ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

A screenshot from the Russian Defense Ministry press briefing On September 18, the Russian Defense Ministry revealed additional details  on the IL-20 disappearance over the Mediterranean Sea  last evening. According to Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, the plane was shot down by Syria’s S-200 air defense system because Israel’s F-16 fighters used it as a cover. “ By using the Russian plane as a cover the Israeli air pilots made it vulnerable to Syrian air defense fire . As a result, the Ilyushin-20, its reflective surface being far greater than that of F-16, was downed by a missile launched with the S-200 system,” Konashenkov said. “The bombing raid was not far from France’s frigate The Auvergne and in close proximity to the UIyushin-20 plane of Russia’s Aerospace Force that was about to land.” Konashenkov added that  Israeli warplanes had been carrying out strikes in the area of Latakia and deliberately created a dangerou...

Chinese Type 99A2 Main Battle Tank On August 21 st , defense ministers of China and India vowed to keep peace on the border between the two countries. As reported by the South China Morning Post, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to maintain a peaceful border as the two militaries continue to work to repair their relationship. The pledge to keep building trust between the two countries came during Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe’s visit to New Delhi. A Chinese Defense Ministry statement released on August 21 st  said that Wei, who is also a general in the People’s Liberation Army, while speaking with Modi said that friendly cooperation had become the main component of China and India’s inter-military relations. The statement further said that Defense Minister Wei will meet Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. They will discuss stability and security on the border. “This visit … will deepen our bilateral milita...

About 100 ISIS members have been killed since the start of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) operation against the terrorist group’s cells in the area of al-Safa at the administrative border between the provinces of al-Suwayda and Rif Dimashq in late July, accordign to pro-government soruces. Up to 25  ISIS members were killed last weekend when the SAA ambushed an ISIS unit withdrawing from al-Safa . The rest were mostly eliminated in artillery and airstrikes by Syrian forces. Meanwhile, the Syrian state media reports that SAA units are working to strengthen their positions in the al-Safa hills thus increasing pressure on the remaining ISIS cells in the area. Click to see the full-size image

Written by  Brian Kalman   The Big Profits Driving Online Censorship This summer we have witnessed the increasing demand by mainstream media, Democratic Party legislators, and even former disgraced intelligence agency heads, for the silencing of dissenting viewpoints. Although the most recent wholesale ban on Alex Jones and Infowars on just about every social media platform out there is the most glaring and chilling example of outright censorship, the efforts of the Deep State to silence any voices of dissent or for presenting a narrative counter to that being peddled by the almost complete monopoly of social and mainstream media that serves them has been building in intensity for quite some time. The claims that the big tech companies that control all social media platforms through virtual monopoly are not required to meet the constitutional protections of the 1 st  amendment, because they are not governmental agencies, but private businesses, is patently false. I...

Illustrative image Written by  J.Hawk   At the time it happened and shortly after its conclusion, the brief war between Georgia, the breakaway republics, and Russia, has had relatively limited international political consequences, commensurate with the conflict’s brevity and comparatively low level of violence which can hardly be compared with the prolonged and far bloodier wars in Libya, Syria, or even the NATO quagmire in Afghanistan which continues to claim far more lives every year. In retrospect, it proved to be a preview of far worse things to come, in the process also illustrating the respective roles played by Western governments and local “political entrepreneurs” of countries around Russia’s periphery in the forming of West-Russia relations. Before the West Went Insane The single most striking feature of the war is the aforementioned limited international consequences. Today, cases like the MH17 shoot-down, chemical attacks in Syria, elections “meddling”,...

Sputnik / Mihail Mokrushin India will finalize the deal for almost $5.7 bn acquisition of five advanced S-400 Triumf air defence missiles from Russia. This was confirmed to the India Times by Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on July 13 th . The S-400 missile systems, which can detect, track and destroy hostile strategic bombers, stealth fighters, spy planes, missiles and drones at a range of up to 400 km and an altitude of 30 km. India has just reached the final phase and there has been an outcry because such a purchase is prohibited under the recent US law called CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act) which deters countries from purchasing Russian weapons. However, it is arguable if it should be applied to this situation, since the, Indian Times reports has been in the works since 2015, long before the US law was entered into force. The Diplomat reports that Indian Defense Minister has stated “With Russia, we have had a continuous r...

FILE IMAGE: Roman Bosiacki/rp.pl The Piorun man-portable air-defense system (MANPAD) programme has been delayed due to a technical issue, Poland’s newspaper Rzeczpospolitа reported. The Piorun system is the successor of the Grom MANPAD solution, which currently is in service with the Polish Armed Forces. Piorun MANPADs may be used in their mobile form, they offered extended range and daytime/night sight, among other advantages. The Polish Armed Forces were set to receive the first batch of the new generation Piorun, however there is a delay of a few months. According to the original assumption the weapons were to be provided before the end of 2017. Nonetheless, even now they are not yet ready to be delivered. The 150 new anti-aircraft missiles cannot be delivered, because during tests in September of 2017 the launch engine chamber burst out. The tests in April and June had a similar outcome. The manufacturer has to pay to the Polish Ministry of Defense over PLN 20 million f...

If you’re able, and if you like our content and approach, please support the project. Our work wouldn’t be possible  without your help: PayPal:  southfront@list.ru  or via:  http://southfront.org/donate/   or via:  https://www.patreon.com/southfront ,  BTC:  13iYp9CDYZwgSnFXNtpEKgRRqaoxHPr2MH,  BCH: 1NE49pQW8yCegnFCMvKuhLUnuxvTnxNUhf,  ETH:  0x962b312a9d41620f9aa0d286f9d7f8b1769bfae6 This analysis was originally released by SouthFront on July 3, 2018 1. History of the movement, structure, and ideology History The movement of Ansar Allah (Supporters of Allah), also known as the Houthis, is a paramilitary group of Zaidi Shi’ites, acting in Yemen. This is one of the moderate streams of Shia Islam, which has more than 10 million followers around the world and accounts for a third of Yemen’s population. In dogmatic matters, Zaidis took a position which is close to Sunni Islam, relying primarily on the Koran and the Sunnah. In...