Archive for the ‘Cold War 2’ Category
Russia’s new Ground Forces chief urges drastic cuts in tanks
Murdoc agrees wholeheartedly. The Russian army should have fewer tanks.
Neptunus Lex writes a bit about the T-50, a supposed fifth-generation fighter from Sukhoi:
The Sukhoi T-50 prototype, a “fifth generation” fighter, completed a 47-minute maiden test flight in Russia’s Far East. The project, three years behind schedule, has been shrouded in secrecy during almost two decades of development and aims to rival the F-22 Raptor flown by the US Air Force, which began flight tests in 1997.
Lex notes this about the F-22:
Curious place the Raptor found itself in: Too valuable to export, not valuable enough to build.
He also notes that the photos of the T-50 don’t make it look nearly as stealthy as they claim. The comments section is quite interesting.
Russia general says missile plan not shelved
Russia’s top general said on Monday that plans to deploy missiles in an enclave next to Poland had not been shelved, despite a decision by the United States to rethink plans for missile defense in Europe.
Even Appeasers All Appeased Out
I can never figure out why so many people are opposed to missile defense.
Caving in more or less completely on the European shield is not a surprise, though.
Russian navy searches Atlantic for missing ship
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered that “all necessary measures” be taken to find the missing ship, and the Russian navy turned all of its vessels in the Atlantic — including three landing ships, a frigate and two nuclear-powered submarines — to search.
Finnish police said they also were assisting in the investigation.
What are the Finns doing? Scouring the streets of Helsinki for a 300-foot cargo carrier?
Anyway, at least those subs off the United States’ east coast have something to do.
Russian attack subs patrol off U.S. coast
Two nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines have been patrolling in international waters off the East Coast for several days, in activity reminiscent of the Cold War, defense officials said Tuesday.
U.S. Northern Command would not comment on the Russian submarines’ movement. But in a prepared statement, Northern Command spokesman Michael Kucharek acknowledged the patrols and said the U.S. has been monitoring the two submarines.
I wonder if they’re really “attack submarines” or actually missile boats.
“We are planning to resolve all the issues in 2010-2011, and after that we will make a final decision. At this point it is necessary to determine all technical specifications of the ship and the means of achieving them. Simultaneously, we have to decide on the strategic uses of aircraft carriers in the future,” Vladimir Popovkin said.
So far the Russian Navy only has one aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, built in 1985, with a displacement of 55,000 metric tons, a crew of 1,500, and capability to carry more than 50 aircraft.
Earlier reports that the Russians were not planning to arm the ship with cruise missiles seem to be confirmed.
US scientist pleads guilty to China tech sales
A scientist pleaded guilty Monday to selling U.S. rocket technology to China and bribing Chinese officials to secure a lucrative contract for his high-tech company.
Bad. How could an American do such a thing? Must be the evils of capitalism and greed. Or maybe it’s a bit more than that:
Quan-Sheng Shu, 68, pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the federal Arms Control Act and one count of bribery at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Norfolk.
Shu is president of AMAC International Inc. of Newport News. He is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Shanghai.
Meanwhile:
Russian spy in Nato could have passed on missile defence and cyber-war secrets:
Herman Simm, 61, an Estonian defence ministry official who was arrested in September, was responsible for handling all of his country’s classified information at Nato, giving him access to every top-secret graded document from other alliance countries.
He was recruited by the Russians in the late 1980s and has been charged in Estonia with supplying information to a foreign power.
Red Storm Rising
In Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising, a key plotline was the taking of Iceland by the Soviets and the effort to re-open the GIUK Gap by NATO forces, including some US personnel that escaped the Soviet attack. Thanks to a “force reduction” in 2006, US forces pulled out and now the Russians might be moving in. Unfortunately, Murdoc’s Icelandic is a bit rusty, so we’ll have to rely on Alert 5:
Iceland offers strategic airbase to Russia
Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson shocked foreign diplomats at a lunch in Reykjavik on Nov. 7 when he offered the former Naval Air Station Keflavik to Russia.
Grimsson said that his country needs “new friends” and that Russia should be invited to use the former NATO airbase.
If this goes through, it will be disastrous for us. I expect that we’ll be making a counter-offer shortly. Which might be the whole point of offering it to the Russians.
