ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Click to see full-size image On April 1 st ,  the US officially stopped the delivery of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey  over the purchase of S-400 from Russia. “The United States has been clear that Turkey’s acquisition of the S-400 is unacceptable,” said acting Pentagon spokesman Charles Summers Jr. “Until they forgo delivery of the S-400, the United States has suspended deliveries and activities associated with the stand-up of Turkey’s F-35 operational capability. Should Turkey procure the S-400, their continued participation in the F-35 program is at risk.” Earlier, during a US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in February, US Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, European Command commander and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said that he would recommend that the US should not sell the F-35 to Turkey if it acquired the S-400. “My best military advice would be that we don’t then follow through with the F-35, flying it or working with an ally that’s working with Rus

Saudi Arabia is nearing completion on its first nuclear reactor, according to newly surfaced satellite imagery,  Bloomberg reported. Google Earth images show Saudi Arabia’s first nuclear reactor is almost ready to be commissioned. Click to see full-size image The top image shows just a bare patch of land in April 2017. The middle image is of April 2018, the site is lined with construction vehicles and the outlines of a foundation are already apparent. The most recent pictures show that work on Saudi Arabia’s first reactor is well advanced with the containment vessel already in place. The spotted reactor was sold to the Kingdom from Argentina’s state-owned INVAP SE. The Steel vessel is about 10 meters (33 feet) high with a 2.7-meter diameter which matches other similar sized reactors.  Rafael Mariano Grossi , Argentina’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reminded Saudi Arabia they need to sign onto the comprehensive safeguards agreement with subsidiary ar

The Trump administration has been  sharing sensitive nuclear technology and energy information with the Saudis  —  an issue that’s gained increased scrutiny since the Oct. 2 murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi by a Saudi hit team at the consulate in Istanbul. American lawmakers now want to get to bottom of it, and a group of senators have  notified Energy Secretary Rick Perry to demand answers  over how and why he allowed multiple US firms to provide Riyadh with potential nuclear secrets and information sharing typically only available to Washington’s closest western allies. The Senators are also seeking answers regarding the kingdom’s possible  development of atomic weapons  and the degree to which they’ve received any level of assistance from the United States. Rick Perry with Saudi officials, via AFP/Getty Starting a week ago various media reports revealed that Perry had authorized so-called Part 810 approvals, which gave US companies authorization to share otherwise closel

Overcoming the sound barrier Written by  Aleksandr Artamonov ; Originally appeared on  zvezdaweekly.ru ; Translated by  AlexD  exclusively for  SouthFront Russia is ready for a breakthrough in the transition to sixth-generation technology Presently, the development of traditional military aircraft construction has reached the natural plateau of the technologies used. It is difficult to image something fundamentally new, which does not fit into the hundreds of times worked out mainline trend of creating platforms for fighter jets and other combat aircraft. The announced transition from the fifth to the sixth generation of the Air Force should be marked by even more advanced avionics and weapons systems, as well as other levels of active/passive board protection… Of course, the use of artificial intelligence and new composite materials can bring the business of producing innovative initiatives to a previously inaccessible height. However, if we compare this type of engineerin

Written by  Israel Shamir ; Originally appeared at  The Unz Review A few days ago, an Ilyushin IL-62M liner  carried  over a hundred Russian soldiers and officers to Caracas. Symbolically, they made a stopover in Syria, as if saying that Venezuela is the next country after Syria to be saved from ruin and dismemberment. The military mission was led by the Head of General Staff, General Tonkoshkurov (“Thin-Skinned”, a name that would thrill Vladimir Nabokov). ‘Don’t you dare, exclaimed John Bolton, meddle in the Western Hemisphere! Hands off Venezuela! It is our back yard!’ The Russians didn’t buy it. Some time ago they tried to object to the US tanks being positioned in Estonia, a brief drive from St Petersburg, and all they’ve got was preaching that sovereignty means sovereignty, and Estonia does not have to ask for Russian permission to receive American military assistance. Now they repeated this American sermon verbatim to John Bolton and his boss. Get out of Syria first, they a