Xi Jinping consolidate more power by bringing the People's Armed Police under his control



Xi Jinping speaking to members of the People's Armed Police


China will bring its paramilitary police force, the People’s Armed Police, under the direct control of the Central Military Commission -chaired by President Xi Jinping, which controls the country’s armed forces, state media reported on Wednesday.

The 1.5 million-strong paramilitary police force previously came under a dual command structure of the CMC and the State Council, or cabinet, via the Ministry of Public Security. It serves as a backup for the military in times of war, and domestically has a role in putting down protests and counterterrorism – particularly in areas such as the restive far western Xinjiang region – as well as border defence and firefighting.

Since taking power five years ago, President Xi Jinping has overseen a sweeping modernisation of the People’s Liberation Army, the world’s largest military force, laying off troops, streamlining its organisation and investing in advanced weapons.

In a brief report on Wednesday, Xinhua said that from midnight on January 1 the People’s Armed Police would report to the CMC. Xi heads the CMC in his role as armed forces chief and commander in chief. Xi has steadily consolidated his power over the military, and has appointed allies to key positions of power in the armed forces. Xinhua did not provide any details on how the new reporting structure would work or why the government had made the decision.

However, the party’s official People’s Daily, in a commentary for publication on Thursday but reported by Xinhua on Wednesday, said the move was needed to ensure security and promote the aim of having a “strong military”. The paramilitary police force will remain separate, carry out its existing functions and not be absorbed into the PLA, People’s Daily said.

“The main reason to move the armed police directly under the CMC is to put all China’s military power in Xi’s hands,” said Hong Kong-based China watcher Johnny Lau Yui-siu.

Zeng Zhiping, a military expert at the Nanchang Institute of Technology in Jiangxi, said the move was more of an attempt to streamline defence structure and is in line with the constitution.
“The constitution says China’s military commission is in charge of all the country’s military in the first place, so putting the armed police under the CMC’s control helps to get the basics right to start with, but it will also improve the division of labour in the military and simplify the chain of command” Zeng said.

Xi has radically overhauled and streamlined the old Soviet-era command structure of the military to make the armed forces nimbler and better able to respond to crises at home and abroad. That has included condensing the command structure and giving greater emphasis on new capabilities including cyberspace, electronic and information warfare.

Nah, these are just administrative changes. They aren't planning on merging the forces. Before this the armed police was under both PRC cabinet and security council, not very straightforward in terms of who actually controls the paramilitary police and this can create confusion and possible clashes on whatever orders are given. Now solely under security council, the armed police is arguably more streamlined and more efficient administratively. Whether this gives the president too much power is another matter.

Their role and jurisdiction in providing internal security (not national defence- that's PLA's duty) still doesn't change.

Indian Army officially cancels $500 Million deal for Israeli Spike missiles


The Indian Army has cancelled a purchase deal for the Israeli Spike missile in favor of the locally-produced Nag missile (above)

India has decided to pull out of talks to procure the ‘Spike’ anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) from Israel’s state-owned Rafael Advanced Systems after protracted negotiations to buy 1,600 units for the Indian Army.

The $500 million deal, which was almost finalised by a high-powered panel of the Defence Ministry last year to meet the long-pending demand of the Army’s infantry battalions, had gathered momentum when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel.

“The deal was never signed. So there is no question of cancelling a contract here. It was always at discussion stage. This was supposed to be a single-window clearance. But it has been decided not to go ahead with the talks,” a top Defence Ministry official told BusinessLine on condition of anonymity.

The official said the decision to cancel the talks was formally communicated to Rafael Advanced Systems by the Ministry of Defence earlier this week, although the decision to cancel the deal was finalised in November last year.

The decision comes ahead of the much-touted visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which is scheduled to take place from January 14-16.

“Rafael regrets the decision but is committed to continuing to pursue this important goal, as it has been doing with great success for over two decades, with a range of innovative, advanced systems and with commitment to the Indian Ministry of Defence. The company will continue to cooperate, including in the framework of the prime minister’s delegation to India later this month,” the Israeli defence firm said in an official statement on Wednesday.

According to sources, the reason why the Ministry of Defence decided to cancel the deal during the discussion stage was because it found the Israeli ATGMs “too expensive” to be produced in India.

The government has now decided to go for the local version of the man-portable ATGMs – Nag – being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), under the government’s Make in India programme. The Nag missile was successfully flight-tested last September in Rajasthan, marking successful completion of development trials. It has been developed at a cost of around $50 million.

Plus we still don't know what SAM missile was used. To be fair, missile IR seekers have come a long way from the sole 'chase the brightest heat source' mode of the 1970s and 1980s.

Advances in IR seeker and guidance computers means nowadays missiles can better differentiate between flares and actual IR heat sources coming off an airplane. Dumping shitloads of flares may still be effective against older missiles, but unlikely to be that effective in fooling modern missiles.

IS senior leader captured in Mosul, but walked free within minutes after bribing police officers with $ 6,500


Abu Omer reading charges condemning prisoners about to be executed bt the IS

An ISIS senior leader and executioner known as 'White Beard' bribed his way to freedom just minutes after being captured by Iraqi forces in Mosul, a local official has claimed.

Abu Omer, notorious for throwing gay people off rooftops and stoning other victims to death, was caught after being tracked down when locals tipped off police about his hideout.

But he was freed almost immediately after paying around £5,500 to the Iraqi officers who detained him in a Mosul police station, according to local official Zuheir Hazzen el-Jaburi.


Abu Omer arriving at the police station after his arrest. Minutes later he had vanished, apparently after a bribe to the local police

'I was in Mosul when a force from police intelligence arrested a man. After questioning they were told he was the mufti for the right bank of the [river in the] city – a senior ISIS member,' el-Jaburi said.

'We asked people who he was, and they proved he really was ISIS's mufti. After he was arrested, he left a motorbike behind. An hour later we saw the motorbike was no longer there.

'We inquired about it. They said he was released 10 minutes earlier after he paid $6,500,' el-Jaburi added.

Famed for his long white beard, Omer was not only an ISIS chief but also one of the terrorists' executioners, reportedly leading in the stoning of homosexuals to death for propaganda videos.


WTF

yo gimme some of that weed ur smokin' too bro

I'm simply not gonna entertain this. Pretty sure someone else will tell you how far-fetched this scenario is, I malas la. Penat explain.

For those actually interested to learn about Malaysian military policies and doctrines, can refer to this policy paper released by MINDEF:

Malaysia's National Defence Policy

Quite interesting read.

I believe this NDP was issued back in 2010. AFAIK no new NDP have been issued since ( pls don't ask me why).

Maybe since the above events have manifested after 2010, they haven't been added to the NDP yet. Maybe in the next NDP review?

Edit: Come to think of it, I think we never had an NDP before (at least not publicly issued)


This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Jan 30 2018, 04:10 PM

Turkey is mostly concerned that a Kurdish-controlled border area would be the launching pad of terror attacks by the various militant Kurdish groups on Turkish soil. These Kurdish groups are the ones carrying out terror attacks on Turkey, which some groups are part the YPG (which is not a unified force, but an umbrella group consisting of various Kurdish militias, some hostile to Turkey).

As far as Turkey is concerned, no Kurdish-controlled area bordering Turkey can exist. So there's that.

Defending lebanese territory? what? Anyway I don't think it's beyond UNIFIL power or even capability to disarm such a well-equipped force like Hezbollah. What UNIFIL is doing there is simply standing between each party and keeping its best to keep them from shooting each other. Both sides are accusing UNIFIL of helping their enemy, so I don't think they're actively helping anybody for that matter.

Whatever the case, it seems that the Kurds are on their own there. Besides the 'stop pls' statements the western powers are doing nothing, while Russia is practically okaying the operation by opening the airspace in Northern Syria for the Turkish Air Force to operate.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Feb 1 2018, 05:12 PM

Downed Russian pilot killed two militants before detonating his own grenade, shouting "This is for our lads!"



A Russian pilot downed by rebel fighters in Syria killed himself with a grenade to avoid being captured by the jihadists, Moscow has confirmed. Video footage filmed by the rebels themselves, sees Major Roman Filipov shouting 'This is for our guys!' before detonating the explosives as the fighters surround him.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the 33-year-old was 'fighting the rebels until the last minute' and detonated the grenade when they approached.

Maj. Filipov, from Vladivostok, east Russia has been awarded Kremlin's highest honour - the Hero of Russia medal - posthumously.

In a statement seen by Russia Today, the Ministry said the pilot had ejected from his Sukhoi 25SM fighter jet after being hit with a missile from a portable surface-to-air system in Idlib, Syria.

After landing, Maj. Filipov remained in radio contact with the Russian airbase in Khmeimim, Syria, and reported shooting and killing two jihadist fighters with his hand gun as they closed in on him.
But realising his situation was hopeless, he pulled the pin on his grenade to kill himself, reportedly killing more rebels in the blast.

Maj. Filipov's last words caught on the video, filmed by the Al-Qaeda linked group Al-Nusra Front, were: 'This is for our lads'.

Earlier reports suggested Maj. Filipov had been captured by rebels and separately that he had been killed in fighting but later it became clear that he had exploded his grenade to take his own life rather than be captured.

Syrian and Russian forces were reported to be on the ground at the scene of the incident aiming to retrieve the pilot's remains.

Remains of Russian pilot who detonated a grenade rather than be captured by Syrian rebels recovered and sent back to Russia


Flowers laid at the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow in memory of fallen military pilot Major Roman Filipov

The body of the Russian Air Force pilot who died last week after his plane was shot down over rebel-held territory in Syria has been returned to Russia.

"In cooperation with Turkish colleagues, Russian military intelligence brought back to Russia the body of an attack pilot, Major Roman Filipov, who died as a hero on February 3," the Defense Ministry said on February 6.

The statement did not reveal how Filipov's body was retrieved.

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree posthumously awarding Filipov the title "Hero of Russia."

According to the decree published on the Kremlin’s website, Filipov was given the title "for heroism, bravery, and courage performed while carrying out his service duties."

Filipov reportedly ejected out of his struck Sukhoi-25 ground-attack aircraft into a Syrian rebel stronghold in the northern province of Idlib. A rebel group initially said they had captured the downed pilot alive but he later died in a separate incident.

However, later a video recording made by a rebel group surfaced, showing Major Filipov defiantly fighting rebels trying to capture him and finally killing himself by detonating a hand grenade, shouting "This is for our boys!".

The Defense Ministry said on February 6 that Russia is seeking Turkey's help to recover the wreckage of the plane, particularly to identify the type of weapon used in the attack.

Russian officials have said that the Su-25 was shot down by a portable antiaircraft missile system.

Russian media clearly identified him as being Russian and was stationed in Vladivostok.

Standing orders for Russian fast jets in Syria is to fly at minimum of 16,000 feet to avoid reach of anti-aircraft fire.

Reports indicate when Major Filipov's SU-25 was shot down, he flew as low as 13,000 feet for some reason. This is within range of typical MANPADS.

Also apparently Major Filipov was packing an automatic Stechkin machine pistol as he made his last stand. As per this article, Russia decided to arm its pilot with serious firepower just in case they had to fight their way from capture. All flight crews would be armed with a Stechkin automatic machine pistol while planes with roomier cockpits would be also armed with an AKSU carbine.


A video still showing Major Filipov's captured Stechkin machine pistol. Note the empty magazine, showing he had fired his weapon. The fourth magazine would still be loaded inside the machine pistol.




A Russian pilot in Syria showing his sidearm, a Stechkin autmatic machine pistol with four magazines of ammunition


sos

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Feb 7 2018, 05:31 PM

I wanna ask what is happening here, but I am afraid of what the answer might be.

I can probably rattle off 9-10 humans rights violators buying US military goods right this second.

'Iranian' drone crosses israeli airspace: " This is a violation of our sovereignty!"

IDF planes bombing the hell out of targets in Syria with impunity: "We will do all we can to protect ourselves. We will never ask for permission or forgiveness".

I cannot brain Israeli claims about its 'sovereignty' being violated when the IDF air force treat Lebanon as their own personal air space.

President Emmanuel Macron to re-introduce compulsory national service in a bid to 'unite the state'



French President Emmanuel Macron is re-introducing compulsory national military service for young people in France, the government said today.

By bringing back national service two decades after it was scrapped, Macron is fulfilling one of his campaign pledges.

During his presidential campaign, Macron promised to make all young people spend a month getting 'a direct experience of military life with its know-how and demands'.

He billed it as a way to build social cohesion and patriotism in a country battling deep divisions, by bringing young people from different backgrounds together in a barracks.

But the proposal raised hackles in the army, which is already stretched thin budget cuts and by anti-terrorism operations in the Middle East and West Africa as well as patrols against jihadists at home.

Opposition parties and experts also warned of the costs involved in training up 600,000 and 800,000 youngsters a year.

Last week, Defence Minister Florence Parly appeared to cast doubt on the scope of the plan, saying it would 'probably not be obligatory'.
But government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux on Tuesday insisted that Macron would not beat a retreat on the proposal.

'It will be universal... and it will be obligatory,' he told Radio Classique, adding that a taskforce would come up with suggestions on how to implement it by the end of April.

The government plans to trial the programme in 2019.

In a related development, President Macron also is ramping up military spending, arming drones and hiring more "cyberfighters" for Europe's biggest army.

The French defense minister presented a bill Thursday foreseeing 295 billion euros ($364 billion) in overall defense spending from 2019 to 2025. That includes 1.7 billion euros in additional spending each year through 2022, particularly to modernize equipment and improve intelligence.

The bill also includes France's first armed drones, new nuclear combat submarines, more fighter planes and new intelligence satellites. The bill goes to parliament, where it's expected to face a few months of discussion before a final vote this summer.