China Could Overwhelm US Military In Asia In Hours — Brad Lendon

Arms race watch. It's on.

CNN
China Could Overwhelm US Military In Asia In Hours

Brad Lendon

Zero Hedge — Former Fed Governor Warns Of "Several Decade Cold War" With China

Zero Hedge
Former Fed Governor Warns Of "Several Decade Cold War" With China

Tyler Durden

Russia is arming up in reaction to a NATO buildup near its borders

Cold War 2.0 is heating up. Arms race on.

Fort Russ

NATO GAINING STRENGTH AND MOMENTUM IN E. EUROPE – Shoigu

Paul Antonopoulos

SHOIGU FORMS 70 NEW UNITS IN RESPONSE TO NATO BUILDUP ON RUSSIA’S BORDER

Joaquin Flores

RT — China must speed up development of nukes to deter US aggression – state media

The arms race heats up as Cold War 2.0 spreads to Asia.

RT
China must speed up development of nukes to deter US aggression – state media

Zero Hedge — China Accelerates Next-Gen Nuclear Weapons Development To Compete With US, Russia

Keeping abreast of the arms race.

As we have been documenting over the last year and beyond, China is rapidly modernizing its military; unveiling a new stealth bomber, an array of guided-weapons, and deploying further from home. Their most recent focus has been on next generation nuclear weapons - as Beijing ramps up blast experiments for nukes comprised of smaller, smarter warheads designed to limit damage by targeting specific targets, according to the South China Morning Post….

China's development of next gen nukes will put them in direct competition with the United States and Russia, sparking concerns by experts over the prospect of a new cold war arms race that has the potential of boiling over into thermonuclear war.…

“The use of small warheads will lead to the use of bigger ones,” Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie told the Post. “If other countries use nuclear weapons on us, we have to retaliate. This is probably why there is research to develop new weapons.”

Just a matter of when and who uses nukes first. But that is not necessarily the US, China or Russia. Could be Pakistan, India or Israel, for instance.
Zero Hedge
China Accelerates Next-Gen Nuclear Weapons Development To Compete With US, Russia
Tyler Durden

Here's When China Will Win The Arms Race With The US, And How BofA Is Trading It

Spoiler: 2038 or before. If the world is still around then.

Zero Hedge
Here's When China Will Win The Arms Race With The US, And How BofA Is Trading It

Tyler Durden

Doug Tsuruoka — ‘Star Wars’ missile defense is back, but not how it should be

Another multi-trillion dollar boondoggle in the works that could have been avoided. The Anglo-American defense industry will be pleased.

Asia Times
‘Star Wars’ missile defense is back, but not how it should be

Doug Tsuruoka  | Editor At Large

See also

"Lest we forget."

An indisputable fact is that what has led to both World Wars – that was British politics, or, if you prefer, whatever acted through it. However, there is an interesting difference between the activities of London in 1914 and 1917, and in 1939 – and also there exists a lot of similarities with present London (and Washington) proceedings.

Britain versus Germany and Russia. WWII, the United Nations, the liberal world order, NATO, the Common Market, the European Union, and the Eurozone were supposed to preclude the these rivalries in Europe from rising anew. But here we go again.

The author's English is "non-standard," and the piece is longish. It also deals with details of history, geopolitics, and geostrategy that require some background.  Moreover, it not only goes deeper than the history written by the victors that has become the normal paradigm in the UK and US, but it contradicts that narrative.

Geopolitika
How Britain Provoked Two World Wars and Tries to Make It for The Third Time

Konrad Rekas (lives in Tarnobzeg, Poland)

Dave Majumdar — Russia Just Revealed How It Will Fight the Wars of the Future (And Its Shocking)

More arms race stuff. Should be worth a few trillion.

The big concern for United States and NATO is that if Russia realizes its vision, it will have the ability to precisely strike deep inside alliance territory. That means that Russian force will be able to strike at infrastructure such as air bases deep inside alliance territory.

“The U.S. must plan to counter a wide variety of UASs along with space-based assets,” Bendett said. “Not to mention countering potential deep-strike capability by Russian technologies currently in development.”

The National Interest
Russia Just Revealed How It Will Fight the Wars of the Future (And Its Shocking)
Dave Majumdar | Defense Editor

See also by the same author.

Mattis is blinded by cognitive bias if he believes the stuff he is spouting, putting all the blame on Russia. He is simply in denial of US and NATO actions over the last 25 years that resulted in Russia's coming to regard the US and NATO as an adversary and taking steps to respond, as Putin set forth in 2008.

Mattis: Russia Has Chosen To Be a "Strategic Competitor"

Meanwhile,

There's a new kid on the block.

Satellite images taken Monday show a huge carrier-led fleet of Chinese ships in formation for spring exercises off the coast of Hainan Province in the South China Sea.
One of the images, gathered by the company Planet Labs, shows almost 40 ships sailing two abreast in a row, with China’s first aircraft carrier, the Russian-built Type 001 Liaoning, near the center.

The Chinese navy recently announced that it would be holding spring training exercises in the South China Sea to test its combat readiness.

“The South China Sea and East China Sea will be primary battlegrounds,” Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the state-run Global Times newspaper on Sunday. “The [People’s Liberation Army] is committed to be battle-ready through simulated combat training.”

Song said that unlike previous years in which exercises have been held in spring and fall, navy drills will be held each month in 2018....

Stars and Stripes
Satellite photos show large Chinese fleet in South China Sea for drills

Wyatt Olson | Stars And Stripes

also

Kim, Xi portray strong ties after N. Korean leader's visit

Gillian Wong And Kim Tong-Hyung | Associated Press

Asia Unhedged — Russia, China eclipse US in hypersonic missiles: Pentagon

Arms race.

Others have noted to Asia Unhedged that the US defense establishment’s goal when speaking to lawmakers is to drum up support for more funding. Exaggerating threats, or short comings, instills a sense of urgency for additional investment in arms development.

Asia Times
Russia, China eclipse US in hypersonic missiles: Pentagon

Asia Unhedged

See also

Russia Insider

Winner of Putin's Name Contest for 'Miracle Weapons' - a 14th c. Christian Monk!
Charles Bausman

also

Russia’s Game-Changing Weapons That Putin Did Not Mention
Arkady Savitsky

Who Will Stop the US-Russia Arms Race? Aaron Maté interviews Stephen F. Cohen

Look, it's bogus. It's fiction. It's B.S. It's disinformation. It's American propaganda. The reality is this: Russia has been protesting about the, once we left, Washington left the Antiballistic Missile Treaty, Russia has been protesting what we've been building. We told Russia, why are you worried? It has nothing to do with Russia. This is all about Iran and, quote, rogue states, unidentified....

This was about Russia. The Russians knew it. You and I knew it. Everybody knew it...

Then Professor Cohen gives the game away.

STEPHEN COHEN: Do you know what is an indestructible weapon system?

AARON MATE: No I don't.

STEPHEN COHEN: One funded in all 50 states. All right. That's what this missile defense has been. They farmed out manufacturing of it everywhere from Paducah Kentucky to Israel. Everybody gets a piece of the action. Therefore you get no protest in Congress because it's constituency politics. And that's true of a lot of the weapons systems we make. They're indestructible when all 50 states get a piece of the action, and that's what you have with this missile defense stuff....

It gets worse.

AARON MATE: Now, recently there were some Democratic senators to call for a new round of strategic arms talks with Russia. But I want to read to you a quote from the Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, where he is greeting the news of Mike Pompeo now being the secretary of state. And instead of pointing to Pompeo's open disdain for the Iran nuclear deal and his hawkishness on things including Russia, this is what Chuck Schumer said. He said: The instability of this administration and just about every area weakens America. If he's confirmed we hope that Mr. Pompeo will turn up we'll turn over a new leaf and will start toughening up our policies towards Russia and Putin, unquote.

So Professor Cohen, as we wrap, that is the top priority from the leader of the opposition party Chuck Schumer, for the new nominee to be secretary of state to be tougher towards Russia.
STEPHEN COHEN: Well, but it's not just Schumer. And Schumer is not to make this distinction as statesmen. He is a kind of local politician risen way above his pay grade when it comes to foreign affairs. It was outrageous what he said. But a lot of the Democratic leaders are saying this sort of thing....

Video and transcript.

TRNN
Who Will Stop the US-Russia Arms Race?

Aaron Maté interviews Stephen F. Cohen, Professor Emeritus of Russian Studies, History, and Politics at New York University and Princeton University

See also

Why do the Western regimes now feel Russia is a greater threat then in the past? Do they believe Russia is more vulnerable to Western threats or attacks? Why do the Western military leaders seek to undermine Russia’s defenses? Do the US economic elites believe it is possible to provoke an economic crisis and the demise of President Putin’s government? What is the strategic goal of Western policymakers? Why has the UK regime taken the lead in the anti-Russian crusade via the fake toxin accusations at this time?

This paper is directed at providing key elements to address these questions....

The Unz Review
Why the UK, the EU and the US Gang-Up on Russia

James Petras | Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York and adjunct professor at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia

See also

Not only Russia.

Just hours after the latest close military encounter between the US and China, when the US navy sailed a destroyer to within 12 nautical miles of the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea as a "freedom of navigation" operation - a move that China condemned as a "severe provocation" just as the two countries launched an all-out trade war - the Chinese military launched its spring combat readiness drills with an air force exercise in the West Pacific and a joint combat patrol mission in the South China Sea.

The air force drills include H-6K bombers and Su-30 and Su-35 fighters, according to the PLA , and have a simple, if clear, purpose: "Air Force exercises are rehearsals for future wars and are the most direct preparation for war," the Chinese Air Force said on its Weibo account on Sunday, according to Reuters.

"The more exercises China practices far from its shores the better it will be positioned as an important force for managing and controlling crises, containing war and winning battles", it added....

Zero Hedge
China Launches Massive Military Drills "In Preparation For War"

Tyler Durden

Dave Majumdar — Could America Stop a Cruise Missile or Hypersonic Weapons Attack by Russia or China?

Arms race on. Defense industry, a euphemism for the military industrial complex, salivates.

As DefSec Mattis admits, the US cannot stop an ICBM attack by capabilities that already exists, so new technology doesn't increase the threat. The US strategy is not to counter an attack directly with through deterrence based on the the nuclear triad, or "trident."

No matter, huge increases in defense spending are already on the way.

The National Interest
Could America Stop a Cruise Missile or Hypersonic Weapons Attack by Russia or China?

Dave Majumdar | Defense Editor

See also

The RS-28 [Sarmat] is far more than a follow-on to the aging R-36 [Satan] missile —it is, fundamentally, an entirely new weapon the likes of which the United States has never before seen. The “Sarmat” retains its impressive throw-weight while reducing its overall weight by nearly 50 percent by using advanced composite materials for the missile airframe and employing a new type of liquid-fuel propulsion system—the PDY-99 “pulse detonation” engine—that hyper-accelerates the RS-28 into orbit, reducing the infrared signature of the launch as well as the time available to American early-warning satellites to detect such a launch. The RS-28 is designed to either be armed with 10 750-kiloton independently targeted maneuvering warheads, each of which can destroy an American ICBM silo or launch control facility, or between 16 and 24 new hypersonic glide vehicles, each tipped with a 150-kiloton nuclear warhead, and likewise capable of taking out any hardened site on American soil. Either configuration provides Russia with the means to avoid launch detection, evade all missile defense systems, and destroy America’s land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) nuclear force. In short, with the RS-28, Russia possesses a genuine first-strike capability that nullifies one third of America’s nuclear triad.

Contrary to Secretary Mattis’s dismissive commentary, the RS-28 does, in fact, fundamentally alter the strategic balance between Russia and the United States. Moreover, Mike Pompeo knows full well that the Russians are not bluffing. Both Mattis and Pompeo had been laboring under the false impression that Russia could not afford to field a follow-on to the R-36 missile, especially considering that that missile had been built in the Ukraine during Soviet times, and as such those capabilities were lost to Russian defense industry. The RS-28, however, is a reality—the Russians simply reconfigured their own indigenous missile production capability and will have at least 50 of the new missiles operational by 2020. It’s a reality that America’s leadership might want to factor into any future policy toward Moscow....

The American Conservative

No, Putin Isn’t Bluffing on Nukes

Scott Ritter

Also

Exposé of John Bolton lying the US into war.

The American Conservative
The Untold Story of John Bolton’s Campaign for War With Iran

Gareth Porter

See also

Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab reportedly busted a major US military asset when it exposed a sophisticated cyber-espionage operation that targeted computer networks in the Middle East.

On March 9, the leading Russia-based cybersecurity company reported their research on a program it called Slingshot, which used a highly sophisticated approach to infect computers with malware through infected routers. The operation had targeted computers throughout the Middle East and some parts of Africa since at least 2012, and required a lot of money and expertise from its creators. A report by an industry news publication, CyberScoop, claims Slingshot was run by the Special Operations Command (SOCOM)....

RT
‘Pentagon cyber-espionage op’: US reportedly behind Slingshot malware targeting Mid East & Africa

Also

Any claims that a specific piece of U.S. malware—in this case, Slingshot—was targeting only al-Qaeda or ISIS bad guys is disingenuous as well. The exploit on routers is hitting an entire region, infecting an untold number of innocent people. Internet cafés are said to have been hit in this, meaning everyone going into the cafes is at risk.

Probing aka fishing rather than targeting suspects.

The American Conservative
Was Destructive ‘Slingshot’ Malware Deployed by the Pentagon?

Jason Ditz


Also

Former Aerospace Forces Commander and Russian Senate Defense Committee Chairman Viktor Bondarev says it would take at least 500 American anti-missile missiles to intercept a single Sarmat ICBM....

Sputnik International

Russian Military Reveals How US Could Intercept New Sarmat Missile

See also

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Harper: West Broke Promise To Yeltsin Of No Nato Expansion

Gilbert Doctorow and Ray McGovern — Gang of Four: Senators Call for Tillerson to Enter into Arms Control Talks with the Kremlin

Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont)

Voices of sanity crying in the wilderness.

Consortium News
Gang of Four: Senators Call for Tillerson to Enter into Arms Control Talks with the Kremlin

Gilbert Doctorow and Ray McGovern

See also

Russia Insider
Kremlin Publishes Full Megan Kelly Putin Interview - NBC Cut the Best Parts (Video + Transcript)

Ekaterina Bilanova — US 'Deep State' Hopes to Bankrupt Russia Through New Arms Race – Analyst

The US elite believes that this worked for Reagan. There is, of course, the side-benefit of feeding the military-industrial-govermental complex that is foundational for the US politico-economic system.

I would add that Russia is not the principal target. The chief competitor of the US is China, and the US cannot achieve its goal of permanent global hegemony without regime change in China and partition of the country into pieces that cannot challenge the US economically. This is only possible by first effecting regime change and partitioning of Russia.

Sputnik International — Opinion
US 'Deep State' Hopes to Bankrupt Russia Through New Arms Race – Analyst

Ekaterina Bilanova

See also

Regime Change Propaganda on Syria Now In Overdrive

also

TASS
West seeks regime change plan in Syria instead of Geneva process, says Lavrov

also

Fort Russ
Putin announces Russia as world leader in Defense technologies
Izvestia | Translated by Inessa Sinchougova

Sputnik International — US New NPR: Foreign Threats Justify Arms Spending Hike - Russian Ambassador

The new arms race heats up.

The Trump Administration's newly-released Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) lays out plans to modernize the US nuclear triad by integrating nuclear capability on the F-35 fighter jet, deploying low-yield warheads at sea, and developing new silo-based strategic weapons, among other initiatives.…

Nutty logic.

The review claims a stronger US nuclear deterrent is needed to discourage Russia, China, Iran and North Korea from either developing new weapons or expanding existing arsenals.

This will provoke further steps to maintain parity rather than discourage declared adversaries.

The US policy is military dominance. This policy guarantees an arms race.

Sputnik International
US New NPR: Foreign Threats Justify Arms Spending Hike - Russian Ambassador

Stephen F. Cohen — Russia Is Not the ‘No. 1 Threat’—or Even Among the Top 5

By declaring Putin’s Russia to be the greatest danger to America, the political-media establishment itself is endangering US national security.

The Nation
Russia Is Not the ‘No. 1 Threat’—or Even Among the Top 5
Stephen F. Cohen |  professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University and Princeton University, and a contributing editor of The Nation.

See also

Counterpunch
Suddenly, I’m a ‘Russian Agent’!

Dave Lindorff, investigative reporter, founding member of ThisCantBeHappening!, an online newspaper collective, columnist for CounterPunch, and a contributor to Businessweek, The Nation, Extra!and Salon.com.

Arms race ratchets up

Sputnik International
Analysts Explain How China May Respond to US Push to Militarize Asia-Pacific

Deutsche Welle
NATO to beef up in face of 'assertive' Russia

The Cipher Brief
Securing Orbit: Countdown to a Space Corps?

Russia Feed
Crimea has a shipyard ready to build a new fleet of Russian aircraft carriers

USNI
UPDATED: 7 U.S. Aircraft Carriers Are Now Simultaneously Underway
Sam LaGrone

Containing Russia and China: Pentagon requests more than $230 billion for nuclear weapons

A new nuclear arms race is on between the US and Russia and China, as well as weaponizing space and cyberwarfare capability, which this post omits.

The nominal amounts spent on military are misleading since US prices are higher to make room for corporate profit and graft. The comparison should be real resources, and that data is unavailable.

Fort Russ
Containing Russia and China: Pentagon requests more than $230 billion for nuclear weapons
RT Russian - Inessa Sinchougova

Andrea Shalal — U.S. reshaping budget to account for Russian military threat

Ramping up the "threat" (fear factor) to justify increasing "defense" spending. This is a self-augmenting system. As one side (US allies) ramp up the other side (Russia & China) also ramp up. Welcome to the new arms race.

It's looking like Donald Trump may be facing a similar dilemma that Lyndon Johnson faced in trying to achieve the Great Society will simultaneously funding an increasingly costly Vietnam War.

Reuters
U.S. reshaping budget to account for Russian military threat

Andrea Shalal

Zero Hedge — Putin Warns “US Has Pushed Russia Back Into Nuclear Arms Race

It's official. Game on.

Having unveiled the first images of its new nuclear missile capable of reaching US soil, Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning today that Washington’s actions are “pushing Russian into a nuclear arms race,” forcing Russia “to develop its nuclear attack systems.”

This will be Obama's legacy. You know, the guy that got the Nobel Peace Prize at the time of his election.

Zero Hedge
Putin Warns “US Has Pushed Russia Back Into Nuclear Arms Race

Tyler Durden

If the worst happens, the world won't have to be concerned with carbon-based global warming anymore.

Abstract

A nuclear war between Russia and the United States, even after the arsenal reductions planned under New START, could produce a nuclear winter. Hence, an attack by either side could be suicidal, resulting in self- assured destruction. Even a ÒsmallÓ nuclear war between India and Pakistan, with each country detonating 50 Hiroshima-size atom bombsÑonly about 0.03 percent of the global nuclear arsenalÕs explosive powerÑas air bursts in urban areas, could produce so much smoke that temperatures would fall below those of the Little Ice Age of the fourteenth to nineteenth centuries, shortening the growing season around the world and threaten- ing the global food supply. Furthermore, there would be massive ozone depletion, allowing more ultraviolet radiation to reach EarthÕs surface. Recent studies predict that agricultural production in parts of the United States and China would decline by about 20 percent for four years, and by 10 percent for a decade. The environmental threat posed by even a small number of nuclear weapons must be considered in nuclear policy deliberations. Military planners now treat the environmental effects as collateral damage, and treaties currently consider only the number of weapons needed to assure destruction of opposing forces. Instead, treaties must call for further reductions in weapons so that the collateral effects do not threaten the continued survival of the bulk of humanity. Proliferation cannot be treated as a regional problem. A regional conflict has the potential to cause mass starvation worldwide through environmental effects.

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
Self-assured destruction: The climate impacts of nuclear war
Alan Robock and Owen Brian Toon

RT — US missile defense in Europe directly threatens Russia – Chinese military

US antimissile shield in Europe directly threats Russia, a senior-ranking Chinese general said at an international security in Beijing. He added that US actions across the globe disrupt the balance of regional power and provoke regional instability.

“The US did not provide legally-binding guarantees that the missile defense system they are deploying in Europe would not be aimed against Russia. But at the same time it poses a real and direct threat to the Russian security,” Maj. Gen. Cai Jun, the vice head of the Central Military Commission Joint Staff Department's warfare bureau, said in a speech at the Xiangshan Forum.

The assessment is similar to that of the Russian military, which insists that the American antimissile shield in Europe compromises Russia’s security and needs to be countered with better ballistic missiles and capabilities to destroy antimissile sites, should the need arise.

“China and Russia have similar positions about strategic antiballistic missile systems and oppose attempts by any nation or group of nations to create such systems unilaterally at the expense of strategic international security,” the general said.

China is increasingly getting involved. If the US objective was to create a Russian-Chinese military alliance, it's succeeding very well.

[Russian] Gen. Poznikhir said Russia and China are forced to respond to these threats and preserve the strategic balance of power.

RT
US missile defense in Europe directly threatens Russia – Chinese military

Also

According to the general, the US is developing a global missile shield system as a means to achieve global supremacy

TASS
Chinese general: US encourages Asia-Pacific countries to develop nuclear missile programs

According to the Russian General Staff, US missile defense systems can be used as attack weapons

Russian general: US needs missile shield for military supremacy over Russia, China

China calls for dropping outdated mindset of Cold War times