Military & Intelligence

Baimadajie Angwang, a 33-year-old community affairs liasion for the New York City Police Department (NYPD), has been arrested by federal authorities after allegedly carrying out work as a Chinese government agent for six years.

A Chinese TV program recently showed footage from a Russian helicopter factory that included several Mi-171Sh (NATO reporting name “Hip”) helicopters painted in People’s Liberation Army (PLA) livery. The potential new order of assault helicopters raises many questions about their intended use.

Earlier in the day, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, said that the Russian Federation will find effective ways to protect itself if no agreement is reached with the United States on extending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).

On Friday, Sergei Rudskoy, chief of the Russian General Staff's Main Operational Directorate, said that in 2020, the number of foreign reconnaissance flights in the Black Sea region has increased by 40 percent compared to last year.

Saturday marked the 95th anniversary of the birth of Yuri Drozdov, the KGB major-general in charge of planting illegal Soviet agents in countries across the West.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Two Russian Tu-160 strategic missile carriers have broken their own world record for non-stop flight in their class, spending more than 25 hours continuously in the air, the Russian Aerospace Forces’ commander of long-range aviation Lt. Gen. Sergey Kobylash told reporters on Saturday.

Russia unveiled half a dozen cutting-edge strategic weapons systems, including the Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic missile and the ICBM-launched Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, in 2018, in response to US efforts to build a missile shield, and the general beefing up of NATO forces on Russia's western borders.

Unlike the US, which “reserves the right to use” nuclear weapons in case of conflict, Russian and Chinese military doctrines allow for the use of nuclear weapons only in the event of large-scale nuclear or conventional aggression (in Russia’s case) or nuclear attack (in China’s).

New commercial satellite photos of the Type 002, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier and second domestically built flattop, provide the clearest view yet of the vessel following extensive construction and relocation, according to a new report published by a Washington, DC, think tank.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US-led coalition plans to deploy Bradley fighting vehicles to northeast Syria to protect its troops, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto said in a press release on Friday.

The US Navy is embarking on an ambitious, three-year plan to restore its air training program after a spate of safety and technical issues has left the service short by some 90 fighter pilots from its goal number.

Earlier this month, a US spy plane was observed seemingly changing its unique transponder code to disguise itself as a Malaysian civilian aircraft. While a top US Air Force leader has refused to confirm or deny the incident, swearing the US was “following the rules that day,” the claims of duplicity have been independently confirmed.

Russian defence enterprises showcased their wares at the Army 2020 Expo outside Moscow last month, including new drone designs, tanks, missile systems, small-arms, helicopters and other equipment.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian fighter jet Su-27 was scrambled to escort a US patrol aircraft over the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry's National Defense Control Center said on Friday.

The Russian military began a series of flights over neutral waters in the Barents, Norwegian and North seas, as well as the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month, with the flights including operations by Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft and Tu-160 strategic bombers. The flights come amid a sharp increase in NATO air activity along Russia’s borders.

The test was said to have taken advantage of the Pentagon's recent advances in AI technology.

On 3 June, the US Air Force issued a request for information to industry, to conduct market research on available technologies as well as conceptual designs for a new drone.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that while China’s navy is larger than the US Navy, that does not make it superior. However, he also promised to increase the US fleet size past 355 ships, an already-ambitious goal set in 2016.

In July 1945, US President Harry Truman informed Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that America had created “a new weapon of unusual destructive force.” To Truman’s surprise, Stalin “showed no special interest” in the weapon. Later, historians learned that the Soviet leader had realized the significance of the US atom bomb project before Truman himself.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian fighter Su-27 was scrambled to intercept US and Swedish military aircraft over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry's National Defence Control Centre (NDCC) said on Thursday.