In September of last year, it was reported that Russia had launched an astonishing 8,060 drones developed by the long-time Russian ally, the Islamic Republic of Iran, in Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
At the time, it was an extraordinary number. The reporting back in September 2024 highlighted the importance that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of all shapes and sizes had for both sides fighting in Ukraine (the Ukrainians use overwhelming numbers of Turkish-produced drones).
The Iranian drones that Russia loves are the Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 one-way attack unmanned aerial systems. In an October 2022 assessment by the Council of Foreign Relations, the bulk of the drones Iran handed over to Russia belonged to the Shahed-136 model. That’s the specific Iranian-built drone we’ll be analyzing here.
Back in March, the Russians signed a licensing agreement with Iran that allowed them to domestically produce these systems. According to a November 2024 report by Iran International, a website that advocates the end of the Islamist regime in Iran, the presence of large numbers of cheaply produced Iranian drones “supercharged Russia’s 1,000-day fight in Ukraine.”
An Iranian Nightmare in UkraineWith Russia now mass producing the Iranian drones indigenously, the Russians will likely continue enjoying the boost that the drones gave their forces when the Iranians first sold the drones to Russia. As the fight over control of the Russian enclave of Kursk, located just across the border from Ukraine has shown, Russian drones are wreaking havoc on the entrenched Ukrainian forces operating there.
The Shahed-136, also known as “Witness” (or, Geran-2, meaning “Geranium-2” in Russian), is a delta-winged loitering munition designed for long-range attacks. The brilliance of the system lies in its relative simplicity that allows for cheap mass production and lower maintenance costs compared to other, more sophisticated drones. It has a range of a little more than 1,200 miles and can carry a warhead weighing between 88 and 110 pounds. Shahed-136 drones typically have a subsonic cruising speed of 111 miles per hour.
The basic tactics underlying the deployment of these systems involve the saturation of enemy defenses with swarms of cheaply produced Shahed-136 drones, thereby overwhelming an enemy’s air defenses and allowing for the attacking force to achieve dominance over a contested area. Another tactic involves stealthy, surgical strikes, since these drones’ relatively small size and low-flying capability makes it more difficult for defenders to see and defend against them.
Iranian Shahed-136 drones have also been used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in their efforts to terrorize international shipping—and the mighty United States Navy—in the Red Sea and Strait of Bab El-Mandeb. That Tehran is the producer of this specific drone should not surprise anyone. Being a relatively small power under immense international sanctions has meant that the Iranian regime has had to innovate unique asymmetrical warfare capabilities.
No Easy DefenseThe Shahed-136 is particularly vexing for nations on the receiving end of its attacks. The drone poses significant defensive challenges, as both the Houthis out of Yemen and the Russians fighting in Ukraine have shown. Drones have proven that only layered air defense systems have a chance at reliably countering the threat that drone swarms pose to defenders.
Such systems, however, are expensive to maintain—especially when compared to the relative cost and the overwhelming lethality of the Shahed-136 drones. What’s more, the risk of Iran proliferating these systems to other actors, particularly non-state actors, such as terrorist organizations beyond the Houthis, is a real complicating factor when it comes to defense.
Iranian weapons designers have already learned a great deal from the experience of their systems in various theaters of global warfare. They are applying those lessons learned to future iterations both of the Shahed-136 and other, more advanced Iranian drones.
It is obvious that drone warfare will continue to evolve and to increasingly dominate the future of modern warfare. The Iranians understand this. As do the Turks and Russians. We shall see if the Western world truly understands this new reality.
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, and a contributor at Popular Mechanics, consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Shutterstock.
Almost every president since the end of the Cold War had his foreign policy legacy defined by a war no one could have foreseen. For George H.W. Bush, it was Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Bill Clinton sought to deflect Bush’s 90 percent popularity after the successful 100-hour ground war by focusing on bread-and-butter issues. In 1992, Clinton campaign consultant James Carville summarized the strategy with the famous quip, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Clinton genuinely hoped to focus on the economy. He extricated U.S. forces from Somalia following the “Black Hawk Down” incident but found himself drawn first into Bosnia and then more reluctantly into Kosovo. George W. Bush, too, sought to be a domestic president but, after the 9/11 attacks, ordered U.S. forces into Afghanistan and, more controversially, into Iraq. Barack Obama pledged to end “dumb war[s],” but not only remained in Afghanistan and returned to Iraq but then involved the United States in Syria and Libya.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated the Biden administration’s foreign policy. Joe Biden did not send U.S. forces into the theater, but he did provide Ukraine with weaponry and other forms of support for their war effort. For all his talk about his genuine interest in Africa, Biden has paid little attention to the world’s deadliest conflict, the civil war in Sudan. He staked out the middle ground in the Israel-Hamas conflict, meddling diplomatically and virtue signaling with humanitarian schemes while otherwise standing largely aloof. Biden also claimed to be “the first president in this century to report to the American people that the United States is not at war anywhere in the world.” However, he omitted U.S. involvement off the coast of Yemen.
While the COVID-19 Pandemic overshadowed Donald Trump’s first term (thanks to a Chinese lab leak), he is correct in saying that he did not involve the United States in new wars. His second term will likely not be so placid.
Several wars loom, all of which could impact Trump’s legacy, whether he chooses to involve himself or not.
Turkey And Syria Vs. The KurdsAfter Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a Turkish-sponsored Sunni Islamist group that previously aligned with Al Qaeda rampaged through Syria and ended Bashar al-Assad’s dynasty after nearly a quarter-century. Trump celebrated. “I think Turkey is very smart...Turkey did an unfriendly takeover, without a lot of lives being lost,” he said.
Trump’s assessment of Turkey’s wisdom may be premature. While Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (Abu Bakr al-Jolani) seeks to win international recognition, he does so less because he has yet to consolidate control and more because recognition will bring access and control over the nearly $400 billion that Syrians will need to reconstruct their country.
The broader issue that could impact the Trump administration is what the new Syrian regime will mean for the Syrian Kurds. Trump may not care about the Kurds personally—he certainly did not hesitate to betray them during his first term—but the stakes are arguably higher. Both Al-Sharaa and Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani are pawns of Turkey; both trade sovereignty and nationalist causes for cash and power. Both will turn on Syrian Kurds to remain in the good graces of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In the past, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was a brake on Turkish ambitions. With him gone, Turkey and its proxies may seek to overrun Syria’s Kurdish regions. The short-term impact of this could be the release of thousands of Islamic State prisoners. They will tip the balance inside Syria toward militancy. They could spread throughout not only the Middle East—destabilizing Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia—but also become another tool by which Erdogan could blackmail Europe, as he did with Syrian refugees. It will only be a matter of time until some cross the southern border. What happens in Syria does not stay in Syria.
Azerbaijan Vs. ArmeniaAzerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev took advantage of U.S. distraction during the 2020 election to launch an attack on Nagorno-Karabakh, a self-governing and democratic ethnic Armenian territory that Azerbaijan demanded to subordinate itself to Azerbaijan’s direct rule. On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin imposed a ceasefire sparing about half the region’s territory and enabling 120,000 indigenous Armenians to remain in the rump region. With Putin preoccupied with the Ukraine War and with Secretary of State Antony Blinken signaling moral equivalency and weakness, Aliyev finished the job in September 2023, driving the entire 1,700-year-old Armenian Christian community into exile. Blinken’s refusal to describe that episode as “ethnic cleansing,” preferring instead to describe events in the passive voice as “depopulation,” leads Aliyev to believe he can continue his anti-Armenian jihad. In recent weeks, Aliyev has demanded the European border observation team evacuate and Armenia stop arming itself. His rhetoric about Armenia as “Western Azerbaijan” mirrors the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s quip about Kuwait being Iraq’s “nineteenth province.”
The Caucasus could become even bloodier if Ukraine falls. Since 2018, Armenia has pivoted toward the West. Putin has a long memory. If given the opportunity, he will exact his revenge on Armenia. The same holds true for Moldova, which has also oriented itself increasingly toward Europe and NATO. Russia has already tightened its grip on Georgia. Trump must consider whether he is fine with the reconstitution of the Soviet Union.
China’s Proxy Wars In AfricaTrump would not be the first president to ignore African conflicts, but he may be the first for whom doing so would put the United States at untenable risk. China is no stranger to the continent. In 2017, it opened its first overseas naval base in tiny Djibouti in the Hord of Africa, just a few miles from Camp Lemonnier, where the Pentagon still stations its Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.
During the Biden administration, China consolidated its strategic position without any serious U.S. pushback. Rather than counter China’s economic and military inroads, the State Department often facilitated them.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may be one of the world’s most dysfunctional states. Still, it nevertheless will be indispensable for the twenty-first-century economy. The lithium-ion batteries (upon which so many technologies depend) require cobalt, tantalum, germanium, and other rare earth elements that the DRC possesses in abundance. Some geologists estimate that Congo’s mineral wealth is worth up to $24 trillion.
China has taken a two-pronged approach to the DRC. It has bribed successive presidents for lucrative and exclusive mining concessions and simultaneously sold high-tech weaponry to support its investment in President Félix Tshisekedi, who now seeks an unconstitutional third term. Meanwhile, U.S. officials still celebrate Tshisekedi as a democrat. Under Michael Hammer, the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa recommended lifting UN reporting requirements on Congolese military purchases, thus injecting an opacity that only benefits Beijing.
Tshisekedi is not an intellectual. He appears to believe that a top-shelf, multibillion-dollar military can buy victory, regardless of his regime’s corruption and general incompetence. Such a dynamic can lead rulers like Tshisekedi to pull the trigger. He has grown increasingly bellicose toward Rwanda, a pro-Western neighbor that has previously fought to protect itself from genocide-era terrorists who now call the DRC home. Anti-Rwanda rhetoric can both distract Congolese from Tshisekedi’s own mismanagement and also serve China’s interests as Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has taken a balanced approach that has effectively blocked Beijing’s ambitions. If a third Congo War erupts—and odds are it will—Trump will be forced to deal with a conflict that could disrupt the twenty-first-century economy just as much as the Arab oil embargo disrupted the twentieth-century economy.
Chinese interference in the Horn of Africa is an even greater threat. Somaliland, an unrecognized country that is nonetheless the region’s only democracy, also possesses rare earth deposits. It hosts an airfield that, prior to Somalia’s collapse into chaos, was an emergency landing strip for NASA’s space shuttle program, a deep water port that today is one of Africa’s top-ranked facilities, and several hundred miles of strategic coast along the Gulf of Aden. While countries like Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates take a transactional approach between the United States and China, Somaliland stands on principle and openly sides with Taiwan.
China, alongside the Somali government in Mogadishu, has responded by sponsoring an insurgency in Somaliland’s Sool region. The Biden team bizarrely sided not with democratic, pro-Western, pro-Taiwan, and reasonably transparent Somaliland but rather with Mogadishu and Beijing. If Trump does not side unequivocally with Somaliland and recognize it, expect China to increase its efforts to destabilize the country. Simply put, it is impossible for Trump to stand up to China without working to checkmate its projects in Africa.
China Vs. TaiwanThe one possible conflict for which Trump’s team recognizes the need for preparation is a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Make no mistake: Taiwan is not China. Historically, it has been distinct for most of the last 500 years. Even Mao Zedong recognized that Taiwan was as distinct from China as Korea.
Taiwan, however, is not simply the single island that many Americans picture. It also includes several outlying islands—some in the Taiwan Strait and some further afield. Trump’s advisors must not assume, as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy-designate Elbridge Colby does, that China would “go big” with an immediate effort to conquer Taiwan’s main island. After all, the Taiwan Relations Act does not cover the islands Matsu or Quemoy, the epicenter of the Eisenhower-era Taiwan crises, let alone those further afield like Taiping or Dongsha.
For Beijing, Chinese “salami slicing” tactics in the South China Sea have been a success. Why should they change them now? Rather than simply address a theoretical invasion of Taiwan proper, Trump needs to determine in advance whether he will stand down should that invasion come in slow motion. After all, if China occupies Dongsha or Matsu absent American pushback, it is conditioning the American public for inaction.
Every president enters office with an agenda, but reality quickly intrudes. Biden allowed problems to fester, and the weakness and vacillation of aides like Blinken only encouraged irredentists and adversaries.
The foreign policy crises Trump does not expect and that his aides hope to ignore will likely define Trump’s legacy in ways he does not now imagine. Trump side-stepped wars in his first administration. He may not be so lucky in his next one.
Michael Rubin is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum.
Image: M2M_PL / Shutterstock.com.
Megjelent a terménytárolók, szárítók és tisztítók, valamint vetőmagüzemek létesítését és korszerűsítését támogató pályázatok felhívásának tervezete. A pályázatok keretében akár 200 millió, illetve 1 milliárd forint 50-70%-os vissza nem térítendő támogatás lesz igényelhető mezőgazdasági termelők számára várhatóan áprilistól!
A várhatóan 2025 tavaszán megjelenő pályázat keretében akár 14,6 + 75 millió forint 70%-os vissza nem térítendő támogatás lesz igényelhető a 40 évnél nem idősebb mezőgazdasági termelők számára, vállalkozásuk támogatására, valamint beruházásaik finanszírozására.
Le présumé auteur du double meurtre le jour de la Saint Sylvestre, des sujets chinois de l’entreprise CREC 6, a été arrêté ce mercredi 8 janvier à Mwene Ditu, dans la province de Lomami.
Le brigadier en chef Dominique Mutombo Kanyemesha, recherché par la justice militaire depuis le 2 janvier dernier, a été retrouvé au quartier Mpinga dans la Commune de Mwene Ditu.
If there is one untold, or completely misunderstood, geopolitical story of the twenty-first century, it is the rise of Turkey as a great power. Possessed of an Islamist political ideology and a commitment to restoring Turkey’s long-dead Ottoman Empire, the country that sits at the “Crossroads of Civilization,” between Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, is the only great power that has seen its political power and military strength enhance since the dawn of this century.
One area where Turkey is showcasing its newfound power and potency is in the realm of indigenous weapons. Turkey is a global leader in drone technology and its Bayraktar TB2 Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) is a perfect exemplar of Turkey’s military technological prowess. The TB2 is known for having reshaped the dynamics of contemporary warfare with its affordability, effectiveness, and adaptability.
The History of TB2 DronesBuilt by Baykar Makina, a Turkish defense contractor for the Turkish Air Force, the Bayraktar TB2 has become a massively popular system both in Turkey’s Armed Forces and as an export model. It has enjoyed extensive service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces as they war against their neighbor, Russia, for control over the eastern portion of Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula (both of which Russia views as its own).
A common theme of Turkey’s development as a major military technological power is that Ankara is consistently denied access to key American and NATO military assets. And because Turkey is prevented from gaining access to advanced Western technologies, Ankara has endeavored to become militarily self-sufficient. That is precisely what has occurred over the last decade.
So, again, after the Americans embargoed Turkey from purchasing armed drones (because the West did not want those systems being used by Turkey against U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in the Middle East), Turkey’s domestic drone industry was catalyzed into action. The TB2 made its initial flight in August 2014. By 2021, the drone had logged over 400,000 flight hours globally.
The SpecsTurkey equipped the TB2 with advanced systems allowing for both autonomous and remotely controlled operations. Constructed predominantly of carbon fiber and Kevlar, this V-tail-signature craft has proven itself time and time again over the last decade, meaning that Turkey has become an unmanned aerial vehicle-producing superpower. The TB2 carries a payload of up to 330 pounds.
TB2s integrate electro-optical, infrared cameras, and laser designators (and laser range finders), making these birds a perfect ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) craft as well as effective for targeted strikes.
It has an operational altitude of 25,000 feet and an endurance of 27 hours, meaning that the TB2 can remain over targets for a protracted time, augmenting the user’s real-time battlefield information flow (granting greater situational awareness upon the force deploying the TB2).
Over the years, TB2s have participated in conflicts in Syria and Iraq. They were used to neutralize enemy air defenses on behalf of Turkish-backed elements fighting in war-torn Libya. In the brutal Nagorno-Karabakh war, Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan deployed TB2 drones so well that many believe these systems led to Armenia’s defeat in that conflict.
A Powerful Export ModelAs noted above, though, the TB2 drones became most well-known internationally for their use by Ukrainian forces against the invading Russians, giving the TB2 positive press.
In all the conflicts these drones have fought, they have performed brilliantly, making them a key system that Turkey produces. What’s more, the relatively cheap price of individual TB2s (around $5 million), makes these drones an attractive purchase for nations operating under constrained defense budgets.
Nearly twenty-four foreign nations have purchased these drones from Turkey, boosting Turkey’s arms industry as well as Turkey’s national influence and prestige.
Thanks to the unqualified success of the TB2 program, Turkey has invested in a new round of systems augmenting the capabilities of the TB2. For instance, the even more advanced Bayraktar TB3 has been developed as well as the Akinci, promising greater strike and surveillance capabilities—at affordable rates—than what the legendary TB2 provided.
Turkey has arrived as a great regional power and its indigenous arms industry proves this. It is now only a matter of time before Turkey exerts its power beyond its present borders. Indeed, it has already started enhancing its power in the Middle East. The Bayraktar TB2 (and subsequent drone systems) are but a few of the symbols proving Turkey’s return to greatness.
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, and a contributor at Popular Mechanics, consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Flickr.
Boeing is set to move full-rate production (FRP) for its electronic warfare (EW) kit that will be employed on the U.S. Air Force's fleet of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15EX Eagle II aircraft. On Monday, the aerospace firm was awarded a $615 million Pentagon contract for the F-15 Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS) FRP, which will see the multirole aircraft updated with the kits through the end of 2030.
"This contract provides for procurement of Group A and Group B kits, system engineering program management, and interim contractor support lay-in material," the Department of Defense (DoD) announced.
The EPAWSS was developed in a partnership between BAE Systems and the U.S. Air Force to replace the analog F-15 Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS) and promises to increase the survivability of the F-15 from modern air defense platforms. Initial operational and test evaluations were conducted last year.
"BAE Systems is currently on schedule in support of Boeing's F-15 EPAWSS LRIP [low-rate initial production] activities and is looking forward to supporting Boeing in the FRP [full rate production] phase of the program," Kevin Fournier, EPAWSS program director at BAE Systems, said in a statement, per Breaking Defense.
A highly capable electronic warfare (EW) suite, EPAWSS is an all-digital radar warning, geolocation, situational awareness platform that was developed to aid in the detection and to counter surface and airborne threats in what BAE Systems describes as " highly contested, dense signal environments." It further provides radio frequency (RF) electronic countermeasures (ECM), while it is smaller and lighter than previous EW platforms employed in the F-15. The number of chaff and flare dispensers has also been increased with a full dozen holding 360 cartridges.
"EPAWSS is a leap in technology, improving the lethality and combat capabilities of the F-15E and F-15EX in contested, degraded environments against advanced threats," Explained EPAWSS test director Maj Bryant 'Jager' Baum. "EPAWSS has set the baseline for EW within the fighter community."
The installation of EPAWSS could help deliver on Boeing's efforts to transform the F-15EX into an Air Force version of the U.S. Navy's EA-18G Growler – the EW variant of the carrier-based F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Upgrading the Eagle Fleet
The U.S. Air Force inventory currently includes 218 F-15Es, and according to a December 2023 Pentagon Modernized Selected Acquisition Report (MSAR), 99 of the Strike Eagles will receive the upgrades – while all of the planned 98 F-15EX Eagles IIs that the service is acquiring will be equipped with the EPAWSS.
The numbers are a significant reduction noted in an April 2022 Select Acquisition Report (SAR), which stated that the procurement quantity would include "217 F-15E and 144 F-15EX aircraft." However, the Air Force scaled back on the upgrades citing the high costs. The totals could still be adjusted depending on how many F-15EXs the Air Force ends up acquiring, while it is also likely the oldest F-15Es (with the most flight hours) won't receive the enhancement given that their remaining service life.
"Used 34 years as a hybrid number for life-cycle since EPAWSS on F-15E has a 24 year while F-15EX has a 44 year life-cycle expectancy," the DoD's MSAR stated.
The work will be carried out at Boeing's facility in St. Louis, Missouri, and by BAE Systems in Nashua, New Hampshire. It was not stated how the work would be divided, but it is likely that Boeing would handle the installation of the EW suite in all of the F-15EX aircraft.
Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.
Image Credit: Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock.
Le mercato hivernal a ouvert ses portes. Plusieurs internationaux algériens pourraient bouger. On cite notamment Jaouen Hadjam, Amine Gouiri ou encore Ibrahim Maza. Les internationaux […]
L’article Mercato 2025 : ces internationaux algériens qui pourraient bouger cet hiver est apparu en premier sur .
At the tail end of 2024, two new Chinese stealth fighter demonstrators were revealed. The separate designs put forth by manufacturers Shenyang and Chengdu stunned aviation buffs and military experts alike. Both airframes featured qualities that would make them stealthy, high-performance next-generation platforms. While additional information surrounding these planes has yet to be publicized, their overall design falls in line with what experts have already assumed about China’s future aerial objectives. One of the combat aircraft depicted in leaked videos of the flights is likely a successor to the PLAAF’s current fifth-generation program. The Chengdu J-20 is widely considered to represent one of the most formidable jets of its kind to ever fly the skies. The “Mighty Dragon’s” design, from its fuselage shape and engine intake shape to its paint design and stealth, mirrors the American-made F-22 and F-35 platforms. If a full blown war were to erupt over the South China Sea, the J-20 platform would undoubtedly lead the PRC’s aerial strategy.
A brief overview of the J-20 platform
When the J-20 was first introduced to service, China became the second country ever to release a fifth-generation stealth aircraft. The aircraft was initially endorsed by the PLAAF in the early 2000’s and entered service in 2017. By 2019, considerable numbers of J-20s became operational. Initially, the fifth-generation platform flew with Russian AL-31 engines. The PRC later turned to its domestically produced WS-15 engine, an important transition as the Chinese engine is remarkably more capable than the Russian import as it allows the J-20 to enter a super cruise regime while unlocking the supermaneuverability granted by thrust vectoring.
Specs & capabilities- how does the J-20 compare to its American near-peers?
In terms of capabilities, aviation buffs believe that the J-20 features a sensor suite that parallels the F-35’s Electro-Optical Targeting System. The twinjet all-weather Mighty Dragon has a reported range of 1,200 miles, a servicing ceiling of 55,000 feet and a maximum speed of Mach-2.55. While these characteristics make the Chinese fifth-generation jet a formidable threat to its American near-peers, the extent of the jet’s capabilities remains unknown. A research fellow for airpower and technology at the United Kingdom-based Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security called the Mighty Dragon “a qualitatively greater threat than any previous non-Western combat aircraft.”
The race to produce sixth-gen platforms is underway
In total, the PRC plans to increase production of the J-20 to match and even exceed the number of American-made Raptors in service today. If the Mighty Dragon reaches this production goal, the potential for incursions over Taiwan will heighten. The PRC remains steadfast in its ambition to seize control of this First Island Chain Nation in the near future. In addition to acquiring more J-20’s, China’s military is prioritizing the production of sixth-generation platforms. The upcoming H-20 Xi’an stealth bomber is Beijing’s counter for the American-designed B-21 Raider. China is also working to develop a next-gen fighter program as made evident by the recent flights of stealth fighter demonstrators.
Maya Carlin is a National Interest security contributor, an analyst with the Center for Security Policy, and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
China is reportedly developing two stealth bombers: the H-20 strategic bomber and the JH-XX tactical bomber. If China is capable of finishing either project, the military implications for the region could be significant, giving China a tool that to date only the Americans have ever possessed.
The Stealth Bomber
Only one country has ever developed and fielded a stealth bomber – the US and their B-2 Spirit. And when the B-2 was first delivered, in 1993, the aircraft was a legitimate game changer. Suddenly, the US possessed the ability to fly undetected, across enemy lines, and deliver either nuclear or conventional ordnance; the B-2 added another layer of sophistication to the US’s nuclear triad, which constituted the US’s nuclear deterrence strategy.
Times have changed, however. The B-2’s stealth technology is no longer cutting-edge; it’s radar cross section is no longer as impressive. Air defense systems have grown more sensitive, challenging the B-2’s ability to operate undetected. Accordingly, the Air Force is working on an updated stealth bomber, the B-21, which will presumably feature a smaller RCS.
Respect is still due: The B-2 was ahead of its time; over thirty years later, no nation has offered an equivalent technology. But now China is reportedly working to do just that, with not one stealth bomber but two.
China’s Efforts
Little is known about the Chinese efforts to field a stealth bomber. Details are exceedingly scant. But what is understood is that the H-20 project will offer a strategic option while the JH-XX will offer a tactical option. What does that mean? The H-20 will have a larger combat radius, perhaps upwards of 5,000 miles, and will feature advanced radar systems like the AESA. The H-20 would serve in a similar capacity as the B-2, giving the Chinese a credible method for delivering nuclear weapons via air, hence creating a credible nuclear triad.
The JH-XX meanwhile can be expected to have similar features but will be a smaller, regionally focused bomber that may include fifth-generation fighter technologies i.e., thrust vectoring, data fusion, network connectivity, supercruise, and an internal weapons bay. Granted, that’s not much to go on. Yet, the existence of the project has been confirmed through official channels; according to the Defense Intelligence Agency’s 2019 China Military Power report, “The PLAAF [ People’s Liberation Army Air Force] is developing new medium- and long-range stealth bombers to strike regional and global targets…stealth technology continues to play a key role in the development of these new bombers, which probably will reach initial operational capability no sooner than 2025.”
The report added that the JH-XX “will have additional capabilities, with full-spectrum upgrades compared with current operational bomber fleets, and will employ many fifth-generation fighter technologies in their design.” That’s not a lot to go on. The significant takeaway is simply that the Chinese are working on a stealth bomber, an ambition that is consistent with Xi’s overarching ambition of enhancing Chinese military prowess and revisionism.
Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
Russian state media reported that an airstrike was carried out on Wednesday in the Ukrainian-occupied Kursk region involving a Sukhoi Su-34 (NATO reporting name Fullback). The fighter-bomber launched guided glide bombs at ground targets, while it was escorted by a Sukhoi Su-35S (NATO reporting name Flanker-M).
"The crew of a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-34 multi-role supersonic fighter-bomber delivered a strike on a cluster of Ukrainian military manpower and armored and motor vehicles near the border in the Kursk Region," the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement to Tass.
"After completing the combat mission, the entire group successfully returned to the base airfield. According to the intelligence report, the targets were successfully hit," the Defense Ministry added.
The airstrikes were allegedly carried out on a "Ukrainian stronghold," and the Kremlin claimed multiple Ukrainian personnel were killed and several vehicles destroyed. Kyiv has not commented on the strike or confirmed that it suffered any losses.
Replenishing the Losses
It was just weeks ago that the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), a subsidiary of the military-industrial conglomerate Rostec, announced that it had delivered a new batch of Su-34s multirole fighters to the Russian Aerospace Forces.
UAC didn't state how many fighters were delivered in the latest consignment, but it has been reported that Moscow's rate of attrition has been outpacing production throughout the ongoing conflict. Last month, Stavros Atlamazoglou, writing for The National Interest, cited Oryx open-source data that found thirty-seven Su-34s had been to that point.
Russia was believed to have around 163 operational Su-34s at the start of the conflict nearly three years ago. Though the Kremlin didn't confirm the loss of one in October, Russian military bloggers (mil-bloggers) acknowledged that a Su-34 was shot down by an American-made F-16 Fighting Falcon. It marked the first successful air-to-air kill involving the F-16 in Ukraine.
Russia's Fullback
The Sukhoi Su-34 multirole strike aircraft is a twin-engine, twin-seat, all-weather supersonic medium-range fighter-bomber, initially developed for the Soviet Air Forces in the 1980s. A derivative of the Sukhoi Su-27 (NATO reporting name Flanker), the Su-34 was developed to operate in all weather conditions and conduct attack, bombing, and fighter missions.
The development of the aircraft was one of the Kremlin's many programs that were forced on the backburner following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the economic crisis that followed. The Su-34 program was only revived in earnest in the early 2000s, with eight pre-production aircraft built for trials and evaluations. The aircraft formally entered service in 2014 – although there are reports that the strike aircraft was employed during the Russo-Georgia War of 2008.
As Atlamazoglou further emphasized, the aircraft was designed with "an enhanced cockpit with additional armor to withstand anti-aircraft ground fire," while it also is equipped with "advanced electronic warfare countermeasures to jam or defeat enemy anti-aircraft missiles." The Su-34 is capable of reaching Mach 2 (approximately 1,500 miles per hour) and is able to carry 18,000 pounds of ordnance on its 12 hardpoints. It can conduct air-to-air attacks beyond visual range (BVR), but also be employed in a fighter-bomber role – which appears to be how the Kremlin is now mostly using the aircraft.
Though it can strike targets up to 160 miles away, that doesn't seem to be far enough for the fighter-bomber to avoid hostile air-defense fire, or enemy aircraft as noted in the October encounter with the F-16.
Thus while the Su-34 remains among Russia's most capable multirole aircraft, and it has been widely used in the ongoing war, it clearly isn't invincible. The question now is whether Russia will be able to replace the losses – especially as Ukraine is to receive additional F-16 Fight Falcons and French-made Mirage 2000s.
The Su-35S
As previously reported, the Sukhoi Su-35 has been touted as one of the most advanced 4++ generation aircraft systems, combining many fifth-generation elements. It is also a heavily upgraded derivative of the Su-27 aircraft and was originally intended for export.
As UAC failed to initially find foreign buyers, the Su-35S first entered service with the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2014 and made its first combat deployment in Syria in 2015 – where it was employed to provide cover for other Russian aircraft on bombing missions.
While sharing broadly the blended wing-body design of the Su-27, the Su-27M/Su-35S can be visibly distinguished from the basic version by the addition of canards, which are small lifting surfaces, ahead of the wings. The Su-35's large and powerful Saturn AL-41F1S engines provide it the ability to supercruise for a long time, while it can reach supersonic speeds without using an afterburner.
The engines are also noted for employing three-dimensional thrust vectoring, which makes the Su-35 very maneuverable. Currently, it is the only production fighter to use two-plane thrust vectoring nozzles.
Designed primarily to be an air superiority fighter, the Su-35 has secondary air-to-ground capability and can carry an enormous amount of weapons. It has 12 wing and fuselage hardpoints, which allow for it to carry ordnance with a maximum weight of up to 8,000 kg (17,630 pounds), including a variety of air-to-air, air-to-surface, anti-radiation, and anti-ship missiles, as well as a number of TV, laser-, and satellite-guided bombs. The Su-35's armament also includes a GSh-30-1 30mm autocannon with 150 rounds.
The multirole aircraft can further be equipped with an electronic warfare pod, which provides it with powerful jamming capability. It has been reported that its advanced jammers can reduce the performance of enemy radars, and can blind onboard radars found on missiles, notably the AIM-120 AMRAAM.
Russia is reported to have around 120 Su-35s in service, while at least six are believed to have been lost in the fighting in Ukraine. It would seem that the Su-35S may have a new role – namely protecting the Su-34 when it carries out its ground attacks.
Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.
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Even one of the greatest weapons of mass destruction has what could be described as a "shelf life." On Tuesday, the United States Department of Energy announced that its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) had completed a program to keep the B61-12 nuclear bomb in service for decades to come.
The B61-12 Life Extension Program (LEP) was initiated in 2008, with a specific focus on upgrading the family of B61 gravity bombs, "which are deployed from U.S. Air Force and North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) bases." The latest modification of the original bomb, the B61-12 is a twelve-foot-long, approximately 825-pound, air-launched nuclear gravity bomb that utilizes an inertial navigation system (INS) to make a precision strike on a target.
According to NNSA, the B61 has already been in service for more than five decades, yet remains both "the oldest and most versatile weapon in the enduring U.S. nuclear weapon stockpile." The B61-12 LEP is meant to further extend the service life of the bomb stockpile by at least another 20 years. That will include refurbishing, reusing, and if necessary even replacing some of the nuclear and non-nuclear components.
As a result, instead of entirely fresh ordnance, the B6-12s are a combination of new and refurbished components from earlier variants including the B61-3, B61-4, B61-7, and B61-10. On December 18, 2024, NNSA completed the Last Production Unit (LPU) of the B61-12 LEP – the culmination of an effort that began almost 20 years earlier.
"Completing the B61-12 on schedule is the latest example of what we've been saying for several years now: NNSA is delivering capabilities at the pace and scale needed by our Department of Defense partners and our deterrence requirements," said Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby.
The total cost of the program was reported to be approximately $9 billion.
Upgrades to Continue
The B61-12 LPU came three years after the First Production Unit (FPU) was achieved in November 2021, and 17 years after its design and development was first initiated.
"NNSA's program managers and experts from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, the Pantex Plant, the Savanah River Site, the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the Kansas City National Security Campus worked in close collaboration with NNSA on the design, development, qualification, and component production," the Department of Energy explained.
"Completion of the last B61-12 testifies to the successful collaboration we've had with our U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense partners. The momentum built through B61-12 production and delivery will continue into delivery on the other six active weapons modernization programs and on additional programs that will become active in the coming years," explained Dr. Marvin Adams, deputy administrator for Defense Programs at the DoE. "Achieving LPU in FY 2025 demonstrates our ability to execute, not only to our partners and stakeholders in DoD and Congress but also to our adversaries and allies. This demonstration is itself a contribution to deterrence and assurance."
Even as the B61-12 LEP has reached its end, NNSA will look to the B61-13, which will further build on this last upgrade effort. It is scheduled to reach its FPU in the department's fiscal year 2026 (FY26).
An Air-Launched Nuclear Weapon
The B61-12was first integrated with the U.S. Air Force's F-15E Strike Eagle, where it is carried externally, and the weapon is also being certified to be carried on the Air Force's B-2 Spirit strategic bomber, as well as the F-16C/D fighter.
Last March, the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) confirmed that the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II achieved its nuclear certification to carry the gravity bomb in October 2023, becoming the first fifth-generation nuclear-capable aircraft. With that certification, the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant stealth fighter further became a "dual-capable" aircraft able to carry both conventional and nuclear weapons internally.
However, it was noted at the time that the F-35A can only carry the upgraded B61-12 variant – but that is essentially a moot point now that the program has reached its LPU. In addition, the certification did not extend to the stealth jet's sister variants, the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B and carrier-launched F-35C. It remains unclear if and when those variants could receive the certification – and as the F-35A can carry the current variant, it is expected it will be certified for the B61-13 as it enters service.
Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.
Image Credit: Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock.
Uncle Sam is getting his rear-end kicked by the Russians and Chinese (heck, even the North Koreans are starting to outdo the Americans) in the all-important realm of hypersonic weapons. Indeed, it’s possible that China is even already creating working defenses against hypersonic weapons (meaning that Beijing is doubling up on success whereas the Americans are still languishing in the design phase).
Under the rubric of “MACH TB 2.0” Kratos is attempting to “enhance the United States’ capabilities in hypersonic technology through rapid, affordable testing,” according to Kalif Shaikh at Interesting Engineering, a trade publication.
Pentagon insiders (and those at Kratos) do not believe that the United States lacks the fundamentals to achieve parity with both Russia and China in hypersonic weapons. They think the problem is taking all the disparate pieces the Pentagon has been assembling for hypersonic weapons research and development and simply accelerating those projects. There might be something to this theory.
Recent geopolitical developments in the Middle East prove true Vladimir Lenin’s infamous quote that, “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” That’s because about a month ago the entire geopolitical framework that has existed in the Mideast for decades was completely upended in a relatively short amount of time.
Regardless, Iran is clearly doing everything in its power to restore its unstable and rapidly deteriorating security situation. An area that should cause some alarm among Western security officials is Iran’s drone carrier, the Shahid Bagheri. This vessel is a modified container ship. Specifically, it is an augmented 24-year-old container ship named the Perarin. The ship was transformed at the Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex Company near Bandar Abbas in Iran.
By having the Shahid Bagheri (other drone carriers are under construction, too), the Iranian Navy can engage in destabilizing military operations against international shipping passing through the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Bab El-Mandeb, and the Red Sea.
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, and a contributor at Popular Mechanics, consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
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