As the State Armament Program (SAP) 2011–2020 is coming to an end, Moscow has floated a new military program for the 2018–2027 period. Despite the sanctions, economic difficulties and the collapse of oil revenues, the Russian Navy has demonstrated that it can contribute to Russia’s international posture, as demonstrated during the Moscow’s Syrian campaign. Among…
President Serzh Sargsyan told the audience at last weekend’s Munich Security Conference that his landlocked state was striving to become the pivotal ‘land-linked’ component of an ambitious plan to connect the Black Sea and Persian Gulf through an Armenian-transiting corridor, which is to his country’s supreme strategic interest but would undoubtedly affect the geopolitical situation…
The Navy has deployed the guided-missile destroyer Carney to join the destroyer Ross in the Black Sea in a move that U.S. military officials told CNN is intended to “desensitize” Russia to the presence of American military assets in the strategically important region. The deployment of the Carney marks the first time in four years…
Is Britain girding for a fight in Russia’s backyard? For the first time since the Cold War, Britain is sending a warship to the Black Sea on a military mission. This time, the goal is to send a message to Russia: don’t invade Ukraine. The question is whether Russia will—or even should—bother to take the…
The October 26-27 NATO defense ministers meeting confirmed the decisions to beef up the military posture against Russia along its borders. The plans to boost presence in the Baltic States and Poland were approved at the bloc’s Warsaw summit in July but the issue of strengthening Black Sea presence was hung in the air. The…
A US guided missile destroyer, USS Ross, equipped with the Aegis advanced missile defense system has entered the Black Sea and is heading to the Ukrainian port city of Odessa to join the international maritime exercises Sea Breeze 2016. The Arleigh Burke destroyer USS Ross is set to join the international exercises in the Back…
