Important Takeaways:
- Belarus has reportedly deployed tanks near its border with NATO, while tensions between Russia and the strategic alliance continue to simmer amid the war in Ukraine.
- The Belarusian military “mobilized reservists and kicked off major military maneuvers,” according to a report published by The Kyiv Post on Thursday. Troops and equipment including tanks from Belarus’ 19th Guards Mechanized Brigade were reportedly deployed near the country’s western border with NATO member country Lithuania.
- The Community of Railway Workers of Belarus—a group opposed to the policies of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is a close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin—said that a train loaded with military equipment and personnel arrived on Wednesday night in Oshmyany, an area located less than 15 miles from the border with Lithuania.
- The group said that the train arriving at Oshmyany station consisted of four passenger cars filled with Belarusian troops and 42 cars loaded with equipment, including nine T-72B tanks. Belarus’ Ministry of Defense later confirmed that the deployment included T-72B tanks and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, according to the Belarusian Hajun news project.
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Important Takeaways:
- WEAPONS OF WAR Putin sparks chaos in Europe by jamming GPS on flights & ships with top secret electronic weapon, warns military chief
- The weapon has reportedly been jamming GPS technology on flights and ships across the eastern flank of NATO, causing severe disruption.
- A surge in disruption to the GPS guiding system for air and sea traffic has been detected in Finland, the Baltic nations and Poland, Estonian military chief Martin Harem told the Telegraph.
- “What we have seen is a malfunctioning of GPS for ships and air traffic,” he said.
- “And we really do not know if they [Russia] want to achieve something or just practice and test their equipment.”
- He added: “But definitely, nobody should behave like this, especially when you’re at war with a neighboring country.”
- According to Western intelligence reports, the fixed jamming system is called Tobol – which looks like a huge dish with an antenna.
- Analysts have identified at least seven Tobol complexes in Russia.
- The secret weapon transmits signals on the same frequency as the satellite, which prevents connected devices from receiving the legitimate signal, reports the Washington Post.
- Electronic warfare expert Dr. Thomas Withington said the dish can be directed to disrupt GPS signals in multiple directions – which could be key to protect Kaliningrad as well as Russia from potential incoming missiles.
- He argued that the system is rather defensive in nature – and is being used as a “invisible” shield against Nato’s arsenal of satellite-guided missile systems.
- “This may surprise some people but I think, ostensibly, it’s defensive,” he told The Telegraph.
- “The Russian military is highly concerned by Global navigation satellite system weapons.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Tense moment Swedish fighter jets intercept Russian warplanes over the Baltic Sea – on the day Scandinavian nation’s flag was raised at NATO HQ
- Swedish fighter jets intercepted Russian warplanes over the Baltic Sea, marking a significant moment in their integration with NATO.
- The Swedish JAS-39 Gripen jets stormed the skies in their first real-world mission alongside German and Belgian aircraft on Monday morning after their flag was hoisted at NATO headquarters, in Brussels.
- Following Sweden’s official accession to the alliance on March 7, its multirole jets participated in their first visual identification mission as part of the NATO Air Policing mission over the Baltic Sea.
- In a show of operational readiness, the JAS-39 Gripens were scrambled twice on March 11 to identify and intercept Russian military aircraft.
- NATO’s Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at Uedem had spotted an unidentified track over the Baltic Sea stretching from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia – sparking controllers to launch the Swedish jets from Sweden.
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Important Takeaways:
- Russia producing three times more artillery shells than US and Europe for Ukraine
- Russia appears on track to produce nearly three times more artillery munitions than the US and Europe, a key advantage ahead of what is expected to be another Russian offensive in Ukraine later this year.
- Russia is producing about 250,000 artillery munitions per month, or about 3 million a year, according to NATO intelligence estimates of Russian defense production shared with CNN, as well as sources familiar with Western efforts to arm Ukraine. Collectively, the US and Europe have the capacity to generate only about 1.2 million munitions annually to send to Kyiv, a senior European intelligence official told CNN.
- “What we are in now is a production war,” a senior NATO official told CNN. “The outcome in Ukraine depends on how each side is equipped to conduct this war.”
- Officials say Russia is currently firing around 10,000 shells a day, compared to just 2,000 a day from the Ukrainian side. The ratio is worse in some places along the 600-mile front, according to a European intelligence official
- Russia is running artillery factories “24/7” on rotating 12-hour shifts, the NATO official said. About 3.5 million Russians now work in the defense sector, up from somewhere between 2 and 2.5 million before the war. Russia is also importing ammunition: Iran sent at least 300,000 artillery shells last year — “probably more than that,” the official said — and North Korea provided at least 6,700 containers of ammunition carrying millions of shells.
- Russia has “put everything they have in the game,” the intelligence official said. “Their war machine works in full gear.”
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Important Takeaways:
- The F-35A Joint Strike Fighter has been certified to carry thermonuclear weapons as tensions between Russia and NATO hit a breaking point.
- The F-35A Joint Strike Fighter has become the first stealth fighter of its class to be green-lit to carry nuclear weapons.
- A spokesperson for the F-35 Joint Program Office told Breaking Defense: “The F-35A is the first 5th generation nuclear-capable aircraft ever, and the first new platform (fighter or bomber) to achieve this status since the early 1990s.
- The move comes as tensions between NATO and Russia continue to escalate
- On Thursday, Sweden officially joined the NATO alliance, breaking from decades of neutrality
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Important Takeaways:
- NATO will likely have to directly engage with Russian aggressive expansion if Moscow emerges victorious in the war against Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at a congressional hearing on Feb. 29.
- Austin stated, “Putin won’t stop with Ukraine; he will continue to push forward and attack the sovereign territory of his neighbors.”
- “If you are in the Baltics, you’re very concerned you might be next,” the secretary said.
- “They understand Putin and his capabilities. And frankly, if Ukraine falls, I genuinely believe NATO will be fighting Russia.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Dramatic moment NATO Top Guns intercept Russian warplanes over Baltic Sea… then head off MORE Putin aircraft north of Poland as Vladimir tests the West’s defense’s
- This is the dramatic moment NATO Top Guns intercept Russian warplanes over the Baltic Sea before heading off another Putin aircraft north of Poland.
- It came as the Russian president made a direct threat to nuke the West as he accused NATO and the US of ‘preparing to strike’ Russia in his annual address to the nation.
- NATO said that two French Mirage 2000-5s intercepted a Russian SU-30-M aircraft over the Baltic Sea yesterday.
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Important Takeaways:
- ‘Catastrophic scenario’ if NATO troops deploy to Ukraine – top Russian senator
- The possibility mulled by the French president could be taken as a declaration of war on Moscow, Konstantin Kosachev has said
- The potential deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine will lead to a “catastrophic scenario,” and could be interpreted as a “declaration of war” on Moscow, top Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev has said.
- The Vice Speaker of Russia’s upper chamber, the Federation Council, offered his take on remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron on the possibility of sending troops in a Telegram post on Tuesday. The approach exhibited by the French leader carries a risk of the situation devolving into a “catastrophic scenario,” Kosachev warned, stating that the move would not be tolerated by the Kremlin.
- “This is the line beyond which it’s no longer just NATO’s involvement in the war – this has been happening for a long time, but can be interpreted as the alliance entering direct hostilities, or even as a declaration of war,” Kosachev wrote.
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Important Takeaways:
- Putin makes direct threat to NUKE the West as he accuses NATO and the US of ‘preparing to strike’ Russia in his annual address to the nation – and warns of ‘the destruction of civilization’
- The Russian president, 71, said: ‘They, NATO and America, are active in other parts of the world, of course, and they continue to lie there, to deceive.
- ‘They are preparing to strike our territory and, using the best possible forces, the most effective forces to do so.
- Putin repeatedly lauded Russia’s vastly modernized nuclear arsenal in his speech and added as a warning to the West: ‘They have to understand that we also have weapons, weapons that can defeat them on their own territory.
- ‘Of course all this is very dangerous, because it could actually trigger the use of nuclear weapons. Do they not understand that?’
- The Russian despot also chillingly assured that ‘strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness for guaranteed use’, but warned the use of nuclear weapons would equal the ‘destruction of civilization’.
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Important Takeaways:
- NATO confirms that Secretary General Stoltenberg recognizes Ukraine’s right to strike targets in Russia
- A NATO spokesman has confirmed to the Financial Times that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was indeed referring to Ukraine’s right to self-defense, including striking legitimate Russian military targets outside Ukraine.
- “Each ally decides for itself whether it has any reservations about what it supplies, and different allies have slightly different policies on this. But in general, we must remember what we are talking about. This is Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine, which is a blatant violation of international law,” Stoltenberg said.
- “And according to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense. And it also includes strikes against legitimate military targets, Russian military targets outside of Ukraine. That’s international law, and of course, Ukraine has the right to do that to defend itself,” he added.
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