Free Republic

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro wants to install anti-aircraft weapons systems in hillside slums ringing Caracas to dissuade “imperialist” foreign powers from attacking the South American nation. The president says arming civilians and putting state-of-the-art artillery in densely-populated neighborhoods is an integral part of an ongoing defense buildup. …

Chinese state-run media revealed for the first time this week that Beijing’s nuclear submarines can attack American cities as a means to counterbalance U.S. nuclear deterrence in the Pacific. On Monday, leading media outlets including China Central TV, the People’s Daily, the Global Times, the PLA Daily, the China Youth Daily and the Guangmin Daily ran identical, top-headlined reports about the “awesomeness” of the People's Liberation Army navy’s strategic submarine force. “This is the first time in 42 years since the establishment of our navy’s strategic submarine force that we reveal on such a large scale the secrets of our...

SNIPPET: "North Korea appears to have been digging two new tunnels at a nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong Province since May, sparking fears that it is preparing for another nuclear test." SNIPPET: "Specialist website 38 North, which is run by Johns Hopkins University, said it discovered two new tunnel entrances and a mound of earth while analyzing satellite pictures of the test site taken on Wednesday."

Israeli warplanes hit a convoy of advanced missiles heading out of Syria and into Lebanon where they were to be delivered to Hezbollah, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Wednesday. According to the report, in the Kuwait-based paper Al-Jarida (Arabic), the attack was carried out earlier this week in the vicinity of the Lebanese-Syrian border. However, the report, which relied on an unnamed “official source” in Jerusalem, did not say whether the targets were in Lebanon or Syria at the time of the strike. The Times of Israel could not independently confirm the report. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to answer...

Kuwait-based Al Jarida quotes Israeli security official as saying that Israel is mulling destroying remainder of cache in Beka'a Valley; report could not be confirmed by any other source. Lebanon Kuwait's Al-Jarida newspaper reported Wednesday that Israeli warplanes attacked a convoy carrying missiles along Lebanon's border with Syria two days earlier. Quoting Israeli sources, the newspaper said that the missiles were intended for delivery to Hezbollah, to bolster their cache of advanced weapons. The report did not specify whether the alleged attack was carried out on Lebanese or Syrian territory. The newspaper sources an Israeli security official, described as an...

Last week, China tested out a satellite that's capable of grabbing and capturing other satellites as they orbit the Earth. This normally wouldn't be such a big deal, except that it amounts to China conducting a weapons test in space. And that's worrisome—especially to the Pentagon. So what's up with this space weapons test? First of all, we're not diving into a Star Trek-like future any time soon—at face value, the Chinese satellite test sounds rather benign. Experts are unclear about how exactly the test went down, but it's pretty clear that a satellite with a moveable arm reached out...

During parade marking anniversary of Iran-Iraq war, army displays missiles capable of hitting Israel, US bases. President Rohani says ready for talks with West, Israel 'trampled all international WMD treaties' Iran paraded 30 missiles with a nominal range of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) Sunday, the first time it had displayed so many with a stated capacity to hit Israeli targets. Iran displayed 12 Sejil and 18 Ghadr missiles at the annual parade marking the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. The stated range of both missiles would put not only Israel but also US bases in the...

“The supersonic and long-range anti-ship Yakhont missiles of the Syrian army and the Lebanese Hezbollah (resistance movement) are serious deterrents to a US naval attack by its warships in the Mediterranean Sea,” Dr. Mostafa Zahra, a military analyst and strategic studies expert, told FNA on Monday. He said that Syria’s Iskandar high-precision ballistic missiles and its anti-ship Scud missiles will also target the US warships in case of a US naval invasion of Syria, reminding that the American military vessels are not equipped with any weapons system to intercept or divert the Syrian anti-ship missiles. The P-800 Oniks, also known...

At least four rockets were fired from Lebanon Thursday afternoon, with at least one confirmed as having struck in the area of Nahariya. IDF Radio reported that bomb shelters in the northern city of Akko (Acre) have been opened for public use, and the IDF is urging residents of the north to remain close to shelters. There are unconfirmed reports that the IDF has responded with artillery fire into Lebanon

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- Missiles paraded through the streets of Pyongyang in recent displays of North Korean military might -- said to be capable of hitting targets throughout Asia and even in the U.S. -- are incapable of flight and are almost certainly nothing more than fakes, according to U.S. government experts and independent analysts. "My opinion is that it's a big hoax," Markus Schiller, an aerospace engineer in Munich and former RAND Corp. military analyst, said of the intercontinental and medium-range missiles displayed in the North Korean capital in April 2012 and again two weeks ago. U.S. government experts,...

AMMAN (Reuters) - Rebels in southern Syria have fired newly acquired anti-tank guided missiles supplied by Saudi Arabia in a significant boost to their battle against President Bashar al-Assad, rebel, intelligence and diplomatic sources say. Several Russian-designed Konkurs anti-tank weapons were used in a rebel attack this week on an army position in Deraa city near the Jordanian border, said a source in a rebel brigade linked to the Western-backed Supreme Military Council. Missiles were also fired around Laja, a rebel stronghold in the rugged region stretching north to the outskirts of Damascus, according to Faiq al Aboud, a member...

Russian supersonic missiles behave like wolves August 8, 2013 Viktor Litovkin, special to RBTH Yakhont anti-ship cruise missile at the 3rd International Airspace Show in Moscow. Source: RIA Novosti Large-scale construction of the next-generation Project 885 Yasen-class submarine armed with Onyx supersonic missiles is starting in Russia. These ships will compete with the latest American Seawolf-class nuclear submarines and will be world leaders in terms of fire power. Large-scale construction of the next-generation Project 885 Yasen-class multi-purpose nuclear attack submarine, armed with Onyx supersonic cruise missiles, is starting in Russia. The ships will compete with the latest American Seawolf-class nuclear...

WASHINGTON – Is the CIA trying to cover up information relating to the Benghazi attack that killed four Americans? Members of Congress are seeking an investigation into covert CIA efforts to move surface-to-air missiles out of Libya, through Turkey, and into the hands of Syrian rebels, CNN reported over the weekend. Among the many secrets still yet to be told about the Benghazi mission, is just how many Americans were there the night of the September 2012 attack. According to one source, that number was 35, with as many as seven wounded, some seriously. It is unknown how many of...

Cuba has said missiles and fighter jets found buried under sacks of sugar on a ship bound for North Korea were being sent to the secretive state to be repaired. The Caribbean nation admitted last night that it owned the military equipment and said it was due to be returned to the island once repairs had been completed. [Snip] The 35 man crew--made up of North Koreans--tried to resist arrest by rioting with the authorities. The ship, which has been identified as the 14,000-ton Chong Chon Gang, was carrying missiles and other arms ´hidden in containers underneath the cargo

US officials say Israel targeted advanced anti-ship cruise missiles near Syria's principal port city, Latakia, in an air attack this month, the New York Times reported. The officials say the attack on 5 July near Latakia targeted a type of Russian-made missile called the Yakhont that Russia had sold to the Syrian government, the paper's website reported. Russia is a key political ally and arms supplier of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's regime. The officials provided no details on the strike, including the extent of the damage and how many missiles were used. The Times reported that the officials declined to...

A logistics base for handling tanks, missile systems, self-propelled artillery and other heavy weaponry bound for Syria and Hizballah is secretly under construction in a section of Port Sudan which Omar al Bashir has leased to Tehran Iranian Revolutionary Guards engineers in civilian dress are overseeing the hundreds of Sudanese workmen laboring flat out to build Iran’s second Red Sea base after Assab in southern Eritrea. As a safeguard against an Israeli strike, the new Iranian facility abuts directly on Port Sudan's oil exporting installations, through which South Sudan, Israel’s ally, exports its oil, the new republic’s only source of...

JUBA — 3 July, 2013 … The Washington-based think-tank The International Strategic Studies Association has devoted the latest issue of Global Information System (GIS) Special Analysis, a confidential newsletter used by the Western governments and select subscribers, to the latest Sudanese-Iranian designs for the entire west Africa. “The governments of Iran and Sudan are preparing for a major strategic surge into western Africa, into both the Sahel and the shores of the Gulf of Guinea,” the report warns. “The ultimate objective of this surge is to consolidate control and/or influence over this extensive region and its considerable oil, gas, uranium,...

Any good armchair general with a good search engine and time on their hands can figure out in a hurry that the song and dance about Iran being unable to close the Strait if Hormuz for long is just a plain crock. Worse than a crock. Yet, this big Orwellian lie persists, so once again I have to set the record straight. Iran has the capability of not only closing the Strait for some time, but creating a world of hurt for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Iran possesses a build up of anti-ship weapons called Sunburn missiles, which it...

While Obama has been focusing his attention on the Republican hostage takers and bomb throwers the Iranian regime has been stockpiling Shahab 3 missiles in Venezuela that can reach the United States. Hudson New York reported, via Israel Matsav: According to Die Welt, Venezuela has agreed to allow Iran to establish a military base manned by Iranian missile officers, soldiers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Venezuelan missile officers. In addition, Iran has given permission for the missiles to be used in case of an “emergency”. In return, the agreement states that Venezuela can use these facilities for “national needs”...

Security sources say Israel and Iran are conducting rival intelligence operations in Eritrea, the poor African state on the Red Sea. The Israelis fear Eritrea could be a flashpoint if Iranian Revolutionary Guards continue to ship arms to militants in Gaza via the Eritrean port of Assab. Israel is said to have two Eritrean bases, one a “listening post” for signals intelligence, the other a supply base for its German-built submarines. In Sudan in February, Israeli drones thought to be based in Eritrea attacked an arms convoy bound for Hamas militants in Gaza, and several Revolutionary Guards escorting the convoy...