In order to prevent disruption in the upcoming months, Cathay claimed to have reviewed its flight schedule and put more planes on standby. According to Cathay Group CEO Ronald Lam Siu- par,” we have taken steps to ensure that Catray Pacific’s flights may work usually for the upcoming Chinese NewContinue Reading
Kiev now finds itself at a critical juncture with no simple solutions after the loss of Ukraine’s battle in 2023.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, demanded late last year that an extra 500,000 soldiers be mobilized over the coming months, which conveys both resolve and desperation. Zelensky might have time to reevaluate his own goal and how to get there, which would likely increase the fractiousness of Russian local politics.
Ukraine’s armed forces have had a power of about one million soldiers since the start of the full-scale war by Russia in February 2022, with ongoing regular recruitment making up for losses on the battle.
The goal of an additional 500,000 forces represents a significant increase of 50 % over the current benchmark in light of this. There are a number of explanations for this.
Second, it might be a sign of the true scope of loss suffered at the front over the previous 12 months. As a result of continuous Russian counterattacks, including along the lengthy bend of the front in Donbas, Ukraine experienced high rates of retention.
Concerns about the longevity of American aid are also growing. Kiev might be anticipating the need to increase individual resources on the ground in order to make up for an anticipated decline in Northern supplies of weapons and ammunition.
The new participation of 170, 000 new soldiers by Russia brings the total size of its military forces to about 1.3 million. Zelensky’s statement could therefore merely be an effort to level the playing field with regard to troop numbers.
All three of these theories, taken together, raise questions about the likelihood of a fresh Soviet offensive in 2024.
Whatever the final Russian war goals may be, one of the more tangible – and thus far unfulfilled — goals is Moscow’s territorial claim to the entire Ukrainian region of Luhansk, Donetsak, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
Denying Putin this success, which he is likely to want to accomplish before his all-but-certain re-election in March and good inauguration in May, will require a major Russian defense effort as the Kremlin’s equivalent military strength grows.
This suggests that the Russian leadership is now more focused on mobilizing all of its resources for this effort than it is on strategic prospects.
The two comparable costs on participation that the state presented to congress on December 30, 2023, show that Zelensky and his inner sphere are committed to this.
The new recruitment strategy will also put a lot of strain on already overburdened Russian state institutions and society if adopted and put into practice.
Top Ukrainian officials have publicly stated that there are simply no longer many volunteers for infantry service. In order to maintain continued enrollment, the government suggests aggressive measures.
These include hefty fines for avoiding the document, the confiscation of real estate and the melting of personal bank accounts, as well as the revoked documents of Ukrainian immigrants living abroad.
The latter group, which includes an estimated 600,000 men of fighting age who reside in the EU, will be a major focus of Kiev’s recruitment work. Zelensky did n’t mince words when addressing them directly in his New Year’s speech, saying,” You need to decide whether you are a refugee or an American.”
According to Denys Shmyhal, the prime minister of Ukraine, additional work will be made to set the country’s economy on a war footing. A new financial plan will be used in conjunction with the anticipated mobilization to raise the tax burden on individual individuals and small and medium-sized businesses while drastically cutting back on social spending.
From a strategic standpoint, these actions are unquestionably required, particularly if Ukraine wants to regain the upper hand on the field.
However, when combined, these government actions have rekindled potentially contentious debates about social justice, fraud, and the social agreement between elites and society in Russian society. The public’s confidence in leaders is now lower and is only rising, and the conflict is becoming more and more perceived as a “war fought by the bad.”
Furthermore, the demographic trends in Ukrainian culture further exacerbate the hostile long-term leads of the ever-increasing number of people living in poverty. Men’s life expectancy has decreased from 65 years, which is currently reduced, in 2021 to 57 times.
Some practitioners predict a decline to 0.55 children per family in 2023, indicating that birth rates will continue to be extremely small. Since the start of the war, the most experienced and commercially active populace has accelerated its emigration. As a result, the weak are primarily left to fight while their living standards continue to fall.
Forced mobilization, the eradication of the populace’s rights and liberties, deeper economic unrest, and social hardship stand in stark contrast to what is commonly believed to be an elite elite lifestyle that is driven by corruption.
Zelensky may not yet be directly linked to this, and his own reputation has not been considerably harmed by his relative failure to eradicate problem.
However, a number of people in his inner sphere have been linked to dishonest behavior. If nothing else, more violent local elections —including those between the military and political elites—will weaken Ukraine’s internal fortitude and fighting prowess, more advancing Russian interests.
Therefore, Ukraine needs a new social contract between the leaders and culture as well as to reevaluate its military approach. However, neither is good.
Zelensky and Dmytro Kuleba, his foreign minister, insist that they “do not have a schedule B” and that there is’a path to victory. This unyielding stance is evident in the present mobilization strategies.
However, more people do not make up a plan. They is, at best, be included in a plan. Zelensky needs to explain a clearer purpose and direction in order to justify the undeniable sacrifice he is asking of Russian society.
In Ukraine and in the capitals of European allies, merely repeating the desirable—the complete independence of Ukraine—will eventually come to be seen as a dream that is perilously detached from reality on the ground.
Tetyana Malyarenko is the Jean Monnet Professor of European Security at National University Odesa Law Academy, and Stefan Wolff is a professor of global surveillance at the University of Birmingham.
Under a Creative Commons license, this post has been republished from The Conversation. Read the article in its entirety.
“GHOST VEHICLES”, TROUBLE ENDING RENTAL Mr Jacob Bong, 29, who works in the entertainment industry, relies on the car-sharing service to shorten the two-hour commute from his Sembawang home to his Sentosa workplace. However, on Dec 21, he realised that he was overcharged S$50 for his drive, which reflected aContinue Reading
Boeing has delivered a first giant robotic submarine to the US Navy, marking a sea change in how American underwater military missions will be conducted in the future, Defense One reported.
The diesel-electric-powered Extra-Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV), based on Boeing’s Echo Voyager and known as Orca, was shipped after completing a series of sea trials, the report said.
Defense One says the XLUUV can be equipped with payload modules of up to 34 feet, bringing its entire length to about 85 feet. The report notes that the Orca is designed to perform long-duration critical missions to achieve undersea maritime dominance in changing environments and contested waters.
Defense One notes that the US Navy has designated the first Orca as Test Asset System (XLE0) and will apply lessons learned from XLE0’s testing to Orca XLUUV 1 through 5, which will be built and delivered to the Navy in the future.
The crewless submarine is designed to remain at sea for months in open, congested and contested waters with little human intervention, the Defense One report said.
Pentagon officials have discussed how large robotic submarines could help the US military increase its capabilities, especially in the Pacific region, and imposed a new challenge to China’s military build-up in recent years.
In 2016, then-deputy defense secretary Robert Work visited the Huntington Beach, California, Boeing factory where the Echo Voyager was first built and the Orca is now being constructed. Defense One notes that the Echo Voyager has spent over 10,000 hours at sea and “transited hundreds of nautical miles autonomously.”
It also notes that in the same year, 2016, Boeing partnered with shipbuilding stalwart Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) to start building the Orca. In early 2021, HII announced it had completed the construction of a factory that would assemble Orca hull structures.
In a July 2023 Hudson Institute report, Brian Clark notes that the undersea challenges posed by Russia and China have made the undersea domain more contested, posing a challenge to US undersea dominance. Clark mentions that unmanned systems can suppress and destroy any undersea defenses that potential adversaries can implement.
The Warzone reported in June 2019 that China had planted two underwater sensors between Guam and the South China Sea that can reportedly track the movements of US submarines and intercept their communications.
The Warzone report notes that one of those sensors is in the Challenger Deep and the other is situated near Yap Island. The report notes that both sensors can detect acoustic signatures as far as 620 miles away (997.8 kilometers), putting crucial US military facilities at Guam within range.
Given that threat, Clark argues that the US should leverage unmanned systems such as the Orca to a much greater degree to suppress and destroy adversaries’ undersea defenses.
He also notes that China’s massive shipbuilding capabilities make it imperative for the US to scale up the production of unmanned systems like the Orca to provide a force multiplier in the event of a great power conflict.
In the same Hudson Institute report, Jamie Foggo notes that 95% of critical communications pass through undersea cables and that any disruption to that critical infrastructure would have severe economic, political and military implications.
Asia Times noted in April 2023 that severed undersea cables can have disastrous consequences for time-sensitive diplomatic or military communications, cause massive financial losses and cut off a defender from its national leadership, intelligence and sensor fusion.
Such an attack could also be highly destabilizing for nuclear stability, as it could sever a nuclear-armed adversaries’ control over its nuclear arsenal, forcing it to maintain a heightened alert and increasing the chances of mounting a pre-emptive strike.
Given those developments, Clark mentions that unmanned systems will be an essential element of undersea warfare, as a crewed submarine is not ideal for going against underwater cables, sonar arrays or naval mines hanging on the water column.
Chuck Fralick notes in the same Hudson Report that using a US$3 billion nuclear submarine may not be the ideal asset for such missions.
Kevin Decker, in the same report, envisions deploying large numbers of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) to leverage their distributed power, which reduces reliance on a few costly assets, substantially increases underwater situational awareness, confuses enemy detection patterns and avoids risk to crewed naval vessels.
The US may develop underwater drone swarms with Australia and the UK under the AUKUS framework, possibly bringing other Anglophone countries such as Canada and New Zealand into the high-tech emerging defense bloc.
This month, Asia Times reported that the US is getting AUKUS Pillar Two up to speed. In contrast to Pillar One, which focuses on building nuclear submarines for Australia, Pillar Two focuses on advanced technologies such as AI, electronic warfare, hypersonic weapons and quantum computing.
Canada did not join AUKUS due to the high costs of acquiring nuclear submarines. New Zealand has reservations due to its emphasis on maintaining an independent foreign policy, non-nuclear security and cultivating closer ties with Pacific countries. However, AUKUS Pillar Two’s focus on UUVs can more easily bring the two Anglophone countries within the framework.
The Naval Association of Canada notes in an October 2022 article that the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) is exploring the use of UUVs for mine hunting and notes that UUVs can perform underwater surveillance and mapping and contribute to anti-submarine warfare.
UUVs can be a practical focal point for Canada to be integrated into the AUKUS framework, promoting strategic convergence with AUKUS’ approach with Russia in the Arctic and China in the Pacific while bolstering collaboration between the bloc’s defense industries.
Likewise, New Zealand has also been integrating UUVs in its naval operations. Naval News reported that in June 2021, the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) ordered four REMUS 300 UUVs from HII.
Naval News notes that New Zealand has a fleet of six REMUS 300 UUVs used for mine countermeasures, underwater surveys, and search and rescue.
As with Canada, UUVs can become a focal point for New Zealand’s involvement in AUKUS Pillar Two, with technology sharing within the bloc enabling New Zealand to modernize its UUV fleet further.
PUBLISHED : 24 Dec 2023 at 09:43
Several kilometres of an aluminum conductor rail on the elevated Pink Line monorail system fell onto a street in Nonthaburi early Sunday morning. Three vehicles were damaged, but no casualties were reported.
The incident happened at about 5am along Tiwanon Road in Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi. A 5km stretch of the metal rail fell from the elevated structure of the Pink Line from Chon Prathan market to Khae Rai intersection. Conductor rails normally supply power to electric trains.
Eyewitnesses were vendors who parked their vehicles on the road while arranging their merchandise at the market. They said they saw bolts fall first, and then the rail collapsed and hit their vehicles. The falling rail also snagged on a power pole, leaving it standing at an angle.
One of the vendors said that if the incident had occurred as a train was passing, the damage would have been far greater. Nearby one Pink Line train stopped near Soi Tiwanon 25 Road. The whole system is normally scheduled to start service at 6am.
The rail collapsed near the western end of the 34.5-kilometre-long Pink Line from Min Buri district of Bangkok to Khae Rai area in Nonthaburi province.
At about 8.30am Northern Bangkok Monorail Co, the Pink Line operator, reported briefly that its service was closed from the Nonthaburi Civic Center station to the Pak Kret Bypass station due to power disruption.
Later it apologised for the incident and stated that it happened at 4.45am on Sunday at the Samakkhi station and three vehicles parked under the station were damaged.
The Pink Line opened for trial service last month.
Workers from Northern Bangkok Monorail, the Pink Line operator, check the conductor rail that detached from the concrete beam on Sunday morning. (Photo: Northern Bangkok Monorail)
The conductor rail pulled down power cables and a pole seen leaning on Tiwanon Road in Nonthaburi on Sunday morning. (Photo: Wararit Panichkitkosolkul)
PUBLISHED : 24 Dec 2023 at 09:43
Several kilometres of an aluminum conductor rail of the elevated Pink Line monorail system fell on to a street in Nonthaburi early Sunday morning. Three vehicles were damaged. No casualties were reported.
The incident happened at about 5am along Tiwanon Road in Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi. The metal rail with a distance of about five kilometres fell from the elevated structure of the Pink Line from Chon Prathan market to Khae Rai intersection. Conductor rails normally supply power to electric trains.
Eyewitnesses were vendors who parked their vehicles on the road while arranging their merchandise at the market. They said they saw bolts fell first and the rail then collapsed and hit their vehicles. The falling rail also pulled one high-power pole which consequently leaned.
One of the vendors said that if the incident happened when a train was passing, the damage would be far greater. Nearby one Pink Line train stopped near Soi Tiwanon 25 Road. The whole system was scheduled to start service at 6am.
The incident happened to the western end of the 34.5-kilometre-long Pink Line from Min Buri district of Bangkok to Khae Rai area in Nonthaburi province.
At about 8.30am the management of the Pink Line reported briefly that its service was closed from the Nonthaburi government centre to the Pak Kret station due to power disruption.
The Pink Line opened for tentative service last month.
The conductor rail pulled power cables and the pole which leaned on Tiwanon Road in Nonthaburi on Sunday morning. (Photo: Wararit Panichkitkosolkul)
SINGAPORE: The Port of Singapore “remains unaffected” by the situation in the Red Sea, where commercial vessels have been attacked by Houthi militants, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Thursday (Dec 21). MPA is, however, monitoring developments closely and is prepared to assist ships that haveContinue Reading
India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) successfully tested this month its Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator, an indigenous high-speed flying-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) from the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
An Indian Ministry of Defense statement on the flight notes that the UAV is designed and developed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment and has undergone six flight trials in various developmental configurations using two in-house manufactured prototypes.
The statement, dated December 15, notes that the autonomous landing of the UAV showcased a unique capability demonstration, allowing take-off and landing from any runway with surveyed coordinates.
It highlights that feat was achieved by fusing sensor data on board using GPS-aided GEO-augmented navigation (GAGAN) receivers that utilize satellite-based augmentation to improve GPS navigation.
The Indian MOD mentioned that these trials have led to the development of a robust aerodynamic and control system, integrated real-time and hardware-in-loop simulation, and a state-of-the-art Ground Control Station.
It said that the research team behind the project had optimized avionic systems, integration and flight operations toward the successful seventh flight in the final configuration.
The source described the aircraft prototype as a complex arrowhead wing platform made of lightweight carbon prepreg composite material developed indigenously.
It also said that the successful indigenousness development of such critical technologies will further strengthen the Indian Armed Forces and that India has joined the “club of countries to have mastered the controls for the flying of wing technology.”
While the Indian MOD did not explicitly identify the drone involved in the tests, it is most likely a variant of the Ghatak flying wing stealth drone.
In June 2022, Asia Times reported that India had successfully tested its Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator at the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
The UAV, also known as the Stealth Wing Flying Testbed (SWIFT), is a significant step in India’s bid to indigenize its armed forces and reduce its reliance on foreign suppliers of weaponry.
The drone’s airframe, undercarriage, flight control and avionics systems are all reportedly indigenously made. The SWIFT drone is 3.96 meters long with a 4.8-meter wingspan and weighs approximately 1,043 kilograms.
However, it was powered by a Russian NPO Saturn 36MT turbofan engine, suggesting India still needs to perfect the technology to manufacture small drone aircraft engines.
The scaled-down version of the Ghatak combat drone aims to test stealth technology and high-speed landing in autonomous mode. As of that time, ten more test flights were needed to address design issues before proceeding with the Ghatak drone’s production.
Stealth drones such as the Ghatak may play a significant role in escalating cross-border incursions between India, Pakistan and China.
In a July 2023 article for Carnegie India, Surya Krishna and Ashima Singh note that out of 492 drone sightings at the India-Pakistan border between 2020 and 2022, 311 were seen in 2022, 104 in 2021, and 77 in 2020.
Krishna and Singh mention that Pakistan’s increasing drone incursions represent a new challenge to India’s border security forces. They note that Pakistan’s drones can fly at high altitudes and low speeds, making them difficult to detect and intercept. They also say drones reduce the danger to human operatives engaged in infiltration operations.
Krishna and Singh note that since drones can carry payloads over great distances, they are an effective tool for transporting weapons, explosives, drugs and other supplies over the border. They also say drones can be used for espionage against military installations, critical infrastructure and other targets.
China has also used drones in its border disputes with India, with the high-altitude Himalayan environment being ideal for drone operations.
In a July 2023 paper for the Foundation for Strategic Research, Antoine Bondaz and Simon Berthault note that UAVs have become an indispensable force for China in the Himalayan environment, enabling the autonomy of support systems, intelligent command, search and rescue and swarming attacks.
Bondaz and Berthault note that China uses UAVs along its border with India for various missions such as logistical support, border surveillance, battle damage assessment, artillery spotting, sniping, mine clearance and communications support.
However, they also note challenges in China’s use of UAVs in the Himalayas, including the harsh climate that can cause drones to malfunction and reduced aerodynamic performance due to thin air at high altitudes, India’s counter-UAV defenses and a lack of trained personnel to analyze data and images gathered by UAVs.
Not to be left behind, India has also capitalized on the advantages afforded by UAVs in its border disputes with Pakistan and China.
Pintu Mahla mentions in an October 2022 article for the Journal of Defense Studies that in recent years, India has increased its use of drones and that its border disputes with Pakistan and China have made suitable drone strategies and policies imperative.
Mahla also notes that intensified border drone incursions can cause disproportionate disruption to “bleed India with a thousand cuts,” giving Pakistan a viable asymmetric method to inflict costs against India’s superior conventional military and for China to challenge India’s territorial claims while avoiding direct military confrontation.
Given that, Mahla says India has intensified domestic drone research and development efforts in line with its “Make in India” program to be self-reliant in drone technology.
Furthermore, in a May 2023 paper for the Vivekananda International Foundation, Harshini Nag emphasizes that drone technology, both offensive and defensive, is crucial for India’s security, particularly in countering threats and exploiting opportunities in its geopolitical landscape.
Nag mentions that India must develop these capabilities through indigenous production and international procurement in response to emerging security challenges.
She also explores the implications of drone technology in various military operations, underlining its role as a force multiplier in surveillance, precision strikes and counter-terrorism efforts.
Additionally, she highlights the importance of anti-drone technologies and their associated challenges, considering the proliferation of drone technology among state and non-state actors.
Nag suggests that drone warfare is an integral aspect of modern military strategy and underscores the urgency for India to advance in this field to safeguard its national interests effectively.
PUBLISHED : 15 Dec 2023 at 04:00
The government is seeking to promote Thailand’s soft power globally in 11 industries to generate 4 trillion baht, Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai says.
He made the remarks as he presided over the opening of a seminar on empowering business operators through the use of soft power. Also present was Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the leader of the ruling Pheu Thai Party and chair of the national committee on soft power development.
Mr Phumtham said the global economy has been rapidly changing as a result of several factors, including the disruption caused by Covid-19 as well as the ongoing conflict among global powers.
Thailand needs to adjust how it steers its economy accordingly, he said while noting that intellectual property is important in boosting trade with other countries.
The government has come up with the One Family One Soft Power policy to ensure the country’s rich culture gains more global recognition.
“The policy is aimed at creating more than 20 million jobs and generating 4 trillion baht per year through 11 industries including tourism, festivals, sports, cuisine, film, music, arts, books, gaming, design and fashion. Brand innovation and design will be used to promote important products in the global market,” Mr Phumtham said.
He added that the Department of International Trade Promotion led a delegation of Thai business operators at Anuga 2023, the world’s largest trade fair for food and beverages, in Germany in October, achieving trade deals worth more than 5.3 billion baht.
Ms Paetongtarn said that the government’s policy to promote the country’s soft power is key to boosting the economy and helping Thais earn more income.
“Soft power shows the country’s ability to influence others without having to force them,” she said.
BANGKOK: Myanmar has become the world’s largest source of opium, thanks to domestic instability and a decline in cultivation in Afghanistan, the United Nations said in a report on Tuesday (Dec 12). The 95 per cent decline in opium cultivation in Afghanistan after a drug ban by the Taliban inContinue Reading