ISIS unveil the Philippines as their new breeding ground for jihadis
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The Philippines has become the latest ISIS target for expansion after the jihadi group released its first propaganda video of a terror training camp in the Filipino jungle.
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The Filipino government has long said that support for ISIS in the Philippines was limited to local bandits claiming allegiance to the group.
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The larger Abu Sayyaf group has also pledged its allegiance to ISIS and is holding at least four foreign nationals hostages.
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While the relatively new Ansar al-Khalifa had extorted from businessmen and stolen cattle from farmers, it had no proven links with Islamic State - also known by the acronym ISIS - national milita
Kadyrov hopes Islamic coalition unlike western will show real success in struggle against ISIL
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"Today only Russia opposes the Iblis gang, while other countries sometimes deliver the shipment of arms to the wrong place, or sometimes buy oil in the wrong place, or forget to block their borders for terrorists," the Chechen head wrote.
Saudi forces shoot down missile as Yemen talks fizzle out
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Saudi Arabia said it had shot down a missile fired from Yemen, hours after peace talks in Switzerland finished with no breakthrough and the failure to renew a largely unsuccessful ceasefire.
In a brief statement, the Saudi-led coalition said air defences stopped the missile from reaching the kingdom's southern Jazan district. "Air forces immediately destroyed the launch pad inside Yemen," the coalition said.
Saudi Arabia has deployed Patriot missile batteries designed to counter ballistic missiles fired by Houthis in Yemen, who are fighting the Saudi-backed government of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
Why aren't our military chiefs thanking female soldiers who want to fight on the front line?
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Physically weak women won’t try out in the first place for these roles and even if they do, they will fail the rigorous entry tests if they aren’t up to it. You know, just like the men?
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No one, male or female, qualifies for any part of the military if they aren’t up to the task.
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Britain has found itself in an increasingly lonely position by banning women from the front line until now. Most militaries around the world have opened up all parts of their armed forces to both sexes - from Australia to France, Germany to South Africa and Israel to America. And from 2017, the Brazilian Army are also allowing women into the final military all-boys club.
India’s New Secret Nuclear Facility Risks Military Build-Up in Asia
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A recent report in Foreign Policy magazine claims that India is building a massive new nuclear research facility. The facility would also help produce fuel for the country’s nuclear submarines and reactors.
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Pakistan’s estimated stockpile nuclear weapons is about 120, while China is said to possess about 260 nuclear warheads.
India is currently estimated to have about 110 nuclear weapons after creating a nuclear program in 1974.
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India is not a signatory to either the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) but a rapprochement between the U.S. and India in 2007 over nuclear issues has at least seen its civilian nuclear reactors come under inspection by the IAEA.
Russian-made Su-27/30 fighter jets third most popular combat aircraft worldwide
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MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Russia’s Sukhoi Su-27 (NATO reporting name: Flanker-B)/Su-30 (Flanker-C) fighter jets are the third most popular aircraft in the world, according to a report on the prospects of the global air force development published by the Flight International analytical center on Monday.
According to the report, there are 943 fighter jets of the Su-27/Su-30 families, which makes up 6% of the total number of combat aircraft in the world. These fighter jets are the third most popular combat aircraft in the world.
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The US-made F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet has been ranked 1st with 2,264 aircraft of this type making up 16%. The F-16 fighter jet is followed by the US-made F-18 Hornet/Super Hornet aircraft. There are 1,047 F-18 fighter jets in the world or 7% of the total number of combat aircraft operational globally.
The US-made F-15 Eagle fighter jet holds the 4th position. As many as 858 aircraft of this type are currently operational, which makes up 6%.
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The Top-10 rating of the most popular combat aircraft worldwide covers another two Russian-made fighter jets and one attack aircraft. The Mikoyan MiG-29 (Fulcrum) fighter jet has been ranked 5th with 819 aircraft of this type making up 6%.
The MiG-21 (Fishbed) fighter jet ranks 6th. As many as 551 MiG-21 fighter jets are operational in the world, which makes up 4% of the total number of combat aircraft in the world.
The MiG-21 fighter jet is followed by the Su-25 (Frogfoot) attack aircraft with 503 planes of this type making up 3% of the total number of combat aircraft in the world.
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Chinese-made aircraft hold the 8th, 9th and 10th positions in the Top-10 rating.
The Chinese-made F-5 fighter jet has been ranked 8th with 482 aircraft of this type making up 3% of the total number of combat aircraft in the world.
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The J-7 fighter jet has been ranked 10th in the rating with 418 aircraft of this type making up 3%.
As many as 6,208 aircraft of other types are operational with air forces of other countries, which makes up 43% of the total number of combat aircraft in the world.
As of late 2015, there are 14,552 combat aircraft operational in armed forces across the world.
In the early hours of December 20, a Hezbollah commander, along with several civilians, were killed by airstrikes in Damascus, calling up questions as to whether or not this was the result of opposition groups in Syria or another targeted assassination by Israel.
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Regardless of who fired the missile, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, has already made his decision: this was Israel. Now, the question is, how will Nasrallah respond to another high-level assassination?
India Cleared Purchase of Russian S-400 Missile Defense System
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The Indian government has cleared the procurement of five regimental units of Russian-made S-400 Triumf advanced Air Defense Systems (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) at an estimated price of $ 4.5 billion
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A contract could be signed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow on December 24-25.
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It is unclear, however, whether the S-400 batteries will be equipped with the 40N6 or 48N6 missile series. The 40N6 missile allegedly has an operational range of 400 kilometers (248.5 miles), although it is unclear whether the weapon is operational in Russia yet. The range of the 48N6 missile is more limited at 250 kilometers (155 miles). The S-400 can purportedly fire three types of missiles at a rate 2.5 times faster than its predecessor the S-300.
Turkish Defense Industry Successfully Conducts Armed Drone Test
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The armed drone Bayraktar was jointly produced by two Turkish private companies Baykar and Kale Kalip, although the firms do not yet have a contract to supply the Turkish military with tactical drones, the media outlet said. "We are assessing [their] work," the procurement official said. "We may either sign a modification contract to arm the drones currently in our inventory or sign a separate contract to acquire armed drones in the future."
In Bayraktar’s most recent tests, the armed drone was able to reach an altitude of 18,000 feet over 24 hours, it features indigenous software and electronic systems as well as a maximum payload of 650 kilograms, the producers told Defense News.
Black box from Russian jet downed by Turkey damaged
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MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian military says aviation experts so far have failed to retrieve information from a flight data recorder from a Russian warplane downed by Turkey last month.
Turkey shot down the Russian Su-24 bomber at the border with Syria on Nov. 24, saying it violated its airspace for 17 seconds despite repeated warnings. Russia insists the plane never entered Turkish airspace.
Lt.-Gen. Sergei Bainetov, a deputy head of the Russian military's flight safety service, said Monday an inspection of the recorder has revealed that 13 of 16 microchips on its data board are nearly ruined and the remaining three are damaged. He said experts will attempt to retrieve information from them, but the effort will take a long time.
Jaish al-Fateh in trouble as SAA cuts rebel supply line to Aleppo
Yesterday, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), with the support of various Shia paramilitaries groups like Hezbollah, successfully captured the strategic town of Khan Touman and the village of Qarasi in southern Aleppo in a region which has witnessed defiant rebel resistance for years.
This afternoon, the Syrian Arab Army ensued on a blitzkrieg-like offensive and rapidly advanced west of Khan Touman, thereby capturing Kalidiyah village and several hundred meters along the M5-Highway. These areas have been rebel-held since the summer of 2012; thus, insurgents were unable to set up defensive positions in sufficient time to prevent the government offensive and were effectively completely overpowered. Strategically, this renders the M5-Highway, which crosses through Idlib governorate to Aleppo city, utterly useless for Islamist rebels loyal to the Jaish al-Fateh coalition.
Momentarily, the front line has evened out; however, government troops have made steady regional advances in the past two months largely due to Russian Airstrikes and elite Shi’a reinforcements pouring in from Lebanon, Iraq and Iran. Nevertheless, this Syrian Army offensive has come at a heavy cost as Jaish al-Fateh rebels have put the US-supplied TOW-missile to effective use against government vehicles in the area causing many to be destroyed.
The SAA is currently attempting to relieve the pressure on Aleppo city while pushing towards the government-enclave and Shi’a towns of Fuah and Kafrhaya near Idlib city. Furthermore, this maneuver does seem to approach Nubl and al-Zahraa from the south. Despite a seemingly illogical offensive route, one cannot rule out the possibility of the Syrian Army launching an all-out attack from this direction towards the predominately Shi’a towns of Nubl and al-Zahraa.
INTERNATIONAL MILITARY REVIEW – SYRIA, DEC. 21, 2015
The Russian Aerospace Defense Forces are continuing to conduct airstrikes destroying terrorists in Syria. According to the Ministry of Defense of Russia, warplanes conduct about 60 sorties per day targeting positions of ISIS, al Nusra and other terrorist groups in the Aleppo, Homs, Deir ez-Zor, Latakia, Damascus, Hama, Idlib, Raqqa, Hasakah provinces.
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and allies have been pushing terrorists from the crucial regions of the country, step by step. In East Aleppo, the pro-government forces have broken the ISIS militants’ counterattack in Narsallah and captured Najara and al-Jaberia. Dozens militants have been killed. In South Aleppo, Jaish al-Fatah terrorist alliance lost about 60 militants in clashes against the Syrian forces in recent days.
On Dec. 20, the SAA’s 4th Mechanized Division and Hezbollah captured the strategic town of Khan Touman and its surrounding farms from the militants of Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and Al-Nusra. Prior to capturing the town, the Syrian forces seized the imperative village of Al-Qarassi after a series of firefights with Faylaq Al-Sham, Jabhat Al-Nusra, Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, and Harakat Nouriddeen Al-Zinki. The Russia-made T-90 battle tanks played a crucial role during battles in the region, as its protective armor and durability made it difficult for the enemy combatants to halt their advance. US-supplied TOW missile systems can’t inflict enough damage to T-90.
In North Latakia, the pro-government forces are advancing to take control of the border with Turkey. The movement there are complicated by a mountainous terrain and a high number of supplies providing by Turkey to the terrorists.
The city of Homs is almost controlled by the Syrian government. Week ago, militants has started to move from the city. However, the province’s northern part is controlled by ISIS and Al Nusra. The clashes are going there. The heavy clashes without any success for any side also continuing around Palmyra. The Eastern Ghouta and area along the Damascus-Homs highway are a center of the clashes around Damascus despite the army’s successes in the area. The town of Marj al Sultan and the Marj al Sultan airport were liberated by the government forces last week.
According to the SAA’s reports, since the start of the Russian military operations in Syria, the government forces have taken control of about 60 towns, villages and other infrastructure objects. Meanwhile, the US is building its first airbase in Syria. It is supposed to be located in the northern Kurdish region. Thus, the US and NATO will continue to participate in the Syrian conflict and will apparently rise their military presence in the region in the nearest future. Thus, they show that the West isn’t interested in any political solution which respects the interests of the Syrian people and their legitimate government.
Draken's A-4K Skyhawks Provide Private Aggressor Duties At Nellis Air Force Base
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Although this current contract is just a year-long test to see how Draken’s ex-Royal New Zealand Air Force A-4k Skyhawks and their crews do in the aggressor/adversary support roll, it is only a matter of time until the USAF will have no other choice but to widely integrate commercial adversary support into their “red air” training portfolio.
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We are seeing the USAF already coming to terms with this reality by introducing T-38 Talon associate squadrons alongside their F-22 counterparts. It is simply wasteful flying a $50,000+ per hour F-22 against other F-22s for intercept practice or for simulating cruise missiles threats and other scenarios..
America's Newest Warship, the USS Ralph Johnson, Sets Sail
So while just one Zumwalt sails the ocean America's naval fleet—unlike the Russian one—continues to grow. The above timelapse shows the latest warship to join the fleet, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer the USS Ralph Johnson. The video shows final three days of work before the ship was set into the water—the Johnson won't officially be christened until 2016.
The USS Ralph Johnson (named after a Vietnam-era Marine who saved two comrades by jumping on top of a grenade) is the 30th active-duty Arleigh Burke-class missile destroyer to built by Huntington Ingalls Industries, by far the largest manufacturer of U.S. Naval vessels. Since the commission of the first Arleigh Burke-class destroyer (named, appropriate, the USS Arleigh Burke) in 1991, there have been 61 of the destroyers built.
The Arleigh Brooke program was on the way out, as the Navy prepared to transition to using the stealthy and futuristic Zumwalt-class destroyer. Budget cuts and internecine bureaucratic infighting radically reduced the size of Zulwalt program, and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer has stepped in to take over. So while just one Zumwalt sails the ocean, there are 62 (soon to be 63) Arleigh Burke-class destroyers out there.
Free Syrian Army: Hezbollah is lying, we killed Kuntar, not Israel
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While Israel continues to keep quiet on the assassination of Samir Kuntar, not officially addressing reports that it was behind the hit, members of the Free Syrian Army released a video clip on Monday morning claiming that they were responsible for killing the Hezbollah terrorist.
In a YouTube video featuring armed rebels from the Free Syrian Army, a spokesman denied Hezbollah's claims that the "Zionist entity" was behind the attack, saying instead that they had managed to assassinate Kuntar and his companions.
The Free Syrian Army said that "the Party of Satan," a play on the meaning of Hezbollah in Arabic (Party of God), had made the claims that Israel was behind the assassination in order to demoralize the Free Syrian Army and cancel out their rival group's achievements.
Russian Fighting 'Vehicle of Future' to Become Multirole Digital Unit
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"We have created a concept of 'infantry fighting vehicle of the future.' It will be specified on the results of design and experimental work on Kurganets-25 [modular tracked platform]. I can not reveal it for obvious reasons. I will only say that it will be highly mobile multirole digital unit," Aleksander Klyuzhev told RIA Novosti.
Iraqi troops start attack to recapture Ramadi from ISIS
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Our forces are advancing toward the government complex in the center of Ramadi," Al-Numani said, as cited by Reuters. "The fighting is in the neighborhoods around the complex, with support from the air force."
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Iraqi intelligence believes there are between 250 and 300 IS terrorists in the center of Ramadi.
Saudi forces warn of harsh response to latest Houthi rocket attack
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The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has threatened severe reprisals against Houthi rebels, after they fired a fourth ballistic missile in as many days towards Saudi territory.
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Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman said "300 Saudi military and vital targets" had been chosen.
The rebels and their allies still have "about 60 to 70 missiles, including Tochka missiles", Yemeni army sources say, despite coalition claims to have neutralised their ballistic capabilities.
Britain sends in the SAS to re-take Sangin: Elite unit will join US special forces in Afghanistan after key town falls to the Taliban
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British troops have been deployed to Afghanistan to help re-take a key town where more than 100 UK soldiers died fighting after it fell back under Taliban control.
At least one SAS unit of around 30 soldiers has reportedly been deployed to support U.S. special forces and the Afghan National Army to capture retake Sangin in Helmand province.
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Around 65 percent of Helmand is now thought to be under Taliban control.
This Elite Force Protects Vulnerable Air Force Aircraft In The Most Dangerous Places On Earth
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The United States Air Force has a little-known team of elite security commandos that are highly trained for a very particular job, protecting aircraft and crews from enemy assaults while on the ground in dangerous locales. They are called the Phoenix Ravens.
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According to the Air Force, Phoenix Ravens’ unique training includes:
“The Phoenix Raven training course is conducted by the United States Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. The intensive three-week, 12-hour-a-day course covers such subjects as cross-cultural awareness, legal considerations, embassy operations, airfield survey techniques, explosive ordnance awareness, aircraft searches, and unarmed self-defense techniques. Students are exposed to more than 70 use-of-force scenarios where stress is simulated using role players. Training includes instruction and realistic practical exercises in antiterrorism/force protection, weapon system security, verbal judo, combatives, tactical baton employment and advanced firearms proficiency.”
Military Thread V19 
Dec 21 2015, 09:50 PM
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