Section: The National Interest (USA)
The Russian Army’s Super ‘Gun’ Is a City Destroyer
Sebastien Roblin Security, Eurasia They’ve devastated fortifications from Afghanistan to Ukraine. Self-propelled heavy mortar carriers are ubiquitous in modern mechanized armies. Mounted on light armored carriers and placed at the disposal of battalion commanders, such vehicles can deliver heavy and fast-responding indirect bombardments...
Will The U.S. Army Get Serious About Revolutionizing Long Range Fires?
Dan Goure U.S. Army, United States The Army can take advantage of innovations already available in the private sector that could revolutionize long-range fires. U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces face two particular challenges from the modernized Russian military in Europe. The first is an increasingly sophisticated air...
Does Russia Want War With Ukraine? Not Really—Or Not Yet
Simon Saradzhyan Security, Ukraine, Russia Nothing short of occupying Kiev would achieve Russia’s goals in Ukraine—and that won’t happen. The recent escalation of hostilities in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region and increased military-political tensions around Crimea bring to mind the refrain of a popular song from the times when...
Kings of the Battlefield No More: Are Tanks Obsolete?
Michael Peck Security, What does history tell us? It has been over four decades since the death of the tank was announced. The iron monsters had blitzed through Sedan, Kiev and Tobruk in World War II. In 1967, Israeli armor had swept through the Sinai like lightning. And then in October 1973, hundreds of burning Israeli tanks, draped in anti-tank...
5 Lethal Israeli Weapons of War Russia Can Only Wish it Had
Robert Farley Security, They could be game changers. In many ways, Israel and Russia have taken opposite approaches to providing for national security. Israel stands at the technological frontier, while Russia has struggled to keep its national innovation system vital and healthy. Moreover, over the years Russian arms have populated the armies...
The US Army’s New Battlefield ‘Big Gun’ Has a Dangerous Defect
Robert Beckhusen Security, Lack of fire suppression is one problem with the M109A7 Paladin. The U.S. Army in the coming years will build hundreds of new mobile howitzers, and largely, the project has been a success. Except there will be a problem if the self-propelled howitzers catch on fire. The Paladin M109A7 PIM — the latest in America’s...
Trump and Obama: On Foreign Policy, Two Peas in a Pod
Leon Hadar Security, Politics, United States, Russia, Syria The president’s approach to Russia and the world isn’t so different from the businessman’s. There are two lines of effort in the current campaign against Republican nominee Donald Trump. First, his Democratic opponents stigmatize him as Russian president Vladimir...
Russia, Trump and Manafort: A Test of the News
Rachel Bauman Politics, Security, Society, Russia, Ukraine, United States The media doesn’t mind being an echo chamber. In 1920 Walter Lippmann and Charles Merz wrote a forty-two-page supplement for the New Republic magazine called, “A Test of the News.” They scrutinized Western media coverage of the Bolshevik revolution and aftermath. They...
Five Steps NATO Should Take To Deter Russia
Dan Goure Russia, Eurasia Here are five that should form the core of a U.S./NATO effort to enhance deterrence and stability in Europe. As events in Crimea, Eastern Ukraine and Syria have unfolded, the world has had a chance to see the new Russian defense strategy and force posture in action. Russian President Putin has successfully finessed his...
Russia’s Deadly Armata Tank vs. America’s TOW Missile: Who Wins?
Sebastien Roblin Security, Eurasia High-tech face-off. Time to consider matchmaking Russia’s favorite new Armata tank with America’s ex-favorite antitank missile, the TOW! Yes, you heard that last part right, the TOW has been sold all over the world—but America’s starry eyes of antitank love have wandered to greener pastures....
