ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Houthi froces have revealed four “domestically designed and manufactured” combat and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). “The sole unveiled combat aircraft, code-named Qasef-1 (Striker-1), has a wingspan of three meters and a hull length of 2.5 meters. The drone has a flight endurance of 120 minutes, and is capable of carrying a payload of 30 kilograms,” PressTV reported . The “Yemeni” Qasef-1 (Striker-1) combat drone: Iranian Ababil 2 and Ababil 3 UAVs for comparison: Another UAV, dubbed Hudhud-1 (Hoopoe-1), is developed for reconnaissance missions. It has a flight endurance of 90 minutes, and an operational range of up to 30 kilometers, according to the report. Its wingspan is 1.9 meters and the hull length is 1.5 meters. A Hudhud-1 reconnaissance UAV: Another presented UAV is the Raqib, a reconnaissance drone can fly with the flight endurance of 90 minutes and the range of 15 kilometers. The Rased UAV can perform various missions, including aerial monitoring ...

By Elizabeth Kolbert In 1975, researchers at Stanford invited a group of undergraduates to take part in a study about suicide. They were presented with pairs of suicide notes. In each pair, one note had been composed by a random individual, the other by a person who had subsequently taken his own life. The students were then asked to distinguish between the genuine notes and the fake ones. Some students discovered that they had a genius for the task. Out of twenty-five pairs of notes, they correctly identified the real one twenty-four times. Others discovered that they were hopeless. They identified the real note in only ten instances. As is often the case with psychological studies, the whole setup was a put-on. Though half the notes were indeed genuine—they’d been obtained from the Los Angeles County coroner’s office—the scores were fictitious. The students who’d been told they were almost always right were, on average, no more discerning than those who had been told they were mostly...

Military Industrial Complex Wins: The Trump administration has not said how much money it will ask Congress to spend in total. By Alex Guillén, Sarah Ferris and Jeremy Herb The White House took its first steps Monday toward what would be a dramatic reshuffling of the $3 trillion-plus federal budget, sending guidance to agencies that calls for a $54 billion increase in defense spending and corresponding reductions to most non-security agencies. While Office of Management and Budget officials briefed reporters on the plan this morning, President Donald Trump publicly explained his proposal to focus federal spending on national security, including boosts to the military, local law enforcement and the Border Patrol, while cutting domestic programs and foreign aid. Trump has said his budget will not include cuts to Medicare or Social Security, the usual targets of Republicans trying to trim federal spending. “This budget follows through on my promise of keeping America safe, keeping out ...

The U.S. intelligence community’s extraordinary campaign of leaks claiming improper ties between President Trump’s team and Russia seeks to ensure a lucrative New Cold War by blocking detente. By Gareth Porter Opponents of the Trump administration have generally accepted as fact the common theme across mainstream media that aides to Donald Trump were involved in some kind of illicit communications with the Russian government that has compromised the independence of the administration from Russian influence. But close analysis of the entire series of leaks reveals something else that is equally sinister in its implications: an unprecedented campaign by Obama administration intelligence officials, relying on innuendo rather than evidence, to exert pressure on Trump to abandon any idea of ending the New Cold War and to boost the campaign to impeach Trump. A brazen and unprecedented intervention in domestic U.S. politics by the intelligence community established the basic premise of the c...

Written by TheSaker; Originally appeared at TheUnzReview Putin’s latest move I don’t follow the western corporate media so I don’t really know how much coverage this development has received in the West, but in Russia and the Ukraine the big news is the decision by Russia to begin recognizing official Novorussian documents such as passports, driver licenses, school and college diplomas, etc. The Russians were pretty specific in the way the made the announcement. They said that it was a temporary measure dictated by humanitarian considerations. They have a point. Until now, the residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had to travel to the Nazi-occupied Ukraine to try to get their documents. Which, considering how the Ukronazis consider anybody from the Donbass was not only futile, but sometimes dangerous. This decision makes perfect sense practically. But, of course, it has a far-reaching symbolic dimension too. The timing is also crucial: by recognizing the documents i...

© AFP 2016/ EBRAHIM NOROOZI / JAMEJAM ONLINE The Iranian Navy started major drills in the northern part of the Indian ocean on Sunday. The drills code-named Velayat 95 were set to take place in in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman, the Bab el-Mandab and northern parts of the Indian Ocean in an area of million square kilometers. “The aim of the Velayat 95 drill is to upgrade the country’s defensive capabilities and send Iran’s message of peace and friendship to the regional countries,” PressTV quoted Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari. The drills include missile tests, intelligence operations, deployment of submarines and rescue operations and involve a range of naval equipment including submarines and helicopters manufactured in Iran. Earlier this month, then-US National Security Advisor Michael Flynn said that “Iran had been put formally on notice” after Iran launched a ballistic missile. Then US President Trump tweeted that “Iran is playing with fire,” promisi...

ISIS drone armed with munitions targeted and allegedly destroyed a Humvee vehicle belonging to Iraqi forces operation in the area of Mosul. Pro-ISIS sources claim that few Iraqi fighters were injured in the incident. The ISIS terrorist group has been massively using armed drones in the ongoing battle for western Mosul. Iraqi War Report, February 23, 2017 Photos of ISIS drone strikes in southwestern Mosul:

This is the newst update of the ‘U.S. Carrier Strike Groups Locations Map’ exclusive series showing the approximate locations of U.S. Carrier Strike Groups on a weekly basis. SouthFront: Analysis & Intelligence tracks locations of U.S. aircraft carriers using the available open-source information. No classified information was used in production of the map. Click to see the full-size map Carrier strike group (CSG) is an operational formation of the United States Navy. It is centered on an aircraft carrier and a carrier air wing (CVW) of 65 to 70 aircrafts. It’s composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least two destroyers and/or frigates. A carrier strike group also, on occasion, includes submarines, attached logistics ships and a supply ship. Carrier strike groups comprise a principal element of U.S. power projection over the world’s oceans.

One Emirati and two Saudi soldiers have been killed in Yemen. Photo: emasc-uae.com Two Saudi fighters and one Emirati soldier have lost their lives during participation in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. On Friday, the General Command of the Emirati Army announced that one of its soldiers, Sergeant Khaled Ali Gharib Al-Balloushi, was killed in Yemen, the Al-Manar TV-channel reported. The Emirati General Command did not disclose how and in which part of the country the soldier was killed. Earlier this month, it became known that commander of Emirati troops in Yemen, Nasser Moshabib al-Atibi, was killed by a medium-range ballistic missile, fired by the alliance on Mokha city in Taiz province. At the same time, it was reported about deaths of two Saudi fighters, who lost their lives in attacks, committed by the Houthi-Saleh alliance in various areas of Yemen. As the Al Masirah TV-channel reported, one Saudi officer was killed by a sniper on the al-Karas military base, located in the southwes...

The Iraqi Air Force has for the first time carried out airstrikes on positions of the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that he delivered an order to carry out airstrikes on positions of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic , the Reuters news agency reported on Friday. “We gave orders to the air force command to strike Islamic State positions in [the Iraqi town of] Hosaiba and Albu Kamal inside Syrian territory as they [terrorists] were responsible for recent bombings in Baghdad,” Reuters quoted the words of al-Abadi. According to the Prime Minister, Iraqi military have already conducted the operation. “The heroes of the sky executed the operation and responded to the terrorists with amazing success,” al-Abadi noted. Reportedly, the airstrikes were carried out by the F16 fighter jets on Friday morning. As a result, a headquarters of the terrorist group, located in Albu Kamal, was destroyed. “...

This map shows the military situation in eastern Ukraine on February 22, 2017: Click to see the full-size map

The Leopard 2 PL tank has been developed by the Rheinmetall Company for the Polish Army. The Leopard 2 PL tank (Photo: defence.pk) German Rheinmetall Company presented to public the upgraded Leopard 2 PL tank at the IDEX 2017 international arms exhibition, the WarSpot information website reported. This version, intended for the Polish Army , is a future development of the Leopard 2A4 tank . In 2002-2003, 128 tanks of this type were delivered free of charge to the Polish Armed Forces. Since 2015, their upgraded version, designed to bring the tanks practically to the level of the Leopard 2A6, has been developing. The Leopard 2 PL is equipped with an outboard composite armor, which significantly improves the protection against some types of ammunition, and has increased ballistic protection of the tower. Hydraulic stabilization mechanisms of the gun and turret drives of the tank were replaced with electrical ones that allowed to improve work of mechanisms and increase space inside the ta...

Written and produced by SF Team: Brian Kalman, Daniel Deiss, Edwin Watson In the first half of August of 2016, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) located at Fort Benning, Georgia, invited almost 200 representatives from the defense industry to a meeting to discuss the desire to acquire a whole new type of vehicle. The program was named “Mobile Protected Firepower” (MPF). The U.S Army has decided to dispense with its overly bureaucratic acquisition system of past decades, and has instead had the TRADOC, the command that is most knowledgeable of what the Army requires, sit down directly with industry professionals from the very start to design a vehicle that takes existing technologies and capabilities to design a workable solution at minimal cost. Apparently, the U.S. Army has learned something from past failed programs. In concept, the MPF is seen as a highly mobile vehicle that is able to accompany and support Stryker Brigade Combat Teams and mobile and mechanized in...

Scores of Saudi mercenaries, including several high-ranking commanders, have been killed in a ballistic missile attack in Yemen. A file photo of Yemeni militia commander Major General Ahad Saif al-Yafei (L) and commander of Emirati troops in Yemen Nasser Moshabib al-Atibi (C), who were killed in a missile attack by Yemeni forces (Photo: Wam) The Houthi-Saleh alliance has launched a medium-range ballistic missile on positions of Saudi-backed fighters, stationed near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the al-Masirah TV-channel reported on Wednesday, citing press service of the Yemeni Operational Command. As a result, scores of Saudi mercenaries, including the commander of Saudi-led Emirati troops in Yemen, have been killed and wounded. As the TV-channel noted, the missile hit Mokha city, located in Taiz province, and killed not only usual Saudi militants, but also several high-ranking commanders, including commander of Emirati troops in...