Latest Articles about Military/Security
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Russia Upgrades GLONASS Satellite Navigation System as Concerns Rise About Its Use in ‘Spoofing’ Incidents
Russia launched a GLONASS-M 758 navigation satellite into orbit on May 27. The satellite became fully operational a month later, on June 22, replacing GLONASS-M 723, “which had exceeded its expected service life by some 50 percent” (Glonass-iac.ru, June 22). With the launch of GLONASS-M... MORE
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Another Russian Sea Tragedy: Unlearned Lessons Obscured by Secrecy
The submarine tragedy in the Barents Sea on July 1, 2019, was quite different from the Kursk catastrophe of August 2000. The explosion that destroyed the nuclear attack submarine Kursk nearly 20 years ago was the consequence of a decade of decay and degradation, and... MORE
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Chinese Nuclear Weapons Strategy—Leaning Towards a More Proactive Posture? Part I: Legacy Policy and Strategy, and the Drivers of Potential Change
Authors’ Note: This is the first part of a two-part article addressing the evolving character of Chinese strategy and policy regarding the role and potential use of nuclear weapons. This first article uses authoritative Chinese texts to identify key features of China’s approach to nuclear... MORE
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‘Military Icebreakers’—Russia’s Trump Card in the Battle for the Arctic?
The United States Department of Defense released its new Arctic Strategy in early June (Defense.gov, June 6), and Russia’s leading information outlets responded by “reminding” that, by 2020, Moscow is planning to deploy a complex multi-branch force “capable of reacting to existing threats and protecting... MORE
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Ukrainian Security Services Arrest Pro-Russia Cossack Cell in Odesa
On May 28, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) arrested three Ukrainian citizens who staged an explosion in the lobby of a resort hotel in the major Black Sea port city of Odesa. The suspects were allegedly also planning to launch another terrorist act. Reportedly,... MORE
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New Moldovan Government Handing Control Over Security Services to Pro-Russian President Dodon
Moldova is hosting (on June 24) a European Parliament delegation led by David McAllister, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. The European visitors aim to “take stock of the political situation in Moldova and exchange views with the country’s new government” (David-mcallister.de, June 21).... MORE
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Moscow Pursues Artificial Intelligence for Military Application
Moscow is actively pursuing research and development (R&D) on artificial intelligence (AI) for military purposes, partly driven by the views of its leading military theorists on the nature of future warfare and also by fears that other international actors, including the United States, are making... MORE
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Russia Will Not Have a New Aircraft Carrier for at Least 15 Years—and Maybe Never
The saga of Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, has lurched from one embarrassing episode to another. The vessel (technically classified as a “heavy aircraft cruiser” to be able to adhere to Montreux Convention restrictions on aircraft carriers passing through the Turkish Straits) is... MORE
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China Moves Toward Becoming Dominant Player on Northern Sea Route
Three developments since early June 2019 call attention to China’s unrelenting efforts to become the dominant player on the Northern Sea Route (NSR)—the increasingly ice-free Arctic waterway along Russia’s northern coast, and the main segment of the longer Northeastern Passage, linking Asia and Europe. First,... MORE
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‘Icebreaker Diplomacy’: Russia’s New-Old Strategy to Dominate the Arctic
Russia’s Baltic Shipyard (St. Petersburg) held a grand ceremony, on May 25, to celebrate the launching of the nuclear-powered Project 22220 (LK-60Ya) icebreaker Ural (Geoenergetika.ru, May 27, 2019). Following the festivities, Russian Central Bank head Elvira Nabiullina stated that the event would be further commemorated... MORE