(3), 30-38.
[3] Bowden, J. (2017). Keeping It Together: A Historical Approach to Resolving Stresses and Strains Within the Peninsula Shield Force. Journal of International Affairs, 70(2), 134-149.
[4] Lee, J. (2018, 26 July). Bab el-Mandeb, an Emerging Chokepoint for Middle East Oil Flows. Retrieved from Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...emerging-chokepoint-for-middle-east-oil-flows
[5] Russia and Qatar discuss S400 missile deal. (2018, July 21). Retrieved from Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...s-400-missile-systems-deal-tass-idUSKBN1KB0F0

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/01/07/a-new-cold-war-has-begun/

Argument

A New Cold War Has Begun

The United States and China will be locked in a contest for decades. But Washington can win if it stays more patient than Beijing.

By Robert D. Kaplan | January 7, 2019, 6:27 PM

In June 2005, I published a cover story in the Atlantic, “How We Would Fight China.” I wrote that, “The American military contest with China … will define the twenty-first century. And China will be a more formidable adversary than Russia ever was.” I went on to explain that the wars of the future would be naval, with all of their abstract battle systems, even though dirty counterinsurgency fights were all the rage 14 years ago.

That future has arrived, and it is nothing less than a new cold war: The constant, interminable Chinese computer hacks of American warships’ maintenance records, Pentagon personnel records, and so forth constitute war by other means. This situation will last decades and will only get worse, whatever this or that trade deal is struck between smiling Chinese and American presidents in a photo-op that sends financial markets momentarily skyward. The new cold war is permanent because of a host of factors that generals and strategists understand but that many, especially those in the business and financial community who populate Davos, still prefer to deny. And because the U.S.-China relationship is the world’s most crucial—with many second- and third-order effects—a cold war between the two is becoming the negative organizing principle of geopolitics that markets will just have to price in.....(paywall issues...HC)

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://news.usni.org/2019/01/08/navy-quietly-fires-20-hyper-velocity-projectiles-destroyers-deckgun

Navy Quietly Fires 20 Hyper Velocity Projectiles Through Destroyer’s Deckgun

By: Sam LaGrone
January 8, 2019 12:42 PM

Last summer USS Dewey (DDG-105) fired 20 hyper velocity projectiles (HVP) from a standard Mk 45 5-inch deck gun in a quiet experiment that’s set to add new utility to the weapon found on almost every U.S. warship, officials familiar with the test have told USNI News.

The test, conducted by the Navy and the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office as part of the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2018 international exercise, was part of a series of studies to prove the Navy could turn the more than 40-year-old deck gun design into an effective and low-cost weapon against cruise missiles and larger unmanned aerial vehicles.

While the HVP was originally designed to be the projectile for the electromagnetic railgun, the Navy and the Pentagon see the potential for a new missile defense weapon that can launch a guided round at near-hypersonic speeds.

Currently, the fleet uses a combination of missiles – like the Evolved Seasparrow Missile, the Rolling Airframe Missile and the Standard Missile 2 – to ward off cruise missile threats. The missiles are effective but also expensive, Bryan Clark with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments told USNI News on Monday.

In 2016, guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG-87) fired three missiles to ward off two suspected Iranian cruise missiles fired from Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, in what amounted to a multi-million dollar engagement.

“So if you think about the kinds of threats you might face in the Middle East, the lower-end cruise missiles or a larger UAV, now you have a way to shoot them down that doesn’t require you use a $2 million ESSM or $1 million RAM because a hyper velocity projectile – even in the highest-end estimates have it in the $75,000 to $100,000 range, and that’s for the fanciest version of it with an onboard seeker,” he said.

An added benefit of using HVP in powder guns is the gun’s high rate of fire and a large magazine capacity.

“You can get 15 rounds a minute for an air defense mission as well as a surface-to-surface mission,” Clark said. “That adds significant missile defense capacity when you think that each of those might be replacing a ESSM or a RAM missile. They’re a lot less expensive.”

The HVP is also being investigated to use with ground-based 155mm artillery pieces for the Army and the Marines to provide limited air defense options for forward-deployed troops in austere environments. HVPs could also find a home aboard the Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyers as a replacement round for the classes 155mm Advanced Gun System.

While officials confirmed to USNI News that the RIMPAC test was unclassified, both the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Office of Naval Research would not acknowledge the test when asked by USNI News. A spokeswoman for OSD referred USNI News to the Navy.

“I don’t have anything for you,” an ONR spokesman told USNI News on Monday. HVP manufacturer BAE Systems referred USNI News to the Navy when contacted.
In 2016, William Roper, who then headed the SCO, said the promise of ONR’s HVP work had been recognized by the Navy and the Army and changed the way the Pentagon office thought about the evolution of the railgun.

“We now think that we can do pretty revolutionary things with existing powder guns – think howitzers, Paladins, the Navy’s five-inch guns. We’ve shifted emphasis to that,” Roper said during a 2016 talk at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“We have [more than] a 1,000 powder guns, we have very few railguns.”

Updated: Navy Researching Firing Mach 3 Guided Round from Standard Deck Guns
June 1, 2015
In "Budget Industry"

Pentagon: New Rounds For Old Guns Could Change Missile Defense for Navy, Army
July 18, 2016
In "Budget Industry"

NAVSEA Details At Sea 2016 Railgun Test on JHSV Trenton
April 14, 2015
In "Budget Industry"


Comments


RunningBear • 26 minutes ago
The 2018 congressional report addressed the Gun Launched Guided Projectile/ GLGP where it revised the term Hyper Velocity Projectile/HVP from the Railgun program at $85k each. " Mission performance will vary from gun system, launcher, or ship. HVP’s low drag aerodynamic design enables high velocity, maneuverability, and decreased time-to-target. These attributes coupled with accurate guidance electronics provide low cost mission effectiveness against current threats and the ability to adapt to air and surface threats of the future."
These shipboard, multiple demonstrations of the lower cost GLGP is representative of the various calibers where the USN has 113+ barrels of the 5" MK45 Mod2/4, and the US Army/Marines have 1,100+ barrels of the 155mm/6".
My favorite is in one opinion column reference; "It takes 300 seconds to pick up such a launched missile’s signature, the missile must be tracked and a vector calculated for defensive projectiles. A single 25-pound projectile can dispense more than 500 three-gram tungsten impactors and be fired at hypervelocity by "electromagnetic" energy. Their impact force—their mass times the square of their velocity—can destroy expensive missiles and multiple warheads." Obviously, the 5" would be a subset of these. Couple the GLGP with the ability to network the various sensor technologies from aircraft and shipboard radars and the detection, tracking and final guidance would be greatly enhanced by CEC and NIFC-CA.
The Silver Bullet has arrived and revitalized the lowly 5" naval cannon.
IMHO
Fly Navy


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waveshaper1 RunningBear • 13 minutes ago
That's a great source of info on this subject; The way I understand it "now" after reading this source is (I could be wrong); The round fired out of the MK45 is now classified as a "GLGP" due to it not having a high enough muzzle velocity/velocity (fps) to meet the requirement/standard to be classified as a HVP? On the other hand, the same round fired from a Railgun has more then enough velocity to be classified as a HVP?


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ElmCityAle • 21 hours ago
If the new tech works and is cost-effective, the Mk 45 might have a valuable purpose for the first time in many years. It's utility in combat has been quite limited, the only real target being the Iranian platforms decades ago and it's efficacy arguable even for that mission.

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ARCNA442 ElmCityAle • 21 hours ago
The Mk 45 put in some good work off Lebanon as well, but for the last couple of decades it really has been little more than a relic of an age when plentiful land attack missiles didn't exist.

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navweap • a day ago
What all the fuzz is about?
The HVP is just a fancy name for a typical sub-caliber or armor-piercing rounds, such as tungsten-made APFSDS. The APFSDS are routinely fired at "hypervelocities" up to 1700 m/s (Mach=5) from a standard smooth-bore guns, such as M256.
Or, maybe, the contractors are just trying to squeeze more money from the govennment pretending they did invent a new "game-changing" wunderwaffe? )

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Marauder 2048 navweap • a day ago
Yeah...all of those guided AFPSDS rounds out there. Just tons of those with onboard seekers!

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navweap Marauder 2048 • 21 hours ago
No guided HVP version exists yet, so it is not much different from a standard APFSDS rod.
Yes, there are plans to made it guided, but the cost is likely to be on par with Excalibur. But its impact energy would likely be less than the blast energy of Excalibur - just because it is designed to have smaller or no bursting charge inside. So what is an advantage of HVP, except having higher muzzle velocity than of Excalibur (but still less than of APFSDS)?


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Marauder 2048 navweap • 21 hours ago
There are no plans for a production unguided HVP beyond the inert, purely ballistic slugs used for testing.
"Yes, there are plans to made it guided, but the cost is likely to be on par with Excalibur. "
As ably set out in the article. RAM Block II, ESSM, Standard etc are substantially more expensive.
" So what is an advantage of HVP, except having higher muzzle velocity"
What's the advantage of a high muzzle velocity AAW guided weapon? Uh..


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navweap Marauder 2048 • 20 hours ago
You probably missed the point - there is NOTHING "revolutionary" in such design of sub-caliber rounds, except adding the guiding capabilities. But this is not something unique - just look at the Vulcano rounds (actually, they even have larger bursting charge than proposed for HVP).
And for the AAW mission - don't compare HVP to ESSM etc, because
the HVP would have only passive flight-control system (by fins) which has limited capabilities for fast maneuvering in comparison with missiles.


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Marauder 2048 navweap • 16 hours ago
Tell us more about those other guided, conical, moving tail fin, sub-caliber hypervelocity rounds.


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navweap Marauder 2048 • 15 hours ago
What's so fancy about conical? It is a standard shape, I would be more amazed to see something like this:
apps. dtic. mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a054735.pdf


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Marauder 2048 navweap • 10 hours ago
"What's so fancy about conical? It is a standard shape"
Then feel free to name some guided gun launched projectiles of that form.


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Bubblehead Marauder 2048 • 21 hours ago
That is what the article didn't address. Was the USN firing nothing but APFSDS rounds or did they actually fire hyper Velocity that were guided. Big difference.
You have to wonder what type of guidance the USN is looking at initially? IR? Radar?


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Centaurus navweap • 18 hours ago
Let's all praise that Kinetic Energy = 1/2 M x V squared

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Curtis Conway navweap • a day ago
That Mk45 is a rifled barrel too.


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Duane • 13 hours ago
Having a precision guided round for the 5 in gun is itself the major benefit ... particularly if it is capable of engaging moving targets. The hyper velocity aspect mostly affects range and payload ... i.e., longer and lesser, respectively.
As of today, the only naval gun capable of engaging moving targets with precision guided rounds is the Mk 110 57 mm using either ORKA or ALAMO shells.

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ARCNA442 Duane • 11 hours ago
The Italians have the DART round for their 76mm as well.


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Duane ARCNA442 • 4 hours ago
OK, then I qualify that by saying that the 57mm is the only naval gun round with bi-modal precision targeting against moving targets. DART is single mode, RF only.
ORKA and ALAMO are both capable of hitting moving targets, using a combination of either laser guided or imaging IR.


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Bravo Zulu • a day ago
Not only are these puppies fast and accurate but they are also silent...

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Mark Keller • 39 minutes ago
Wow that makes way too much sense! Can't believe that the Navy went for it?


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RobM1981 • an hour ago
"Navy quietly fires 20 hyper velocity projectiles..."
Something tells me that it wasn't all that quiet.


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windell • an hour ago
I'm amazed at all the weapons experts on here.


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TeXan1111 • an hour ago
Let's mark for T5 Canon system will be very effective if we can get it to shoot a thousand rounds a minute similar to our Phalanx Cannon system. Otherwise it's just like flushing hundred dollar bills down the toilet. When the porter was attacked with a single silkworm missile, all of the essm and SM to muscles missed the advanced silkworm muscle Heaven Help Us if we have an attack by an advanced country more advanced than Somalia or Hootie


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RTColorado • 2 hours ago
....less expensive alternative to ESSM or RAM....at $ 75,000 to $ 100,000 at pop (like any contractor is going to sell them to the Navy at $ 75,000) it's an unguided round that will require several rounds fired to obtain a hit...so, why not send an ESSM/RAM and skip spending the time money and effort developing a round no one is going to trust their ship's defense to when they have ESSM/RAM on board.


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Paladin • 3 hours ago
Nothing gets all the "weapons engineers" who comment on your site more excited than a new item that they can weigh-in on. Thanks Sam, some of us are interested in following this development.


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Rocco • 15 hours ago
I guess the author ( Sam ) is not aware that only one class of ship uses the 5 " gun!! Except the few Ticos left in service. 57mm anyone!!! Here Duane Duane!!


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USNVO Rocco • 14 hours ago
The Few Ticos? So 22 of 27 constructed is few?
And as for the Burkes, there are almost a hundred in service or planned for. So there are more 5in gunned ship in service now than at anytime since the massive decommissioning of the Knox class frigates started in 1991.

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Matthew Schilling • 20 hours ago
Why does the Navy use a 5" gun vs. a more standard 155 mm?
If HVP rounds will make the gun more useful (vs. a "relic" as someone called it below) then would upgrading to 155 mm make sense? It would mean an approx 20% larger shell, which should mean more range and more impact. (Of course, a larger shell might mean a smaller inventory)


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ARCNA442 Matthew Schilling • 20 hours ago
Because 5" has been the standard Navy caliber since 1921, when the Army was still using 75mm, and the current 5" round actually dates from 1950, when the Army was using 105mm. You have to have a pretty good reason to abandon a round that has been in service that long - especially since ships last 30+ years so you will be dealing with two separate supply lines for decades after the change.
Second, Navy 155mm ammo wouldn't be compatible with Army 155mm ammo because Navy guns are automated and fire metallic cased ammo while Army guns are manually operated and use powder bags. So the standardization would be in name only (as discovered with Zumwalt, which does use 155mm guns).
Third, if you are going bigger, why not keep going and bump up to 8" (or even larger)? That will bring even more firepower and ships are big enough to handle it with ease.

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Matthew Schilling ARCNA442 • 13 hours ago
(Actually, I think the Navy should have 8" guns in the fleet today)

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Phil Gardocki ARCNA442 • 2 hours ago
The fleet built a test 8" gun and put it on the USS Hull. The gun was too powerful, and wound up working it's way backwards through the frames. So the structure of of the ship has to be taken into account. You can't just drop a bigger gun in.


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Rocco Matthew Schilling • 15 hours ago
No because a gun that large wouldn't fit on Berk class ship! DD


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USNVO Rocco • 14 hours ago
Hardly, the MK71 8in gun was tested on the USS HULL (DD-945) which isn't even half the displacement of the DDG-51 and was designed to fit in the same footprint as the MK45. There have also been a proposed lite version of the AGS that could replace the MK45 without issue. The biggest concern has always been the cost and logistics of any change over to a new gun.

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Hugh USNVO • 4 hours ago
And recoil and structural strength? The Germans reportedly had issues when they trialled a 155mm tank turret on one of their ships some years ago.


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USNVO Hugh • 2 hours ago
It is possible of course, but there is plenty of space for it.
The MK71 was designed as a naval mount, specifically to fit in the space needed for a MK42 or MK45 as opposed to being an army howitzer mounted in the space of a 76mm gun. It was tested on the HULL (a ship less than half the displacement as the DDG-51) without any unsurmountable issues and was planned to be fitted to the SPRUANCE class (forward mount) until the program was cancelled.
The MK71 wasn't cancelled because it wasn't working, by all accounts it worked fine during trials and the three years it was carried on the ship.

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David Oldham Hugh • 3 hours ago
The Germans have issues keeping their ships working......

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Matthew Schilling David Oldham • an hour ago
Unfortunately, we don't have much room for acting superior in that regard.


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Ed L • 20 hours ago
Buy buy buy. On the second thought maybe the Taiwanese can make them cheaper for us.


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Corporatski Kittenbot 2.0 • a day ago
Anyone know what speed a conventional round leaves the 5" barrel at?


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ARCNA442 Corporatski Kittenbot 2.0 • 21 hours ago
2750 fps for the 5"/62 or 2650 fps for the 5"/54


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Corporatski Kittenbot 2.0 ARCNA442 • 19 hours ago
Cool... thanks.
So, about mach 2.4
So, this more-or-less doubles the velocity of the standard round.
Possibly useful, but I'm unsure its a game changer.


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USNVO Corporatski Kittenbot 2.0 • 13 hours ago
If you can get mach 4 at the muzzle with a guided round, you can easily average Mach 2+ plus out to the horizon. That is about what you get with ESSM. If the price is as low as they seem to think is possible (roughly 1/20 the cost or less than ESSM), that potentially makes air defense dramatically better. If nothing else, it dramatically improves the effectiveness of you gun in air defense missions over VT-frag or VT-IR.

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ARCNA442 Corporatski Kittenbot 2.0 • 19 hours ago
I don't think the speed is really the selling point compared to the 50+ mile range that speed gives.


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LT Rusty ARCNA442 • 16 hours ago
50+ mile range is only interesting if you can do something useful at the end of it, and that means a payload. The high MV needed for 50+ mile range also makes indirect fire rather problematic...

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Duane LT Rusty • 4 hours ago
That depends upon the effects you're trying to achieve. A "useful payload" to damage a ship target is one thing .. to damage or destroy an incoming ASCM is another thing.


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waveshaper1 ARCNA442 • 17 hours ago
That's kind-of slow. Just one of many examples; The standard M1 tank, 120mm smoothbore, HVP (APFSDS) rounds have a muzzle velocity of 5000 fps to 5700 fps (depends on the round) and we have been using these rounds for decades. The same type muzzle velocities (5,000 plus fps) are typical of Russian smoothbore APFSDS rounds and other western countries smoothbore APFSDS rounds. Heck, the Russian 125mm 3VBM3/3BM9/10 smoothbore, APFSDS round, entered service way back in 1962 and it has a muzzle velocity of over 5900 fps. Also, the 125mm 3BM69 smoothbore, APFSDS round (one of the newer Russian rounds/entered service in 2005) has a muzzle velocity of over 6725 fps.


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ARCNA442 waveshaper1 • 16 hours ago
You can't really compare smoothbore tank gun that fires a 10# dart with a rifled naval gun firing 70# shells. Subcaliber rounds can go really fast, but raw speed doesn't mean much outside of defeating armor and it comes at the cost of payload, which is much more important for sinking ships and bombarding shore targets. Indeed it is still a real question whether the HVP will carry a meaningful payload.

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waveshaper1 ARCNA442 • 16 hours ago
Folks don't realizes that there are some limitations to payloads that can be carried by HVP rounds due to their high muzzle velocities (5,000 fps plus). Here's a few real world LIMFACs; Most warhead explosive fillers/fuze explosive components can't handle the shock of such a high muzzle velocity (main charge/booster/detonators/relays/delays/etc/etc). Also, Gun barrel rifling and projectile rotating bands tend to limit muzzle velocity (example Mk45).


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navweap waveshaper1 • 15 hours ago
Another limitation is the available volume for a bursting charge - because the density of explosives is much less than that of tungsten fragments inside the shell. According to published data, the HVP would have no more than 2 lbs of explosives, which is roughly 4 times less than the conventional rounds of Mk45.
To put more HE inside the shell will require bigger volume - and a bigger diameter, which would lead to a higher air resistance and faster deceleration of the "hypervelocity" rounds. For example, the effective range of APFSDS (with 1.1" rod) is ca.~10,000 ft for a muzzle velocity of 5,500 fps.


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Marauder 2048 navweap • 9 hours ago
It's around 4200 fps from the 5 inch/62 cal powder guns.
AAW weapons typically have bursting charges proportional to their
average miss distance.


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[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.longwarjournal.org/arch..._term=Editorial - Military - Early Bird Brief

Counterterrorism strikes in Somalia continue, despite reports of a drawdown

By Bill Roggio | January 8, 2019 | admin@longwarjournal.org | @billroggio

Map

US counterterrorism operations against al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia show no signs of slowing down despite a report last week that said the Pentagon plans to reduce its role there. The US military has launched four airstrikes against Shabaab during the first week of 2018.

US Africa Command, which directs operations against Shabaab – al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia and East Africa – announced that it launched two strikes against Shabaab fighters and killed four of them as they attacked Somali forces near Baqdaad just north of Mogadishu on Jan. 7. AFRICOM killed six fighters near Dheerow Sanle on Jan. 6, and 10 more in the same area on Jan. 3.

AFRICOM has continued the increased pace of attacks against Shabaab, as well as the Islamic State’s network in Somalia, which began after the Trump administration recognized the growing threat of terrorist groups in the country. In 2017, the US launched 31 attacks against Shabaab and four more against the Islamic State. The total number of strikes in 2017 was greater than the combined number against Shabaab (30) for the previous eight years, according to data compiled by FDD’s Long War Journal.

That number grew to 47 in 2018; all of the operations targeted Shabaab, which is the dominant terrorist insurgency group operating in Somalia.

The increased pace of attacks against Shabaab flies in the face of an NBC News report that indicated that the Pentagon “plans to scale back its role in Somalia and curtail airstrikes against al-Shabab insurgents after having taken out many of the group’s senior operatives.” The NBC News report, which was officially denied by the Pentagon, coincided with a Trump administration-ordered withdrawal from Syria and a planned reduction of US forces in Afghanistan.

The report quoted one unnamed official as saying that “we’re running out of targets” in Somalia. Unfortunately, that could not be further from the truth. Despite the increased targeting of Shabaab over the last few years, there is no evidence to support the assertion that Shabaab’s insurgency has been abated or its leadership cadre has been depleted.

Shabaab continues to maintain an effective insurgency, controls large rural areas in southern and central Somalia, and continues to threaten Somali cities and towns. The two strikes which took place yesterday and targeted Shabaab fighters as they attacked Somali troops occurred just 18 miles northwest of Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

 

[Housecarl]

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...-government-thinks-so/?utm_term=.aa1f4fbcbc49

Did Iran plot four attacks in Europe? The Dutch government thinks so.

By Adam Taylor
January 8 at 12:55 PM

The European Union imposed sanctions on Iran’s intelligence ministry and two Iranian nationals on Tuesday as the Dutch government accused Iran of likely involvement in two assassination plots in the Netherlands.

The allegations were contained in a letter released by the Dutch government to parliament. The letter indicates Iran is suspected in at least four assassination and bomb plots in Europe since 2015, which will probably bolster the Trump administration’s calls for greater international isolation of Tehran.

The investigations of the two killings led to the expulsion of two Iranian diplomats from the Netherlands in June 2018, the letter said, a move that was not disclosed at the time. The diplomats were not expelled over any confirmed personal involvement in the killings, the letter stated, “but as a clear signal that the Netherlands regards Iran’s probable involvement in these serious cases as unacceptable.”

According to the letter, signed by Foreign Minister Stef Blok and Interior Minister Kajsa Ollongren, Iranian officials denied any involvement in the killings when contacted.

AIVD, the Dutch domestic intelligence service, said the first incident occurred in the city of Almere, near Amsterdam, in December 2015. It said a man named Ali Motamed, 56, was shot at point-blank range by two people. The killing initially surprised neighbors: Motamed was an electrician who apparently lived a quiet life with his wife and son.

But the Dutch newspaper Het Parool reported last year that, according to court documents, Motamed was living under an assumed name. His real name was Mohammad Reza Kolahi, and he had been sentenced to death in absentia in Iran in connection with organizing a 1981 bombing of the Islamic Republican Party’s headquarters in Tehran. The attack killed more than 70 people, including the No. 2 figure in the newly established Islamic republic of Iran, Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammed Beheshti.

Het Parool reported Kolahi entered the Netherlands as a refugee in the 1980s and the Dutch government was not aware of his alleged involvement in the 1981 bombing until his death. The two suspects in his killing were Dutch criminals without connections to the local Iranian community.

The second killing identified in the letter occurred in The Hague in November 2017. In that incident, 52-year-old Ahmad Mola Nissi, the founder of an Arab nationalist movement in the Iranian province of Khuzestan, was shot in front of his home.

Nissi’s daughter blamed his death on the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. “Europe seems safe, but be careful,” Hawra Ahmad Nissi told Reuters in an interview. “The conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran is not confined to the Middle East. It is spreading into Europe.”

The letter also identified two alleged acts of Iranian interference in other E.U. nations.

The first was a thwarted bomb plot in Paris intended to target a huge rally led by the Iranian dissident group Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK). The gathering was attended by thousands of people, including Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney. French President Emmanuel Macron has said Iran was probably behind the plot, but he suggested not all sections of the Iranian government may have been aware of it.

“As you know, Iran is sometimes divided into different factions and tensions, and so I can’t say today whether the order came from the top or from this [security] service or that division,” Marcon told France 24 television in October.

The Dutch letter also describes a foiled assassination in Denmark local authorities uncovered in September. The alleged target in the plot was a member of the same Arab separatist movement as Nissi.

At the time, Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called the alleged Iranian action “totally unacceptable” and wrote on Twitter “further actions against Iran will be discussed in the E.U.”

On Tuesday, the European Union agreed to sanction the Iranian government over its alleged involvement in the plots. The sanctions will freeze financial assets in the bloc that belong to a unit of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security and two Iranian nationals.

Security analysts have said that Iran, under domestic and international pressure, appears to be stepping up its intelligence operations around the world and perhaps even making contingency plans in case of open conflict. The Trump administration, which pulled out of a 2015 nuclear accord with Iran last year, has been trying to rally European powers to push back against Iran.

“Europe isn’t immune to Iran-backed terrorism,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote on Twitter in July. “At the same time the regime is trying to convince Europe to stay in the Iran Deal, it’s plotting terrorist attacks in Europe.”

In their letter, Blok and Ollongren said the E.U. sanctions on Iran and the ongoing criminal investigations of the alleged plots were not related to the Iran nuclear accord: “As long as Iran fulfills its obligations under the deal, the European Union will do the same.”

Read more:
Iran’s supreme leader reveals private letter Trump sent to Arab allies

Trump’s remarks that Middle Eastern states ‘wouldn’t last a week’ without U.S. cause anger in the region

Foiled Paris bomb plot raises fears that Iran is planning attacks in Europe

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[Housecarl]

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-military-parade-several-killed-idUSKCN1P40N9

World News January 9, 2019 / 11:23 PM / Updated an hour ago

Yemen's Houthi drones strike government military parade, several killed

2 Min Read

ADEN (Reuters) - Houthi drones on Thursday attacked a Yemeni government military parade in Lahaj province, killing several people, Saudi and Houthi media reported.

The parade was taking place inside a military base in al-Anad district when a loud explosion rocked the area, eyewitnesses said, adding high-ranked officials including Yemen’s deputy chief of staff were wounded in the attack.

Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV said five were killed and several were injured. The Houthi’s Al-Masirah TV said the attack targeted “the leadership of the invaders.”

A military source said the attack targeted the podium where officials were sitting.

It was unclear if military officials were present from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the two Gulf states leading a coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The Houthis said in November they were halting drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and their Yemeni allies, but tensions have risen recently over how to implement a U.N.-sponsored peace deal.

The Iranian-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-backed government agreed to a ceasefire in the strategic port city of Hodeidah and to withdraw forces at peace talks in Sweden in December following months of diplomacy and Western pressure to end the nearly four-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands of people.

But its implementation has stalled as the agreement did not spell out who would control Hodeidah city after the troop withdrawal.

Reporting By Mohammed Ghobari and Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Toby Chopra

 

[Housecarl]

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https://www.hindustantimes.com/anal...much-strain/story-tbjRJj1fXb9UzDZCbymu6I.html

Why is India’s no first use policy under so much strain?

China’s rise, Pakistan’s clever use of terrorists and India’s access to better technology have diluted the no first use consensus.

Analysis Updated: Jan 10, 2019 07:26 IST

Kunal Singh

In 2014, the election manifesto of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) included a promise to “revise and update” India’s nuclear doctrine. It gave rise to speculations that the Narendra Modi government, upon being elected, would consider revoking India’s pledge of no first use (NFU) of nuclear weapons. In an interview to ANI, Modi quelled those speculations by asserting that NFU won’t be revoked. “No first use is a reflection of our cultural inheritance,” Modi added.

Not just a politician like Modi, but scholars too had once tried to explain India’s nuclear posture using arguments of culture. Rajesh Basrur, an expert on South Asian security, had argued that minimalism and restraint are part of India’s “nuclear-strategic culture”. Culture can certainly be one of the factors but nuclear postures are first and foremost decided on the basis of structural realities.

As another scholar, Kanti Bajpai, argued in a 2000 paper, India’s nuclear posture after the 1998 tests evolved through a debate between three different schools of nuclear thinking: rejectionism; pragmatism; and maximalism. The final posture corresponds to the school which is more aligned with structural realities at that point of time. That India chose NFU in its draft nuclear doctrine (1999) and official nuclear doctrine (2003) was a result of structural factors favouring pragmatists.

However, in recent times, we have seen a number of statements from sitting and retired senior members of the nuclear security establishment questioning the NFU policy. No less than the then defence minister, Manohar Parrikar, expressed doubts over the utility of NFU in November 2016. Most recently, Lt Gen (retd.), BS Nagal , former commander-in-chief of the Strategic Forces Command, has called the NFU policy a “formula for disaster” and argued for dropping it forthwith.

It is true that India still officially sticks to a NFU policy but it is hard to deny that the consensus around NFU has weakened and that the maximalist position has grown stronger.

How have structural factors diluted the NFU consensus? In three ways.

First, NFU policy suits a power which wants to deter just nuclear wars. In other words, if a nuclear weapons state is comfortably placed on a conventional (or, more broadly, non-nuclear) front with respect to its adversaries, it does not need to threaten first use of its nuclear bombs. India was, and continues to remain, a stronger conventional power compared to Pakistan. While China was conventionally stronger, India felt somewhat protected due to difficult terrain on the Himalayan border. Now, China’s impressive infrastructure and massive military modernisation have effectively eroded the Himalayan buffer. Now, the conventional disparity between India and China is not just huge but also more palpable. This is putting immense pressure on India’s NFU policy.

Second, India’s conventional advantage has been blunted by Pakistan through a clever use of sub-conventional assets (read terrorists) and threat of using tactical nuclear weapons against any Indian conventional response to a 26/11 type of an attack. India’s nuclear doctrine, that professes massive retaliation even against use of midget nukes, does not help. Pre-emptive counterforce (CF) strikes, if they can be executed, seem to be a way out of this problem. Nagal has openly advocated this strategy and Shivshankar Menon, the former national security advisor, has indicated openness to the idea.

Third, India today has access to much better technology than it had in 2003 when it released its nuclear doctrine. In their forthcoming paper, “India’s Counterforce Temptations”, two US-based scholars, Christopher Clary and Vipin Narang, list out the technologies that enable a CF posture for India. New Delhi now has more missiles and more accurate ones. It has high quality surveillance platforms. It can access commercially available remote sensing technologies. It is developing MIRVs (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) and investing in missile and air defence systems. While most of these developments may be relevant for China, they also make India more capable than ever before of executing CF strikes against Pakistan. However, it should be noted at this point that India is still a long way away from possessing the capability of executing successful CF strikes. And it may never reach there because Pakistan is rapidly increasing its arsenal size and improving the survivability of its nuclear weapons.

India’s solid fuel missiles have enabled it to move towards canisterised systems for storing its land-based ballistic missiles. Such systems can reduce turnaround times — earlier India used to rely on physical separation of components to prevent unauthorised use — and hence are suitable even for pre-emptive strikes in case the rival is shown to be readying its nuclear assets for use. Canisterisation has further enabled India’s nuclear deterrent to move to the seas. With INS Arihant, a nuclear propelled ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), India has a credible sea-based deterrent. With a couple of more SSBNs, it can boast of a genuine nuclear triad. But SSBNs involve pre-mating of warheads with ballistic missiles, and hence increase the strain on command and control, especially with the NFU policy intact. Both canisterisation and sea-based deterrence thus increase the strain on NFU policy.

These three changes have created a more propitious ground for nuclear maximalists. There is no single strategic culture that is immune to changes in structural realities.

kunal.singh@htlive.com

First Published: Jan 10, 2019 07:26 IST

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3
EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
China Activates "Ship Killer" Dong-Feng Missiles After US Navy Buzzes Disputed Islands | Zero Hedge

China Activates "Ship Killer" Dong-Feng Missiles After US Navy Buzzes Disputed Islands
zerohedge.com
9:35 PM · Jan 9, 2019 · https://t.co/STZVlXgWqx?amp=1

 

[Housecarl]

EndGameWW3
EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
China Activates "Ship Killer" Dong-Feng Missiles After US Navy Buzzes Disputed Islands | Zero Hedge

China Activates "Ship Killer" Dong-Feng Missiles After US Navy Buzzes Disputed Islands
zerohedge.com
9:35 PM · Jan 9, 2019 · https://t.co/STZVlXgWqx?amp=1

------

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https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019...g-feng-missiles-after-us-navy-buzzes-disputed

China Activates "Ship Killer" Dong-Feng Missiles After US Navy Buzzes Disputed Islands

by Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 21:35

China has activated its "ship killer" Dong Feng ballistic missiles after a US navy ship traveled within 12 nautical miles of the Parcel Islands "to challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access to the waterways as governed by international law," according to a US Pacific Fleet Spokesman.

https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/china dongs.JPG?itok=yMUMfBk8

In the 1990s, China laid claim to all of the Parcel Islands using a straight baseline around the entire archipelago, which it has labeled the Xisha Islands. The boundary is not recognized by international maritime law, while Vietnam and Taiwan have also laid claim to the islands.


The USS McCampbell (DDG-85) passed by the disputed island on Monday, during which "The Chinese side immediately sent military vessel and aircraft," according to China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Lu Kang, adding that they warned the ship to leave."

The deployment of the DF-26 missiles was reported by China's state-controlled Global Times, which tweeted a montage of brave and loyal Chinese servicemen driving Xi's Dongs to various locations in China set to the theme song of your average 1990s action movie. The missiles will not be positioned near the Taiwan Strait or the actual disputed islands - instead, the truck-mounted weapons have been sent to China's more remote plateau and desert areas.

"A mobile missile launch from deep in the country’s interior is more difficult to intercept," said an expert quoted by the Global Times, who claimed that the DF-26 has a range of 4500km, more than enough to cover the entire South China Sea.

"The DF-26 is China’s new generation of intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of targeting medium and large ships at sea," warned the Times," adding "It can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads."

"During the initial phase of a ballistic missile launch, the missile is relatively slow and not difficult to detect, making it an easier target for enemy antimissile installations. After the missile enters a later stage, its speed is so high that chances for interception are significantly lower," reads the report - which points out that it could hit a US naval base in Guam - located in the middle of the Pacific.

"The report is a good reminder that China is capable of safeguarding its territory," reads the report.

Another video of the DF-21D set to yet more action movie music shows a CGI simulation of the Dong-Feng unsheathing at high altitude before its warhead reenters the earth's atmosphere and decimates a fleet of ships with what appears to be a nuclear blast.

The US Navy's territorial test came weeks after Australian media published details from a speech by one of China's leading military commanders where he recommended sinking two US aircraft carriers to resolve the ongoing territorial dispute.

During a wide-ranging speech on the state of Sino-US relations, Rear Admiral Lou Yuan told a Shenzhen audience that the current trade spat was 'definitely not simply friction over economics and trade," but a "prime strategic issue."

His speech, delivered on December 20 to the 2018 Military Industry List summit, declared that China’s new and highly capable anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles were more than capable of hitting US carriers, despite them being at the centre of a ‘bubble’ of defensive escorts.

“What the United States fears the most is taking casualties,” Admiral Lou declared.
He said the loss of one super carrier would cost the US the lives of 5000 service men and women. Sinking two would double that toll.

“We’ll see how frightened America is.” -News.com.au

Beijing has become more aggressive in recent years over the disputed islands - asserting sovereignty over the entirety of the South and East China seas despite an international arbitration court rejecting their claim, according to News.com.au.

International law also prohibits Beijing to enforce territorial rights to the waters around artificial islands - which China has recently built on what was previously coral reefs.

China has demanded that all nations respect a 12 nautical mile (22km) boundary around them.

"We will continue to take necessary measures to safeguard national sovereignty and security," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu.

 

[Housecarl]

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...n-we-have-missiles/ar-BBS31lY?ocid=spartanntp

China's reaction to US Navy operation: We have missiles

By Brad Lendon, CNN 57 mins ago

China claims to have deployed missiles "capable of targeting medium and large ships" days after the latest US Navy "freedom of navigation" operation near contested islands in the South China Sea, state media announced.

The deployment of the DF-26 ballistic missiles in China's remote northwest plateau, originally announced Tuesday on China Central Television, follows a mission from the US guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell, which steamed close to the Paracel Islands, the previous day.

Capable of hitting targets 3,400 miles (5,471 kilometers) away with nuclear or conventional warheads, the DF-26 was dubbed the "Guam killer" by analysts at the time because it would allow China to bring unprecedented firepower to the US island territory -- home to Andersen Air Force Base and other key US military installations.

The 1.3 million-square-mile South China Sea has seen increasing tension in recent years, with China aggressively asserting its stake amid conflicting claims from several Southeast Asian nations.

"McCampbell sailed within 12 nautical miles of the Paracel Islands to challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access to the waterways as governed by international law," US Pacific Fleet spokesperson Lt. j.g. Rachel McMarr said in a statement.

China accused the US of trespassing into its territorial waters.

"The US action violated the Chinese laws and international laws, infringed China's sovereignty, damaged regional peace, security, and order," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said on Monday. "China will take necessary actions to protect state sovereignty."

Citing an anonymous expert, the Global Times said the DF-26 missile mobilization "is a good reminder that China is capable of safeguarding its territory."

Beijing has built fortifications on contested islands, landed long-range bombers and last year President Xi Jinping, who claims the area has been Chinese territory since "ancient times," oversaw China's largest-ever naval parade there.

The DF-26 missile system originally entered active service in the People's Liberation Army Rocket Forces last April. It was unveiled during a military parade in 2015 in Beijing in 2015.

"Foremost among China's military assets capable of reaching Guam, the DF-26 IRBM represents the culmination of decades of advancements to China's conventional ballistic missile forces," a 2016 report from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said.

According to a report from the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, China may have an anti-ship version of the DF-26 under development -- and may have even tested it in 2017.

Tuesday's Global Times report, citing an unnamed expert, said the DF-26 was deployed in China's northwest as it was protected from opposing anti-missile forces in that area.

Despite Chinese warnings, the US is unlikely to stop challenging Beijing's claims in the South China Sea.

Washington says China's construction and fortification of man-made islands puts trillions of dollars of trade, travel and communications under the thumb of Beijing.

"The Trump administration is not going to back off in the face of Chinese pressure," Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst in defense strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra, told CNN in December.

Any US withdrawal would "severely undermine (US) credibility and encourage the Chinese to be more assertive and bold," he added.

The McCampbell's "freedom of navigation" operation on Monday was the US Navy's first of 2019. Analysts said the US performed one about every eight weeks last year.

One operation almost resulted in a collision between a US destroyer, the USS Decatur, and the Chinese one that challenged it, the Lanzhou, in September.

The two vessels came within 45 yards (41 meters) of each other near the contested Spratly Islands, with the US Navy saying at the time that the Chinese warship "conducted a series of increasingly aggressive maneuvers accompanied by warnings for Decatur to depart the area."

After the incident, some pro-Beijing commentators called for China's navy to go even further.

"If a US warship illegally enters into Chinese territorial waters again, two Chinese warships should be sent, one to stop it and the other to bump against and sink it," Dai Xu, president of China's Institute of Marine Safety and Cooperation, was quoted as saying in an article on the Chinese military's English-language website.

Meanwhile, President Xi reportedly started 2019 by ordering the country's military to enhance combat readiness.

Speaking at a meeting of the Central Military Commission in Beijing on January 4, Xi said the PLA should "upgrade commanding capability of joint operations, foster new combat forces, and improve military training under combat conditions," according to a state media report.

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[Housecarl]

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https://www.voanews.com/a/us-military-hits-somali-militants-in-airstrike/4735628.html

Africa

US Military Hits Somali Militants in 4th Airstrike This Week

January 09, 2019 12:32 PM
Carla Babb

PENTAGON — The United States military has killed six al-Shabab militants in Somalia, in the fourth airstrike there this week, according to the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).

The latest attack was carried out Tuesday in Somalia's Bay region and destroyed one vehicle, an AFRICOM official told VOA. He said no civilian casualties resulted from the attack.

On Monday, the U.S. military said it carried out two strikes in Somalia killing four al-Shabab extremists, in defense of Somali forces who "were engaged by al-Shabab militants."

AFRICOM said another U.S. airstrike on Sunday killed six al-Shabab members near Dheerow Sanle in the Lower Shabelle region, and a strike on January 2 killed 10 militants in the same area.

The U.S. military says no civilians were killed or injured in these airstrikes.

According to AFRICOM, the U.S. military carried out 47 airstrikes in Somalia last year and 35 in 2017, killing hundreds of militants. Most targeted al-Shabaab, while some targeted Islamic State militants in the African country.

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militant group continues to control large areas in southern and central Somalia. They are also responsible for deadly bombings in the capital, Mogadishu.

 

[Housecarl]

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Posted for fair use.....
https://www.voanews.com/a/un-alarme...-in-nigeria-s-war-with-militants/4735997.html

Africa

UN Alarmed at Uprooting of Civilians in Nigeria's War With Militants

January 09, 2019 3:25 PM
Reuters

ABUJA — The United Nations voiced alarm on Wednesday at the uprooting of more than 30,000 Nigerians forced to flee the protracted war against Islamist insurgents in the country's northeast.

Attacks by Islamic State in West Africa and the Boko Haram group that ISWA split off from have increased during the run-up to an election in which President Muhammadu Buhari will seek a second term. Security has become a campaign issue.

Militant attacks have seen notable towns in the northeastern state of Borno overrun by ISWA, and sent residents there fleeing to the relative safety of Maiduguri, the state capital.

"The impact of the recent fighting on innocent civilians is devastating and has created a humanitarian tragedy," Edward Kallon, the head of U.N. operations in Nigeria, said in a statement on Wednesday.

A December 26 attack on the town of Baga, 200 km (125 miles) north of Maiduguri, triggered "massive displacement," and another attack two days later on nearby Monguno exacerbated the situation, the United Nations said.

ISWA's renewed onslaught has also prompted the pullout of at least 260 U.N. aid workers from affected regions, the largest withdrawal since the humanitarian response scaled up in 2016, though some have started to return, the U.N. statement said.

The Boko Haram insurgency, which Buhari vowed to end when he took office in 2015, aims to carve out a purist Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria. It has forced about 2.7 million people to flee their homes since 2009 and killed around 30,000, creating one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Boko Haram attacks in the run-up to the last election in 2015 weakened then-president Goodluck Jonathan and helped Buhari defeat him at the polls.

 

[Housecarl]

Tick, tick, tick.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.voanews.com/a/washingto...-minister-asked-maduro-to-resign/4736688.html

Americas

Washington Post: Venezuela's Defense Minister Asked Maduro to Resign

January 09, 2019 9:18 PM
Reuters

Venezuela's defense minister told socialist President Nicolas Maduro to step down last month, and said he would offer his own resignation if he did not, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing an anonymous U.S. intelligence official.

Both Maduro and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez are still in office. Maduro is set to be sworn in for a second six-year term on Thursday, though several countries in the region have warned him not to take office, calling his May 2018 re-election vote a sham.

Discontent within the military's ranks has grown as Venezuela's economic collapse has deepened, prompting millions to migrate. Security forces tortured dozens of military personnel accused of subversion last year, according to human rights groups, and detentions for desertion have increased.

A U.S. government source told Reuters the government believes reports that Padrino threatened to resign if Maduro did not depart are credible.

"Nobody (in the U.S. government) would be surprised if (Padrino) stepped back," the source added.

Venezuela's Information Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

 

[Lilbitsnana]

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[Lilbitsnana]

Guy Elster
‏Verified account @guyelster
3m3 minutes ago

#BREAKING #Paraguay cuts diplomatic ties with Venezuela after Maduro sworn in

 

[Housecarl]

Instant News Alerts
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18h18 hours ago

#BREAKING #Iran's foreign ministry spokesman confirms the NYT report that US citizen Michael White was arrested in #Iran


Instant News Alerts
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#BREAKING: Reports that #Iran will withdraw from the nuclear deal


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#Iran's president said they will soon send two new satellites into orbit using #Iran-made rockets, despite U.S. concern the launch could help further develop its ballistic missiles.

Yeah. Things are forming up to get loud real soon. I've got to wonder how long until it does...

 

[danielboon]

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