Free Republic

Preparing for any potential war against Iran, the Biden administration has formally elevated Israel in military planning.... ...For the Pentagon, Israel is the most prized military and intelligence partner in the Middle East, with its vast combat experience and advanced technologies. With the end of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and with the brokering of the Abraham Accords by the Trump administration, Washington sees an opportunity to incorporate Israel into a new regional alliance. ... ..."CENTCOM will now work to implement the U.S. Government commitment to a holistic approach to regional security and cooperation with our partners," the Tampa-based command...

MOSCOW (AP) — Hundreds of new Russian aircraft, tanks and missiles are rolling off assembly lines. Russian jets roar through European skies under NATO's wary eye. Tens of thousands of troops take part in war games showing off the military's readiness for all-out war. The muscle flexing suggests that Russia's economic woes so far are having no impact on the Kremlin's ambitious military modernization program. Most Russian economic sectors face a 10 percent cut this year as Russia heads into recession. The military budget, meanwhile, rose by 33 percent to about 3.3 trillion rubles (some $50 billion). The buildup reflects...

Proposed US Military buildup under a conservative U.S. Administration circa 2012-2024 CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE The following plan is based on a major US economic turnaround based on sound Free Market principles geared to US interests, energy independendece, a balanced budget, stabilization of Social Security & Medicare & eliminating unessary and wasteful entitlements & entire federal agencies. It is also based,under a conservative leadership in Washington, on adopting lower corporate and individual income taxes so the revenue to the treasury expands and increases significantly which will fuel the buildup necessary to remain technologically superior by two generations...

Next year China and India will celebrate six decades of diplomatic relations. A whole range of festivities is planned. The border war of 1962 was the nadir of the relationship. However, things have improved greatly since the 1980s. There are now regular high level political meetings; bilateral trade turnover next year may reach $60 billion; boundary demarcation talks have been underway since 2003, and there have been two joint military exercises designed to combat terrorism. Nevertheless, the two Asian giants do not really trust one another. India is particularly concerned about the Chinese military build-up in Tibet and along the...

China appears to be having success in using diplomacy to disarm Taiwan (which it considers a rebellion province, and threatens to take by force, if peaceful means fail.) For decades, China has been putting economic and diplomatic pressure on other nations to prevent them from supplying Taiwan with weapons. Even the U.S. has constantly been pressured, despite the fact that there is a three decade old American law that mandates U.S. sales of weapons to Taiwan. But China has leaned on the U.S. despite that law, and has succeeded in stalling Taiwanese efforts to buy 66 more F-16 fighters. While...

Tensions over Iran's nuclear programme have spurred an arms race in the Gulf with record defence deals being negotiated. Saudi Arabia, long the major arms-buyer in the region, is now being overtaken by relative minnows such as the United Arab Emirates as they share their neighbour's fear of the growing military strength of their Shia neighbour. Iran yesterday began a week-long military exercise to test its readiness against missile attack. The exercise was overtly intended as a message to Israel that any attack on its nuclear programme would be met with strong resistance. "If the enemy wants to test its...

White paper orders huge military build-up Patrick Walters, National security editor | April 25, 2009 KEVIN Rudd is set to announce Australia's biggest military build-up since World War II, led by a multi-billion-dollar investment in maritime defence, including 100 new F-35 fighters, a doubling of the submarine fleet, and powerful new surface warships. Kevin Rudd is set to roll out the biggest military build-up since World War II. 04/09 Sky News Views today: 21Sorry, this video is no longer available.The new defence white paper will outline plans for a fundamental shake-up of Australia's defence organisation to ensure that the nation...

Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, is the author of seven books on international affairs, including America's Coming War with China: A Collision Course over Taiwan (2006). The People's Republic of China continues to send worrisome signals about its security strategy. As the tone of cross-straits relations grows increasingly strident, China's latest military reshuffle and ongoing lack of transparency about its military budget are creating new tensions with both the United States and its neighbors in East Asia. In the lead-up to the opening of the Communists' 17th National Party Congress...

China's leadership makes show of unity ahead of key Communist Party congress The Associated Press Wednesday, August 1, 2007 BEIJING: Past and present Chinese leaders appeared together on army day Wednesday in a striking show of unity ahead of a key Communist Party congress later this year. Former President and party chief Jiang Zemin, seldom seen in public since giving up his last official title in 2004, joined current top leader Hu Jintao on stage at a ceremony celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army. The appearance of Jiang and former premiers Zhu Rongji and...

Show News has learned that Russia's Rosoboronexport (ROE) is close to signing a defense order with Iran that may be the largest in more than three decades.

Russia must strengthen its military and step up spying on the west in response to US plans to site parts of a missile defence shield in eastern Europe, President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday. Addressing newly-promoted military and security officers, Mr Putin said new US military bases in eastern Europe and the failure of Nato countries to ratify an updated version of a Cold War treaty capping levels of conventional forces in Europe were threats to Russian security. “One of our absolute priorities is an all-round strengthening of the armed forces,” Mr Putin told the Kremlin gathering. He listed not...

Orders for two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers have been confirmed by Defence Secretary Des Browne. He said the £3.8bn contract would lead to the construction of the largest vessels ever sailed by the Royal Navy. The new 65,000-tonne carriers - HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales - will enter service in 2014 and 2016. Mr Browne said the work would support and create 10,000 jobs across the UK, including those at yards on the Clyde, Rosyth, Portsmouth and Barrow.

China's military buildup is moving beyond countering Taiwan to global operations from the Middle East through Southeast Asia, according to the Pentagon's annual assessment of Chinese military power. "China's military acquisitions and strategic thinking suggests Beijing is also generating capabilities for other regional contingencies, such as conflict over resources or territory," the report to Congress said. The statement, released yesterday, contradicts assessments of some pro-China analysts and intelligence officials who have said the nation's military buildup is relatively benign and limited to resolving the sovereignty issue of Taiwan, which was separated from China in 1949 during a civil war. China...

Russian military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by U.S. Armed Forces near Iran's borders, a high-ranking security source said Tuesday. "The latest military intelligence data point to heightened U.S. military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran," the official said. He also said the U.S. Naval presence in the Persian Gulf has for the first time in the past four years reached the level that existed shortly before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003...

Despite the Chinese Communist Party leadership's espousal of China's "peaceful rise," the unprecedented peacetime expansion of China's military capabilities betrays a clear intent to challenge the United States in the Western Pacific and establish itself as the region's predominant military power. With China's massive gross domestic product and military spending at an estimated 4? percent of GDP, the resources Beijing now devotes to its armed forces surely make it a top global power. U.S. intelligence agencies can plainly see where the money is going. China is assembling a blue-water navy, with a fleet of 29 modern submarines, including 13 super-quiet...

Cheney warns on Chinese military rise by Olivier Knox 1 hour, 33 minutes ago US Vice President Dick Cheney has warned China Friday that its swift military build-up worried the world and said Washington was not blindly trusting North Korea to implement a landmark nuclear deal. On the first full day of an official visit, Cheney also used a speech to a group of prominent US and Australian citizens to assail unnamed critics who he said want the allies to "turn our backs" on places like Afghanistan or Iraq. But his visit, aimed at thanking staunch US ally Australia for...

The United States has some concerns about a rising China, including a military expansion that may be excessive, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday. Beijing has spent heavily in recent years on adding submarines, missiles, fighter planes and other high-tech weapons to its arsenal and extending the reach of the 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army, the world's largest fighting force. Its reported military budget rose more than 14 percent this year to $35.3 billion, but outside estimates of China's true spending are up to three times that level. "There are concerns about China's military buildup," Rice told a television...

It may rarely come up in Political Science courses but the military threat to the United States from Communist China is real and growing. “This is a serious military build-up.” Daniel Blumenthal of the American Enterprise Institute remarked. “I think we are slow to come to terms with what we’re facing.” Blumenthal, who also serves on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, argued that “People have changed their tune,” when it comes to the current Chinese military. The Department of Defense recently released its report on the People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, of China. The findings were astonishing. The...

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir V. Putin, in a blunt response to U.S. criticism of his domestic and foreign policies, declared today that Russia will boost its military strength to ensure the ability to resist foreign pressure. In an annual address to parliament, Putin said new weapons will enable his country to maintain a strategic balance with the United States, which he compared to a wolf — the arch-villain in Russian fairy tales — doing as it pleases in the world. Despite the strong language on international and military issues, the bulk of the speech focused on domestic policies. Putin called...

The PLAN is readying the former Russian carrier Varyag for something. These pictures show the exterior painting now being completed in the standard PLAN surface combatant colors, with the superstructure preparing to be painted. They have been working on the project in their naval shipyards for over two year now.