Free Republic

Vietnam aims to counter China with sub deal: analysts By Ian Timberlake (AFP) – 2 hours ago HANOI — Vietnam's major arms deal with Russia, reported to involve the purchase of six submarines, aims to bolster claims against China over potentially resource-rich islands in the South China Sea, analysts say. While much of Vietnam's military hardware is antiquated, it has decided to devote substantial resources to developing an underwater fleet as concerns mount over tensions with its giant neighbour over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos, they say. "I think their primary rationale is to counteract the military build-up that the...

Russian Military Aircrew Numbers Tumble Alexey Komarov/Moscow Douglas Barrie/London Aircrew numbers in the Russian air force are to be cut by 40% as part of a program that will see the service adopt a revised operational-command structure by year-end. Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, the air force chief, unveiled the far-reaching plan last summer with the aim of transforming his service into an agile force capable of dealing with more diverse types of threats. Zelin says the new structure will consist of operational commands, air force bases and aerospace defense brigades (to counter aircraft and missile threats). Existing air force and...

Climategate just got much, much bigger. And all thanks to the Russians who, with perfect timing, dropped this bombshell just as the world’s leaders are gathering in Copenhagen to discuss ways of carbon-taxing us all back to the dark ages. Feast your eyes on this news release from Rionovosta, via the Ria Novosti agency, posted on Icecap. (Hat Tip: Richard North) A discussion of the November 2009 Climatic Research Unit e-mail hacking incident, referred to by some sources as “Climategate,” continues against the backdrop of the abortive UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) discussing alternative agreements to replace the 1997...

The newly re-elected president of Abkhazia, an unrecognized breakaway region of Georgia, Sergei Bagapsh will pay a visit to Turkey soon, citing the need to reach out to members of the Abkhaz diaspora currently living in the country. At a press conference following his landslide victory in the Abkhaz presidential elections, which Georgia labeled an “immoral comedy,” Bagapsh said he plans to make an informal trip to Turkey very soon. “I will have informal meetings with Turkish officials,” Bagapsh said. Abkhazia has been a battleground for Russia since the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia over the disputed region...

Bears have been spotted in Denmark. And these aren’t the friendly kind who are just looking for picnic baskets. As IBD predicted last week, Russia’s claim to mountains of carbon credits has proved to be a major stumbling block at the international climate talks in Copenhagen. As the AP notes, it has given Russia the rare chance to seize the moral high ground. ... Under the Kyoto treaty, that gives it claim to massive amounts of tradable carbon credits. Russia wants those credits rolled forward before it signs on to any new international carbon treaty. Other countries aren’t keen on...

The latest test of Russia new Bulava SLBM (Sea Launched Ballistic Missile) was a spectacular failure. The test took place off the northern coast of Russia early on December 10th. The failure resulted in a brilliant light show, in the pre-dawn sky, that was visible to many in Norway. At first the Russians denied that the spectacular lights had anything to do with them. But within a day, they admitted it was Bulava failing its 13th flight test. Last August Russian political and military leaders became upset (make that VERY upset) at the inept development of the new Bulava missile....

Winning on Ballistic Missiles but Losing on Cruise: The Missile Proliferation Battle Dennis M. Gormley Because Europe and the U.S. forces based there face a near-term ballistic missile threat, President Barack Obama’s decision to abandon a Bush-era missile defense plan makes good sense. In contrast to President George W. Bush’s approach, which focused primarily on a few potential ICBMs, Obama’s is more suited to Iran’s growing arsenal of medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The Obama decision also provides an opportunity to reflect on how the ballistic missile threat has evolved over the last 25 years. There is reason to believe...

So much for America getting all the oil it spent billions of dollars, and thousands of lives to "liberate." ----- By SINAN SALAHEDDIN (AP) – 10 hours ago BAGHDAD — A consortium led by Russia's private oil giant won the biggest prize of Iraq's second oil auction this year, nabbing a field initially promised them a decade ago by Saddam Hussein while other companies Saturday showed little interest in offerings outside the secure southern part of the country. Lukoil and Norway's Statoil ASA won rights to develop the 12.88 billion barrel West Qurna Phase 2 field in the Basra region,...

Russia plans to replace most of its older (Cold War era) ICBMs in the next five years. But all of these older missiles will not be retired until 2020. Currently, Russia has 538 ICBMs in service, 71 percent of them the most modern Topols (SS-25 and SS-27). Only 56 are the most modern, Topol-M design. About a dozen of these are the road-mobile versions, that avoid destruction in a first strike, by constantly moving around on the roads 200-300 kilometers northeast of Moscow. The 54 foot long transporter for these 46 ton missiles is a 16 wheel vehicle, using a...

Russia has reneged on an agreement to deliver a total of 10 kilograms of plutonium-238 to the United States in 2010 and 2011 and is insisting on a new deal for the costly material vital to NASA’s deep space exploration plans. The move follows the U.S. Congress’ denial of President Barack Obama’s request for $30 million in 2010 to permit the Department of Energy to begin the painstaking process of restarting domestic production of plutonium-238. Bringing U.S. nuclear laboratories back on line to produce the isotope is expected to cost at least $150 million and take six years to seven...

"...The dispute dates to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997, the first international treaty obliging countries to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases. Under Kyoto, a country that has difficulty meeting its emissions goal can buy credits from another country that has reduced them beyond its target. Russia was required by Kyoto to maintain its carbon-dioxide output at 1990 levels, rather than cut them. But in the aftermath of the Soviet breakup in 1991 and Russia's subsequent economic collapse, its emissions plummeted, and it easily exceeded its Kyoto targets. That left it with a surplus of carbon allowances equivalent to six...

I look at the people who support the transformation of America in disbelief: They are destroying the very land that gave them so much opportunity. Groomed, well-fed and educated, comfortably living in a prosperous society, they need a mission to give meaning to their lives. These "fighters for the less-fortunate among us" glaze over the fact that hundreds of millions of people from around the world desperately try to come to this country for all it offers, regardless of their economic status, race, class, or gender. Immigrants rightly see this country as the best place to obtain a decent life...

Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- The remains of Adolf Hitler were burned in 1970 by Soviet KGB agents and thrown into a river in Germany on direct orders from the spy agency's chief, a top Russian security official said this week.

A mysterious blue spiral light that appeared in the skies above Norway was likely the result of a failed test launch of a jinxed new Russian missile, the UK’s Mail Online reported. Several newspapers in Moscow today ran a story explaining that the Bulava missile was test-fired from the Dmitry Donskoi submarine in the White Sea early on Wednesday but failed at the third stage. However, earlier reports from Moscow denied a missile launch yesterday and even early today there was no formal confirmation from the Russian Defense Ministry. Some speculators felt the lights were connected with the aurora borealis,...

MOSCOW — Russia admitted on Thursday another failed test of its much-touted Bulava intercontinental missile, after unusual lights were spotted in Norway across the border from the launch site. The submarine-based Bulava (Mace) missile has been billed as Russia's newest technological breakthrough to support its nuclear deterrent, but the repeated test failures are an embarrassment for the Kremlin. The missile failed in its 13th test on Wednesday morning, Russia's leading economic dailies Vedomosti and Kommersant reported on Thursday, quoting sources in the military-industrial complex. Hours later, the Defense Ministry admitted the failure, saying the launch had been made by the...

A chemistry student in the Ukraine was found dead with his jaw blown off by what is believed to be exploding chewing gum, according to reports. The 25-year-old's disfigured remains were discovered at his parent's home in the northern Ukrainian city of Konotop, reports in the Eastern European country said. The young man, who studied at Kiev Polytechnic Institute, was working at a computer late on Saturday when the alleged explosion happened.

It sounds like something from a James Bond movie: a massive satellite, the largest ever launched, equipped with a powerful laser to take out the American anti-missile shield in advance of a Soviet first strike. It was real, though—or at least the plan was. In fact, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev walked out of the October 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, because President Ronald Reagan wouldn't abandon his Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, the Soviets were closer to fielding a space-based weapon than the United States was. Less than a year later, as the world continued to criticize Reagan for...

It sounds like something from a James Bond movie: a massive satellite, the largest ever launched, equipped with a powerful laser to take out the American anti-missile shield in advance of a Soviet first strike. It was real, though—or at least the plan was. In fact, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev walked out of the October 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, because President Ronald Reagan wouldn't abandon his Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, the Soviets were closer to fielding a space-based weapon than the United States was. Less than a year later, as the world continued to criticize Reagan for...

MiG Corporation is 70 years old On December 8, the Russian aircraft corporation MiG, formerly called the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau, celebrates its 70th anniversary. MiG, one of the most popular Soviet aircraft brands, was known all over the world and came to symbolize just about any Soviet warplane, except long-range bombers, in the West during the Cold War. And in fact, MiG's glory was well-deserved. The MiG Design Bureau pioneered the development of post-war turbojet fighters in the Soviet Union. Its first jet fighter, the I-300 later designated the MiG-9 Fargo, performed its maiden flight on April 24, 1946 and...

Russia is negotiating a second weapons deal with Israel, purchasing unmanned spy planes valued at around $100 million, an Israeli defense source says. The new deal with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) would be worth about twice the size of an initial $50 million sale announced in April. "The Russians are going for a triple upgrade of their fleet and its capabilities," an unnamed Israeli source told Reuters on Monday. He added that the pact would also feature improved surveillance equipment on drones. IAI declined to comment. The war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008 has served to bring Israel's...

Newly appointed Chief of Staff of the Russian Land Forces, Lieutenant-General Sergey Skokov, recently made a statement that caused a major sensation across the Russian Federation. Speaking about possible conflicts that Russia may face in the future, he outlined three distinct scenarios: fighting in the "western, southern" and eastern" directions...

Russia has assured Iran it will honour a deal to supply the Islamic Republic with advanced S-300 air-defence missiles, Tehran's ambassador to Moscow said Friday. "We had heard reports that Russia would not deliver these systems to Iran, but we asked the Russian side and they denied it," Seyed Mahmoud Reza Sajadi told reporters in Moscow. "The delivery deadline has already passed, but the Russian side has cited technical problems which it is working to fix," he added. "We feel that this question will be resolved in the space of one to two months." The envoy's comments came after Iranian...

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez said Monday that Venezuela has received thousands of Russian-made missiles and rocket launchers as part of his government's military preparations for a possible armed conflict with neighboring Colombia. "They are preparing a war against us," Chavez said during a televised address, repeating a charge he has been making for months. "Preparing is one of the best ways to neutralize it." Both Colombia and Washington deny having any plans to attack Venezuela, but Chavez argues they are plotting together a military offensive against Venezuela. Chavez says his government is acquiring more weapons as a precaution....

* Medvedev offers to help Afghan economy, military, police * Russia allows transit of military cargoes to Afghanistan (Adds quotes, background) ROME, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Russia is willing to do its part to help the United States and Europe achieve peace in Afghanistan, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday. "We are obliged to help in Afghanistan ... what the armies of the United States and Europe are doing (in Afghanistan) is peacekeeping. This is very important because a threat for all Europe came from Afghanistan," Medvedev said. Speaking at a news conference in Rome after meeting Italian Prime...

Thousands of emails, from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) were first published on a small server in the city of Tomsk in Siberia. So-called ‘patriot hackers’ from Tomsk have been used in the past by the Russian secret service, the FSB, to attack websites disliked by the Kremlin, such as the “denial of service” campaign launched against the Kavkaz-Tsentr website, over its reports about the war in Chechnya, in 2002. Russia, a major oil exporter, may be trying to undermine calls to reduce carbon emissions ahead of the Copenhagen summit on global warming. The CRU emails...

The American author Anne Applebaum, wife of Radoslaw Sikorski, the Polish Foreign Minister, has been given special police protection after the engine of her jeep exploded in as yet unexplained circumstances. Ms Applebaum, 45, author of a Pulitzer prize-winning history of the Soviet Gulag, was driving through the Jozefow suburb of Warsaw on Saturday when she heard a strange noise in her car and got out to investigate. Shortly afterwards the engine blew up. She was unharmed.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Moscow on Sunday to ink billions of dollars of weapons deals and for talks on a landmark nuclear deal that could significantly widen atomic fuel imports from Russia. India, along with China, is one of Russia's biggest clients for arms sales but New Delhi has been upset in recent years by long delays in the delivery of a refurbished Soviet-era aircraft carrier under a $1.6 billion (9.72 million pounds) contract. The signing of arms deals and talks on a civilian nuclear deal to widen uranium fuel deliveries are set to...

Hot air and high-minded speeches might be the most obvious emissions from the Copenhagen climate talks, skeptics say. But behind the scenes Russia will play an old card from communism's fall that could tip the odds even higher against ever meeting the summit's goals. Russia's greenhouse gas emissions plunged in the 1990s as its economy collapsed. Moscow now sits on a potential treasure trove of unused carbon emission permits it could sell to other countries. Those permits expire in 2012 along with the original Kyoto Treaty. Russia has signaled that it wants them rolled forward if it is going to...

Officers of the Moscow Traffic Safety Inspectorate documented a bizarre car accident, which took place in Russia’s capital on November 29 at night. The accident occurred because of a B.A.S.E. jumper. The car accident took place in Moscow’s north on Sunday night. The B.A.S.E. jumper was jumping off a high-rise building on Moscow’s Khodynsky Boulevard. The man miscalculated the trajectory of his flight and landed on a Land Rover vehicle that was traveling along the street. In addition to the driver, there was a woman and a child on the back seat of the vehicle. The extreme jumper, a 31-year-old...

MOSCOW, December 4 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will visit Israel in 2010. At the Friday meeting Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman extended the corresponding invitation to Vladimir Putin. “We will be glad to receive you in Israel in 2010,� the foreign minister said. “Thank you for invitation, I will come for sure,� Putin said. “You know that many our compatriots live in Israel, and you are one of them,� Putin told Lieberman with a smile. “We are very glad that the immigrants from the former Soviet Union are making a so perfect political...

Russia asked Israel on Thursday for assistance in securing its public transportation system in the wake of last week's terrorist attack on a train near Moscow, Army Radio reported. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Victor Zubkov, requested that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman allow the committee investigating the attack to visit Israel. It is suspected that last week's attack, in which 26 people were killed, was perpetrated by a Chechen-Muslim terrorist organization.

Russia has launched its Su-35 fighter-jet program. Russia's Sukhoi Co. has begun implementing a contract to deliver the Su-35 to the Russian Air Force. Under the contract signed in August 2009, the Russian Air Force, in the largest purchase in 20 years, would acquire 48 Su-35 fighters. "Long-term contracts for the fighter aircraft delivery to the Russian Air Force and foreign customers allow Sukhoi Co. to provide for a steady work load of its serial plants by combat aircraft production and shift from modernizing aircraft in the Russian Air Force inventory to manufacturing new products," Sukhoi said. In a statement...

PERM, Russia – Panicked clubgoers crushed each other to death in a popular Russian nightspot as they tried to flee a fast-moving fire that one eyewitness told The Associated Press was started by pyrotechnic fountains set up on the stage. Officials said 103 people died when the fire tore through the popular Lame Horse nightclub in the city of Perm late Friday, filling the crowded barracks-like building with thick black smoke. Authorities said they arrested the registered owner of the club and the manager. Officials said the club managers ignored repeated demands from authorities to change the club's interior to...

An explosion has torn through a nightclub in the Russian city of Perm, killing at least 90 people. Another 60 people were injured in the blast, the city's emergency services told the BBC. About 200 people are said to have been in the club, named as the Lame Horse, when the blast occurred at 2315 local time (2015 GMT). Police say they are investigating whether the accident was caused by fireworks. A spokesman for the prosecutor-general's main investigative unit told Itar-Tass news agency this was not a terrorist attack. "We are talking about a failure to observe fire regulations," he...

Currently, Europe's ability to power itself is almost completely dependant on Russian energy supplies. Today, almost half of the EU's natural gas imports come from Russia along with 30 percent of its oil supplies. As such, there is an increasing desire to diversify the continent's energy suppliers -- enter the Nabucco Pipeline. Dubbed the 'Gas bridge between Asia and Europe', the €7.9 billion, 3300km-long pipeline will attempt to break Russian dependency by exploiting the gas reserves in the Caspian and Middle East regions. Snaking through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and into Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic, the Nabucco Pipeline...

Israel's foreign minister met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday and called for closer ties and economic cooperation between the two countries. Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Israel's right-wing ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party, was born in the former Soviet Union, and he spoke with Putin in flawless Russian, throwing in a few words of English. Lieberman was visiting Moscow for a session of a Russian-Israeli Intergovernmental Commission, which mainly focuses on economic ties. He lauded the commission for establishing a visa-free system between the two countries last year. He said the measure will likely to double the number of...

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican and Russia announced they would upgrade diplomatic relations to the highest level. During a meeting at the Vatican Dec. 3, Pope Benedict XVI and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to establish full diplomatic ties between their two countries. Since 1990 they have exchanged diplomatic representatives but without full relations. The two leaders discussed "the challenges currently facing security and peace" and the international and political situation in the world, according to a written statement released by the Vatican after the meeting. They also discussed "cultural and social questions...

Vietnam could become key importer of Russian weaponry Vietnam could become a key importer of Russian weaponry if several contracts on the purchase of diesel submarines and aircraft are signed in the near future, a Russian newspaper said. According to the Vedomosti business daily, Moscow and Hanoi are close to sign deals on the purchase of six Kilo class diesel-electric submarines and 12 Su-30MK2 Flanker-C multirole fighters. The submarine contract, worth an estimated $1.8 billion, includes the construction of on-shore infrastructure and training of submarine crews and will be the second largest submarine contract concluded by Russia since the Soviet...

The relations between Russia and NATO have been put to the test. One of the members of the North Atlantic Alliance – Canada – blocked the approval of all documents which were supposed to be discussed at the meeting of foreign ministers of Russia and NATO members on December 4...

What's wrong with IAF's Sukhoi? New Delhi December 4, 2009 Even if temporary, the grounding of Sukhoi- 30MKI fighters of the Indian Air Force ( IAF) has opened up a huge gap in the country's air defence system. Our Sukhois are currently located in the following manner - two squadrons in Pune, Maharashtra, two in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, and one in Tezpur, Assam. A sixth squadron was forming up in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and it was from this squadron that the aircraft that crashed this week belonged. Each squadron has roughly 20 aircraft and the total India has is about 105...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged radical measures to end a surge of militant violence in the North Caucasus, but said a new war is not expected in the region. "No new war is in the air in the North Caucasus, but the situation is difficult... illegally armed groups are still active there. We will wage a ruthless fight against them until they are totally destroyed," Putin said in his annual question-and-answer session broadcast live on television and radio on Thursday. Skirmishes between troops and separatists, and attacks on police and other officials have been reported daily in the mainly...

‘Natasha’ alerted Sukhoi pilots of fire Rahul Singh, Hindustan Times The second-ever crash of a Sukhoi-30 fighter jet in Rajasthan on Monday may have been caused by engine fire, air force sources said, ruling out the possibility of human error. A female voice warning system in the twin engine Su-30 cockpit, called Natasha in the Indian Air Force, alerted the pilots about the engine fire. The air force sources said on Tuesday, “The pilots also spotted the fire and took a decision to eject. The cause of the fire will be established by a Court of Inquiry.” The plane’s flight...

Russia is getting another five S-400 (also known as the Triumf/Triumph or SA-21) missile battalions in the next year. Russia already has two battalions, with the first one entering service two years ago. Belarus is buying the S-400, and part of a battalion was sent to the North Korean border recently (to make a political point, not that the Russians fear a missile attack from North Korea any time soon.) Within the next six years, Russia plans to buy 18 S-400 battalions, while exporting as many as possible. An S-400 battalion has eight launchers, each with four missiles, plus a...

John F. Burns, the chief foreign correspondent for The Times, responded to a common theme among the readers of At War — that the United States should learn from the Soviets’ experience in Afghanistan and withdraw its troops. Q. In Afghanistan, both the Russians and the British, at the height of their power, completely failed to bring the place to heel. So we’re going to succeed? Uh huh… Colin Wright Richmond, Calif.Q. The NY TIMES has the archives of the Soviet experience in Afghanistan. Go read them. If you do, then there is just nothing left to say except.. GET...

An Islamist militant group has reportedly said it carried out last week’s bomb attack on a Russian train – on the orders of Doku Umarov, leader of the Caucasian Mujahadeen and one of the country’s most wanted rebels. The claim published on a website can’t be verified. But previous statements it’s posted by North Caucasus groups have proved correct. The attack on Friday night’s express between Moscow and St Petersburg killed 26 people. The militants’ letter vowed more acts of sabotage against what it called strategic economic targets.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has grounded its entire fleet of Sukhoi fighter jets after one crashed during a routine training exercise in Rajasthan state. > Monday's crash was the second such incident involving a Sukhoi fighter jet this year. >

The United States is about to lose a key arms-control tool from the closing days of the Cold War -- the right to station American observers in Russia to count the long-range missiles leaving its assembly line. The end of full-time, on-site access will likely ignite complaints in Congress, with insiders from both parties arguing over whether the George W. Bush or the Obama administration is responsible.

Second Russian Stealth Frigate In Works Posted by Bill Sweetman at 12/1/2009 4:20 AM CST Maxim Pyadushkin writes: The Severnaya Verf shipyard in St Petersburg officially laid down the second Project 22350 frigate for the Russian Navy on November 26. The ship was named Admiral Flota Kasatonov. The first frigate of the class - Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov – has been under construction at Severnaya Verf since 2006. Kasatonov laid down on November 26 (UIC) The Gorshkov class will be the first fully stealthy Russian frigates, with their superstructures shaped to reduce radar cross-section. The 130 m-long frigates will...

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 accounts was likely carried out by Russians using a poison that was obtained in Russia – Polonium 210 (Po210). Which Russians committed the act, under the authority of whom and for what purpose, remain shrouded in mystery. The name Vladimir Putin is inextricably linked in...

CARACAS (Reuters) - Russia is building arms plants in Venezuela to produce AK-103 automatic rifles and cartridges and is finalizing contracts to send 53 military helicopters to the Andean nation, Moscow's envoy to Venezuela saidMonday. Ambassador Vladmir Zaemskiy told a news conference that Russian engineers and Venezuelan construction firms were building the rifle and cartridge plants which, when operational, would employ more than 1,500 workers. He gave no completion date for the plants under construction in the central state of Aragua. Details about Moscow's military shipments and projects have been scarce since socialist President Hugo Chavez's government began signing military...