S. Korean deal with China’s Huawei worries U.S. military command

S. Korean deal with China’s Huawei worries U.S. military command

Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon The U.S. military command in South Korea voiced concerns this week that a Chinese telecommunications deal with South Korea could undermine the security of communications on the tense Korean peninsula. Chris Bush, a spokesman for the U.S. Forces Korea said the command is concerned that a deal between China’s Huawei […]

China rushing to exploit openings offered by the U.S. under Obama

China rushing to exploit openings offered by the U.S. under Obama

Bill Gertz, Commentary For the past five and a half years, the United States military has suffered the devastating effects of hundreds of billions of dollars in budget cuts. At the same time, China’s armed forces—both conventional and nuclear—have made dramatic gains. … The new Chinese military is armed with highly sophisticated weaponry. They include […]

Russian military has impressive new gear, and it’s being noticed

Russian military has impressive new gear, and it’s being noticed

Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times Elite Russian troops are displaying a new arsenal of body armor, individual weapons, armor-piercing ammunition and collar radios — a menu of essential gear that gives them a big tactical advantage against a lesser-equipped Ukrainian army.   If President Vladimir Putin orders an invasion, the new-generation body armor, in particular, […]

Russia blocks U.S. surveillance of troop movements near Ukraine

Russia blocks U.S. surveillance of troop movements near Ukraine

Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon The Russian government this week canceled a planned U.S. surveillance flight over Russian territory in a bid to limit spying on massed troops facing off against Ukraine and Eastern Europe, according to U.S. officials. The overflight mission was scheduled for April 14 to April 16 under the 1992 Open Skies […]

Congress warned U.S. power grid has few defenses against attack

Congress warned U.S. power grid has few defenses against attack

Bill Gertz, Inside the Ring, Washington Times The U.S. electrical power grid is vulnerable to cyber and physical attacks that could cause devastating disruptions throughout the country, federal and industry officials told Congress recently. Gerry Cauley, president of the North American Electric Reliability Corp., said that several — if not all — other critical U.S. […]

Heartbleed cracks secure access web sites, jeopardizing governments, private sector

Heartbleed cracks secure access web sites, jeopardizing governments, private sector

Bill Gertz It is common wisdom in the cyber security world that the Internet is a lawless environment. The Heartbleed bug announced last week reveals why.  A widely used Internet security encryption system known as OpenSSL wasn’t attacked or had its security code broken by the Chinese or Russian intelligence services. Instead sophisticated computer hackers likely […]

Russia may have violated START with test of multi-warhead ICBM

Russia may have violated START with test of multi-warhead ICBM

Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon Russia’s military carried out a flight test of a new multi-warhead intercontinental ballistic missile on Monday amid growing tensions with the United States over the crisis in Ukraine. The SS-27 Mod 2 road-mobile ICBM was launched around 2:40 a.m. EST from Russia’s Plesetsk launch facility, located about 500 miles north […]

Intelligence points to coming North Korean long-range missile test

Intelligence points to coming North Korean long-range missile test

Bill Gertz, Inside the Ring, The Washington Times U.S. intelligence agencies are closely watching North Korea for signs that Pyongyang’s next military provocation will be a long-range missile flight test. Recent pronouncements from the North indicate the regime has decided to conduct a long-range flight test, the timing of which is unknown, said U.S. officials […]

China rolls out new J-15 carrier jet for Hagel visit

China rolls out new J-15 carrier jet for Hagel visit

Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon China’s military has allowed the public release of the first photographs of a warplane variant deployed on the Liaoning — the aircraft carrier that saw its first visit by U.S. officials this week. The new Shenyang J-15, also known as the Flying Shark, is based on the Russian SU-33 design […]

China ramping up Latin American initiatives

China ramping up Latin American initiatives

Miles Yu, Washington Times On April 1, Chinese defense officials converged at La Paz, Bolivia, for a grand ceremony to deliver the ground station for a Chinese-launched communications satellite. … China is marching on in Latin America, accompanied by a few ideological fellow travelers, such as Venezuela and Cuba. In the past decade, China has […]