Free Republic

© Bogdan Rudenko/Russian Defense Ministry MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-29 multirole frontline fighter jet took to the skies forty years ago, on October 6, 1977. History, designing The development of fourth-generation fighter jets started in the Soviet Union and in the United States in the late 1960s. As compared to their predecessors, the Soviet MiG-23, the US F-5 Tiger and the French Mirage F.1, the new-generation planes were intended to become multifunctional (i.e. to be able to destroy targets both in the air and on the ground), show increased maneuverability and spend less fuel,...

Russian state hackers stole a collection of National Security Agency (NSA) hacking tools and other documents from the personal computer of an agency contractor who had taken the classified documents home from work, reports The Wall Street Journal. The reported breach took place in 2015 but wasn't discovered until spring of last year. The Journal reports that the hackers identified the documents through Kaspersky Lab antivirus software. The Department of Homeland Security recently barred federal agencies from using Kaspersky Lab products due to security concerns but has been tight-lipped about what intelligence linked the popular, Moscow-based computer security firm to...

After experiencing a literal false start to the first ever trip by a ruling Saudi Arabian monarch to Moscow, the country’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has gone to have what his country has called “historic momentum” in expanding relations with the Kremlin, including reports of a purchase of S-400 surface-to-air missiles and other arms deals. As with developments in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, this could indicate a political shift by the Saudi regime away from its historical ally the United States or an attempt to exert political pressure on officials in Washington. Salman and his entourage...

Washington (CNN)Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators met this past summer with the former British spy whose dossier on alleged Russian efforts to aid the Trump campaign spawned months of investigations that have hobbled the Trump administration, according to two people familiar with the matter. Information from Christopher Steele, a former MI-6 officer, could help investigators determine whether contacts between people associated with the Trump campaign and suspected Russian operatives broke any laws. CNN has learned that the FBI and the US intelligence community last year took the Steele dossier more seriously than the agencies have publicly acknowledged. James Clapper, then...

Chinese state television has broadcast the first clear, overhead view of the Chinese navy’s first Type 055 cruiser. The image confirms what foreign analysts have expected since the new cruiser began taking shape in 2014. The Type 055 carries no fewer than 122 missiles in vertical cells — any mix of anti-air, anti-ship and land-attack models. That matches the weapons-loadout of the U.S. Navy’s Ticonderoga-class cruisers … and exceeds the armament of every other surface warship in the Pacific region. The new cruiser could enter service as early as 2018. The Type 055 — which is an estimate 590 feet...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday accused the United States and its allies of orchestrating "deadly provocations" against Russian troops in Syria. "There are a lot of questions to US-led forces in Syria," Lavrov told pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Aswat Wednesday. "Either they accidentally bomb Syrian troops, after which Islamic State militants launch an offensive, or they get other terrorists to attack strategically important objects...or they stage deadly provocations against our military servicemen." Moscow has complained about what it says are suspiciously friendly ties between US-backed militias, US special forces, and the Islamic State.... Lavrov's deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, said last...

VIDEO

Earlier this year we discussed the possibility that sanctions and other international pressure on Venezuela might not do much to deter their dictator, Nicolas Maduro. The reason for pessimism is that Venezuela has powerful friends who have no trouble with a dictator taking control of another nation in the western hemisphere. China is near the top of Maduro’s list of friends, but this week the tyrant will have a meeting with another powerful ally.Maduro will be sitting down today for a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The two leaders will reportedly be discussing a “strategic partnership” for moving...

A really interesting aircraft was spotted conducting flight testing over the Black Sea on Sept. 26, 2017: the Il-76MD-90A “78650”, the first “Candid” modified to carry out special operations. According to the Russian media outlet “Izvestia” the example “78650” is a flying testbed for a heavily modified Il-76MD-90A variant equipped with “unique on-board radio-electronic systems that would allow the aircraft to stealthily deliver paratroopers and special forces behind the enemy lines, remaining invisible and invulnerable to the enemy.” How the aircraft can evade radars and remain invisible is unclear, anyway, the experimental Candid can be distinguished from the baseline IL-76MD-90A...

WASHINGTON — California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican known for his fondness of the Russian government and ties to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, said he is unable to even speak to President Donald Trump due to barriers put in place by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. Rohrabacher told Business Insider on Tuesday that Kelly and "a coalition of people in the White House" are preventing him from having a conversation with Trump that would entail clearing Assange and the Russian government from allegations they meddled in the 2016 presidential election. But Rohrabacher is unconvinced. Last month during a phone call with Kelly, Rohrabacherrequested...

MOSCOW — On a recent windy afternoon, members of a prominent Russian religious group were busy laying out 2,000 pairs of children’s shoes in the corner of a park — each representing an abortion performed on an average day in Russia. Fighting the elements to keep the tiny slippers and rubber boots in place, the organizers from “For Life” took to loudspeakers to reel off the reasons why Russia should make abortion illegal. Simultaneously, two men unfurled a long red-and-white banner with a quote by President Vladimir Putin, reading: “Demography is a vital issue… Either we’ll continue to exist, or...

JERUSALEM, Israel — As Russian forces conduct a major military exercise this week in northwestern Belarus, one man has ominous words to describe the latest global aggression directed by President Vladimir Putin. “After 16 years of writing about radical Islam I’m personally convinced that Vladimir Putin is more dangerous than radical Islam, “ Joel Rosenberg, bestselling author of numerous books on radical Islam and the Islamic State, told Breitbart News. “Dubbed Zapad — or ‘West’ — 2017, it’s the latest edition of a quadrennial large-scale drill that was once a key mobilization for the Soviet Union and its allies in...

The Czech army was highly impressed by the Israeli-made Namer APC, and requested the right to purchase it, the Below The Turret defense magazine reported. According to the report, the Czech army asked Israel to buy the Namer, (Hebrew for "leopard") to replace its aging Soviet-made BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle. The report said further that the Namer was among nine finalists, but Israel didn't respond with a price quote in time for the deadline. The report noted that "at the time of the tender request, the latest version of the Namer fitted with an unmanned turret had not been presented....

MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. The United Arab Emirates wants to buy over a squadron of Sukhoi Su-35 advanced fighter jets from Russia and the contract may be signed by the yearend, a source in the system of military and technical cooperation told TASS on Tuesday. "They want a lot, over a squadron but the exact number will be specified in the course of negotiations that may be held in November during an air show in Dubai," the source said. The relevant contract may be signed by the yearend, if the negotiations are successful, the source said. TASS does not yet...

Russia and Turkey confirm the decision to politically resolve the conflict with Syria. The conditions for stopping the fratricidal war have already been set up in the country. Vladimir Putin said that after meeting with Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The meeting took place in Ankara for 3 hours, behind closed doors. Afterwards, the leaders made short statements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WeP4F6Zkak

The communists in the Antifa crowd are planning to begin a revolution in America on Saturday, November 4 — almost exactly 100 years after the Bolshevik Revolution that took Russia out of the frying pan of Tsarist rule and into the fire of communist totalitarianism. While some see Antifa activists as the modern heroes of anti-Fascism — fighting against racism, sexism, and a litany of other “isms” — and others see them merely as the snowflake crowd of spoiled brats demanding free everything, the reality is that Antifa is one tool in the communists' toolbox to bring America to her...

A major Russian telecommunications company appears to have begun providing an Internet connection to North Korea. The new link supplements one from China and will provide back-up to Pyongyang at a time the US government is reportedly attacking its Internet infrastructure and pressuring China to end all business with North Korea. The connection, from TransTeleCom, began appearing in Internet routing databases at 09:08 UTC on Sunday, or around 17:38 Pyongyang time on Sunday evening. Internet routing databases map the thousands of connections between telecom providers and enable computers to figure out the best route to a destination. Until now, Internet...

The latest draft law from the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East strikes down residence and language requirements, as well as the need for aspiring Russians to renounce their current citizenship, reports The Moscow Times.

At long last, we appear to finally have some proof that the Russians interfered in American democracy. Before some of you get too excited, there is still zero proof of any collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign. There is still zero proof the Russians in any way “hacked the 2016 election.” There is still zero proof the Russians changed a single vote in 2016. According to CNN, though, what we do have proof of is that in late 2015 and early 2016, the Russians used Facebook ads to promote Black Lives Matter. Moreover, the report also says that...

Special counsel Robert Mueller has now lost a second official that he brought in from the FBI to help investigate Russia’s alleged meddling in last year’s presidential election, ABC News has learned. The latest FBI veteran to leave, Lisa Page, was described by media accounts in June as a trial attorney with “deep experience [in] money laundering and organized crime cases.” She was part of what Wired magazine called Mueller’s “investigatory dream team.” But weeks ago, Page left the Special Counsel’s office and returned to work in the office of the FBI’s general counsel, sources said. According to one source,...