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Russia A leaked draft of President Donald Trump's nuclear posture review seems to confirm that Russia has been building an underwater nuclear doomsday machine. Reports of the torpedo sent a chill down the spines of experts, who say it could not only destroy a city but poison the area with radiation for years to come. Russia may have intentionally let on that it was working on the doomsday device to sow fear in the US and deter attacks. President Donald Trump's nuclear posture review,  leaked to HuffPost this month , seems to show the US believes Russia is building a dangerous new undersea nuclear weapon that critics say could cause widespread death and damage. "Russia is developing and deploying new nuclear warheads and launchers," the leaked review says, adding that these systems include "a new intercontinental, nuclear-armed, undersea autonomous torpedo." Printouts of plans for such a nuclear torpedo had been spotted in state TV footage of a meeting ...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the test of a new-type anti-aircraft guided weapon system organised by the Academy of National Defence Science in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) May 28, 2017. KCNA/via          North Korea fired a missile on Friday in an unusual late-night test launch, and details announced by Japanese officials and media suggested it could be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The launch from North Korea's northern Jangang province took place at 11:41 p.m. (1441 GMT), an official at South Korea's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The U.S. Defense Department confirmed the launch, saying it was making further assessments.       "As a result of their launches of ICBM-level missiles, this clearly shows the threat to our nation's safety is severe and real," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the...

Hawaii's  Emergency Management Agency released  an ominous statement on how to survive and proceed in the event of a nuclear attack. Citizens of Hawaii are advised to look out for emergency sirens, alerts, wireless notifications, or flashes of "brilliant white light" that will indicate that a nuclear detonation is incoming or underway. From there, the agency instructs citizens to get indoors, stay indoors, and stay tuned via radio as "cell phone, television, radio and internet services will be severely disrupted or unavailable." Instead, expect only local radio stations to survive and function. If indoors, citizens should avoid windows. If driving, citizens should pull off the road to allow emergency vehicles access to population centers. Once inside, Hawaiians should not leave home until instructed to or for two full weeks, as dangerous nuclear fallout could sicken or kill them. Read the full release below:

Amid all its upgrades and advances, the US Navy's newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is lacking one feature: urinals. Every bathroom on the Ford is, for the first time,  gender-neutral , equipped with flush toilets and stalls, according to Navy Times. Bathroom-design  experts have said  sit-down toilets are less sanitary and take up more space, and most of the Ford's crew members are men. (Women are only about 18% of the Navy.) But the Navy has said getting rid of urinals has advantages for current and future operations. Making every bathroom accessible to all of the ship's sailors will also make things more convenient for sailors, the Navy has said. And bathrooms that can be used by either gender mean the Navy can reassign them without making any design changes, should the crew's makeup change. "This is designed to give the ship flexibility because there aren’t any berthing areas that are dedicated to one sex or the other," Operations Spe...

This photo provided by Yemen’s Joint Operations Command purportedly shows Saudi al-Madinah warship in waters off the coast of Hudaydah city, Yemen, on January 30, 2017. Yemeni naval forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have targeted and torched a Saudi military vessel in a missile attack off the coast of the country’s western province of Hudaydah, military says. Yemen's official Saba news agency, citing an unnamed military source in the Navy, reported that the destruction of the Saudi-led coalition’s gunboat occurred on Monday, when Yemeni forces hit the intruding vessel with a missile. The military official further asserted that the Saudi vessel was carrying out radar jamming and deception against Yemeni army when it was targeted. On January 30, Yemeni army forces fired a guided missile at Saudi Arabia’s al-Madinah battleship in waters near the city of Hudaydah, and on June 25, another Saudi war boat was hit and destroyed by Yemeni forces on Yemen of...

Moscow (Sputnik) Apr 26, 2017 In an interview with Sputnik, Russian military expert Viktor Baranets specifically touted unprecedented the damage range of Russia's next-generation S-500 Prometey missile system, which is currently undergoing state tests. Earlier this week, Pavel Sozinov, chief engineer of the Russian defense corporation Almaz-Antey, said that Russia's next-generation S-500 surface-to-air missile system would be able to engage targets in the upper layer of the atmosphere, 100 kilometers [62 miles] above the Earth's surface. The S-500, designed by Almaz Antey, is said to have a range of 600 kilometers (more than 370 miles). The system can simultaneously intercept up to ten ballistic and hypersonic missiles traveling at a speed of up to 7 kilometers per second. Speaking to Sputnik, Viktor Baranets pointed, in particular, to the unique performance characteristics of the new Russian missile system. "The S-500 will be capable of hitting targets at an alt...

The Ukrainian military hopes it can keep more of its soldiers alive when its new unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) hits the battlefield. This is the Phantom. It’s designed to help minimize the number of soldiers required to fight against the heavily-armed rebels backed by Russia in the Dombass region, where a nearly three-year civil war has claimed the lives of more than 3,100 Ukrainian troops. One of the key features of the Phantom is its anti-tank missile system, called Barrier, and its 12.7 mm caliber machine gun. The machine gun and Barrier are capable of engaging light and heavily-armored targets from 100 to 5,000 meters, according to  Ukroboronprom , the Ukrainian company that makes the Phantom. Besides its offensive power, the Phantom can drive on sand, thanks to its hybrid all-wheel drive engine, hydraulic brake system and independent suspension. And if you’re thinking about the Phantom being hacked somehow, it is fitted with a secure radio channel. I reached out to Ukraine...

It wasn’t long ago that Brazil planned to retrofit its vintage aircraft carrier  Sao Paulo  to last until 2039. No longer. Instead, Brazil will  retire the 32,800-ton flattop  during the next three years, according to a report in IHS Jane’s. With Argentina having given up on carriers, Brazil’s decision will leave the United States with the only operational carriers in the Western Hemisphere. Sao Paulo  was originally the  Foch , a  Clemenceau -class carrier which first launched in 1960. During her 40 years in service with the French navy,  Foch ’s air wings dodged Yemeni MiGs, intervened in the Lebanese civil war and bombed Serbia during the Kosovo conflict. France sold  Foch  to Brazil in 2000, and the renamed  Sao Paulo  carried out exercises and launched Brazil’s AF-1 Skyhawk attack planes from her flat, catapult-launch deck — similar to U.S. carriers and the  Charles de Gaulle , France’s sole remaining fleet carrier...

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last week. Russia’s reported deployment of a new type of missile presents another challenge to its relations with the United States. POOL PHOTO BY ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO By MICHAEL R. GORDON WASHINGTON —  Russia  has secretly deployed a new cruise missile despite complaints from American officials that it violates a landmark arms control treaty that helped seal the end of the Cold War, administration officials say. The move presents a major challenge for President Trump, who has vowed to improve relations with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and to pursue future arms accords. The new Russian missile deployment also comes as the Trump administration is struggling to fill key policy positions at the State Department and the Pentagon — and to settle on a permanent replacement for  Michael T. Flynn, the  national security adviser  who resigned  late Monday. Mr. Flynn stepped down after it was re...

Alex Lockie The test-fire of Pukguksong-2. This photo was released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on February 13.KCNA/Handout On Sunday, North Korea launched a missile into the Sea of Japan for the first time since US President Donald Trump took office. South Korean officials  told Reuters  that the missile, a land-based adaptation of the submarine-launched KN-11, doesn't have the range to strike the US but has another trait that's just as troubling, if not more: solid fuel. North Korean missiles usually rely on liquid fuel and have to be gassed up similar to how you'd fill up a car. North Korea, like many nuclear powers, mounts its nuclear-capable missiles on trucks. Road-mobile missile launchers can hide easier, launch from almost anywhere, and take an enemy by surprise - but liquid fuel complicates all that. To launch a liquid-fueled missile, a giant convoy of military trucks must drive out to a location, fuel up the rocket with the multiple types...

The New York Times details an aborted operation that would have very likely started a shooting war with Iran Richard Brandt    Too close for comfort. Buried in the middle of the  New York Times'  story on the inner workings of Trump's National Security Council is a revelation almost too terrifying to believe: Last week, the U.S. Navy came close to intercepting and boarding an Iranian ship — allegedly in an attempt to stop the flow of weapons to the Houthis in Yemen. We don't want to believe it, but frankly Trump's team is so hawkish on Iran,  it's hard to completely dismiss : Last week, Defense Secretary  Jim Mattis  was exploring whether the Navy could intercept and board an Iranian ship to look for contraband weapons possibly headed to Houthi fighters in Yemen. The potential interdiction seemed in keeping with recent instructions from Mr. Trump, reinforced in meetings with Mr. Mattis and Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, to crack down on Iran...

A journalist stands at the remains of the Temple of Bel in the historic city of Palmyra, in Homs Governorate, Syria. Source: Reuters The Syrian army continues its offensive on Palmyra with the support of the Russian air task force, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Feb. 13. "The Syrian government troops are continuing their offensive towards Palmyra with the support of Russia’s aviation. A distance of less than 20 km remains to be covered. Over the past week, Russian warplanes have conducted over 90 sorties in the Palmyra direction," the Defense Ministry said in a statement obtained by  TASS . In the course of their offensive, the Syrian government troops have destroyed over 180 militants’ objectives, including more than 60 strongholds, 15 depots with armaments, munitions and military hardware, 43 armored fighting vehicles, and also jeeps armed with large-caliber machine guns, the statement said. "The terrorists’ losses in manpower have amounted to ...

NIKOLAI LITOVKIN ,   RBTH The missile defense forces guarding Moscow were put on high alert in a snap drill. RBTH reports on how the Russian capital’s skies are kept safe at all times. The Pantsir-S1 has an effective range of between six and nine miles. Source: Vitaly Nevar/TASS Russian air defense troops guarding Moscow  scrambled  in accordance with the presidential decree on a snap inspection of the Air Force. This also involves anti-missile defenses such as the S-300, S-400, and Pantsir-S surface-to-air (SAM) batteries stationed just outside Moscow. The drill called for troops deploying to their assigned railroad loading positions and defending against saboteurs. The units involved in the exercise are just a tiny part of the shield protecting Moscow against all sorts of attack from the sky. Radar far from Moscow The Moscow anti-air and anti-missile system starts well beyond the city limits, with radars for the ballistic missile earl...

The conflicts in Syria and Iraq have seen a proliferation of drones throughout the battlespace. Whether used for filming propaganda, as an intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance ( ISTAR ) asset, or for command and control, drones are being used by a multitude of groups for a wide variety of missions. The Mosul offensive has seen this kind of drone warfare step up a level, with Islamic State (IS) employing drones armed with an assortment of different munitions, sometimes in conjunction with other assets, to deadly effect. Armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been around for some time, probably the most famous being the V1 flying bombs used by Germany during the Second World War. Modern drones, such as the Predator, have been armed since 2001. Developments in civilian recreational drones, most notably quadcopters, in the last five years have made them affordable, reliable and widely available. The parallel development and miniaturisation of civilian came...