Category: Uncategorized

The high-energy device fired from an air-defense frigate, successfully engaging multiple drones

The future high-energy laser (HEL) weapon was fired for the first time from a German Navy air-defense frigate in the Baltic Sea at the end of August, Rheinmetall said on Thursday in a statement. The Sachsen-class frigate reportedly successfully engaged several drones, proving its ability to shoot down multiple targets at short and very short ranges.

The live-fire test verified the capabilities of the HEL’s electro-optical sensors and radars, said Rheinmetall, which is co-developing the weapon with German missile maker MBDA. The Navy was able to assess the interplay between all components and procedures, from target acquisition to engagement.

Testing will continue through mid-2023, challenging the HEL’s capabilities in different scenarios. The results will help determine what needs to be done to make the weapon fully operational, Rheinmetall said. “The current trials have now set the basic stage for introducing laser weapon systems and capabilities into the Bundeswehr – capabilities whose relevance is by no means restricted to the Navy. The defense industry is pressing ahead with laser systems that will help to protect troops deployed in harm’s way in multiple applications.”

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US holds drone swarm drill (VIDEO)

Western militaries are racing to advance their defenses against drone attacks, which the Pentagon sees dominating battlefields in future conflicts. “Drones will be as important in the first battle of the next war as artillery is today,” US Army Brigadier General Curt Taylor said last month, after conducting a drone “swarm” exercise involving 40 quadcopters.

Lasers are seen as a potentially significant part of the solution for drone attacks and other air-defense challenges. US and Israeli defense contractors agreed in July to work jointly in building new high-energy laser weapon systems.

Maguindanao province has been hardest hit by rain-induced floods and mudslides.

PM Morawiecki has picked Westinghouse to build Poland’s first atomic power plant

Warsaw has accepted the US offer for construction of Poland’s first nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Friday. Westinghouse Electric Co. will be awarded the contract for building the reactors, the first of which should be finished by 2033.

“A strong Poland-US alliance guarantees the success of our joint initiatives,” Morawiecki tweeted on Friday, adding that the decision to “use the reliable, safe technology” of Westinghouse was taken after talks with Vice President Kamala Harris and US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. 

Morawiecki also thanked the US ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski, who delivered Westinghouse’s proposal last month.

South Korea’s state-owned Korea Hydro Nuclear Power had also submitted a bid for the project in April, and Warsaw had also discussed the project with French companies. A senior US official told reporters the decision was a “huge deal” because it would “define… interdependent security for decades to come,” according to Reuters. 

Choosing the US and Westinghouse was sending a message to Russia “about the strength and the meshing together of a US-Poland alliance,” the official said.

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NATO country ‘most interested’ in nuclear weapons

Earlier on Friday, President Andrzej Duda’s foreign policy adviser Jakub Kumoch argued that the US should permanently station troops and nuclear weapons on Polish territory, rejecting the 1997 NATO-Russia treaty that stood in the way as a dead letter.

Warsaw’s vision for the energy project would see a total of six reactors built by 2040 and ultimately producing 6-9 gigawatts of power. The foreign investor would provide the technology and assist with managing and funding the plants, in exchange for a 49% stake in the venture.

Granholm and Westinghouse pitched the project as a way for Poland to reduce carbon emissions and phase out coal. Warsaw cut itself off from Russian natural gas imports in April, citing the conflict in Ukraine. A pipeline delivering natural gas from Norway was inaugurated in September, just a day before the Nord Stream pipelines from Russia to Germany were damaged in an act of sabotage no one has officially claimed responsibility for.

Top managers leave the social media platform as the billionaire seals his takeover of the firm.

Russian strikes on energy infrastructure leave Ukrainians facing power cuts of more than four hours.

A classified report allegedly concluded that most sightings are attributable to trash in the sky or foreign spying aircraft

The lion’s share of unidentified flying objects reported by military service members and other government sources in recent years probably stem from airborne trash or foreign surveillance aircraft such as Chinese drones, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed US officials familiar with the probe.

US intelligence agencies and the Pentagon launched the investigation after a report last year revealed that government sources had encountered 144 unidentified aerial phenomena since 2004. The report triggered increased public interest in UFOs, as well as concern at the Pentagon about potential security threats they may pose.

At the time, only one of those cases had been resolved, and it was identified as a deflated balloon. Since then, US officials have reached conclusions on many of the other sightings. Intelligence agencies are set to deliver a classified document on their findings to Congress by Monday, the Times said.

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Pentagon widens scope of UFO-hunting unit

Military officials have said there isn’t any evidence to suggest that extraterrestrial visitors have landed on Earth. However, they have been tight-lipped in their explanations of the phenomena, because Washington has tried to avoid revealing to China and other countries what it knows about their alleged spying activities.

“We do not want potential adversaries to know exactly what we’re able to see or understand, or how we come to the conclusion,” Scott Bray, deputy director of naval intelligence, said in congressional testimony last May. “Therefore, disclosures must be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis.”

The Pentagon expanded its UFO-tracking unit earlier this year to include not just airborne objects, but also unexplained phenomena sighted underwater or across multiple mediums.

“It is vital to our national security and the safety of our military personnel that we maintain awareness of anomalous objects in all domains,” Ronald Moultrie, undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, said in a July memo.

Jair Bolsonaro and Lula da Silva face off amid concerns over political violence, disinformation and future of democracy.

The intruder allegedly demanded to see top US Democrat Nancy Pelosi, and left her husband with a fractured skull.

The Pentagon has announced an additional $275 million in weaponry for Ukraine, including HIMARS rockets

President Joe Biden’s administration is spooling up yet another military aid package for Ukraine, announcing $275 million in additional weaponry to help Kiev fight Russian forces.

The latest round of Ukraine aid is the 24th drawdown of Defense Department “defense articles and services” approved by Biden since August 2021, and will include additional ammunition for US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), the Pentagon confirmed on Friday. Also on the way to Kiev will be: 500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds; 2,000 rounds for 155mm Remote Anti-Armor Mine (RAAM) systems; more than 1,300 anti-armor systems; 125 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV); four satellite communications antennas; and over 2.75 million rounds of small arms ammunition.

“The United States will continue to stand with more than 50 allies and partners in support of the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and independence with extraordinary courage and boundless determination,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement. He added that NASAMS air defense systems will be ready for delivery to Ukraine next month, and the administration is working with its allies to enable shipment of their air defense systems to Kiev.

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Ukraine may use ‘nuclear blackmail’ to get more money from West – Moscow

The NASAMS system, which is made by US defense contractor Raytheon Technologies, can fire AIM-120 missiles at short ranges to bring down drones, missiles and aircraft. The US is racing to ramp up deliveries of air defense assets to Ukraine after Russian airstrikes targeted power plants and other critical infrastructure in recent weeks.

“The capabilities we are targeting are carefully calibrated to make the most difference on the battlefield for Ukraine today,” Blinken said.

The US has committed nearly $18 billion in weapons supplies to Ukraine since Russia’s military offensive against the former Soviet republic began in February. Going back to January 2021, when Biden took office, Washington has provided more than $18.5 billion in weaponry to Kiev.

Visiting Serbia, Ursula von der Leyen demands “alignment” with Brussels policy

Serbia needs to follow EU foreign and security policy if it wishes to join the bloc some day, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday. The phrase has long been used by Brussels to imply that Belgrade must join the EU sanctions on Russia, something Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has so far refused to do.

Von der Leyen visited Serbia as part of what Euronews described as a Balkans “charm tour,” starting by inspecting the construction site of the gas interconnector near the Bulgarian border. The project, which the EU is subsidizing, should be completed by September 2023. 

“What we want to see is not only gas flowing from Bulgaria to Serbia but this project will be one step further to bring us closer to each other,” said von der Leyen. “It will open Serbia’s gas market for diversification. It will improve Serbia’s energy security.”

The EU has offered Serbia 165 million euros in energy subsidies. Belgrade is currently relying on natural gas from Russia, via the TurkStream pipeline.

After meetings with Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic in Belgrade, von der Leyen insisted that joining the EU means “sharing our values,” implying Serbia needs to join the bloc in embargoing Russia.

“It’s important [Serbia] is aligned with our foreign and security policy,” she told reporters.

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Serbia explains refusal to sanction Russia

Vucic noted that Serbia has supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity and made a pointed remark about the EU double standards.

“Sometimes we ask ourselves why Serbia’s territorial integrity hasn’t always been respected,” he said, in reference to Kosovo, a province occupied by NATO in 1999 and recognized as independent 22 out of the 27 EU member states. The EU has included recognition of Kosovo as one of the conditions for Serbia’s eventual membership.

Vucic said Serbia understood von der Leyen’s message and would “align with the visa policy” of the EU in response. Brussels authorities had previously complained to Belgrade about allowing entry to migrants from Burundi, Cuba, India, Tunisia and Türkiye, who would then cross into the EU and demand asylum.

After the meetings, Von der Leyen tweeted photos of herself with Vucic and Brnabic, saying that Serbia was “well advanced on its EU path” but that “progress must continue.” She defined such progress as “aligning in defense of common principles and values” and “working together for security and prosperity.”

Von der Leyen arrived in North Macedonia on Wednesday, followed by stops in Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Her Balkans tour is scheduled to end in Montenegro on Saturday.