BOTH THE WEST AND RUSSIA PREPARING FOR WAR
Ready for war? US Marines team up with South Korean military for exercises in sub-zero temperatures as Trump's America sends a message to Kim Jong-un and China
- The 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force are conducting joint winter exercises with crack South Korean soldiers
- The exercises are taking place near Pyeongchang, which will host the Winter Olympics in February 2018
- The Marines and their South Korean allies played out a scenario in which North Korean troops invaded
- Wearing snow camouflage, or occasionally shirtless, the troops practised skiing, shooting and wrestling
US Marines and South Korean troops have been conducting joint exercises in temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius as the Pentagon sends out a warning to both North Korea and China.
The 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, usually based in Okinawa, Japan, flew over to Pyeongchang to join their local allies for a series of gruelling exercises in the freezing cold.
Next year Pyeongchang will host the Winter Olympics but this year the area was the location of even more arduous activities.
The endurance exercises included a scenario in which South Korea comes under attack from its communist foe beyond the 38th parallel.
The men involved are among the best in both armies and the annual exercise is an opportunity to sharpen their winter skills
Marines from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary force deployed from Okinawa, Japan, participate in the winter military training exercises with their South Korean allies
South Korean marines participate in the winter military training exercise in the hills surrounding Pyeongchang
It has happened before. At dawn on Sunday June 25, 1950 the North Korean army stormed across the border with Kim Il-sung - grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un - promising to hang the 'bandit traitor Syngman Rhee (South Korea's president)'.
Back then there were no US troops in Korea and the North Koreans captured the capital, Seoul, and almost conquered the entire peninsula before General Douglas MacArthur and his troops arrived to rescue the situation.
The Korean War ended three years later with millions dead and the peninsula permanently divided between the democratic South and the communist North.
The winter exercises took place only days after American, Japanese and South Korean warships conducted joint naval drills off the coast, designed to prepare for a missile attack by the North.
But this year there was also a hidden agenda - showing off to the increasingly belligerent Chinese, that the US remains a powerful military adversary in Asia.
The exercise tests the men's marksmanship, tracking and communication skills
These guys are tough so stripping off to play in the snow in sub-zero temperatures is nothing to them
Almost 70 years ago North Korean troops stormed across the border and the US rushed troops to the peninsula to turn the tide and drive back the communist army
The Marines are usually based in tropical Okinawa so the exercise is their only opportunity to hone their skiing abilities
Temperatures fall far below zero on the Korean peninsula during winter
Ooh Rah! The US Marines strip off in sub-zero temperatures for a spot of male bonding in the snow
Wrestlemania: Korean and US servicemen get to grips with each other in the snow, watched by an audience of comrades
Hand-to-hand combat: Should they run out of bullets they will be ready to take on the enemy by grappling them
While the South Koreans' priority is defending against North Korea, the US also has an eye on China
Next year Pyeongchang will host the Winter Olympics but the cross-country skiers then won't be armed
Marines and soldiers are silhouetted against the background of snow in the mountains near Pyeongchang, which pipped Munich and Annecy in France to be chosen as the venue for next year's Winter Olympics
Brothers-in-arms: The annual exercise is also an opportunity to improve teamwork between the US and South Koreans
Russian troops use reindeer and dogs in the Arctic
The Russian Navy's Northern Fleet has its own Arctic mechanised infantry brigade which conducts military exercises to learn how to ride a reindeer sled at a reindeer farm near the village of Lovozero
Russian sailors from the Northern Fleet try to train a husky dog in the countryside near the port of Murmansk
Frostbite is a constant menace in the Arctic but for some tasks the troops have to take their gloves off and use their fingers, for example to load the ammunition clips (pictured)
Winters are brutal in this part of the world but the weather has helped Russia militarily - in 1805 Napoleon was forced to retreat and many of his men perished in the cold, and in the Second World War the Germans were not prepared for the Russian winter and ultimately lost
A Russian conscript gets to grip with one of the dogs. Just as well he has his gloves on
Looking like a scene from a James Bond film, troops ski behind a mechanised jetski vehicle but the reindeer in the background seem oddly out of kilter with the 21st century scene
Tensions between Russia and the West have risen markedly in recent years and President Putin has spent billions on equipment for the Russian Army, Navy and Air Force
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on FacebookPutin prepares for World War III: Hundreds of military vehicles including mobile ballistic missile launchers take part in simulated launch drills across Russia
- Hundreds of military vehicles are taking part in exercises across Russia
- Among them are mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launchers
- Footage has shown the vehicles rolling through woods of the Altay region
Russia deploys missile in treaty violation
Deployment of new cruise missile is challenge to American President Donald Trump, New York Times says__________World Bulletin
Russia has clandestinely deployed a new intermediate-range cruise missile in violation of a treaty that helped end the decades-long Cold War, according to a report published on Tuesday.Citing anonymous administration officials, the New York Times said that Moscow now has two battalions of the SSC-X-8 missile in its possession. One has been deployed to an unspecified operational base in the country while the other remains at a test site in southern Russia.“Each missile battalion is believed to have four mobile launchers with about half a dozen nuclear-tipped missiles allocated to each of the launchers,” the Times reported.The mobile launchers are said to closely resemble Russia’s Iskander short-range system, which does not run afoul of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.News of Russia’s deployment prompted Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain to hit out at Moscow on Tuesday, calling the deployment a “significant military threat to U.S. forces in Europe and our NATO allies.“In light of the most recent developments, it is time for the new administration to take immediate action to enhance our deterrent posture in Europe and protect our allies,” he said in a statement.The Barack Obama administration strongly criticized Russia’s development of the missile in 2014, saying it was in violation of the treaty.Declining to comment on the Times’ report directly, the Pentagon nonetheless said Russia “remains in violation of its INF Treaty obligations”.“We support a review of Russia’s ongoing INF Treaty violation in order to assess the potential security implications for the United States and its allies and partners,” Pentagon spokeswoman Laura Seal said.The report comes as President Donald Trump helms an administration shaken by the recent departure of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, prompted by disclosures that he misled senior officials about his contacts with Russia’s Washington ambassador. And Trump himself has come under repeated criticism for apparently amenable statements related to Russia.During Tuesday’s press briefing, White House spokesman Sean Spicer insisted that Trump has been “incredibly tough on Russia” despite numerous flattering comments Trump has made regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin.In an interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, Trump seemed to equivocate Putin with the U.S., saying “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”Trump, who balked in the past when asked about the components of Washington’s nuclear triad — land, sea and air — is in the early stages of developing a new nuclear policy
Hundreds of military vehicles including mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launchers have been taking part in simulated military drills across Russia.
Footage has shown up to 400 vehicles take part in the exercise by rolling through wooded areas of the Altay region.
Among them were autonomous missile launchers including the Topol, Topol-M and the Yars as well as drones and hundreds of troops.
Hundreds of military vehicles have been taking part in a number of simulated drills across Russia
The Russians could invade Poland 'overnight' and the US needs to do more to beef up Nato defences in the area and send more missiles to the region to deter Moscow.
A 25-page document by the US-based Atlantic Council think thank says Nato needs to do more to 'counter a resurgent Russia'.
The report says: 'Even if Moscow currently has no immediate intent to challenge Nato directly, this may unexpectedly change overnight and can be implemented with great speed, following already prepared plans. The capability to do so is, to a large extent, in place.'
It says the timing of a Russian invasion could not be predicted but it could come as a result of Nato being 'distracted by another crisis' or as a reaction to a 'misperception of Nato's activities'.
A Russian military column drives through Alagir in South Ossetia in 2008. Russian troops took most of the capital of the separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia after a three-day battle, ignoring US calls for them not to intervene in Georgia's internal affairs
The report goes on to say: 'Russia rarely disguises its true intentions. On the contrary, it has proclaimed them very publicly on various occasions, but, in general, the West has chosen not to believe Russia's declarations and disregards its willingness to carry them out.'
The Atlantic Council claims Nato would be slow to respond to an invasion and Russia would use its nuclear weapons as a deterrent to prevent it turning into a full-scale war.
The report goes on to say Nato forces in Poland would be expected 'to delay and bog down an invading force and inflict unacceptable damage on it'.
It says: 'The [Nato] force [in Poland] is not required to win the war, but it must be able to fight alongside the host-nation forces to buy Nato more time for reinforcement. Nato's presence in the region is currently not large enough to achieve this.'
A quarter of a century after the end of the Cold War a new arms race is under way in eastern Europe with Poland and the Baltic states having switched sides
Russia's annexation of the Crimea in 2014 and its support for ethnic Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine has made Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia increasingly twitchy about their own security.
When he was asked about the possibility of a Russian attack recently, Lithuania's Defence Minister Juozas Olekas said: 'We cannot exclude it...They might exercise on the borders and then switch to invasion in hours.'
In order to invade Poland the Russians would have to go through Latvia and Lithuania, unless it was able to persuade Belarus - which is pro-Moscow - to give its troops free passage.
Poland has traditionally been fearful of Russian invasion.
After centuries of domination by the Russian Empire, the modern Polish state came into existence in 1918 but was divided and occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 after Stalin and Hitler's foreign ministers signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
After the war communist Poland came under Russian domination for decades, until the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.
German, American and Polish troops took part in unprecedented manouevres in Poland last month, the largest exercise in eastern Europe since the end of the Cold War
Poland joined Nato in 1999, much to the chagrin of Russia, and has become increasingly keen to bolster its defences.
Nato defence ministers recently agreed to a new multi-national force of 4,000 troops which would bolster the defence of Poland and the Baltic states.
The United States, Canada, Germany and Britain will lead battalions of 1,000 troops each.
Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had urged Nato not to go ahead with the move and warned Moscow would respond by posting three new divisions of its own close to the frontier.
The Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, has voiced disquiet with the amount of money the US pays to defend countries in eastern Europe.
The US accounts for more than 70 percent of all Nato spending and only four other members - Britain, Greece, Estonia and Poland - meet the minimum two percent of GDP spending on defence required by Nato.
Trump said he would review the financial contributions made by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania before acting under the treaty’s mutual defence clause if any of those countries were attacked by Russia.
The US Army's 2nd Cavalry Regiment take part in military exercise near Kupiskis, 100 miles north of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius at the weekend
Around 30,000 Nato troops took part in the recent Anakonda-16 exercise in Poland.
Nineteen NATO members and five partner nations contributed troops to the exercise, which was designed to train and test their swift joint reaction to threats on land, sea and in the air.
Russia meanwhile is building up a new base at Klintsy, 750 miles to the east.
Russia insists it poses no threat to the former Soviet states.
Around a million ethnic Russians live in the Baltic states, with more than half of them in Latvia.
Lithuanian officials claim Russia has tried to corrupt Lithuanian soldiers and businessmen to become spies for the Kremlin.
The sight of US troops on the streets of towns like Daugavpils, Latvia (pictured) raise the hackles of Russian nationalists, who remember the days not so long ago when the Baltic states were part of the Soviet Union
Among them were autonomous missile launchers including the Topol, Topol-M and the Yars as well as drones and hundreds of troops
Footage has shown up to 400 vehicles take part in the exercise by rolling through wooded areas of the Altay region
According to RT, crews manning the missile launchers are always training and the focus of the current drill was counter-sabotage measures.
The launchers are protected by special units of troops who specialise in detecting enemy forces, who might be waiting, and to eliminate their threat.
The Russian defence ministry explained that the summit of the drills is going to be conducting simulated launches by crews of mobile missile launchers taking part in the exercise, the ministry said.
The drills come as NATO and Russia hold their first talks since the alliance agreed at a summit in Warsaw to beef up its presence in eastern Europe due to fears over the Kremlin's expansionism.
The meeting between ambassadors from the 28-nation alliance and Russia is the first since April and just the second since 2014, when the Ukraine crisis plunged relations into a deep freeze.
Russian troops carry out a training exercise around a ballistic missile launcher during the military drill
The launchers are protected by special units of troops who specialise in detecting enemy forces, who might be waiting, and to eliminate their threat
The alliance said it would brief Moscow on last week's decision to send four battalions totalling around 4,000 soldiers to Poland and the Baltic states, which have been nervous ever since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Moscow said it would discuss the risks of the US missile shield that NATO declared operational at the summit in the Polish capital, as well as improving airspace safety over the Baltic.
Russia has been strongly critical of the NATO decision, accusing the alliance of aggression and warning that it will react to the deployment of forces in its former Soviet backyard.
But NATO said it was acting purely defensively.
The drills come as NATO and Russia hold their first talks since the alliance agreed at a summit in Warsaw to beef up its presence in eastern Europe due to fears over the Kremlin's expansionism
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has taken a page out of Joseph Stalin’s book — and sacked every commander in his Baltic fleet.
The stated cause: corruption and incompetence.
But given the endemic nature of both problems across the Russian military, Western analysts are scratching their heads as to the real reason behind the purge.
The performance of Russia’s military during recent high profile, large-scale military NATO military exercises in the Baltic may have something to do with it. As could the ever escalating games of brinkmanship being played out in the international waters and skies.
“Some hint that the “buzzing” of USS Donald Cook by Russian Su-24 fighter-bombers on April 14, 2016 was meant to be part of a broader series of Russian confrontations against Western ships in the Baltic,” says international affairs analyst Peter Coates. “But the Russian Baltic Fleet in April, however, refused to follow such dangerous orders — hence Putin’s retaliation against his own naval officers.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony marking Navy Day in Baltiysk in the Kaliningrad region last year. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
‘DERELICTION OF DUTY’
News of the purge has been trickling out through official Russian news agencies including TASS and Interfax. But it an article in The Moscow Times blamed “chaos” in the Baltic Fleet’s command structure for the dramatic move, citing the Russian Defense Ministry as accusing the officers of dereliction of duty.
“On June 29, the Russian Defense Ministry announced it was purging the entire senior and mid-level command of the Baltic Fleet. It was a dramatic move that suggested deep structural problems within the fleet command. In total, 50 officers were dismissed from their post, including the fleet commander, Vice Admiral Viktor Kravchuk, and his chief of staff, Vice Admiral Sergei Popov,” The Moscow Timesreport reads.
“Not since Stalin’s purges had so many officers been ousted at once.”
LOYALTY LACKING?
“The courage of our sailors, the talent of our shipbuilders, and the spirit of our famous pioneers, explorers and naval commanders have confirmed Russia’s status as a great sea power,” Putin reportedly declared when visiting the Baltic base of Kaliningrad for Navy Day celebrations a year ago.
Something changed.
The Baltic Sea fleet is a ‘backwater’ station, holding much less status than the Black Sea and Northern fleets. It is also relatively poorly equipped. Nevertheless, it consists of 128 surface ships, 71 landing craft, 72 combat jets and 44 air defence emplacements.
The significance of the region has surged in recent years with the defection from the former Soviet Union of the Baltic States, including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
A small remaining Russian enclave on the Baltic coast, Kaliningrad, has since become a major thorn in NATO’s side. Putin has built the outpost into a fortress and stationed long-range cruise missiles there that can reach deep into the heart of Europe.
So Putin would likely have been paying increased attention to the performance — and loyalty — of local commanders. Especially during recent spikes in tensions, such as the major BALTOPS 2016 exercise in which the massed warships of Europe and the United States practised amphibious assaults. Military commentators noted at the time that the Russian response had been unusually muted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech under the rain during celebrations for Navy Day in Baltiysk in Kaliningrad. The purge of naval officers from the Baltic Sea fleet has been linked to Putin’s dismissal of the chief of his navy last year. Picture: AFPSource:Supplied
BLAME GAME
The sudden purge came after what the Moscow Times called a month-long performance review in May-June.
The Russian Defence Ministry has reportedly since issued a statement which pulls no punches in its criticism of Vice Admiral Kravchuk. The commander had displayed “serious shortcomings in the organisation of combat training, daily activities of their forces, failure to take all necessary measures to improve personnel accommodations, inattention to their subordinates and distorted reports on the real state of affairs [in the fleet].”
Russian news service Fontanka.ru has speculated that an attempt to cover-up an unconfirmed collision between a Polish patrol boat and the Russian submarine Krasnodar may have been behind the purge.
But some Russian defence analysts have linked the removal of the entire officer structure to Putin’s sidelining of Admiral Victor Chirkov, the head of Russia’s navy, last year. Vice Admiral Kravchuk may have been perceived as having been ‘too close’ to his former boss.
He has been replaced by Vice Admiral Alexander Nosatov as acting commander of the Baltic Fleet.
One of Nato’s most senior retired generals has warned that the West risks a nuclear war with Russia within a year if it does not boost its defences in the Baltic states amid increasing tension between Moscow and the alliance.
General Sir Richard Shirreff, who served as Nato’s deputy supreme allied commander in Europe until 2014, said that the West should act to avert a “potential catastrophe” should Moscow target Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
He told the BBC Radio 4 programme Today on Wednesday (18 May): “The chilling fact is that because Russia hardwires nuclear thinking and capability to every aspect of their defence capability, this would be nuclear war.
“We need to judge President [Vladimir] Putin by his deeds not his words,” he added. “He has invaded Georgia, he has invaded the Crimea, he has invaded Ukraine. He has used force and got away with it.”
His comments come ahead of a release of his fictional book 2017: War with Russia and only days after an alliance missile defence system in Romania became operational.
The missile defence station at Deveselu in Romania will have SM-2 missile interceptors and will be formally merged into the Nato missile shield. Nato officials have also revealed that another facility would be ready in Poland in 2018.
In response, Russia said it would modernize a launch detection system in Crimea which would be able to detect hypersonic, ballistic and cruise missiles.
On 14 May, Putin slammed the Nato programme which US officials say will target the threat from Iran. The Russian president said: “The threat is gone, but the creation of the missile defence system is continuing.”
On 17 May, RAF typhoon jets were scrambled to intercept Russian planes over the Baltic for the second time in less than a week. The jets were initially shadowing two Su-27 Flanker fighters and an IL-20 “Coot-A” Reconnaissance aircraft close to Estonian airspace, when two more Su-27s were detected.
Russia's ongoing confrontation with the West has ignited debate inside and outside the U.S.-led NATO alliance about what its responsibilities are, and how much of its time and effort should be spent to prepare for and if necessary counter Russian President Vladimir Putin's military ambitions.
Ian Lesser, senior director for foreign and security policy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said NATO must remain mindful of other modern security challenges, including cyber terrorism, threats to energy supplies and armed Islamic extremism.
But he predicted the trans-Atlantic alliance's focus will shift dramatically because of what he termed the biggest game changer in European security and defense environment in 20 years: Russia's armed aggression in Crimea and the Kremlin's continuing military pressure on Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, on a boat, inspects the missile cruiser Moskva during a navy parade marking the Victory Day in Sevastopol, Crimea, Friday, May 9, 2014. Putin extolled the return of Crimea to Russia before tens of thousands Friday during his first trip to Black Sea peninsula since its annexation. The triumphant visit was quickly condemned by Ukraine and NATO. (AP Photo / Ivan Sekretarev)
"Today we have a situation in which Russia and especially the Russian leadership is highly unpredictable," Lesser said. "There is something about the current crisis that suggests Russia is a rogue state, with all that would imply for deterrence and reassurance of allies."
As the alliance ponders how to react in Europe after years of fielding operations in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan, one of NATO's top commanders told The Associated Press that Russia's demonstrated ability to swiftly mobilize large numbers of troops in so-called snap exercises and Moscow's uncertain intentions have forced a rethink of NATO's capacity to respond and the deployment of its forces.
"What I am thinking about now is, is NATO correctly positioned and is it at the right state of responsiveness?" U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO's supreme commander in Europe, said in a recent interview. "If we expect that Mr. Putin is going to be in charge of Russia for many years, if we are going to see this kind of exercise behavior in the future, are we prepared to react to the next snap exercise that goes across a border to impose its will on another sovereign nation in a different part of Europe? That's what I've been doing a lot of thinking about."
Already, NATO has reinforced its Baltic air patrols, put AWACS surveillance planes in the skies over Poland and Romania, dispatched warships to the Baltic and Black seas and sent 600 U.S. Army paratroopers to Poland and the Baltic states on temporary deployment.
Discussions are under way on longer-term measures, and how NATO must reposition, retool and otherwise react to the new challenge from Moscow will be the most pressing question on the agenda when President Barack Obama and leaders of the alliance's 27 other member nations gather for a summit in Wales this September.
During a visit to Canada this week, Breedlove said he wants the political leaders to think about permanently stationing alliance forces in Eastern Europe to reinforce local defense capabilities.
"I think this is something that we have to consider, and we will tee this up for discussion through the leaderships of our nations and see where that leads," Breedlove said Wednesday in Ottawa.
If American fighting men and women are part of a new NATO mix in Eastern Europe, it could mean a halt, or even reversal, of the drastic U.S. military drawdown in Europe that began in the early 1990s as tensions between the West and Soviet Union ebbed.
From a peak of more than 420,000 uniformed personnel at the height of the Cold War, the U.S. presence in Europe has dropped to around 68,000 active-duty men and women of all branches, according to figures provided this week by the U.S. European Command.
A year ago, the last 22 U.S. main battle tanks in Europe were shipped home.
Ironically, the new challenge from Russia comes as some inside and outside NATO were wondering what the alliance was going to do once the biggest operation in its history, combating Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and helping foster political and social stability there, is due to come to an end this December.
For some analysts, the alliance's decision to take on military and stabilization tasks in such faraway places distracted it from its chief responsibility: keeping its own members safe.
"I think NATO drifted away from its core mission," Michael E. Brown, dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, said. "It took on an array of global missions that proved to be very challenging for it. Now it's being forced to do what it should have been doing all along, and that's deterrence."
The last time the leaders of NATO nations met, in May 2012 in Chicago, they expressed hope of forging a "true strategic partnership between NATO and Russia." Russia's use of force to achieve the unilateral annexation in Crimea, its continuing military intimidation of Ukraine and Moscow's alleged interference in that country's ethnically restive east have dispelled those rosy dreams.
Putin's government, NATO officials say, is now acting more like an adversary than a partner, and poses the greatest threat to European security since the Soviet Union's collapse.
Asked this week by the AP whether the alliance has come full circle and must make dealing with Russia its No. 1 priority again, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen replied, "Effective defense and protection of our allies remains a core task for NATO. It's been the essence of our alliance since it was established 65 years ago."
But Fogh Rasmussen immediately added that the military alliance formed in the uncertain early years of the Cold War has given itself important additional responsibilities since the demise of the Soviet bloc. Those may have nothing to do with the Russians.
"Another task is to be able to participate in international crisis management, and we have also defined cooperative security as one of our core tasks," Fogh Rasmussen said. "And we will continue to carry out those tasks as well."
Ivo Daalder, the U.S. permanent representative to NATO in 2009-2013, said in an interview that NATO simply can't go back to being obsessed with Russia all the time because of other global security challenges, including the Arab Spring.
Daalder also said today's Russia isn't the Soviet Union — it doesn't have the global ideological reach, or even the same military capability.
"Putin is not the organizing principle of our foreign and security policy, and never will be," Daalder said. "He's not important enough. He's not strong enough."
One important variable that's still unknown is whether many European allies are willing to increase their defense spending. Fogh Rasmussen has called Russian conduct toward Ukraine a "wake-up call" that means it is time for Europe to end years of skimping on military expenditures. In the same timespan that Russia has boosted defense outlays by 30 percent, some NATO countries have cut theirs by 40 percent, he has complained.
On Friday, Fogh Rasmussen said during a speech in Tallinn, Estonia, that Latvia, Lithuania and Romania have now joined Estonia in committing themselves to increased defense spending.
"And I'm confident that other allies will do so too," the NATO secretary general said. "Because defense matters. Security is precious. Freedom is priceless — and it doesn't come for free."
Russian President Vladimir Putin lights a candle in Sevastopol where he attends celebrations marking the Victory Day, in Crimea, Friday, May 9, 2014. President Vladimir Putin hailed the return of Crimea to Russia as the restoration of "historic justice" before a jubilant, welcoming crowd Friday on the holiday that Russians hold dearest. Putin's visit to the Crimean port of Sevastopol, was strongly criticized by both NATO and Ukraine's Foreign Ministry. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Presidential Press Service)
NATO Secretary General Anders Rasmussen ,left, meets with Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the Prime Minister's Office in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, May 8, 2014. Rasmussen is in Poland for talks with the country's leaders.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
NATO seems to be preparing for a war with Russia, which is entirely in keeping with the anti-Russian rhetoric spewed by NATO commander General Breedlove and a whole host of western politicians and talking heads
A massive NATO military exercise involving 24 nations began in Poland and Germany on the 7th June, 2016, as explained by this article on the US Army’s website:
INOWROCLAW, Poland — Polish Soldiers from the 56th Aviation Base, and U.S. Soldiers from the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade “Task Force Griffin,” augmented by 3rd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 127th Aviation Support Battalion, 1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade and 3rd Battalion, 501st Aviation, 1AD CAB participated in the Polish led opening ceremonies for Anakonda 16, here, June 6, at Inowroclaw Air Base.
The ceremony marked the beginning of the exercise which will include combined planning, rehearsal and execution of air assault, attack and heavy lift aviation operations culminating in a battalion size air-assault.
“It was great meeting and shaking hands with the Polish Soldiers after the ceremony,” said Pvt. Jalani Jones, a 42A Human Resources Specialist, from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1AD CAB. “The camaraderie was instant between us, even though we didn’t speak the same language.”
The 12th CAB or “Task Force Griffin” deployed over 60 aircraft and 800 Soldiers to multiple locations throughout Poland.
“We do not always get the opportunity to work with foreign armies,” said Spc. Jarrett Green, a 15P Aviation Operations Specialist from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd. Bn., 227th Avn. Regt., 1 ACB. “It’s a great experience to see new European countries and how their militaries operate.”
The logistical planning for Anakonda 16 began months ago in Germany and the scale of the exercise provides a unique challenge when executing operations across such a large area.
“The reception and integration from our Polish Allies has been fantastic,” said Maj. David Hankins, the Brigade Logistics Officer for 12th CAB. “Their logistical support made our setup much easier.”
Anakonda 2016, scheduled to run through June 17, is a Polish national exercise designed to train, exercise and integrate Polish command and force structure into a joint multinational environment.
While Russia seems to be largely ignoring this massive NATO exercise, it will not have gone unnoticed in the Kremlin. It is just the latest in a long series of aggressive NATO moves that have seen NATO forces and influence move ever close to Russia’s borders, deployment of NATO assets to forward positions (Radars and missiles in Poland and Ukraine, for instance) and highly beligerent, aggressive rhetoric from NATO commanders like General Breedlove.
But why is this happening? The official line in the West is that Putin’s Russia is dangerous, aggressive and expansionist, that we should all fear the Russian Bear and prepare ourselves with more money spent on defense than at any time since the darkest days of the Cold War.
Quite frankly, I think that is all utter hogwash and that we are being manipulated by fear yet again so that the nefarious agenda of the international criminal cabal can be moved forward. This was the case with both world wars and I have no doubt it will be the case with the next one.
Winston Churchill admitted that ww2 was not about defeating and destroying the Nazis, it was about breaking and destroying Germany and the German people; French General Alphonse Juin remarked to American General George Patton in 1945 that ‘we (the Allies) have destroyed the last great nation of Europe’ in reference to the destruction of Germany.
The next war will not be about defeating Putin and his expansionist plans for Russia, it will be about breaking and destroying Russia and the Russian people.
Patch for the NATO Hunter 2016 exercise in Lithuania – note that is a Russian tank in the crosshairs.
Why do they want to destroy Russia so badly? Well, there are a number of very important reasons:
- Russia is the traditional enemy of the Khazars, it was the Russians who finally drew a line under the criminal enterprise that was Khazaria by crushing the kingdom and sending the Khazars fleeing west into Europe where they became the Ashkenazi Jews. The Khazars have never forgiven Russia and never will as if you study the Protocols of Zion you will see that revenge is important to them, they are a very vindictive people who follow an agenda that has been in existence a very longtime, so to them, the passing of a few centuries matters not, they still ache for revenge.
- Russia is the last remaining powerful country that has maintained it’s sovereignty. The USA, Europe and most other countries have surrendered their sovereignty to a variety of multi-national corporate and banking interests and to intra-national trade groups like NAFTA, TAFTA and TTIP. Therefore Russia stands in the way of the plans for globalisation that are intended to place unprecedented power in the hands of a small group that are un-elected and above national governments. In Europe, the current unrest caused by the BREXIT debacle is a clear symptom of the unease felt by many at the centralisation of power into the hands of un-elected bureaucrats in Strassbourg and Brussels. The EU and Merkel are threatening Britain with the promise to sever trade ties should the British people vote to leave the EU. No-one seems to have noticed that Norway and Switzerland are not EU members but do most of their trade with the EU; so why should Britain not be afforded the same status?
- Russia has, since the dark days of the Yeltsin regime in the 1990s, completely transformed it’s military and technology, no longer do they have ‘a bunch of rusted out junk’ as Putin himself quipped. The Russian Army, while a fraction of it’s former size has transformed itself into a highly mobile all-arms force that is highly flexible in doctrine and deployment and is lavishly equipped with state of the art weapons and systems. In contrast, the US military has been declining in capabilities for decades. Rampant corruption has mean that every defense project ends up years behind schedule and costing vastly more than originally budgeted; therefore the US finds itself fielding weapons and equipment that is no longer the best in the world and in many cases, is barely fit for purpose. Even worse, since ww2, the US military has seen a decline in the quality and competency of it’s officer corps that truly boggles the mind. The only way this can be accounted for is deliberate policy – promote people based not on competency but on moral flexibility, willingness to follow any order, lack or regard for the lives of the men serving under them. The upshot of these two contrasting developments is that the Russian military is growing stringer while the USA’s forces are growing weaker and the European armies were never worth much anyways, the British being the exception, although they too are too reliant on US cooperation. So we get a situation where a mindset of ‘if we don’t fight them now, they will be too strong for us to be able to defeat’ develops among NATO commanders.
Personally, I think that a war with Russia would be a terrible disaster for all the people of Europe, the USA and Russia. In the face of ever-increasing hostility and belligerence, Putin has made no secret of the fact that Russia will use it’s military to destroy anyone who attacks them with statements such as ‘anyone who hurts us won’t live three days’. Of course, he is referring to Russia’s huge arsenal of thermonuclear weapons. Can we really be returning to the bad old days where every city in Europe, Russia and North America had an ICBM targeted on it and the spectre of utter annihilation hung over us like a canopy of gray cloud. It really pains me to says so, but yes, we are and it is every bit as batshit crazy this time around.
Putin unveils first new Russian tank since the end of the Cold War with most powerful gun ever as well as huge arsenal of most sophisticated military hardware
- T-14 Armata has made first public appearance for rehearsals ahead of parade to mark victory over Nazi Germany
- Armed with remote-controlled turret, automatic loading system and an internal armoured capsule to protect crew
- Tank is the product of Russia's ten-year armament program in which £254billion is being spent on new weaponry
- Putin accused of destabilising region by annexing Crimea, stoking war in Ukraine and breaching foreign airspace
Russia has unveiled its most powerful and sophisticated tank since the end of the Cold War in the latest warmongering exercise by Vladimir Putin.
The T-14 Armata appeared in public for the first time yesterday, rumbling down a Moscow avenue on its way to Red Square as a crescendo of patriotic fervour gripped the country.
The tank was taking part in final rehearsals for the Victory Day parade on Saturday, where it be the highlight of celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. Some 200 pieces of military hardware and 16,500 troops will take part in all.
Armed with a remote-controlled turret and an automatic loading system, the tank is the product of Russia's ten-year armament program in which £254billion is being spent on new weaponry.
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Show of force: A new Russian Armata T-14 tank speeds through Moscow for final rehearsals for the Victory Day parade, where it be the highlight of celebrations on Saturday marking the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany
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State-of-the-art: Armed with a remote-controlled turret and an automatic loading system, the tank is the product of Russia's ten-year armament program in which £254billion is being spent on new weaponry
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New Russian military vehicles including the new Russian T-14 Armata tank, foreground, make their way to Red Square during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade
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The new tanks were brought out for a 'test run' during the rehearsals, which is the first time the T-14 has been seen in public
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Showing muscle: The Russian Army's new T-14 Armata is set to go on display at the annual Moscow Victory Day Parade on Saturday
The tank is also the first to have an internal armoured capsule to give added protection for its three-man crew.
Russian and some Western military experts say the Armata will surpass all Western versions.
The Russian Defense Ministry last month released photographs of the tank, but its turret was covered with fabric and only the platform was visible.
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Big plans: Russian President Vladimir Putin plans on spending 20 trillion rubles (£254billion) on new weapons in the years 2011-202
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The new tank was unveiled on the Russian Defense Ministry's website along with several other new armored vehicles, including this Boomerang Armed Personnel Carrier
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Patriotic fervour: Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the 'Battle of Berlin' exhibition in St Petersburg depicting the last days of the storming of the Reichstag to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two
This would cut production costs and streamline technical support and maintenance.
The pioneering design potentially puts the Armata ahead of Western competition, but it is yet unclear whether the Russian weapons industries will be able to meet the ambitious production plan for the new tank.
Under a major weapons modernization program, the military is reportedly set to receive 2,300 Armatas by 2020, but those plans may face revision with the Russian economy reeling under the impact of slumping oil prices and Western sanctions.
Oleg Bochkaryov, a deputy head of the Military Industrial Commission, a government panel dealing with weapons procurement, said last week that the Armata will enter service next year.
He said the new tank, the first since the T-90 was put in production in 1993, will not be sold abroad at least for another five years.
Russia's muscle-flexing has sparked fears of a new Cold War, with Putin facing off against the U.S., NATO and the EU in recent months.
New Russian tanks unveiled during Victory Day rehearsal
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Big spender: The Russian Army received he highest numbers of new planes, missiles and armor since the 1991 Soviet collapse in 2014 (pictured is a Koalitsiya-SV self-propelled artillery piece)
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Russian defense spending increased by one-third this year, and should reach £63.5billion by 2016 (pictured is a Kornet-D self-propelled anti-tank complex)
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Showing off: Kurganets-25 Armored Personnel Carrier will go on display at Saturday's parade
Russia's forceful annexation last year of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula as Kiev pledged its future to the European Union has plunged relations with Moscow into deep freeze, with no sign of any improvement soon.
Putin has also been accused of sending troops over the border to help Russian separatists seize parts of eastern Ukraine.
This has jolted the 28-nation bloc and the US-led NATO military alliance out of their post-Cold War complacency, showing they needed to come to terms with a much more assertive Russia led by a no-holds barred Putin.
Moscow has also been sending Bear bomber jets into UK airspace and those of other countries to test their defence responses, while Sweden and Finland claim Russian nuclear submarines have been entering their waters.
Western powers have responded by imposing economic sanctions on Moscow which in turn has forced Putin on the offensive to boost the morale of his people with a show of aggression.
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Practice makes perfect: Russian servicemen march in formation before a rehearsal for the Victory parade
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Showing off: The New Russian T-14 Armata tanks make their way to Red Square with the Historical Museum in the background at the rehearsal
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So far, 26 world leaders had accepted invitations to take part in Moscow Victory Day Parade, including Chinese President Xi Jinping
The £254billion armament programme has produced some highly visible results last year, with the military receiving the highest numbers of new planes, missiles and armour since the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Russian defense spending increased by one-third this year and should reach £63.5billion by 2016.
'The task set by the president not to allow anyone to get a military advantage over Russia will be fulfilled no matter what,' Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu said at a meeting with the top brass in February.
In 2014, the Russian armed forces obtained a record number of 38 nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles.
This year they are to get another 50, allowing the military to fulfill its ambitious goal of replacing Soviet-built nuclear missiles, which are approaching the end of their lifespan.
The Russian navy already has two submarines equipped with the Bulava, a new submarine-based intercontinental ballistic missile, and is to commission a third one next year. Five more are to follow.
The army's ground forces are receiving large batches of Iskander missiles, which which can be equipped with a nuclear or conventional warhead, could be used to target NATO's U.S.-led missile defense sites.
In a show of force, Iskanders were briefly deployed in December to the Kaliningrad exclave bordering NATO members Poland and Lithuania.
The Russian air force received more than 250 new planes and helicopters last year and is set to receive more than 200 this year — numbers unseen since Soviet times.
So far, 26 world leaders had accepted invitations to take part in Moscow Victory Day Parade, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, but the heads of many Western nations, including Germany and the U.S. have declined.
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