The US Navy just issued an eerie report outlining Russia's naval capabilities

 

By Alex Lockie5 hours ago

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(Pavel Rebrov/Reuters) A Russian warship firing during celebrations for Navy Day in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, Crimea, on July 26.
A 68-page US Naval Intelligence report, titled "The Russian Navy: A Historic Transition," outlines the rising credibility and threat of Russia's navy.

The report details a situation in which Russia's navy, behind only those of the US and China in size, may soon be capable of denying the US Navy access to the Black and Baltic seas.

Russia's landgrab in Crimea as well as its enclave in Kaliningrad could lock US forces out of the Black or Baltic seas.

US Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges spoke to this in a Pentagon news briefing earlier this month, saying the nearly 25,000 Russian troops illegally stationed in Crimea had "the ability to really disrupt access into the Black Sea."

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(Google Maps/Amanda Macias/Business Insider) 

Earlier this year, Russia's defense ministry announced plans to revive and increase the size and scope of the country's Black Sea submarine fleet.

The new submarines are designed to excel at warfare in shallower water while being arguably thequietest submarines in the world.

"The new submarine and ship classes will incorporate the latest advances in militarily significant areas such as: weapons; sensors; command, control and communication capabilities; signature reduction; electronic countermeasures; and automation and habitability," the report states.

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(Thomson Reuters) Russia's diesel-electric submarine Rostov-on-Don being escorted by a Turkish Navy Coast Guard boat in the Bosphorus, on its way to the Black Sea, in Istanbul.

The report also describes Russia's Kalibr missiles, which were put on display in October when Russian boats in the Caspian Sea fired missiles at ground targets in Syria.

The report also speculates that Russia's fifth-generation aircraft, the PAK FA aka T-50, could be ready for deployment as soon as 2016.

The increased stealth capabilities of the plane, as well as its potential role aboard a new Russian aircraft carrier, could spell big problems for the US.

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(Wikimedia Commons) 

According to the report, Russia is "reorganizing its personnel structure to more accurately reflect the needs of modern warfare" and will do so by attempting to transition to an all-volunteer force.

The report acknowledges that Russia is under heavy financial strain because of sanctions and historically low oil prices, but the country is nonetheless determined to create a modern navy that is capable of undermining the military superiority of the West.

Here's the full report

China angered as Filipino protesters visit South China Sea island

 

23 hours ago

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BEIJING (Reuters) - China expressed anger on Monday after a group of Filipino protesters landed on a disputed Philippine-held island in the disputed South China Sea.

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About 50 protesters, most of them students, reached Thitu island in the Spratly archipelago on Saturday in a stand against what they say is Beijing's creeping invasion of the Philippine exclusive economic zone, said Eugenio Bito-onon, the island's mayor.

China claims almost all the South China Sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

China was "strongly dissatisfied" by what the Filipinos had done, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, reiterating that China has indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly islands.

"We once again urge the Philippines to withdraw all its personnel and facilities from the islands that it is illegally occupying, refrain from actions that are detrimental to regional peace and stability and not conducive to Sino-Philippines relations," Lu said.

Describing their expedition as a "a patriotic voyage", the protesters, led by an ex-marine captain, plan to camp on the island, which the Philippines calls Pagasa, for three days in a symbolic act of defiance.

Government and military officials had tried to prevent the group from sailing to the disputed waters, citing security and safety reasons after a storm in the South China Sea earlier this month.

The Philippines was also concerned about China's reaction to trip as Manila has been trying to calm tensions heightened by Beijing's rapid expansion in the South China Sea - building seven artificial islands in the disputed waters.

The Philippines has challenged Beijing before the arbitration court in The Hague, a case Beijing has not recognized.

Taiwan presidential front-runner: Can't 'be bound' to China

 

By JOHNSON LAI54 minutes ago

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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The front-runner in Taiwan's presidential race said Sunday that she would seek stable relations with mainland China, but did not rule out revisiting the island's official stance on independence, leaving open questions about how China would respond to her probable victory in next month's elections.

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Tsai Ing-wen, the opposition leader who has firmly held onto a sizeable lead in polls, used her platform during the first debate to warn against the political rapprochement and deepening economic ties with the mainland brought by the ruling Nationalist Party, or KMT, since the 2008 elections.

"We cannot simply be bound to China," Tsai said. "That's what worries us most about the past eight years — the sense that that's the only choice we have. That's not good for our economy or our security."

Against the backdrop of a sputtering economy and rising anti-mainland sentiment, the Jan. 16 elections have been framed by both the KMT and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party as a referendum on President Ma Ying-jeou's China policy.

Ma backed — with varying degrees of success — several trade pacts with the mainland during his two terms and held a historic summit in November with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was the first such meeting since the Chinese Communist Party defeated the KMT in China's civil war and established the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The upcoming election is being closely watched by Washington and Beijing, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province and has threatened to take the island by force if it declares independence. Xi has delivered hard-line messages to Taiwanese leaders in private meetings, while China's military conducted exercises near Taiwan earlier this year in a show of force.

On Sunday, Tsai and her main opponent, KMT chairman Eric Chu, offered contrasting visions of how to revitalize Taiwan, which is becoming increasingly crowded out by the world's No. 2 economy on the world stage. Still, both distanced themselves from the deeply unpopular Ma.

Chu, the mayor of New Taipei City adjacent to the island's capital, apologized for the incumbent party's performance, but attacked Tsai as a destabilizing force whose victory would only undercut an economy that unexpectedly shrank in the third quarter. He described forging ties with China as a matter of economic reality.

"When I talk to our fruit farmers, our fishermen, our small businesses, they say the No. 1 thing they fear is Tsai Ing-wen," Chu said, while repeatedly criticizing Tsai's stance on the independence issue as vague.

"A basic requirement is good, stable cross-strait relations," he said. "It's not just about security."

Iran's Rouhani says it's up to Muslims to correct Islam's image

 

13 hours ago

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Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, who is also a member of the Experts Assembly, waves to media with an ink-stained finger, after registering his candidacy for the Feb. 26 elections of the assembly at interior ministry in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

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DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that Muslims must improve the image of their religion, which has been tarnished by the violence of hardline groups such as Islamic State,

"It is our greatest duty today to correct the image of Islam in world public opinion," Rouhani told a conference on Islamic unity in Tehran in a speech broadcast by state television.

His remarks were rare for a leader of Iran, which considers itself an authority in the Islamic world and often blames the "enemies" of the religion for problems in the Middle East.

"Did we ever think that, instead of enemies, an albeit small group from within the Islamic world using the language of Islam, would present it as the religion of killing, violence, whips, extortion and injustice?" Rouhani said.

Rouhani, a relative moderate, said Islamic principles opposed violence and the extremism of groups such as Islamic State stemmed from "narrow-mindedness and a lack of moderation".

Rouhani criticized Muslim countries for "being silent in the face of all the killing and bloodshed" in Syria, Iraq and Yemen - conflicts in which Iran plays a role.

Iran supports the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has close ties with neighboring Iraq, and condemns the Islamic State group which fights both governments.

The Islamic Republic is also an ally of the Houthi movement which seized control of most of Yemen last year and has fought a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia for nine months.