ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Photo: YouTube UPD: Dear friends, the original article contained a mistake. This is the AK-103 assault rifle (a derivative of the AK-74M chambered for the 7.62×39mm M43 round). Thank you all for the feedback. Units of the Russian Special Forces, operating in Syria , are armed with the most modern small arms, the AK-74M3 Kalashnikov assault rifles. The AK-74M3 was captured on a video, showing actions of the Russian Special Operations Forces in the area of Palmyra. The video was filmed by videographers of the Center for Special Assignments of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). The one-and-a-half-minute video includes scenes of destruction of terrorists’ infantry and vehicles, equipped with weapons, hitting of a bomb-laden vehicle with a guided missile, fired from a portable system, support for a ground operation, provided by attack helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces , inspection and demining of facilities, cleared of terrorists. Attention of military experts w

China has begun to develop stealth long-endurance and high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles. Photo: AP / Ng Han Guan China has started to develop a military unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), using a technology of the radar-location stealthiness, as well as a drone for flights in the close near-Earth space, the China Daily newspaper reported on Thursday, citing Vice President of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), Wei Yiyin. According to the newspaper, the CASIC, the country’s main spacecraft, rocket and missile manufacturer, has already started to work on the project. Reportedly, the promising stealth military drones will be capable to evade any radars and air defense systems. According to Wei, a current five-year plan of China also includes the development of high speed combat and reconnaissance drones, as well as selling of them on the global market. “As military reforms are drastically changing armed forces around the world, drones have become an indispens

The Jordan government and the Israeli Foreign Ministry have been indignant at a publication of the Israeli Haaretz newspaper, which cited statements of the Israeli ambassador to Amman, Einat Shlain. Photo: haaretz.com Representatives of the Jordan government have been indignant at statements of the Israeli ambassador to Amman, Einat Shlain, which were mentioned in a publication of the Israeli Haaretz newspaper, the Jordan Al Ghad newspaper reported, citing official sources. According to Al Ghad, talking with chief of the Israeli General Staff, Gadi Eizenkot, about the situation in the kingdom, Shlain said that the situation is becoming more and more unstable. Information about the meeting between the diplomat and the general was obtained from an anonymous source, according to whom the meeting was held in October 2016. The main discussed topic was the impact of a massive influx of Syrian refugees. The same source reported that a few weeks later, speaking at a closed forum, the chief o

In March, Moscow became the center of the diplomatic activity of global and regional powers involved in a number of the ongoing crises in the Middle East. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due in Moscow March 9 for a two-day visit. He will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and will participate in a session of the Council on High-Level Cooperation between Russia and Turkey. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Moscow and to meet Putin. The two leaders will discuss the current situation in the Middle East and aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, according to the Kremlin press service. UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow in the coming weeks. It will be the first UK foreign secretary visit to the country since 2012. High profile Swiss diplomats involved in the so-called “Geneva format” aimed on “resolving the Syrian conflict” and some military and political officials of t

The Syrian Army’s Tiger Forces, supported by the Syrian and Russian air forces, have continued making impressive gains against the ISIS terrorist group in the province of Aleppo. The Tiger Forces further advanced along the Euphrates River and entered the Jirah Airbase. Now, when the ISIS-held town of Dier Hafer is de-facto cut-off from the rest of the ISIS-held area in central Syria, its liberation will become the main short-term goal of government forces. Experts believe that after Deir Hafer government forces will likely advance along the Deir Hafer-al-Tabaqah road, expanding the buffer zone east of Khanasser and putting additional pressure on ISIS units operating in the area of Raqqah. The hidden Russian-US cooperation in Syria was already proven with the Manbij case when Moscow and Washington acted together in order to prevent the Turkish army and pro-Turkish militant groups from attacking Kurdish forces in the area. There is a chance that the US and Russia will act jointly in orde