ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Russian fire arms giant Kalashnikov Concern has recently confirmed that it was  developing a new type of unmanned combat ground vehicle  (UCGV). According to the company, its proposed  UCGV will weigh as much as 20 tons  and will feature both a machine gun and a number of laser-guided anti-tank missiles. Kalashnikov Concern CEO Alexei Krivoruchko first confirmed this during an interview with the Russian media outlet Tass. The company is yet to release details of the vehicle prototype. The new unmanned combat vehicle will weigh three times as much as its predecessor, the seven-ton BAS-01G Soratnik tank, or  about as massive as a U.S. Army M1126 Stryker ICV. New Mega-tank’s predecessor is no slouch The company was named after Mikhail Kalashnikov,  a World War II veteran who invented the AK-47 assault rifle. It was believed Kalashnikov Concern has manufactured some 100 million AK-74 assault rifles worldwide. The company is a joint public-private entity, with state-controlled Rostec

By Finian Cunningham   US President Donald Trump is being widely accused of a «Nixonian» cover-up after he took the drastic step of firing James Comey, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Comparisons are made by Washington politicians and pundits of disgraced former President Richard Nixon who sacked an independent investigator looking into the Watergate scandal back in 1973 in what became know as the Saturday Night Massacre. Only, according to Trump’s critics, this is much worse than Watergate. That’s because Nixon – who was later forced to resign from the presidency in 1974 – was covering up criminal spying on American political rivals, while Trump is allegedly involved in a conspiracy with a foreign enemy state, Russia. That’s treasonous and a capital crime, in their view. But hold it a moment. Richard Nixon was actually guilty of aiding a cover-up over a real case of burglary for political espionage on opponents. That burglary – by «the Plumbers» – involved in

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.

ISIS militants launched an attack on a convoy of tribal forces loyal to the Egyptian Army in the area of Al-Barath, in northern Sinai. ISIS claimed that its militants killed 15 tribal fighters, including a military commander, Salem Abu Lafi, and captured 4 SUVs. Click to see the full-size image ISIS reportedly destroyed an Egyptian Army battle tank after targeting it with an IED in the area of Joura south of Sheikh Zwaid. On May 8, the Egyptian Air Force bombed Libyan terrorists attempting to sneak into Egypt. Egyptian warplanes and attack helicopters destroyed 15 vehicles in a 48-hour operation near the Libyan-Egyptian border after Egyptian intelligence had obtained information confirming a gathering of terrorists on the Libyan side of the border. The Egyptian Army has recently started relying on forces of local tribesmen in Sinai to maintain security and to support its counterterrorism operations in the region. This has significantly reduced ISIS’s attacks in Sinai so

Houthi forces destroyed a patrol vehicle of the Saudi Army with an IED on the road of al-Jajaim base in Jizan. Houthi forces also attacked the Saudi reinforcements that came to the attack site. According to pro-Houthi sources, many Saudi soldiers were killed or wounded during the attack.  ( video ) Separately, Houthi fighters managed to shoot down a drone of Saudi forces in northern Sahara Midi.  ( video ) The Saudi Air Force continued its air campaign against tagerts in Yemen, bombing Saada, Sana’a, Ta’az and Ma’rab. According to local sources, a child was wounded as a result of an airstrike on the Takhiyeh district of Majaz. The Saudi Air Force also bombed the Atan area in Sana’a, the Khalid camp in Ta’az, and the Mika 25 camp in Hajjah. A Yemeni citizen was killed in the area of Manbah in Saada by a fire from the Saudi border guards, according to local sources. British Defense Secretary, Michael Fallon, said in an interview to BBCthat the Saudi operation in Yemen is

By Sparrow  President Trump’s May 9, 2017 letter firing now-former FBI Director James Comey in part reads, “I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation[.]” However, a  recent court filing  by the Department of Justice on behalf of the FBI in an ongoing FOIA lawsuit plainly indicates the FBI has an active investigation pertaining to Donald Trump’s actions related to actual or potential election-related hacking and espionage by Russia. The lawsuit is filed by  Ryan Shapiro , a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) PhD candidate/Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University research affiliate, and  Jason Leopold , Senior Investigative Journalist at  BuzzFeed News . On August 18, 2016, Shapiro and Leopold submitted a FOIA request to the FBI seeking “disclosure of any and all records, including investigative records, mentioning or referring to Donald J. Trump’s statement on 27 July, 2016 [regar

© AFP 2017/ DELIL SOULEIMAN Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. John Dorrian revealed Wednesday what kind of arms the United States will supply to Kurdish forces in Syria. The United States will soon start supplying arms to Kurdish militias operating within the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF will soon be involved in the advance on the ISIS self-proclaimed capital of Raqqah. Dorrian revealed that Kurdish forces will receive ammunition, small arms, heavy machine guns and mortars from the United States. “So what we are talking about here is ammunition, small arms, heavy machine guns and mortars will be included,” he told reporters. Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that US President  Donald Trump had approved a plan  to directly arm Kurdish forces operating in Syria.

On May 10, government forces, led by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) Tiger Forces,  captured the village of Al-Mahdoum  west of the Jirah Military Airport in the eastern Aleppo countryside. This advance is considered to be a part of the fresh SAA operation against ISIS terrorists in the eastern Aleppo countryside aimed at capturing the strategic town of Maskana. Maskana is de-facto located between the provinces of Raqqa and Aleppo. The Russian Aerospace Forces supported SAA troops bombing ISIS gatherings and vehicles in the area between Al-Jirah Military Airport and the town of Maskana. From its side, pro-ISIS sources claimed that ISIS members had destroyed a 23mm gun with an ATGM in the village of Kharaj Daham and a T-72 battle tank and a BMP-1 vehicle in the village of Jarrah Saghir. A number of Syrian soldiers was allegedly killed or wounded in the village of Atshana as a result of 2 VBIED attacks on SAA troops there. ISIS also managed to damage a SAA T-72 battle tank in the vil