This would be hilarious if it weren't so serious. The US sends its Aegis equipped Navy to intimidate Russia and Russia responds by intimidating the US ship. This kind of deliberate provocation is behavior characteristic of juveniles and crime organizations. And the US started it by "prepositioning" resources related to a first strike capability. Then spins it as through Russia were acting aggressively or that China is "militarizing" the South China Sea. Both Russia and China are sending strong signals that they will not be intimidated militarily and will meet provocation with provocation, as well as responding "asymmetrically."
Not mentioned in the article:
Do you remember the spring 2014 incident involving the USS Donald Cook and the SU-24 in the Black Sea? There were reports that the SU-24 used some kind of electronic magic to shut down all systems on the Aegis destroyer. The destroyer then quickly steamed to a friendly port. At the time, I couldn’t decide if there was any truth to this story or it was just false war propaganda. Seems there was a lot of truth to that story. Is this the system that shut down the USS Donald Cook? And now it’s in Syria along with the Krasukha-4 jamming station and who knows what other pieces of radio electronic combat wizardry. My advice for anyone eager to teach the Russians a lesson is to proceed very cautiously, or better yet, just STFU and reexamine your own military forces.
Seems that the Russians were listening as our defense experts were touting full spectrum dominance as the cornerstone of our military doctrine. Our doctrine was/is based on seeing and knowing it all. In response, the Russians moved to dominate the full spectrum in classic Soviet/Russian radio electronic combat style. This approach balanced the preservation of their forces (force protection) while enhancing their ability to apply offensive combat power. With apologies to Heinlein, technology is a harsh mistress… especially when it lays with a sober doctrinal philosophy.
Sic Semper Tyrannis
"Russian Jamming System Blocks All NATO Electronics Inside Bubble 600 Km in Diameter over Syria" - TTG
See also
After a decade and a half of counterinsurgency operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond—longer than even in Vietnam—decades of assumptions about warfare are once again being re-evaluated. McMaster and other top generals have concluded that while the United States was bogged down in the Middle East, Moscow focused its energies on rebuilding its own forces to potentially counter America’s tactics.
See, it's Putler again.
Politico
The Secret U.S. Army Study That Targets MoscowBryan Bender
