American 173rd Airborne Brigade is Heading to Ukraine to Train Forces

   American soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade at Camp Ederle in Vicenza, Italy, are expected to be Ukraine to help train soldiers for their fight against Russia, an Italian newspaper reports.

leaving the base once again soon to head to

   The operation will be part of a project outlined by Lt. Gen. Gen. Ben Hodges, the head of U.S. Army Europe, earlier this month, reports the newspaper, Il Giornale, will involve the same division that traveled to Ukraine last September for another NATO exercise, Rapid Trident, according to a translation of the Italian newspaper report.

   The same newspaper earlier this week suggesting that American soldiers may already be on the ground in Ukraine and helping the government of Kiev.
   In a post that covers a purported Jan. 24 attack on the Black Sea port city of Mariupol by troops from the People's Republic of Donetsk, a Ukrainian reporter questions a soldier wearing a Ukrainian uniform, and claimed he used perfect English when he told the reporter to leave him alone.
   Meanwhile Hodges, making his first visit to Kiev earlier this month, said the number of troops that will head to the Yavoriv Training area, located about 40 miles from the Polish border, has not yet been determined, reports Defense News.
   The mission is part of a State Department plan to "assist Ukraine in strengthening its law enforcement capabilities, conduct internal defense, and maintain rule of law" Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Vanessa Hillman said.
   During his visit, Hodges met with Ukrainian Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Anatoliy Pushnyakov and acting commander of the National Guard Lt. Gen. Oleksandr Kryvyenko, and said he was "impressed by the readiness of both military and civil leadership to change and reform."
   The Ukrainian government requested the training to help reform their police forces and establish a newly formed National Guard.

   According to Defense News, the initiative funding is coming from the Global Security Contingency Fund, and was requested by the Obama administration for this fiscal year to help and train allied forces.
   Already, the United States has $19 million earmarked to help Ukraine set up its National Guard.
   Derek Chollet, who left his post as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs on Jan. 17, told Defense News that he does not expect the training mission "will require significant U.S. presence."
   The mission is being planned among fears from Eastern European countries that Russia will step up its aggression in Ukraine. The fighting has continued in Donetsk, Ukraine, between government forces and separatist rebels, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko this month claimed Russia sent 9,000 troops into his country to back up the rebels.
   Chollet told Defense Times that the incursions are refocusing American attention onto the region.
   In addition to training forces, Washington this month delivered a prototype of an armored Kozak vehicle for the Ukrainian border guard, according to a U.S. Embassy report.
   The vehicle, which costs about $189,000, has an armored hull that protects it against mines and bombs, and is just one piece of equipment sent by the United States, said the embassy, which noted "the United States has delivered dozens of armored pickup trucks and vans to the Ukrainian Border Guard Service. The Kozak is larger and offers a higher level of protection."

NATO to deploy small units in 6 Eastern European nations

   BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO will deploy small units in six Eastern European nations to help coordinate a spearhead force set up in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine, the alliance's secretary-general said Friday.

   Jens Stoltenberg said the units in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania will be the first of their kind there.

   Defense ministers from the 28-nation military alliance will discuss the full force, which can react quickly to any hotspots in Europe, when they meet on Feb. 5.

   Stoltenberg said countries responsible for providing the several thousand troops to the force should be known next week.

   The forward units will comprise a few dozen personnel only. They will plan and organize military exercises, and provide command and control for any reinforcements the force might require.

   "They're going to plan, they're going to organize exercises, to provide ... some key command elements for reinforcements," Stoltenberg said.

   France, meanwhile, is pledging tanks and armored vehicles to bolster NATO forces in Poland, where leaders are increasingly uneasy about Russia.

   The French military equipment is expected to remain in Poland for two months.

   As tensions increased in 2014, NATO forces conducted about 200 military exercises, and Stoltenberg vowed this would continue as the alliance adapts to the increased presence of Russian warplanes in European skies. NATO intercepted Russian aircraft more than 400 times last year.

   Stoltenberg also warned that Russia has continued to build up its military, as European NATO allies cut budgets again last year.

   "It is not possible to get more out of less indefinitely. That is the reason why we have to stop the cuts and gradually start to increase defense spending as our economies grow," he said.

   "Despite the economic crisis, despite the financial problems they are facing, Russia now is still giving priority to defense spending."

More Threats from Russia Over the Ukraine

   Brussels --- With EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels to discuss additional sanctions, Russia issues warning.

Following an attack by pro-Russian rebels of the port city of Mariupol last weekend, foreign ministers of Europe are mulling over additional sanctions. Russia has seen increasing sanctions imposed since its annexation of Crimea in March. Those sanctions, by both the US and the EU, have included travel bans and asset freezes of Russian individuals as well as businesses. While NATO continues to assert that there are hundreds of Russian tanks and other armored vehicles in east Ukraine, Russia continues to deny direct involvement.

   It’s believed that the meeting of foreign ministers are discussing the extension of existing sanctions as well as possible fresh sanctions following the escalation in east Ukraine. However, any new measures would have to wait until the February 12 meeting of EU leaders and could include potential problems with the new Greek government.

Greece speaks out

   “Anyone who thinks that in the name of debt Greece will renounce its sovereignty and its active participation in European policy making is making a mistake,” said new Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in a recent statement. While Greece’s position is unknown, other countries have spoken out on the subject.

   “If we see no signs of improvement we should proceed with further sanctions,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told the BBC . “How many people should be killed in order to realize that lines were crossed many times?”

   France’s European Affairs Minister Harlem Desir recently made France’s position quite clear speaking with reporters in Brussels. “We will show the EU’s very strong unity and take all necessary steps, including extending and expanding the individual sanctions, in order to secure a return to a negotiated solution,” he said.

   “We are going to reinforce the sanctions that target the separatists and those who support them, including in Russia.”

Russia’s response

   Thursday saw a strong response from Russia with Interfax reporting that Andrei Kelin, Russia’s envoy to the OSCE urging the West to end its support for the “party of war” in the Ukraine.

   “I would like to appeal to the states that have influence on Kiev’s leadership, most of all to Washington. It’s time to stop indulging Ukraine’s party of war,” said Kelin.

   “Only a big catastrophe can result from such developments,” he added.

   His remarks echo those of Russian President Vladimir Putin who earlier this week blamed NATO for using the Ukrainian army to contain Russia.

Assessment

   Once again the bravado from the Russians must clearly be for internal consumption. The only external aggressor in this conflict has been Russia by continually supplying the terrorists with both equipment and troops. While the Russians continually claim their not doing anything of the sort the terrorists are parading around in state of the art Russian equipment. If they’re not getting it from the Russian military were are the getting it from. Maybe Russia must have some of the worlds best Army Surplus Stores?

Belarusian leader issues tough warning to Moscow

   MINSK, Belarus (AP) — New cracks emerged Thursday in a Russia-led economic alliance, with the president of Belarus warning that his nation may opt out of it.

   Alexander Lukashenko also sternly warned Moscow Thursday that his nation of 10 million will never be part of the "Russian world," a term coined by the Kremlin that reflects its hopes to pull ex-Soviet nations closer into its orbit.

   "Those who think that the Belarusian land is part as what they call the Russian world, almost part of Russia, forget about it!" Lukashenko said. "Belarus is a modern and independent state."

   Lukashenko, who has been at the helm since 1994, has relied on Russia's economic subsidies and political support but bristled at Moscow's attempts to expand its control over Belarusian assets.

   He was dubbed "Europe's last dictator" in the West for his relentless crackdown on the opposition and free media, but Belarus' relations with the United States and the European Union have warmed recently as Minsk played host to crucial Ukrainian peace talks.

   Lukashenko said he wants to normalize ties with Western nations and issued a clear warning to Moscow that it shouldn't expect Belarus to follow suit in defying the West.

   In another signal of growing frictions between the two allies, Lukashenko, who plans to seek another term in elections this year, said he warned Moscow that he wouldn't step down.

   "As for sending me into retirement, I harshly told them in the Kremlin that they won't succeed in bending me," he said.

   Last month, he accused Moscow of damaging Belarus' economic interests with moves to restrict exports to Russia, which he said violated the rules of the Eurasian Economic Union, a grouping that comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

   On Thursday, Lukashenko warned that if the agreements on forming the alliance aren't observed, "we reserve the right to leave the union."

   Belarus, sandwiched between Russia and European Union members Poland and Lithuania, has profited handsomely from Moscow's ban on imports of EU food in retaliation to Western sanctions against Russia by boosting imports of food from the EU nations and reselling the food to Russia.

   The Russian authorities have retaliated by restricting imports of Belarus' own milk and meat and banning transit of Belarusian food bound for Kazakhstan through its territory on suspicion that much of it ended up in Russia.

Britain summons Russian ambassador after bombers intercepted

   London (AFP) --- Britain said it had summoned the Russian ambassador to London on Thursday after

Russian bombers were found flying close to British airspace, saying the incident had disrupted civil aviation.

   The move comes after a string of similar incidents and amid tense relations with Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine and a London inquiry into the poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.

   The Ministry of Defence said such incursions by Russian planes were currently running at around one a month and that the latest happened off the south coast of England.

   "Russian aircraft manoeuvres yesterday are part of an increasing pattern of out of area operations by Russian aircraft," the Foreign Office said in a statement.

   "While the Russian planes did not enter sovereign UK airspace and were escorted by RAF Typhoons throughout the time they were in the UK area of interest, the Russian planes caused disruption to civil aviation.

   "That is why we summoned the Russian Ambassador today to account for the incident."

   The defence ministry said that the planes involved in the latest incident Wednesday were Tupolev Tu-95 bombers, known by their NATO classification as Russian "bears".

   A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority, which regulates aviation, said he was "not sure where this idea has come from" that there had been disruption to civil aviation.

   He suggested it may have been the two British Typhoons which caused any disruption as they may have flown through airspace near Bournemouth, southern England, where there is a small civilian airport.

   "It was probably two Typhoons that were scrambled to intercept that caused some disruption," he said.

   In November, four Russian navy warships were spotted sailing through the English Channel and were accompanied by a Royal Navy patrol boat. 

Japan May Sell India Six Stealth Submarines

   According to Indian news outlets, the Narendra Modi government has approached Japan about building it

six stealth submarines.

   “New Delhi has forwarded ‘a proposal’ to Tokyo to ‘consider the possibility’ of making its latest diesel-electric Soryu-class submarines in India,” Times of India reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources.

   New Delhi’s Project-75-India to acquire six advanced diesel-electric submarines will be worth more than Rs 50,000 crore ($8 billion), and likely much more. France’s DCNS, Germany’s HDW, Russia’s Rosoboronexport and Spain’s Navantia are all expected to compete for the contract. Since the submarines will be built in India, foreign companies that wish to compete for the contract are expected to form a joint venture with an Indian shipyard.

   India’s proposal comes at a time when New Delhi and Tokyo have been steadily strengthening ties under the leadership of Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Modi and Abe, both nationalistic leaders seeking to expand their respective countries’ regional profiles, are seen as enjoying a close relationship, which could help Tokyo’s chances in the competition. That being said, France, Germany and Russia have all built submarines for India in the past, TOI noted.

   The proposal also comes at a time when Japan is seeking to break into the global arms market following the lifting of a decades-old, self-imposed ban on selling weaponry abroad. Since the ban was rescinded, Japan has already discussed selling India ShinMaywa US-2i sea-and-rescue amphibious planes.

   Tokyo is especially keen on breaking into the global submarine market, which is currently dominated by countries like Russia, France and Germany. Defense analysts believe Tokyo’s Soryu-class submarines will be a highly competitive alternative to their Russian, French and German counterparts. As frequent TNI contributor Robert Farley noted last September:

   “At 4,200 tons submerged, the Soryu-class is considerably larger than either the [German] Type 214, [French] Scorpene, or improved [Russian] Kilo, and can carry a much heavier weapons load. This size also makes them quieter and longer-ranged than the other boats on the market. At current price expectations of around $500 million, the Soryus are not wildly more expensive than the other boats.”

   Already, Japan has been engaged in intense discussions with Australia over the latter’s program to purchase 12 diesel-electric submarines. Winning the Project-75-India contract would be a further boon to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which manufacture the Soryu-class subs.

   Still, don’t expect to see India’s Navy operating Japanese subs anytime soon. India isn’t expected to tender a winner for two years, and it will be at least another 7-8 years after that before the first subs start rolling off the assembly line. Given India’s notoriously cumbersome defense acquisition bureaucracy, these timetables should be viewed as the best case scenario.

Russia considers bill calling German unification 'annexation'

The proposal is an attempt to justify Russia's annexation of Crimea.

   MOSCOW, Jan. 28 (UPI) --- The Russian parliament is considering a denunciation of Germany's 1990 unification as an illegal territorial grab of East Germany by West Germany.

   The move is an attempt to justify Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

   "Unlike Crimea, a referendum was not conducted in the German Democratic Republic," Communist Party legislator Nikolai Ivanov, said, referring to East Germany by its official name. Ivanov introduced the bill in the Parliament's lower house, the State Duma. He said he was not sure how his bill, now being studied by the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, will fare, but added he was confident he had the "moral support" of his legislative colleagues.

   Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, a crucial party in Germany's unification, was critical of Ivanov's legislation, telling Russia's Interfax news agency the idea was "rubbish."

   "You cannot evaluate the events that took place in a different epoch, in different times from today's positions. What referendum could they launch in the German Democratic Republic when in both states, in the East and in the West, they held rallies with hundreds of thousands of participants under just one slogan, 'We are one nation!' What sort of annexation is this? The suggestion is simply rubbish. I will say this again: We cannot simplify the situation to the convenience of today's needs, and our appraisal of the past should not be based on today's views."

Lukashenko Says Belarus Is in Peril as Army Trains for Invasion

   (Bloomberg) --- Belarus’s future is at risk as its neighbours reel from economic and currency crises,

according to President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

   “We should be fearing for the normal life of our people, the existence of our country,” Lukashenko said in Minsk after appointing new government officials, according to his press service. While the economic situation isn’t yet critical, the government has its work cut out for it to avoid further deterioration, said Lukashenko, who has ruled the nation of 9.5 million people for two decades.

   Collapsing demand in Russia, the destination for half of Belarusian exports, has “seriously” affected the Belarusian economy, forcing the country to seek new markets for its products, Lukashenko said. Contagion from the Russian ruble’s worst crisis since 1998 has spilled into the rest of the former Soviet Union, putting pressure on currencies and choking trade.

   As economic strains are growing more acute, the conflict in neighboring Ukraine is also making Belarus more uneasy. Belarus, which borders both Ukraine and Russia, overhauled its legislation on martial law this year, allowing authorities to deem the appearance of unmarked irregular troops as “military invasion.”

   Soldiers without insignia were involved in events in Crimea last year that culminated in a disputed March referendum and the Black Sea peninsula’s takeover by Russia.

   Military drills on Tuesday near Osipovichy in central Belarus involved a helicopter detecting a hypothetical subversive group and destroying it with unguided rockets, the Defense Ministry said on its website.

   The European Union and the U.S. are threatening to tighten sanctions against Russia over its role in Ukraine. The government in Moscow denies involvement. 

UN Security Council to meet on Ukraine crisis after deadly clashes

   Kiev (AFP) --- The UN Security Council will hold a special meeting Monday on the violence in eastern Ukraine after a rocket barrage blamed on Kremlin-backed rebels killed 30 and threatened to open up a new front in the war.

   US President Barack Obama vowed to ramp up pressure on Russia after Saturday's assault on Mariupol -- the main city standing between separatist territory near the Russian border and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea that Moscow annexed in March.

   The deadly assault on the port city came a day after the insurgents pulled out of peace talks and vowed to capture new land.

   The special Security Council meeting, scheduled to start at 3:00 pm (2000 GMT) Monday, comes after its 15 members failed Saturday to agree on a resolution denouncing the rocket attacks after Russia blocked the effort, according to Western diplomats.

   Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told an emergency security meeting that Kiev had intercepted calls proving the attack was masterminded "by terrorists who receive support in Russia".

   Obama said he would now look at all options -- short of military intervention -- to restrain Russian President Vladimir Putin's alleged proxy war aimed at stripping Ukraine's pro-Western leaders of their vital eastern industrial base.

   He pledged to "ratchet up the pressure on Russia" and signalled that he took a dim view of some EU members' desire to revive their ailing economies by restoring full financial and trade ties with sanctions-hit Moscow.

   In a call to Putin Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the Russian president to "put pressure" on pro-Kremlin separatists to end the upsurge in violence, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

   New European Council President Donald Tusk -- a former Polish prime minister who had long been suspicious of Putin -- also called the Mariupol attack evidence that "appeasement encourages the aggressor to greater acts of violence".

   French President Francois Hollande meanwhile expressed his "very strong concern" over the Mariupol violence in talks with Poroshenko and Tusk.

- 'Like an earthquake' -

   The Kremlin flatly denies arming and funding the militants, as the West alleges. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday blamed the latest upswing in violence on "constant shelling" by Kiev's troops.

   "Lavrov pointed out that an escalation of the situation is a result of Ukrainian troops crudely violating the Minsk agreements by constantly shelling residential settlements," the foreign ministry said after Russia's top diplomat spoke to US Secretary of State John Kerry by phone.

   Poroshenko told his top generals that he had asked the European Union to tighten their sanctions on Russia at a special session of foreign ministers scheduled to be held in Brussels on Thursday.

   The Western-backed leader -- looking tired after cutting short his attendance at the burial of the late Saudi king -- also insisted that the attack would not provoke Kiev into ordering a tough military response.

   "Ukraine remains a firm proponent of a peaceful solution," he told a televised meeting of his National Security and Defence Council.

   Regional police said 95 people were also wounded by dozens of long-distance rockets that smashed into a packed residential district and a market in Mariupol on Saturday.

   "I was alone at my house when the shelling began," a boy named Viktor Zarubin told AFP outside a Mariupol church that was having a mass for the victims of the surprise offensive.

   "I lay down on the ground and I crawled into the basement. It was like an earthquake," the 15-year-old said.

   The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic leader Alexander Zakharchenko claimed Saturday to have launched an offensive against Mariupol, though he later distanced himself from the rocket fire and denied ordering an actual invasion of the industrial port on the Sea of Azov.

   But the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the rocket fire came from two locations "controlled by the 'Donetsk People's Republic'".

- 'Infusion of Russian troops' -

   Mariupol, a bustling city that handles most of the southeast's vital coal and steel exports, remained calm Sunday as international monitors patrolled its muddied streets.

   A rebel assault on the port in early September saw Kiev repel the attack at a heavy cost that prompted Poroshenko to pursue peace and offer the rebels three years of limited self-rule.

   But the ceasefire was followed by further clashes that killed at least 1,500 people. Combat resumed in full in mid-January after a three-week lull.

   Western diplomats have linked the rebel advance to a new infusion of Russian troops -- denied by the Kremlin -- designed to expand separatist territory before the signing of a final truce and land demarcation agreement.

   Ukraine claimed Monday that Moscow had poured nearly 1,000 more Russian soldiers and dozens of tanks into the southeast to secure control over factories and coal mines that could help the rebels build their own state.

   Monday's UN Security Council meeting will be the latest in a string of more than two dozen meetings on Ukraine since the crisis began nearly a year ago.

   As a permanent member of the council, Russia has veto power and previous meetings have been marked by verbal jousting between Western powers and Moscow representatives.

Russia blocks U.N. statement on Ukraine as fighting escalates

   UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) --- Russia prevented the U.N. Security Council on Saturday from criticizing statements by pro-Russian Ukrainian rebels and condemning an upsurge in violence that has claimed dozens of lives in Ukraine, council diplomats said.

   Pro-Russian rebels have launched an offensive against the strategic port of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine, prompting warnings from the European Union and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

   Fighting has escalated in eastern Ukraine in recent days, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed Kiev. The rebels have ruled out more peace talks. Western powers and Kiev blame Russia and the rebels for the fresh fighting.

   Ban's press office issued a statement saying he "strongly condemns today's rocket attack on the city of Mariupol, which reportedly killed dozens of civilians and left over one hundred injured."

   It also said Ban condemned the rebel rejection of a ceasefire and "their provocative statements about claiming further territory."

   Britain proposed a Security Council statement that would have echoed Ban's rebuke and called for an investigation into the attacks on Mariupol, but Russia rejected it, diplomats said. Council statements need unanimous approval.

   "Russia have just blocked a (Security Council) statement by refusing to include condemnation of recent provocative public statements by the separatists," a council diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

   The press office of the Russian U.N. mission said in a statement to Reuters that "consensus has not been reached ... because the delegation of the UK insisted on condemnation of some of the self-defense forces' statements." It added that Western council members have repeatedly refused to condemn aggressive statements and actions by the Kiev government.

   A revised version of the draft statement, obtained by Reuters, specifically named Alexander Zakharchenko, head of the rebels' self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine, who made clear on Friday the separatists did not want compromise as they were now advancing.

   On Saturday Zakharchenko said the Mariupol offensive was "the best possible monument to all our dead" and promised further military advances.

   The draft statement "condemned in the strongest terms such irresponsible announcements."

   The council has been deadlocked on Ukraine since the start of the conflict a year ago. Russia, which Western council members accuse of sending troops and weapons to bolster the separatists in Ukraine, has veto powers and can block all council action. Moscow denies directing the rebels.

NATO rapid-reaction force on Russian Border

   An interim force of German, Norwegian and Dutch troops has been deployed in Eastern Europe to respond to any security threat from the east, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday.

   The new "high-readiness spearhead force" is in place for 2015, Stoltenberg said after calling on Russia to respect the sanctity of postwar borders in Europe and the core values on which the continent's democracies are based.

   It was Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula 10 months ago that prompted the Western defense alliance to create the rapid-response force that will rotate troops into frontline states along Russia's borders.

   Stoltenberg did not disclose the number of troops already deployed. The ultimate size of the force will be "several thousand troops" able to respond within a few days to any attack or security threat to a member state, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.

   Ukraine is not a member of the 28-nation defense alliance and it pledged in 2010 to remain nonaligned. The Ukrainian parliament retracted that position late last year in a signal that it intends eventually to apply for NATO membership. 

   Russian President Vladimir Putin is staunchly opposed to what he sees as NATO encroachment into Moscow's traditional sphere of influence. He is also clearly displeased with Ukraine's moves toward eventual membership in the European Union. It was after a Kremlin-allied Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich, was ousted by a pro-European rebellion that Russian troops seized Crimea and Russian arms and mercenaries began flowing into eastern Ukraine.

Troops from Latvia, one of the former Soviet Baltic republics hosting
NATO rapid-response forces, prepare for live-fire exercises at a base near
Riga, the Latvian capital, on Nov. 21. (Ilmars Znotins / AFP/Getty Images)

   Putin denies Russia is involved in the fighting in Ukraine that has killed more than 4,700 people in nine months, and he has justified the "reunion" of Crimea with the Russian federation as correcting a historical wrong. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev deeded the territory that is home to the Russian Black Sea fleet to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1954.

   Stoltenberg alluded to "the challenges we are facing to the east" during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

   "We see that international law is violated, and that the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine is not respected. And we call on Russia to respect the Minsk agreements," Stoltenberg said.

   He was referring to the Sept. 5 cease-fire signed in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, by Russia and Ukraine that set out a plan for halting artillery fire, withdrawing heavy weaponry, freezing the front lines and exchanging prisoners. The agreement has been repeatedly violated and few of its provisions fulfilled beyond a recent exchange of about 370 captives.

   "I underline very much that NATO does not seek confrontation with Russia," Stoltenberg said. "NATO aspires for a more constructive and cooperative relationship with Russia. But to be able to establish that, Russia must want it too."

   There was no immediate reaction from Russian officials or Moscow's state-run media to the news that the readiness force was in place.

   Asked at the news conference whether Ukraine would be granted NATO membership, Stoltenberg said there has been no application made as yet and that Ukrainian officials have conceded it will be years before the internal reforms are completed that are necessary to integrate with alliance defense forces.

   But there is "a fundamental principle which all countries in Europe have subscribed to, and also that Russia has supported, and that is that all sovereign nations have the right to choose their own path," Stoltenberg said, adding that any membership bid would be evaluated on the same criteria as applied to other states wishing to join.

   Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia -- three Baltic Sea states that were part of the Soviet Union after being invaded and annexed in 1940 -- are already members of NATO and will be among the Eastern European countries to which the new rapid-response forces are deployed.

   Poland, with its own long history of facing aggression by Russia, has announced a major redeployment of its national defense forces from bases in the western part of the country to fortify positions in the east. Poland shares a 125-mile border with Russia's heavily militarized Kaliningrad exclave, the former German territory of Koenigsberg captured by the Soviet Red Army with the Nazi defeat in World War II.

Image Of Classified Russian AC-12 Submarine Accidentally Published

The classified "AC-12" submarine.

   Top Gear Russia magazine accidentally published an image of a secret Russian submarine.

   The Russian edition of the automobile magazine published a photo of the classified "AC-12 Project," a nuclear deep-water submarine, nicknamed "Losharik" after a children's movie.

   This was first reported by the unofficial blog of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies and picked up by Slon Media, which reached out to an expert for commentary.

   Weapons expert Vasiliy Sichev told Slon that it's extremely likely that this is the secret submarine. He told the site:

   "It's impossible to unequivocally say that the picture was really the AC-12, of course, because the project is classified and how the 'Losharik' looks is technically unknown. However, photos which were allegedly of 'Losharik' surfaced in 2007, 2010, and 2011, and they had a lot of similarities with the one in Top Gear."

   Russia is in the midst of a serious military buildup. Among other things, the Russian military is upgrading its navy and by 2020 is hoping to add at least 16 new nuclear submarines to its Northern and Pacific fleets.

   Here's the whole page from the magazine:

Top Gear: Русская версия

China slams Philippines for criticizing island project in South China Sea

   BEIJING (Reuters) --- China on Monday hit back at the Philippines for criticizing Beijing's ongoing reclamation project in the disputed South China Sea, saying that its actions were within the scope of Chinese sovereignty.

   China lays claim to almost all of the entire South China Sea, believed to be rich with minerals and oil-and-gas deposits. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan also have claims.

   The United States has called on China to stop the land reclamation project that could be large enough to accommodate an airstrip. Beijing has called those remarks "irresponsible", signaling that it would firmly reject proposals by any country to freeze any activity that may raise tension.

   Last week, Philippines General Gregorio Catapang told reporters that China's reclamation in the area is "50 percent complete".

   "It is alarming in the sense that it could be used for other purposes other than for peaceful means," he said.

   China reiterated that Beijing had "indisputable sovereignty" over the Spratly Islands, where most of the overlapping claims lie, especially between China and the Philippines.

   "China's actions on the relevant islands and reefs are all matters within the scope of China's sovereignty," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing.

   Aerial images from the Philippines military and a leading U.S. defense publication show China is developing an airstrip on one of the islands.

   The construction has stoked concern that China may be converting disputed territory in the archipelago into military installations. 

‘Russian’ Submarine Found Again Near Sweden And England

   (Inquisitor.com) --- Reports of a potential “Russian” submarine found near England and Sweden have once again become common, and now the United States is being asked by Great Britain to help in the search for this mysterious underwater object.

   In a related report by the Inquisitr, Vladimir Putin recently signed and enacted a new military doctrine which proposes that Russian nuclear weapons defense systems near Europe will be expanded based upon joint defense projects with China, India, and other countries. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev also warns that the Ukraine crisis may transform into World War 3, claiming that a nuclear war between Russia and U.S. is possible. In addition, the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission believes that China’s nuclear weapons upgrade is capable of “putting the entire U.S. at risk.”

   During October, Sweden deployed its military in the search for an alleged Russian submarine. The situation quickly escalated, and NATO nations reported intercepting Russian jets near the search area. Sweden threatened to used armed force in order to raise the potential Russian submarine. But finding the unknown foreign vessel proved to be the tricky part, and although Sweden provided evidence of a small U-boat breaching Sweden’s territorial waters, Russia blamed NATO while also claiming innocence.

   Over the weekend, it was revealed that late last year a member of the public also photographed what appeared to be a submarine tower about two miles away from Stockholm. The Swedish military also confirmed the validity of the alleged “Russian” submarine.

   “We were informed of a sighting and considered it trustworthy — we had a unit in the area and sent it to investigate,” military spokesman Philip Simon told AFP. “We received a photograph but do not plan to release it.”

   A military source also looked at the alleged “Russian” submarine photo and claimed it indicated how serious the problem was for Sweden. According to Dagens Nyheter, this information is reason enough to consider a NATO membership for Sweden.

   “It looks like a black submarine tower. You can also see several other ships that normally use this shipping route,” the military source said. “You don’t go this far in towards Stockholm for the fun of it. This information points to a serious intrusion towards central Stockholm.”

   The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency reports that 73 percent of Swedes are concerned about recent developments related to Russia and Vladimir Putin. In comparison, only 45 percent were concerned a year ago. But it’s not only Swedes that are concerned.

   In December, a potential Russian submarine was spotted by the British Navy where Royal Navy submarines normally surface as they head in or out of a base at Faslane, the home to Britain’s nuclear weapons deterrents and the Royal Navy’s Vanguard-class nuclear submarines. NATO was asked for help in the sub search because the British Ministry of Defense had scrapped its own anti-submarine Nimrod spy planes program back in 2010.

   Now the Telegraph is reporting that visits from Russian submarines have been “happening quite often” off the coast of Scotland. The Ministry of Defense requested support from the U.S. Navy and two Navy aircraft were sent to conduct anti-submarine patrols.

   “We can confirm that the UK recently requested assistance from allied forces for basing of maritime patrol aircraft at RAF Lossiemouth for a limited period. The aircraft have been conducting maritime patrol activity with the Royal Navy; we do not discuss the detail of maritime operations.”

   The search for the potential Russian submarine has been compared to the first Cold War, when the Soviet Union commonly sent Soviet submarines into European waters.

Sweden confirms second 'submarine' sighting

   Stockholm (AFP) --- Sweden's military on Sunday confirmed a second sighting in October of what appeared to have been a submarine in waters near Stockholm city centre, not long after a search had been launched for a suspected Russian submarine off the coast.

   In November the Swedish military released images of tracks on the sea bed and an apparent submarine periscope which it said proved that "a mini submarine violated Swedish territory" between October 17 and October 24 and that "at least one vessel" was involved.

   However, despite widespread speculation that the submarine was Russian, the military never identified its nationality.

   On Sunday, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter revealed that a member of the public also photographed what appeared to be a submarine tower on October 31 about two miles (3 kilometres) from the city centre, close to busy ferry traffic lanes.

   "We were informed of a sighting and considered it trustworthy -- we had a unit in the area and sent it to investigate," military spokesman Philip Simon told AFP.

   "We received a photograph but do not plan to release it."

   A Corvette, the HMS Malmo, carried out a search and concluded that it was a "possible submarine" but no other details of the previously unknown hunt have been made public.

   "It looks like a black submarine tower. You can also see several other ships that normally use this shipping route," a military source who had seen the photo told the paper.

   "You don't go this far in towards Stockholm for the fun of it. This information points to a serious intrusion towards central Stockholm."

   The week-long search after the previous sighting involved battleships, minesweepers, helicopters and more than 200 troops scouring an area 30 to 60 kilometres (20 to 40 miles) from the capital.

   It had stirred up memories of Cold War cat-and-mouse games with suspected Soviet submarines along Sweden's long, rugged coastline.

   The submarine hunt and a series of alleged airspace violations by Russian jets over the last year have led to increasing debate about Sweden's military capability and to calls for the non-aligned country to consider closer NATO ties.

   An opinion poll published Sunday by the state Civil Contingencies Agency Sunday found that 73 percent of Swedes were concerned about developments in Russia compared to 45 percent a year earlier.

   For the first time the annual poll found more Swedes were in favour of NATO membership (48 percent) compared to those opposed (35 percent).

Japan proposes joint work on Australia sub fleet

   Tokyo (AFP) --- Japan is proposing jointly building Australia's new submarines, instead of exporting a new fleet, a report said Monday, after concerns in Canberra over the effect on the domestic ship-building industry.

   Under the proposal, Japan's defence ministry is to cooperate with Australia in developing special steel and other materials for its new submarines, while Tokyo will be in charge of assembling them, the Mainichi Shimbun said.

   The Australian side has taken "a positive stance" on the proposal, the daily said, adding that the two countries may strike a deal by the end of 2015.

   Australia needs to replace its fleet of diesel and electric-powered subs, which date from the 1990s, and Japan's high-tech ship-building industry is thought to be well-placed to win the contract.

   But opposition politicians and industry groups in Australia protest that losing the contract could deal a potentially fatal blow to naval shipbuilding at home, with a knock-on effect for associated industries.

   However, critics point out that Japan may be able to supply the fleet for as little as half of the cost of making it at home.

   Japan is on a drive to promote its manufacturing industries abroad, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe touring the world as salesman-in-chief.

   Abe has argued that Japan must play a bigger role on the global stage and has pushed to loosen post-World War II restrictions on when its well-equipped armed forces can act.

   He has also relaxed a self-imposed ban on weapons exports, paving the way for the possible deal with Australia.

Germany Approves Development of New Leopard 3 Tank

   The German Parliament approved a proposal to develop a new generation of tanks. The program will be included in the medium-term planning of the German Ministry of Defense.

   The decision comes amid tensions from the “Ukrainian crisis” where the number of Leopard 2A6 tanks 225/7 that the Bundeswehr (German military) aims to maintain operational would become suddenly inadequate. The German Army just received its first Leopard 2A7’s and they’re already off and running for a new MBT (main battle tank).    The new Tank will be a Leopard 3 and will be designed from the ground up and will not be a modification of a Leopard 2. Upgrading old tanks is fairly routine and accounts for the dangers of the present. Developing a new advanced tank, instead, is a bet on the future. In August, German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), makers of the current versions of the Leopard tank, merged with French defense company Nexter. Speaking to the merger, KMW CEO mentioned the idea of a Leopard 3 tank, noting that France has a strategic perspective that stretches decades into the future.
   There are few details at present about what, exactly, the Leopard 3 program will entail, and what improvements it will have over previous generations of tank design. As Russia’s currency crumbles and the war in Ukraine drags on inconclusively, the urgency behind the new request for a tank may fade.
Russia will begin mass production of new next generation T14 tanks in 2016.

Cold War 2.0
   A report released in November 2014 highlighted the fact that close military encounters between Russia and the west (mainly NATO countries) had jumped to Cold War levels, with 40 dangerous or sensitive incidents recorded in the eight months alone, including an alleged near-collision between a Russian reconnaissance plane and a passenger plane taking off from Denmark in March 2014 with 132 passengers on board. The 2014 unprecedented increase in Russian air force and naval activity in the Baltic region prompted NATO to step up its long-standing rotation of military jets in Lithuania.

Nuclear Weapons in both USA and Russia are beyond START treaty levels
   The US government's October 2014 report claimed that Russia had 1,643 nuclear missiles ready to launch (an increase from 1,537 in 2011) – one more than the US, thus overtaking the US for the first time since 2000; both countries' deployed capacity being in violation of the 2010 New START treaty that sets a cap of 1,550 nuclear warheads

Poland's Would-Be Guerrillas

   (The Economist) --- Marcin Waszczuk is ready for action. Dressed in camouflage fatigues with a Polish flag on the shoulder, the heavyset 41-year-old is the head of Strzelec, one of Poland’s largest paramilitary organisations, and he wants to be prepared in case of a Russian attack.

   His office sits in a notable location: the PAST office block, one of Warsaw’s few pre-war skyscrapers. During the 1944 Warsaw uprising, fighters from Poland’s Home Army, the largest partisan force in Europe, battled for 18 bloody days to seize the building from German troops, and held on until the two-month-long uprising was finally crushed. 

Polish servicemen take part in military exercises outside
the town of Yavoriv near Lviv, September 19, 2014. (Reuters)

   Now Mr Waszczuk wants to draw on Poland’s history of guerrilla warfare to cope with the challenges of an increasingly unpredictable Russia. “We are the continuation of the Home Army,” he says. The goal is to form light infantry units scattered around the country able to continue the fight “if there is an invasion and the Polish military is destroyed".

   These ideas are not entirely far-fetched. In early December, Poland’s defence ministry approved an upgraded national defence plan that includes an effort to co-ordinate better between the regular military and informal paramilitary outfits. Strzelec counts about 5,000 members; several hundred thousand other Polish civilians, including military re-enactment enthusiasts, are thought to be keen on the programme. The military already aids paramilitary groups with surplus uniforms and training sessions.

   The strategy also shifts more of Poland’s military assets to its eastern border, in keeping with the so-called Komorowski Doctrine. Bronislaw Komorowski, the president, has pressed the country to focus more on territorial defence and less on far-flung excursions to places like Iraq and Afghanistan. And while reviving the Home Army may seem quixotic, security experts worry that Poland’s army, which still relies heavily on outdated Soviet-era weaponry, would be unable to withstand a full-on Russian attack.

   “Is the Polish army prepared? No it is not,” says Zbigniew Pisarski, president of the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, a defence and security think-tank which recently completed an assessment of Poland's military. Mr Pisarski admits that a Russian attack is an “extreme scenario”, but Russia’s actions over the last year in Ukraine have made it seem less improbable. Even before the latest tensions arose, Russia and Belarus had practised a simulated tactical nuclear strike on Warsaw during the 2009 Zapad war games.  

   Spooked by the revival of its age-old enemy, Warsaw has embarked on a $30 billion decade-long rearmament programme, one of the most ambitious in NATO. By 2022 the country should have modern missile defences as well as helicopters, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery, communications and a larger fleet. Poland spends 1.95% of GDP on defence, one of the higher levels in the Atlantic alliance, and has committed to raise that to 2%.

   But until the rearmament programme is completed, Poland is vulnerable. Current plans call for Poland to hold off an attack until Poland’s NATO allies can swing into action and come in to help. “One-on-one we have no chance,” says Mr Pisarski.

   Worryingly, that is largely the same doctrine employed by the Polish military in 1939, when the doctrine was to hold off the Germans long enough for France and Britain to attack. That help never came, forcing Poles to go underground with the Home Army to continue the fight.“We supposedly had a strong alliance in 1939, and no one came to help us,” says Mr Waszczuk. “Now we’re hearing that Germany is in no shape to help us and that NATO is unclear about sending troops here. In the end, the best defence is to rely on yourself.”

Russia’s New Stealthy, Long-Range Bomber the PAK-DA

   (National Interest) --- Russia is developing a new strategic bomber called the PAK-DA as part of its post-Soviet military modernization plan, but with the price of oil falling rapidly, there are questions as to whether that nation will be able to afford the new plane.

   There is little concrete information about the new Russian bomber—but a stealthy long-range penetrating strike aircraft is not cheap. The Pentagon’s secretive new Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) program is aiming to develop an aircraft that will cost roughly $550 million per jet. Developmental costs for the American aircraft—which will supposedly rely on “mature” technologies--are likely to be in $50 billion range. While the Russia PAK-DA is not likely to be nearly as expensive, it is going to cost tens of billions of dollars at a time when Russia’s resource-based economy is collapsing into what could be a prolonged recession. Unlike the Soviet Union—which had a more or less full-service, if dysfunctional, economy—modern Russia is little more than a glorified petro-state. There are very real questions as to whether Russia can afford to complete the development of the PAK-DA.

   Nonetheless, Russia’s Tupolev design bureau appears to be moving full steam ahead with the development of the new aircraft. Mikhail Pogosyan, head of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC)—a state enterprise that includes Tupolev—told RIA Novosti, a state-run Russian new agency (now known internationally as Sputnik International), earlier in the year that development of the PAK-DA had started in earnest in 2014. Pogosyan said that preliminary design work for the new aircraft was completed in April 2014 and some components are already being fabricated.

   The PAK-DA is expected to make its first flight in 2019. Russia is expected to complete operational testing of the new jet in 2023—which puts the timeline for the new bomber slightly ahead of the U.S. Air Force’s LRS-B, which is expected to become operational in the mid-2020s. “The maiden flight should be performed in 2019. State tests and supplies will be completed in 2023,” Russian Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev told RIA Novosti in May.

The PAK-DA is expected to become fully operational in 2025 according to earlier statements attributed to Maj. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, commander of the Russian Air Force’s long-range aviation fleet by the news agency.

   In order to get the PAK-DA operational as quickly as possible, Russia is using modernized versions of the Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack supersonic strategic bombers’ Kuznetsov NK-32 engines to power the new aircraft. Selecting a suitable power plant is perhaps the single most important decision engineers have to make when developing a new aircraft. Indeed, it is likely that the Boeing/Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman teams that are developing rival LRS-B concepts are facing a similar decision on selecting an appropriately mature engine for their bomber designs.

   Originally, according to Russian media reports, the PAK-DA was intended to use a variant of the Saturn AL-41F engine, a version of which powers the fifth-generation Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA stealth fighter. That AL-41 variant ran into developmental problems, which forced Tupolev’s engineers to switch over to the NK-32. “The NK-32 engine, which is at the core of the Tu-160, will be subjected to a number of technical changes and improvements, and will be installed in the PAK-DA,” a JSC Kuznetsov official told Russia & India Report in November. “This new engine will be based on the second stage HK-32 unified gas generator.”

   Like its American LRS-B counterpart, few concrete details have been released about the PAK-DA. What is known about the new bomber is that the PAK-DA will likely be a stealthy subsonic flying wing design optimized to fly over long distances while remaining undetected. Flying wings lend themselves well to low observable characteristics—particularly against low frequency radars operating in the UHF and VHF bands. But there remain questions about Russia’s ability to manufacture a stealth aircraft even if the country can design such a machine. Stealth aircraft require a level of manufacturing precision that neither Russia nor the Soviet Union has ever previously demonstrated.

   The PAK-DA design is a break from previous Russian bomber designs like the Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire and Tu-160, both of which rely on high supersonic speeds for survivability. The PAK-DA is also not a small aircraft—with a maximum gross take-off weight of about 250,000 lbs—about the size of a Boeing 757 airliner. According to Russia & India Report, Russian Air Force’s requirements state that the bomber will have a range of 6,740 nautical miles. It will also be able to carry 60,000lbs of weapons.

   Though the PAK-DA is likely going to be a very low observable aircraft, like other new Russian combat aircraft such as the PAK-FA fighter, the new bomber does not entirely rely solely on its stealth for survivability. Stealth appears to be just one tool in the PAK-DA’s bag of tricks. The aircraft is also being developed with advanced electronic warfare systems according to RIA Novosti—and Russian jammers are nothing short of excellent according to U.S. Air Force sources.

   Further, the PAK-DA will be armed with both stand-off nuclear and conventional cruise missiles, according to RIA Novosti. Russia is investing in hypersonic cruise missiles to arm the PAK-DA, which suggests that the Russian Air Force does not necessarily intend for the aircraft to penetrate deep into hostile airspace. The bomber needs to merely get close enough to launch its missiles. Relying on long-range missiles would be keeping with long established Soviet and Russian practice. “PAK-DA will be equipped with all advanced types of precision guided weapons, including hypersonic,” a Russian government source told RIA Novosti last year.

   Ultimately, it is not clear if Russia will be able to complete development of the PAK-DA or its projected armament on its current schedule given the sorry state of that country’s economy. However, Russia cannot be underestimated—the country has demonstrated that even after the chaos that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union it could retain the capacity to build advanced weaponry. If the PAK-DA does eventually come to fruition, it will undoubtedly pose a serious threat—especially if it is built in numbers.