Focus - Analysis - Photo report
aa
 
 
 

The Design and Operations Management Unit (3CO) of the Parachute Commando Subgroup (Sous-Groupement de Commandos Parachutistes, SGCP) of the Barkhane force is the hinge between the commandos and their tactical chief deployed on the ground and the Joint Theater Command Post (Poste de Commandement Interarmées de Théâtre, PCIAT). The 3CO is responsible for planning, commanding, exploiting the results of the action and directing the maneuver of the paratrooper commandos.

The coronavirus crisis has a significant impact on many defense budgets around the world. For instance, China will increase its defense spending by 6.6 percent% in 2020, the lowest rate in years, the government said Friday. But analysts raise the concern that many expenses are not included in this official budget.

The 414th antiaircraft regiment went on combat duty in April 2020. It looks like a usual event, as several dozen antiaircraft regiments have been formed in Russia of late. However, the new regiment is deployed in Tiksi-3 settlement in Yakutia and is armed with S-300PS missile launchers. It considerably changes the balance of forces in the region, the Independent Military Review writes.

The Indian federal government has announced $66.9 billion defence budget for the fiscal year 2020-21, which represents a 9.4 percent increase in MoD’s overall allocation as compared to the allocation for the previous fiscal year 2019, Irfan Mahar* explains in Eurasia Review. According to the Indian government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB), the Defence budget accounted for 15.49 percent of the federal government’s total expenditure for the upcoming fiscal year.

The air assault force is a new type of combat troop of the Chinese Army, Qian Xiaohu and Yang Yuanqing report. It emerged in the reform of China's national defense and armed forces several years ago, aiming to accelerate the PLA Army’s pace into an era of multi-dimensional warfare.

The first T-90 tanks to be upgraded to the level of T-90M Proryv will be the vehicles of the 7th Russian military base in Gudauta. The base in Abkhazia will receive T-72B3 instead. Upgraded T-90 will go to defend the western borders of the country. The newly built tanks are also delivered there. Experts believe they are only a little bit inferior in running characteristics and armor to the latest T-14 Armata, the Izvestia daily writes.

The proportion of advanced air defense missile systems and radars in service with Central Military District air defense (AD) forces exceeds 70%, the Russian Defense Ministry’s press office said. "As of today, the Central Military District’s air and air defense army operates S-400 Triumf [NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler] air defense missile systems. In 2020, two air defense missile regiments stationed in the Sverdlovsk Region [in the Urals] and the Samara Region [in the Volga area] will receive another four sets of the S-400 system," the press office said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu addressed the Federation Council. He informed the senators on the state of the armed forces and their development guidelines. Shoigu recalled the state of the Russian army in 2012. The share of modern weapons comprised 16 percent and only 47% were in an operational state, the Defense Ministry said.

Russia earned 15.2 bln dollars in the 2019 arms trade. Over 50 countries purchased its hardware and weapons. The interest in Russian designs increased after their engagement in Syria. Deputy Defense Minister Colonel-General Alexander Fomin told the Izvestia daily about the main Russian partners, successes in the African market and the situation emerging after the collapse of arms control treaties.

In its restructuration program, the U.S. Marine Corps plans to cut tank battalions and reduce infantry units over the next 10 years while investing in new capabilities involving other equipment. “Developing a force that incorporates emerging technologies and a significant change to force structure within our current resource constraints will require the Marine Corps to become smaller and remove legacy capabilities,” the command said.

The 16th lesson of the Syrian war shows that tanks remain the master of the battlefield in modern conditions. Indeed, the experience of warring ground forces showed that tanks remain the key arms. They are the most sustainable among all ground hardware even if the adversary fully dominates in the air. The Russian T-90 and T-72B3 demonstrated high protection against all modern antitank weapons, including U.S. TOW-2 missiles.

The key lesson of the Syrian campaign is that Russia badly needs an aircraft-carrying fleet at least in the minimal number to protect vital interests in potential conflicts and demonstrate strength. Besides, Russia has to have state-owned airlines of Aeroflot scope equipped with domestic aircraft, the Military-Industrial Courier writes.

The United States is no longer a sanctuary, but a target, Kenneth Rapuano, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, told the House Armed Services Committee in Washington today. Jim Garamone, DOD News, reports.