The Demise of the Russian Navy « Russian Military Reform

Posted by Matt in December 11th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Military, Russia, Alexander, Black Sea, Blue Water Navy, Bulava, Demise, Enormous Sums, Farce, Fierce Battle, Fleets, Kiev, Military Reform, Missile, Naval Bases, Naval Brigade, Piers, Real Situation, Russian Navy, Sea Fleet, Serial Production, Sevastopol

Alexander Khramchikhin, for one, blames the Bulava for the inevitably coming demise of the Russian Navy. The article is worth quoting at length:
[The Bulava's] effectiveness has turned out to be simply amazing. The missile has not entered serial production, and never will, but it has already destroyed the Russian Navy. Almost all the money allocated [...]

Litvinenko’s Assassination and Iran’s Nuclear Program Linked by…Putin’s Russia

Posted by Matt in December 1st, 2009 | no comment

Published in Russia, Alexander, Alexander Litvinenko, Ambitions, British Citizen, Contentious Issues, Family Security, Headlines, Iran Nuclear, Mystery, Nuclear Program, Poison, Polonium 210, Relationship, Russia, Russians, Saga, Security Matters, tehran, United Kingdom, Vladimir Putin

Over the last week, Russia was again at the center of two important and contentious issues – both making headlines. One involves an increasingly chilly relationship between Russia and the United Kingdom, as the latter continues to press the former for information about the assassination of a British Citizen – Alexander Litvinenko, which by all [...]

Pakistan’s Other Problem Area: Baluchistan – TIME

Posted by Matt in November 1st, 2009 | no comment

Published in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Alexander, Borders, Conflict, Descendants, Deserts, Frontier, Iran, Landmass, Marginalization, Nomadic Tribes, Northwest, Pakistan

But in the shadow of this “Af-Pak” frontier, another conflict has grown new life in recent years and, according to experts, poses a possibly greater existential threat to the Pakistani state. The province of Baluchistan, situated along Pakistan’s west and northwest borders with Iran and Afghanistan, comprises more than 40% of Pakistan’s landmass but less [...]

US to deploy Patriot missiles in Poland in 2010: US official

Posted by Matt in October 19th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Missiles, Air Missiles, Alexander, Alexander Vershbow, Assistant Secretary, Batteries, International Security, Missile System, Patriot Missiles, Poland, Rotations, Secretary Of Defence, United Air, United States, Warsaw

The United States will deploy ground-to-air Patriot missiles in Poland in 2010 and is discussing its plans for a new anti-missile system with Warsaw, a US defence official said Friday.
“We presented some detailed information on how the rotations of our Patriot batteries would be conducted over the next few years under the August 2008 agreement” [...]

Russia Developing New Missiles to Counter US System

Posted by Matt in August 11th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Russia, Air Force General, Alexander, Counter Top, Military Officer, Missile Systems, New Russian Missiles, News Agencies, News Russia, Russian News, Voa News, Zelin

A top Russian military officer says his country is developing new missiles to counter space-based missile systems that could soon be deployed by the United States.
Russian news agencies quote Air Force General Alexander Zelin as saying the new Russian missiles will also defend against airborne attacks.
VOA News – Russia Developing New Missiles to Counter US [...]

The Newspaper Loved in the West, Hated at Home

Posted by Matt in June 9th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Russia, Alexander, Alexander Lebedev, Journalists, Mikhail Gorbachev, Moscow Newspaper, Nerves, Novaya Gazeta, Oligarch, Perpetrators, Russian Press, Schepp

Reporters at Novaya Gazeta need strong nerves — four of the Moscow-based newspaper’s journalists have already been murdered. But the paper has powerful friends, including Mikhail Gorbachev and oligarch Alexander Lebedev. By Matthias Schepp in Moscow more…

Gorbachev on Attacks on Russian Press: ‘The Perpetrators Are Getting Away Scot-Free’

The Death of Litvinenko – Two Years Later and What Have We Learned?

Posted by Matt in December 9th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Russia, Alexander, Broccoli, Chase, Daniel Craig, Europeans, Jfk, Mastermind, putin, Reagan, Russians, South American Dictators, Stalin

Could the death of Putin critic Alexander Litvinenko two years ago be a warning from the grave?
Oh heck, let me cut to the chase – Putin is more deadly than Stalin, more strategic than Reagan, and more charismatic than JFK (at least to Russians, Europeans and a few South American dictators). There, I’ve said it. [...]

The Realist Resurgence

Posted by Matt in October 11th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Military, Russia, Aircraft Carriers, Alexander, Ballistic Missile, Cold-War, Collapse Of The Soviet Union, Conventional Force, Conventional Forces, Defensenews, Eurasia Group, Fleet, Kliment, moscow, Northern Fleet, Nuclear Warheads, Nuclear Weapons, Paper Tiger, Power Strategy, Realist, Respects, Resurgence, Ria Novosti Russia, Russian Military, Russian News Agency, Russian President, Russians, Sean Mccormack, Strategic Nuclear Forces, Tiger, United Press International, Washington Post

Russia is weaker than it looks, which is why NATO’s soft-power strategy can still prevail.
…
That was the point Sean McCormack was making about Russia’s rickety fleet. Moscow is not the threat that it wants to appear. With more than 5,000 nuclear warheads and its status as the world’s largest energy exporter, it cannot really be [...]

My warning to Britain: your democracy is under attack from Putin’s KGB infiltrators

Posted by Matt in July 12th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Britain, Espionage, Russia, Alexander, Alexander Litvinenko, Democracy In Russia, First Steps, KGB, Proof, putin, Spymaster, Strategic Plan, Sunday Herald, Western Democracy, Western Leaders

EXCLUSIVE: A former Soviet spymaster writes for the Sunday Herald
THE?LATE?ALEXANDER LITVINENKO once spoke to?me?about?Putin’s strategic plan for damaging Western democracy and reducing it to the level of what passes for democracy in Russia. I believe that this plan is already being successfully accomplished. For proof, just look at how all Western leaders are today happy [...]

Berlin Holds on to Obsolete Weapons

Posted by Matt in July 1st, 2008 | no comment

Published in Europe, Nuclear, Alexander, Berlin, Cold-War, Cordula, Defense Ministry, Doubts, Dozens, Europe, German Politicians, Germany, moscow, Nuclear War, Russian Bear, weapons

The US still has dozens of nuclear war heads stationed throughout Europe, including an estimated 20 in Germany. Yet, hardly anyone thinks this makes sense any more — apart from those at Germany’s Defense Ministry. By Cordula Meyer and Alexander Szandar more…

Russian Bear Roars: Why Is Moscow Risking a New Cold War?
Doubts about Security: German [...]