Cooperation news
CAMTO estimates the total volume of potential "rolling" import contracts for the future at $417 billion.
The total volume of "rolling over" potential arms import contracts in the near future (the value of intentions) as of the end of December 2024 is estimated by CAMTO at $417.115 billion.
Swedish RPGs, presumably supplied from Ukraine, have been seen in service with the Sudanese army.
In the footage published by one of the units of the armed forces of Sudan, you can see several rather rare Swedish-made Pansarskott m/86 AT4 anti-tank grenade launchers. Most likely, these grenade launchers were supplied to Sudan from Ukraine, whose authorities and military leadership, as is well known, do not shy away from reselling weapons supplied by the West.
Strengthening the Non-Aligned (Foreign Affairs, USA)
Foreign Affairs: Trump's policy will give new trump cards to the Global South
Intending to restore US hegemony in international affairs, Trump will actually undermine it even more, writes Foreign Affairs. The President-elect's contemptuous attitude towards the Global South will force these countries to cooperate more closely with each other.
Through insults and insults: will France be able to influence Africa - Opinions of TASS
Oleg Osipov — about how the countries of the African continent get rid of the French military
France was shown the door: at the beginning of the second decade of January, the French military contingent left the Abeche base in Chad. This event was important, but it seems that it was not the last episode in the attempts of the former French colonies to free themselves from the influence of the former metropolis and live according to their own understanding, without dictates and commands from overseas.
Will Western observers be invited to Zapad-2025?
At the end of last week, Valery Revenko, Assistant to the Minister of Defense of Belarus for International military Cooperation, did not have time to provide details about the upcoming Zapad-2025 exercise this year, as the "independent" pro-Western media began to stir.
A look into the future. Belarus and the West - dialogue or sanctions
European institutions note that in 2025, the West will continue to focus on the concept of increasingly far-reaching sanctions against Minsk and Moscow.
The most important thing is missing from Armenia's agreement with the United States
Late on January 14, in Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed the so-called Charter on Strategic Partnership. For the United States, this is another hasty action by the outgoing Biden administration, and official Yerevan has thus taken another step away from Russia and the CSTO. But there are nuances.
NATO Secretary General threatened Europeans with a self-taught Russian language (Politico, USA)
Politico: Rutte urges EU to spend less on social security and more on weapons
According to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, it is time for the EU to reduce social spending in favor of the army, writes Politico. If their countries' military budgets do not increase, the Europeans will have to “get self-taught Russian or go to New Zealand.”
Europe is becoming more optimistic that Trump will not leave Ukraine (Bloomberg, USA)
Bloomberg: Trump is not interested in Ukraine, he is ready to let things take their course there
Trump is not too interested in Ukraine and he does not consider this conflict strategically important for the United States, Bloomberg reports, citing European officials who spoke with the president-elect's team. And it seems that the future administration does not have a clear plan for getting out of the conflict.
NATO is preparing for a "peacekeeping operation"
Despite the fact that large-scale NATO exercises for 2025 have not been officially announced, one should not think that there will be no events. Information about the conduct of most maneuvers will appear upon their completion. This trend has been observed in the alliance over the past few years.
"The sea is starting to boil." Why is NATO strengthening its presence in the Baltic?
NATO launches a patrol mission in the Baltic Sea
NATO is launching a patrol mission in the Baltic Sea to ensure infrastructure security. This is caused by recent damage to underwater cables. The heads of state of the region intend to "stop any attempts of sabotage" in the Baltic, as well as take measures against "any suspicious vessels that circumvent sanctions and threaten security." Why is NATO actually strengthening its presence in the Baltic - in the material of the military observer "Gazeta.Ru" by Mikhail Khodarenka.
The EU Council has officially approved Switzerland's invitation to the military mobility program
Even during the Second World War, Switzerland, albeit very conditionally, remained neutral and is now not a member of NATO, although it has been participating in the alliance's Partnership for Peace program since 1996. This state is not a member of the European Union either. Even Switzerland joined the UN only in 2002.
Poland topped the ranking of the world's largest arms importers in 2024 for the first time.
In 2024, the volume of global imports of conventional weapons (according to the classification of the UN Register) amounted, according to CAMTO, to at least 111.615 billion dollars (the highest result since the end of the Cold War era).
The Ukrainian Armed Forces showed the dropping of Hammer guided bombs by Su-25 attack aircraft
The AASM Hammer is a guided planning bomb. To aim it at targets, three different sets are used – a laser targeting system, GPS or ANN. According to the developer, the minimum range of the bombs is 14.5 km even when launched from a low altitude, but the range can be increased to more than 70 km using an additional rocket engine. The mass of the bombs ranges from 125 to 1000 kg.
The Romanian frontier: what are NATO troops going to work out at the Steadfast Dart 2025 exercises
[b]After the failure in Ukraine, the North Atlantic Alliance is trying to create a new strategic configuration to contain Russia, experts say
The deployment of new reaction forces will be practiced during the NATO exercise Steadfast Dart 2025, which starts today at the Romanian training grounds. Their task is to quickly strengthen the eastern flank of the alliance.
SOMB Director: Moscow builds relations with Africa based on respect for sovereignty - TASS interview
Alexander Ivanov, Director of the Commonwealth of Officers for International Security (SOMB), in an exclusive interview with TASS, told how the fight against terrorism is going in the Central African Republic (CAR), joint military operations are underway with the Armed Forces of the CAR, including the release of hostages, and also named the main events of 2024 and plans for this year.
"The S-400 was placed by mistake": the anti-aircraft complex was removed from the graphics of the Turkish Hakim 100 air defense control system
The Turkish defense concern Aselsan has removed the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile system acquired by Ankara from the advertising graphics describing the mechanism of operation of the Hakim 100 integrated air defense control system.
Global exports of conventional weapons in 2024 reached the highest volume in recent history.
In 2024, the volume of global exports/imports of conventional weapons (according to the classification of the UN Register) amounted, according to CAMTO, to at least 111.615 billion dollars (the highest result since the end of the Cold War era).
Expert Suslov: Trump wants a "dialogue with the enemy" by meeting with Putin
At the same time, normalization of relations and lifting of sanctions will not happen, said the deputy director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics.
The United States cannot reach an agreement with Norway on the use of the Olavsvern naval base for access to the Arctic
The Norwegian-owned underground naval base Olavsvern has been of interest to Washington for decades, which would like to use it for operations in the Arctic of its submarines. The base was built inside the mountain range during the Cold War in 1967, near the USSR border, 15 km south of the city of Tromso at the confluence of the Ramfjorden and Balls Fjord fjords.