ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

While the Yemeni conflict remains under-reported by mainstream media outlest, it’s still much hotter than many of those in other regions around the world. Over the past years, the Saudi-led coalition, which is de-facto backed up by the US, has not been able to achieve  decisive victory in the war on Ansar Allah (also known as the Houthis) and its allies. In fact, the coalition has not even captured the country’s capital, which still hosts the government loyal to the Yemeni resistance. Clashes between Ansar Allah and Saudi-backed forces continue in the eastern part of Nar Mountain and in the Ahem triangle; A Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson announced that more than 200 personnel of Saudi-led forces were killed during the last 4 days in the northern part of Hajjah province; Heavy clashes between Ansar Allah and coaliton forces erupted in Hudaydah city. 1 child was killed and 10 women were wounded; According to the Sana’a-based Ministry of Health, the Saudi-led coaliton preventing h

Despite Saudi Arabia coming under intensified international scrutiny after last year’s brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, a new study shows Riyadh has been on  a record-setting weapons buying spree over the past two years . And who supplies most of these arms? Of course the United States, which has by all indicators done nothing to curtail its perpetual arms pipeline to the Saudis; instead it has grown. According to a new 2019 study published in March from arms transfer monitoring group,  the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute  (SIPRI),  70 percent of the Saudi arsenal now comes from the United States . Prior file photo of Saudi officers take photos during a joint military exercise of 21 Muslim nations (in 2016). Image source: Getty Furthermore, the Saudis have hands down  led the world in global weapons purchases for the past two years , and there’s little sign this trend will let up as Riyadh keeps up its mercile

Click to see full-size image The US recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory is another sign of the ongoing collapse of the establsihed system of international relations. The UN Disengagement Observer Force’s (UNDOF) mandate was renewed  on December 21 st , 2018 to June 30 th , 2019. Thus, it’s peacekeeping operation in the Golan Heights continues despite the recent US move to recignize Israel’s sovereignty over this territory. The latest UNDOF report  was published on February 28 th , underlying that there are on-going issues of numerous violations of the Disengagement of Forces Agreement of 1974 and UNDOF’s ability to implement its mandate, including the deployment of appropriate technologies as recommended. “Given Syria’s reassertion of control over areas of separation and the reopening of the Qunaytirah crossing point, UNDOF may be getting close to an eventual full return to the Bravo side. The return of the situation to pre-2014 conditions may cause the C

An explosion during an Israeli air strike on Gaza, August 8, 2018. IMAGE: Reuters In the early hours of March 31, the Israeli military struck targets inside the Gaza Strip following the launch of several rockets from the besieged Palestinian region. “5 rockets were launched from Gaza at Israel,” the Israeli military said on Twitter, without providing any addition information. Palestinian sources said that the Israeli artillery strike targeted at least one observation post of the Hamas Movement east of the area of Deir al-Balah in the center of the Gaza Strip. Initial reports indicate that no one was injured or killed as a result of the strike. This new escalation came only hours after a fresh wave of protests by civilians along the separation fence around the Gaza Strip. Palestinian medical sources said that 4 protestors were killed by the Israeli military fire, while dozens others were injured. The Palestinian rocket attack, which targeted the Israeli Eshkol Regional Co

The Turkish military blog,  SavunmaSanayiST , released several photos on March 30 showing a modernized Turkish Leopard 2A4 main battle tank (MBT). The local Turkish upgrade package added a completely modern armour suit for the German-made MBT, which was first introduced in the late 70s. The Turkish Armed Forces operate more than 350 tanks of the 2A4 type. SavunmaSanayiST @SavunmaSanayiST Modernizasyon çalışmaları devam etmekte olan Kara Kuvvetleri Komutanlığına ait 𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝟐𝐀𝟒 Ana Muharebe Tankı (AMT). Modernizasyon ile ilgili değerlendirme yazımız, özel bilgi ve görsellerle bugün sizinle olacaktır. 562 10:01 AM - Mar 30, 2019 116 people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy The photos show that the front of the Leopard tank was equipped with an add-on modular armour. However, the sides of the tank’s turret and body were covered with explosive reactive armour (ERA) bricks similar in desig

Su-35 flanker. Click to see full-size image Turkey could possibly purchase Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, if Washington realizes its threat to block the delivery of F-35 joint strike fighters,  Viktor Litovkin, a military analyst with the Moscow-based TASS news agency was cited by RT. “If the US fails to ship the jets to Turkey, Ankara can certainly buy the Su-35s from Russia instead,” he said. Also according to Litovkin, both aircraft have characteristics that are comparable, Moscow also wouldn’t be worried of theft of sensitive military technology, because the aircraft’s software is “hard to crack.” It would also be possibly to easily integrate the fighter jets in the Turkish military. The possible block of the delivery the F-35 joint strike fighters is due to Turkey’s conclusion of a deal for the purchase of Russian S-400, which it says is final. On February 15 th , US President Donald Trump signed  a spending bill  according to which delivery of the jets to Tur

  Dumb Bombs   A recent series of Russian strikes on positions of militant groups in the Syrian province of Idlib has once again caused a wave of mainstream media reports regarding civilian casualties caused by Russian bombings. According to “local activists” quoted by media, the Idlib strikes led to tens of civilian casualties. There are no MSM reports about casualties among members of militant groups or destruction of their infrastructure. Since the very start of the Russian military operation in Syria, Russia has been under fire over its usage of unguided weapons – missiles and bombs – as a main mean of engagement. The key idea repeated by Western diplomats, military officials and media in various formats is the following: While the US-led coalition carries out pinpoint strikes with precision weaponry, the Russian Aerospace Forces employ indiscriminate strikes with unguided bombs, which are oft