Important Takeaways:
- Here are a few examples, laid bare at last week’s conference, where the U.S. and its allies are being challenged:
- In space, China aims to “displace the United States as the global leader” and exploit it “in a way that is to our detriment,” said Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, the Defense Intelligence Agency director.
- When China blew up a satellite in 2007, “they put us on notice,” and “we have only seen their development of counter-space weapons just rapidly, breathtakingly, increase,” said U.S. Space Command boss Gen. Stephen Whiting.
- Online, Russia peddles disinformation that influences elections. China absconds with sensitive information that springboards its weapons development and broader economy.
- “If Xi Jinping were sitting on this stage, he would say, ‘Thank you very much for allowing us to cherry-pick, to pick your pocket, of leading technologies and IP,'” said Jon Huntsman Jr., a former U.S. ambassador to China and Russia.
- On the ground and at sea, Russia and China use their troops to muddle borders. Those nearby document the belligerence, but denunciations have done little to stop them.
- “If we allow it to become the norm, that a larger state can change its smaller neighbors’ borders with force, then which border remains secure?” said Jonatan Vseviov, the secretary general of Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- “I think it’s underappreciated in our country, in the United States, just how much our European allies have awakened to the fact that the house is on fire,” said Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the head of U.S. European Command.
- “This is not a show, and this is not just rhetoric. This is true concern about the stability of their continent and the survival of their states.”
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Important Takeaways:
- The Chinese defense ministry said in a statement that forces from both sides recently patrolled the western and northern Pacific Ocean and that the operation had nothing to do with international and regional situations and didn’t target any third party.
- The exercise aimed to demonstrate the capabilities of the navies in addressing security threats and preserving peace and stability globally and regionally
- NATO’s European and North American members and their partners in the Indo-Pacific increasingly see shared security concerns coming from Russia and its Asian supporters, especially China.
- In response, China accused NATO of seeking security at the expense of others and told the alliance not to bring the same “chaos” to Asia. Its foreign ministry maintained that China has a fair and objective stance on the war in Ukraine.
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Important Takeaways:
- The United States on Thursday announced a new security package for Ukraine worth $225 million, which includes a Patriot missile battery, additional ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems and missiles, among other items.
- Washington, Ukraine’s biggest supporter, has provided more than $50 billion in military aid since 2022 when the Russian invasion began.
- U.S. legislation was approved in April that provided $61 billion in funding to Ukraine.
- “We will stay with you, period,” U.S. President Joe Biden told Zelenskiy ahead of a bilateral meeting at the NATO summit in Washington.
- Ukraine has repeatedly called on partners to provide more help with air defense as it faces attacks from Russia on cities and energy infrastructure.
- Zelenskiy said last week he wanted to double Ukraine’s air defense capacity over the summer.
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Important Takeaways:
- Russia is preparing military countermeasures in response to the planned American deployment of longer-range missiles in Germany, the Russian deputy foreign minister said on Thursday, adding that the U.S. move was “destructive to regional safety and strategic stability.”
- “Without nerves, without emotions, we will develop a military response, first of all, to this new game,” the deputy minister, Sergei A. Ryabkov, told Interfax, a Russian news agency.
- In a separate comment published by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Ryabkov said that Moscow had anticipated the decision and that Russia had started preparing “compensating countermeasures” in advance.
- In a joint statement, the United States and Germany said Washington would begin “episodic deployments” of the missiles in Germany in 2026, including those that are “significantly longer range” than the ones currently deployed throughout Europe.
- The statement said that the periodic deployments would be preparation for “an enduring stationing of these capabilities in the future.” Ultimately, the weapons will include nonnuclear SM-6 missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles and developmental hypersonic weapons, the statement said.
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Important Takeaways:
- Poland needs to prepare its soldiers for all-out conflict, its armed forces chief of staff said on Wednesday, as the country boosts the number of troops on its border with Russia and Belarus.
- Poland’s relations with Russia and its ally Belarus have deteriorated sharply since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, starting a war that is still being fought.
- “Today, we need to prepare our forces for full-scale conflict, not an asymmetric-type conflict,” army chief of staff General Wieslaw Kukula told a press conference.
- “This forces us to find a good balance between the border mission and maintaining the intensity of training in the army,” he said.
- Speaking at the same event, deputy defense minister Pawel Bejda said that as of August, the number of troops guarding Poland’s eastern border would be increased to 8,000 from the current 6,000, with an additional rearguard of 9,000 able to step up within 48 hours notice.
- The size of the armed forces stood at about 190,000 personnel at the end of last year, including ground, air, naval, special forces and territorial defense forces. Poland plans to increase this to 300,000 troops within a few years.
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Important Takeaways:
- U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets are on their way to Ukraine and could aid in Kyiv’s defense against Russia as soon as this summer, the White House said Wednesday.
- Why it matters: The jets will bolster Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, allowing its air force to thwart Russian air attacks, as well as seek and destroy drones and missiles targeting Ukrainian cities.
- The jets may also allow Ukraine’s air force to establish localized air superiority to support its ground forces during offensive operations, the Center for Strategic and International Studies notes.
- The big picture: The long-sought transfers come over a year after Ukraine asked it allies for advanced fighter jets, particularly F-16s.
- A coalition of governments led by the Netherlands and Denmark began training Ukrainian pilots, technicians and support personnel on F-16s in late 2023.
- The first group of Ukrainian pilots completed training at a military base in Arizona in May 2024.
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Important Takeaways:
- Voronezh Malshevo air base, in southern Russia 100 miles from the border with Ukraine, might be the most important—and most vulnerable—target in Russia.
- But it’s seemingly off of Ukraine’s list of targets for now.
- From the base, Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers belonging to the Russian air force’s 47th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment fly daily sorties lobbing powerful glide bombs at Ukrainian troops and civilians from 25 miles away or farther.
- “The large number of jets stationed at the airfield enables the simultaneous deployment of bombs, allowing multiple targets in Ukrainian territory to be engaged at once.”
- They’re within range of Ukraine’s best deep strike weapon—its American-made Army Tactical Missile System rockets. “Ukraine could potentially incapacitate the entire operational fleet stationed there if permitted to conduct such a strike”
- The main problem is Russia’s ground-based air defenses, which make it extremely dangerous for Ukrainian warplanes to fly at high altitude practically anywhere in Ukraine—but especially within a hundred miles or so of the front line, well within reach of Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries.
- So the Ukrainians wait for permission they hope is coming soon. “It is painful to watch those missiles flying over our heads toward Kharkiv and thinking if your home would be destroyed this time”
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Important Takeaways:
- Ukraine has foiled an alleged plot to overthrow the government that “would have played into Russia’s hands,” security officials in the war-torn country said Monday.
- In a Telegram post, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed the plot organizers planned to trigger a riot in Kyiv on June 30 as a distraction to seize control of the Ukrainian parliament and remove the military and political leadership from power.
- It is unclear how viable the planned plot was, or if those accused have any connection with Russia
- Four suspects have been identified, with two held in custody, the SBU said. They face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty
- The suspect rented a hall with a capacity of 2,000 people and was looking to recruit military personnel and armed guards from private companies to “carry out the seizure” of parliament, the prosecutor’s office said.
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Important Takeaways:
- North Korea might have launched a hypersonic missile, South Korea has said, as intelligence agencies investigated a ballistic missile test that failed early on Wednesday
- The latest missile test came days after North Korea signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation treaty with Russia and as the US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt arrived in Busan to take part in joint military drills with South Korea and Japan.
- Such missiles are seen as harder to detect because they can travel at speeds in excess of five times the speed of sound and are designed to be maneuverable, posing a challenge to regional missile defense systems.
- Tensions in the region have risen as Kim has accelerated North Korean testing of missiles and other weapons.
- The United States and South Korea have responded by expanding their combined training and trilateral drills involving Japan, and sharpening their deterrence strategies.
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Important Takeaways:
- In a short interview with LifeSiteNews, Colonel Douglas Macgregor sounded the alarm about an Israeli attack on Hezbollah that could well widen the war, as well as the escalation of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
- We thank Colonel Macgregor for this interview, whose answers he wrote in the middle of last night.
- In recent weeks, you have sounded the alarm on the situation in Israel with regard to Hezbollah. What do you see happening very soon and when do you think it will happen?
- [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu must escalate or admit defeat. Attacking Hezbollah presents him with the opportunity to entangle American military power in his war for Jewish supremacy in the Near East. The prospect of employing U.S. military power (air and naval forces) against Israel’s enemies is probably appealing to Israelis.
- What will be the effects on the region in the Middle East and in the world should such an attack by Israel on Hezbollah take place within the next couple days?
- I expect the assault on Hezbollah to begin any time after June 24. The effects will be profound. More Muslims will flee to Europe. The economic life of the region will be destroyed, and Russia + China and Iran will likely directly engage Israeli and U.S. forces involved in the war.
- Do you expect Israel to use nuclear weapons?
- The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] can employ tactical nuclear weapons. Given the density of Hezbollah defenses and the numbers of rockets and missiles Hezbollah can launch against targets in Israel, a tactical nuclear weapon is the most appealing option. Heavy casualties in Gaza have reduced IDF fighting power. Israel cannot afford the heavy losses that systematic IDF conventional attacks on Southern Lebanon would produce. However, the use of these weapons would likely precipitate massive Iranian missile attacks against Israel in retaliation. From there the war will spread and other nation states will turn out to have nuclear weapons. Instead of abruptly ending the war as the Israelis hope, it will widen and lengthen the war with ominous implications for Israel’s very existence.
- What would you tell the leaders of our country in light of the escalation in both conflict regions, Israel/Palestine and Ukraine/Russia?
- Washington is taking unacceptable risks in its relations with Moscow. It would be wise as well as humane to end the suffering in Ukraine. It is time for the [U.S. government] to admit defeat and reach an accommodation with Moscow that ends the war in Ukraine.
- Meanwhile, Israel is overreaching. It runs the risk of war with Iran and the whole region if it acts in Southern Lebanon as anticipated above. Washington has no strategic interest that justifies a regional war with Islam in the Near East. If Washington persists, it will discover that Russia will not abandon Iran and that many other countries, including China, will line up in support of Iran and Russia against Washington.
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