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January 22, 2008 RAF scrambled as Russia tests nuclear-capable missiles (RAF/MoD Crown Copyright/PA Wire) A Russian Bear-H bomber Tony Halpin in Moscow RAF fighters scrambled to track Russian long-range bombers joining a naval task force today as Moscow practised strike tactics off the coast of France and Spain and test-launched nuclear-capable missiles. The fleet of Russian warships, supported by fighter jets and the bombers, engaged in Russia’s biggest naval exercises since the end of the Cold War. The war games close to two Nato member states were the most forceful reminder to date of President Putin’s determination to flex Russia’s...

U.S. health agency stages bird flu war gameBy Matthew Bigg Apr 27, 2007 ATLANTA (Reuters) - A leading U.S. health agency staged a war game this week to test its response to one of the worst health emergencies it could imagine -- an outbreak of avian flu on American soil. The exercise, which ended on Friday, was designed to simulate how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would marshal its resources, coordinate with other branches of government and, crucially, reassure the public while preparing it for a possible pandemic. "If we were at the beginning of a pandemic this...

North Korean leader touts "burning hatred" towards the US Sun Mar 26, 1:12 AM ET North Korea's top leader Kim Jong-Il has spoken of the nation's "burning hatred" towards the United States amid ongoing US-South Korean war games. Kim's comments were made during his inspection of an army unit, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said late Saturday. "Our army and people are turning out as one in the sacred anti-US struggle with burning hatred for the US imperialist aggressors and the unshakable resolution to take revenge upon them," Kim was quoted as saying. "No force on earth can...

US, South Korea launch war games Sat Mar 25, 12:18 PM ET South Korea and the United States have launched large-scale war games as North Korea accused them of rehearsing for a nuclear attack on the communist state. Some 25,000 US troops backed by a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier are taking part in the week-long drill aimed at testing the capability of US and South Korean commanders to receive and deploy US reinforcements from abroad. "The RSOI (Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration) drill started today as planned," said an official with the US military who asked not to be named....

BEIJING - China and Russia began the second stage of their first joint military drills early Saturday, shifting to China's northeast coast after two days of exercises near the Russian port of Vladivostok, the Chinese government said. The war games are the result of warming ties between former Cold War enemies Moscow and Beijing, motivated by growing concern at U.S. dominance of world affairs. The drills near Qingdao, the site of a major Chinese naval base on the Shandong peninsula in the Yellow Sea, are to include a joint landing to practice stabilizing a fictional country. About 7,000 Chinese troops...

The U.S. military on Saturday launched a five-day war game to see how space-based assets such as satellite communications and precision bomb guidance systems would fare in a hypothetical war against terrorism in 2020. "This is not warfare in space. Our focus is how to best use our space-based assets to coordinate the joint terrestrial fight," said Brig. Gen. Daniel Darnell, commander of the Space Warfare Center at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado. Over the past decade, the U.S. military has come to rely to a huge extent on satellites to relay communications, transmit high-resolution imagery; track U.S. forces;...

Monday, Nov. 25, 10 p.m. ET Go inside the highest levels of the U.S. government as it prepares for a possible war with Saddam Hussein Secaucus, NJ, Nov. 18 — In a unique special event, MSNBC presents “Wargame: Iraq,” a look at how President George Bush and his top advisors might decide to attack Iraq. “Wargame: Iraq,” airing Monday, Nov. 25, 10 p.m.-12 a.m. ET, is an intense, dramatic look at simulated meetings of the National Security Council, enacted by veterans of past administrations and experts in foreign policy, as they decide the parameters for going to war. NBC NEWS...