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“Small,” “lightly-armed” and “likely obsolete” describes the entire Iranian navy. The Iranian navy is about to get a little bit bigger. But it’s still hopelessly outclassed by rival fleets. The naval imbalance could weigh on diplomatic and military str…
August 28, 2019Read More
Russia is set to unveil on Wednesday its new passenger plane MC-21, billed as a competitor to Boeing and Airbus even as the project is overshadowed by sanctions and setbacks with its predecessor, the Superjet. President Vladimir Putin formally opened …
August 27, 2019Read More
Two explosions ripped through police checkpoints in Gaza City late Tuesday, killing three policemen and wounding two passerby, Hamas officials said. Hamas’ interior ministry said two deaths occurred after the first explosion.
August 27, 2019Read More
(Bloomberg Opinion) — As each week goes by, India’s crackdown on Kashmir deepens. Not content with cutting phone lines and the internet, detaining top political leaders and imposing a curfew which has now lasted three weeks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has reportedly imprisoned thousands of Kashmiris, including businessmen and students as well as human-rights activists.This suppression of an ethnic-religious minority has met with mass acclaim in India. One has to go as far back as Serbia under Slobodan Milosevic to recall a similarly ecstatic upsurge of vengeful nationalism.As the Economist puts it, “India’s press and television channels are jumping up and down and cheering.” Many Indian journalists have joined social media trolls in assaulting Western outlets such as the BBC and the New York Times for reporting Kashmiris’ anger and disaffection.Near-unanimous backing from India’s media seems to have emboldened Modi’s government. Last weekend, it prevented a delegation of opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, from visiting Kashmir.Such impunity reveals just how extraordinarily complete Modi’s success as India’s pied-piper is, how irresistible his tunes. He and his followers draw additional encouragement from the fact that most foreign governments are too distracted by domestic challenges to pay attention to events in Kashmir, and that Pakistan’s strident campaign to isolate India diplomatically has failed.Still, as the situation of Kashmiris deteriorates, India’s well-wishers should ask: Has Modi, while accumulating untrammelled power for himself and fellow Hindu nationalists, irreparably damaged India’s claims to be a rational and stable democracy?Coverage of Kashmir in the international media has been uniformly critical of the Indian government, partly provoked by its demonstrably false assertions, echoed by India’s media, that things are “normal” in Kashmir. Front-page pictures of heavily armed soldiers on empty Kashmiri streets make clear the region is effectively under military occupation. Modi’s version — that he is advancing economic development in Kashmir — is either not in sight or looks patently deceptive as writers, academics and journalists, often from the Kashmiri diaspora, educate global audiences about their history and fate.It might be easy to mock these critics as irrelevant and powerless. But they emerge at a crucial time, when even many hardened observers of Indian politics and economy are questioning what kind of leader Modi is.Outside of India, neither the prime minister’s economic data nor his boasts about destroying terrorist camps deep inside Pakistan has survived close scrutiny. Indeed, the mob lynchings of Muslims under his watch have directed fresh attention to the origins of Modi’s Hindu nationalist organization in the European fascist movements of the 1920s.In news reports and analyses, India’s prime minister is not uncommonly grouped with such demagogic politicians as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Jair Bolsonaro and Rodrigo Duterte. Even Pakistan, long identified internationally as a rogue nation, has felt emboldened enough to denounce Modi’s government as “racist” and “fascist.”Modi himself has suffered new damage to a reputation that he had diligently washed free of the taint of suspected complicity in a 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom. Ascending to power in 2014, he managed to persuade many in the West that he was focused on making India’s economy grow and creating jobs rather than stoking Hindu majoritarianism. Modi’s image as an economic modernizer suffered greatly from his decision to withdraw most currency notes from circulation in 2016. Post-Kashmir, it has become even harder to maintain.Amid bleak news about the economy, overseas investors were pulling funds out of India before Modi launched his crackdown in Kashmir. The bigotry on display in India’s public sphere might lead more of them to wonder if they should still take for granted the country’s social cohesion, and the political and economic rationality of its leaders.In the West, India long ago lost the prestige it had enjoyed through its association with world-historical figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, and its moral leadership of the non-western world in the decades following independence in 1947. The more recent narrative about India — that it is a distinguished multicultural democracy and economic powerhouse — is now also up for debate. This squandering of soft power cannot but have deep consequences for an aspiring global force that is very far from matching China’s hard power.In many ways, the repression of Kashmiris is a more egregious act of self-harm than demonetization. The longer it goes on, the greater the suspicion will grow that, having failed in his central tasks, India’s pied-piper is running blind, in danger of leading his nation to a dead-end. To contact the author of this story: Pankaj Mishra at [email protected] contact the editor responsible for this story: Nisid Hajari at [email protected] column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Pankaj Mishra is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. His books include “Age of Anger: A History of the Present,” “From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia,” and “Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet and Beyond.” For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
August 27, 2019Read More
The United States Navy’s Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine can carry 24 UGM-133 Trident II D5 submarine launched ballistic missiles that can each carry as many as twelve W88 475 kiloton thermonuclear warheads. While they have thankfully never been used during a shooting war, nuclear-powered submarines carrying nuclear-tipped missiles are the most deadly weapons mankind has ever devised. In some cases—as in the case of the Ohio-class submarine during the height of the Cold War—even a single vessel could reduce as many as 288 city-sized targets into radioactive ash in less than 30 minutes. Indeed, these vessel and their payloads could end human civilization in less time than it takes to order a pizza if a third world war were to break out.(This first appered in May.)In this article, we have picked five of the most capable nuclear-armed submarines that are either in service or will soon enter service. Older vessels such as the Soviet Union’s massive Project 941 Akula—known in the West as the Typhoon—are not included because those vessels have been largely retired and dismantled. Only Dmitriy Donskoy remains in service with the Russian Navy as a test vessel stripped of her ballistic missile armament.Ohio-class Ballistic Missile SubmarineThe United States Navy’s Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine can carry 24 UGM-133 Trident II D5 submarine launched ballistic missiles that can each carry as many as twelve W88 475 kiloton thermonuclear warheads. With the sheer accuracy of the Mk5 reentry vehicle, which has a circular error of probability of less than 90 meters, the Ohio-class and its Trident II missiles have the capability to be used as first strike weapons. Under the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, the United States expects to maintain a total of 14 Ohio-class submarines, with two in repair at any given time. These days, each Ohio carries 20 missiles for a total fleet of 240 deployed Trident IIs. As of 2016, nine Ohio-class submarines are deployed in the Pacific while another five are assigned to the Atlantic.Columbia-class Ballistic Missile SubmarineThe Ohio-class submarine is an aging design despite its formidable capabilities and the first of the class are reaching the end of their 42-year service lives. To replace the Ohio-class, the United States Navy is building the new Columbia-class boomer. The new SSBNs are slightly larger than the Ohio-class at a displacement of 20,800 tons, but the vessels only have 16 Trident II D5 missiles onboard. Most of the vessels’ massive size is taken up by a new life-of-the-boat reactor and permanent magnet motor drive, which while extremely quiet, is also enormous. The new vessels are largely based on technology from the Virginia class attack submarines and leverages many of the smaller boats’ systems. Indeed, in some respects, the Columbia is an enlarged advanced derivative of the excellent Virginia-class design. Construction will start in 2021 while the first boat will enter service in 2031.Project 955 Borei-class Ballistic Missile SubmarineNot to be out done, America’s Cold War adversary—though severely reduced in its military might—maintains parity in exactly one area with the United States: Nuclear Weapons.Thus, it should come as no surprise that Russia is building a fleet of extremely capable new Project 955A Borei-class ballistic submarines. Smaller than their gargantuan Project 941 Akula aka Typhoon-class predecessors, at a displacement of 24,000 tons, the Borei is larger than the Ohio or Columbia, but is not quite as capable as the American vessel. Nonetheless, the Boreis are the quietest Russian ballistic missile submarines built to date and incorporates pumpjet propulsor technology. The vessels carry sixteen RSM-56 Bulava submarine launched ballistic missiles—each with as many as 10 nuclear warheads at a range of 8,000 kilometers. The warheads have an accuracy of between 250m and 300 m CEP and are designed to evade missile defenses.Recommended: Why an F-22 Raptor Would Crush an F-35 in a ‘Dogfight’Recommended: Air War: Stealth F-22 Raptor vs. F-14 Tomcat (That Iran Still Flies)Recommended: A New Report Reveals Why There Won’t Be Any ‘New’ F-22 RaptorsProject 667BDRM Delfin class (Delta IV) Ballistic Missile SubmarineBuilt at the same time as the mighty Typhoon-class, the Delta IV is the current backbone of the Russian ballistic missile submarine fleet. The older 18,200-ton Delta IV design is nonetheless a capable platform and its armed with 16 R-29RMU Sineva liquid-fuel ballistic missiles, each of which can carry between four and eight warheads. Unlike previous versions of the Project 667 design, the Delta IV is able to fire missiles in any direction from a constant course in a circular sector. It is also able to fire its ballistic missiles from a depth of 55 meters while cruising at a speed of six to seven knots.Project 885M Yasen class Guided Missile SubmarineThe Severodvinsk-class nuclear-powered guided missile submarine is not a ballistic missile submarine, but with a payload of 32 dual nuclear/conventional capable 3M-14K Kalibr cruise missiles that have a range of over 2500 kilometers, the Project 885M boats are a threat to the U.S. homeland. The Yasen class is fast and extremely quiet and has extremely potent sensors—if the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Intelligence is correct in its assessment of the boats. There is every expectation that the Severodvinsk or her sister Kazan could easily close to 2000km off the American east coast and strike inland as far as the Great Lakes. Indeed, if the vessel—and given its impressive stealth it could—close to within 1000Km or less, it could like as far inland as Chicago or even St Louis.Image: Wikimedia Commons.
August 27, 2019Read More
In this new era of hybrid warfare, adversaries are able to threaten American security interests and undermine the U.S.-led democratic world without resorting to direct military action.KYIV, Ukraine—The recent military tension between the U.S. and Iran …
August 27, 2019Read More
Washington approved the $3.3 billion sale of anti-ballistic missiles to Japan Tuesday, following close behind a series of new ballistic missile tests by North Korea that could threaten the US ally. Japan will buy up to 73 of the Raytheon-made SM-3 Blo…
August 27, 2019Read More
Migrant girls being held by the Trump administration are being given only very limited access to items as basic as sanitary pads and tampons, according to a lawsuit that claims to put fresh light on the “appalling” conditions being endured by youngster…
August 27, 2019Read More
President Trump wants Russia back in the group of leading democracies — the G7. But G7 members say Russia hasn’t earned its return to the group. Several senators have written to Trump to oppose him.
August 27, 2019Read More
A military contractor whose top executive was killed in Iraq under mysterious circumstances 15 years ago has won a judgment of roughly $140 million against Iraq to reimburse the contractor for funds it never received. The judgment of nearly $89 millio…
August 27, 2019Read More
President Trump recently tweeted that American companies would be better off without China. But many American companies earn a significant portion of their profits there.
August 27, 2019Read More
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