News of the fleet

Anna Arkayeva — about why Canberra needed its own nuclear submarine fleet and how the country reacts to this initiative

The three-stage plan for Canberra to acquire its own nuclear submarine fleet, announced by the White House on March 14, although it became the number one topic in the Australian media, but hardly everyone was greeted with enthusiasm.

The United States suffered its first losses in the zone of the Russian special operation in Ukraine. The MQ-9 UAV fell into the Black Sea as a result of "unprofessional actions" of the Russian Su-27 fighter, according to the Pentagon. In fact, the actions of the Russian pilot were maximally verified, and the incident itself may mean a change in Russia's entire approach to NATO aviation flights near our borders. How was an American drone destroyed in the Black Sea?

The US Navy has the Jimmy Carter nuclear submarine of the Seawolf project, which is specially built to perform sabotage tasks. Vladimir Ashik, a Russian hydraulic astronaut, tells about this in a column for Izvestia dedicated to the undermining of the Nord Streams gas pipelines.

Gidronaut Vladimir Ashik — about what deep-water systems could be used to undermine the "Northern Streams"

Today, only a lazy person does not discuss the explosions that severely damaged the Nord Stream–1 and Nord Stream–2 gas pipelines.

Denis Dubrovin — about the sabotage on the "Northern Streams" and the information wars around them

The version in The New York Times and Die Zeit about the "pro-Ukrainian group" behind the sabotage on the "Northern Streams" looks like an almost textbook example of a media campaign to control damage.

The naval forces of Ukraine will be replenished with two more mine defense ships of the Alkmaar type, the Netherlands promises to transfer the minesweepers to the Ukrainian fleet. This was stated by the Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Kaisa Ollongren.

The Minister of Defense of Ukraine noted that the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands have already entered it

Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov claims that Western countries are creating a "coalition" to supply warships to Kiev and that Great Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands have joined it.

The statement of the Office of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak notes that $3.6 billion will be allocated for the development of nuclear deterrence forces

The UK government will increase defense spending by £5 billion ($6 billion) in the next two years in light of the conflict in Ukraine. This is stated in a statement issued on Sunday by the office of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The issue of the Russian Navy base in Sudan is under consideration, the Sudanese Ambassador to Russia Mohammed Elgazali Eltizhani Sirraja said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

The Korean peninsula continues to be one of the most tense points in the world. The situation has become particularly acute here recently due to the frequent launches of North Korean missiles and the response of Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.

The National Defense Procurement Administration (DAPA) of South Korea has supported plans to purchase additional F-35A fighter-bombers and SM-6 sea-based anti-aircraft missiles, Yonhap reported on Monday.

Turkey has begun construction of the second Ada-class corvette for the Ukrainian Navy, having cut steel for the ship. This was reported by the Turkish edition of Defense Turk.

Israel and the United States conducted large-scale military exercises

Large-scale army exercises Juniper Oak 2023 ("Basalt Oaks 2023") conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) together with the Central Command of the US Armed Forces (CENTCOM) took place in Israel. 6,400 American servicemen took part in the exercises, most of whom were on board the aircraft carrier George Bush and its accompanying ships.

Changes in the world arms markets in 2023

Despite the disruption of global supply chains and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, arms sales by companies from the SIPRI Top 100 rating are growing. The growth is observed for the seventh year in a row, in 2021 it amounted to 1.9% by 2020. In absolute terms, sales of military products by the largest companies in the industry amounted to $592 billion, according to a recent report by the Stockholm Institute.

Using parts created by a 3D printer reduces costs and reduces the production time of ships worth billions of dollars, which are created over the years.

In Iran, the Naval Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC Navy) officially included a new floating base "Shahid Mahdavi" (Shahid Mahdavi), also created by rebuilding a civilian vessel, in this case the former container ship Sarvin with a deadweight of more than 41,000 tons. It is named in honor of the IRGC Navy serviceman Nader Mahdavi, who died in one of the clashes at sea with the Americans in 1987.

Currently, Russia is the only country in the world armed with strategic hypersonic missile systems, said Paul Freistler, a leading specialist in science and technology at the US Military Intelligence Agency. His statement is reported by RIA Novosti.

The new vessels, which entered the arsenal of the IRGC naval forces (Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps), were part of a major modernization that strengthened the country's naval forces in the midst of the worst recession in recent history. Last Thursday, the IRGC held a ceremony of accepting the ship in the port city of Bandar Abbas. The cost of the expansion and modernization project is still kept secret.

The US Navy is preparing one of the newest aircraft carriers, the USS Gerald R. Ford, for the upcoming major exercises. To do this, all aviation is deployed on the ship. For the first time, the Navy Times writes, the entire aircraft carrier wing was loaded onto the ship in full.

It became known that on Monday, US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak aboard the Missouri nuclear submarine in San Diego will announce the equipping of Australia with new nuclear submarines as part of the AUKUS alliance, a trilateral defense partnership aimed at countering China in its, according to the US authorities, "the desire to achieve naval dominance in the Pacific Ocean."