ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

After more than three months of fighting, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have captured central al-Bab from so-called Islamic State according to local reports. Yet civilian deaths from airstrikes, artillery and ground combat in and around the town reportedly stretched into the hundreds, according to the United Nations. Considering al-Bab’s small size, this high toll raises concerns about further Turkish-led actions in northern Syria – where the US has supported Kurdish forces that Turkey now says it will next target. As the administration of US President Donald Trump weighs whether to revamp American mlitary policy in Syria, and possible lower thresholds for civilian casualties, the threat of prolonged and bloodier confrontations grows. A Smart News video depicts Turkish-backed FSA rebels following their February 23rd capture of al-Bab Following heavy criticism from NATO ally Turkey, since mid-January the US-led Coalition launched nearly 50 strikes in support of Turkish forces fighting...

By The Saker Tectonic shifts are continuing to occur in the political landscape of the Ukraine. Last week, following the imposition of a total blockade against Novorussia by the Ukronazis, Russia declared that she will from now on recognize the official documents emitted by the DNR and LNR authorities . This week, the Novorussian authorities have nationalized all the key factories of the Donbass . Furthermore, the Novorussians have now declared that since the Ukrainian authorities are not willing to purchase their coal and anthracite they will from now on export them to Russia. And just to make sure that they cover all their bases, the Novorussians have also declared that from now on only the Russian Ruble will be circulating in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. Not to be undone, the Ukronazis have also taken a highly significant step: the Ukrainian Prime Minister has declared that he thinks that the irregular forces currently enforcing the blockade should be considered offi...

The U.S. Army has been plagued with costly acquisition failures in recent decades, chief amongst them the Future Combat System (FCS) program. This $200 billion program initiated in 2000, the largest U.S. military acquisition program ever attempted, failed to produce results on a multitude of levels and was abandoned by 2009. The Armored Ground Vehicle (AGV) and Armored Gun System (AGS) programs also wasted tens of billions of dollars before being cancelled without achieving their intended goals. These programs were chiefly defeated by an overly bureaucratic Army acquisition system, and the fact that the Army had asked for far too much from the defense industry, demanding many new and unproven technological advancements. The FCS was the most expensive, most ambitious, and most transformative modernization program ever undertaken by the U.S. Army. It is often hypothesized that the U.S. experience in the first Gulf War of 1991 and in the NATO Kosovo intervention of 1999, led to the desire...

Although combat aircraft such as the J-31 stealth fighter and J-15 aircraft carrier strike aircraft have made most of the headlines, China has made significant accomplishments in the realm of military transport, long range maritime patrol and carrier borne AEW&C aircraft over the past year. First operational in 2016, the Y-20 military transport is now the largest such aircraft in production in the world. Roughly the size of the Boeing C-17 Globemaster, the Y-20 is a crucial component in China’s growing ability to expand its strategic power projection capabilities. After initially expressing a need for 400 of these aircraft, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) later stated that this number was revised to 1000. AVIC began production of the AG600 seaplane in July of 2016. The AG600 is a large flying boat, capable of landing and taking off on water, or on land-based airstrips, as it has a conventional, retractable tricycle landing gear. It is similar in size to a Boeing 7...

© REUTERS/ Thibault Camus Originally appeared at  Sputniknews French-Swiss construction company LafargeHolcim Group has admitted funding militants in Syria. The company said it had funded the militants in order to ensure the security of its employees at a plant in north-eastern Syria, according to Le Monde newspaper.  Follow L'Orient-Le Jour   @LOrientLeJour # Syrie  :  # LafargeHolcim  admet des arrangements "inacceptables" avec des groupes armés  https://www. lorientlejour.com/article/103818 2/syrie-la-firme-lafargeholcim-admet-des-pratiques-inacceptables-pour-securiser-sa-cimenterie.html  … 9:07 AM - 2 Mar 2017     7 7 Retweets     1 1 like “It appears from the [internal] investigation that the local company provided funds to third parties to work out arrangements with a number of these armed groups, including sanctioned parties, in order to maintain operations and ensure sa...

The Syrian Military Capabilities blog has released fresh photos of T-90 main battle tanks supplied by Russia to the Syrian army. More about Russian battle tanks: Click to see the full-size image

Over 2,300 facilities of the Islamic State terrorist group were destroyed by the Russian Aerospace Forces during a month. Photo: Sputnik / Dmitriy Vinogradov During a month, the Syrian Army liberated 52 populated localities and cleared 1,702 square kilometers of the country’s territory from terrorists. This became possible thanks to active actions of the Russian combat aviation, chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy, said. “The Russian Aerospace Forces performed 991 sorties, destroying 2,306 facilities of Daesh [the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group]. The airstrikes were carried out on command points, depots of arms and ammunition, destruction of which plays an important role in defeating of militants. On February 28, at 1:21 pm, a headquarters of one of the armed gangs of the Jabhat al Nusra group [currently known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham] was destroyed by two KAB-500 guided aerial bombs. Sixty seven ...

The Popular Mobilization Units are going to start the second phase of its military operation to the west of Mosul city. Photo: alalam.ir The Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as Al-Hashd Al-Sha’abi, are ready to launch a fresh round of military operations in order to recapture all regions, located to the west of Mosul city in Nineveh province, the Fars news agency reported, citing PMU spokesman Ahmad al-Assadi. “As the ground have been prepared for regaining control of Tal Afar, we [the PMU] are waiting for Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to determine which military units will take part in the operations in western Mosul,” Al-Assadi told the news agency on Saturday. He also noted that the first phase of the PMU operations in the area, located to the west of Mosul, resulted in regaining control over 113 square kilometers of territories and tens of villages, as well as in cutting of supply routes of terrorists. “The Hashd al-Shaabi with all its units and groups has take...