Russia has been sending fighter jets, drones, and bombers to Syria to bolster the regime of Bashar al-Assad, generating concern and outrage among the United States and its allies. Far less attention has been paid to Moscow’s simultaneous deployment of advanced surveillance, signals intelligence, and electronic warfare equipment that could deal a new blow to…
Category: Asymmetrical Warfare
Face Off: How America can Really STOP China’s Navy
It’s dangerous to live by the unexamined assumption. Exhibit A: the oft-heard claim that U.S. sea and air forces sporting precision-guided arms will make short work of military facilities on South China Sea islets. “So what?” says one Pentagon official of Beijing’s island-building project. “If China wants to build vulnerable airstrips on these rocks, let…
7 Times the U.S. almost stumbled into War with Russia
With all of the shenanigans going on in Syria with Russia lately, I thought it prudent to review America’s history with this long time cold (and sometimes hot) enemy.-SF In light of current events in places like the Ukraine and Syria, the risk of America and Russia fighting a proxy war or even a real war…
U.S. vs. Russia: What a War would look like between the World’s most fearsome Militaries
VLADIMIR PUTIN’S BRAZEN MOVES IN SYRIA AND UKRAINE RAISE NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT AMERICA’S CONTINGENCY PLANS By Andrew Tilghman and Oriana Pawlyk, Staff writers Early on the morning of Sept. 30, a Russian three-star general approached the American embassy in Baghdad, walked past a wall of well-armed Marines, to deliver face-to-face a diplomatic demarche to the…
Corbett vs. The Caliphate: What a Long Dead Naval Strategist Tells us about Combatting the Islamic State
Julian Corbett (1854-1922) has long been hidden in the shadow of Clausewitz and by the baneful glare of modern think tanks. Renowned as a naval thinker, Corbett was far more—and ever adept at pointing out how absolute theories collapse when faced with reality. Of particular pertinence to the current befuddlement of U.S. policy toward…
A Grunt’s Thoughts on the Loss of Kunduz
By Ryan Blum Best Defense guest columnist As I’m scrolling through my Facebook feed during my Monday morning commute I almost overlook a post from my old Company Commander: “Taliban Fighters Overrun Kunduz City as Afghan Forces Retreat” My mouth drops. Back in March of 2010 my unit took responsibility for Kunduz Province in northern…
Buck Rogers Eat Your Heart Out! Drones Armed with High Energy Lasers Coming Soon
Predator maker looks beyond Hellfire missiles to the weapons of the future. Flying military robots armed with high-energy lasers? It’s a future that is exciting, terrifying — and perhaps just two years away. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., or GA–ASI, the San Diego-based company that makes the Predator and Reaper drones, is undertaking a privately funded…