Tag: Rand Corporation

South China Sea: Philippines’ anti-ship missile base puts Scarborough Shoal in cross hairs (more information)

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What the article left out is; to shoot far, the Philippine military needs to see far. However, the Philippines don’t have any over-the-horizon (OTH) radar, military satellites, AWACS planes or other long-range ISR capabilities, to make use of the full range of the BrahMos missile. Without it the missile is limited to the range of its available ISR assets, which are measured in just dozens of kilometers.

However, if a BrahMos missile is ever launched against a long-range Chinese target, it will be easy to guess who would have supplied the essential Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) information and target identification to the Philippine military.

StarBoySAR

South China Sea: Philippines’ anti-ship missile base puts Scarborough Shoal in cross hairs

Even if the Philippines lacks the advanced communications, intelligence, and targeting systems needed to maximise the BrahMos’ capabilities, it could still leverage US support in these areas, Koh said, citing the sinking of Russia’s Moskva warship by Ukraine in 2022, which he said was achieved thanks to “targeting support provided by Kyiv’s allies, chiefly the Americans”.

The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva became the largest warship lost in combat since the second world war when it was hit by two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles in April 2022. US officials later told the media that the Pentagon had provided intelligence that led to the ship’s sinking.

For the Philippines, the BrahMos missiles are “significant game changers” [🙄], according to security strategist Chester Cabalza, president of the International Development and Security Cooperation think tank in Manila.

…

However, Don McLain Gill, an international-studies lecturer at De La Salle University in the Philippines, questioned whether the BrahMos purchase alone would deliver robust deterrence against China.

“It will be crucial for the BrahMos to be supplemented by efficient intelligence, surveillance, target-acquisition and reconnaissance, which is critical to track targets and ensure they can be used by command,” he said, warning Manila must invest further to maximise the missiles’ deterrent value.

Previously:

Philippines Builds First BrahMos Anti-Ship Missile Base Facing South China Sea

Donors to Bob Menendez Legal Defense Linked to ex-Terror Group

Ms. Cat

Disclosure: it’s a reprint of an article by Eli Clifton from The Responsible Statecraft and The Intercept. If you have a problem with that, this is for you.

Donors to Bob Menendez Legal Defense Linked to ex-Terror Group (archived)

Much of the cash in the fund — he has raised over $400,000 — comes from sources one might anticipate. New Jersey and New York donors with various business and political interests in his home state, including the real estate firm led by Jared Kushner’s family, have given the fund money. There are, however, many lesser-known donors. One is Ahmad Moeinimanesh, an electronic engineer from Northern California. Another is Hossein Afshari, also from California.

Related:

Iranian exiles, DC lobbyists and the campaign to delist the MEK

The Iranian American Community of Northern California. It paid $400,000 over the past year to a Washington lobby group, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, to work on Capitol Hill to work for the removal of the MEK from the list of foreign terrorist organisations. The company assigned several former members of Congress to the account. The IACNC has also organised events in support of unbanning the MEK with appearances by Ros-Lehtinen and other prominent members of Congress as well as former White House officials.

Its director, Ahmad Moeinimanesh, has made personal financial donations to Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the chair of the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee even though her congressional district is on the other side of the country in Florida, as well as to her reelection committee. She has accepted more than $20,000 in political contributions from activists who support the MEK’s delisting.

The IACNC’s registered address is at a photocopying shop in Albany, California, owned by Behnam Mirabdal who has made financial donations to Ros-Lehtinen and Dana Rohrabacher, a subcommittee chairman who is among the most vigorous proponents of unbanning the MEK.

The American mainstream media suppresses the assassination of six US advisors by the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK)

Sean Gervasi, 1992 lecture: The US Strategy to Dismantle the USSR

Ms. Cat
Source

Sean Gervasi, 1992 lecture: The US Strategy to Dismantle the USSR

Related RAND Corporation documents:

Economic factors affecting Soviet foreign and defense policy: a summary outline

The Costs of the Soviet Empire

Sitting on bayonets : the Soviet defense burden and the slowdown of Soviet defense spending

Moscow’s Economic Dilemma: The Burden of Soviet Defense

Exploiting ‘fault lines’ in the Soviet empire: an overview

Update: Philippines Game Changer Analysis 03-21-2024

Ms. Cat
Updated: 03-19-2024: Philippines Game Changer – Project Myoushu AnalysisDownload

Updated 02-22-2024: Philippines Game Changer Analysis – Project Myoushu – South China SeaDownload

I’m tired, right now, but I wanted to update on this. It’s also available on my documents page. I’ve combined a couple of other documents with it, that I was working on. To be honest, I’m getting burned out on it. I might polish it up, at a later date, as it’s 36 pages.

US, int’l community must continue to back Guyana’s sovereignty- Energy Conference hears + more

Ms. Cat

Hundreds of stakeholders gathered in Kingston, Georgetown for the first day of this year’s Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo on Monday.

And as the conference opened with rousing presentations on Guyana’s exciting economic prospects, there were calls for the United States of America and the wider international community to continue supporting the country’s sovereignty.

US, int’l community must continue to back Guyana’s sovereignty- Energy Conference hears

Related:

Mike Pompeo, Hudson Institute: Joe Biden Can’t Show Weakness on Guyana

Hudson Institute – Department of Defense, InfluenceWatch, SourceWatch, Tax Filings, Wikipedia, WikiSpooks

Lima Group 2.0: Right-Wing Latin American Ex-Presidents Demand US Interventionism in Venezuela (Atlas Network)

Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela will be targeted again for regime change by the CIA front, NED.

Indonesia’s feared ex-general Prabowo claims victory in presidential election + Notes

Ms. Cat

Indonesia’s feared ex-general Prabowo claims victory in presidential election

But the likely victory of Prabowo — an ex-general who was kicked out from the army and subjected to a two-decade ban from the U.S. over human rights violations — raises fears of the world’s third-largest democracy sliding backward into authoritarian rule.

Related:

3 things you should know about Indonesia’s presidential elections

Continuity and its risks


Prabowo is expected to largely continue the policies of President Widodo, or “Jokowi,” as Indonesians call him. President Widodo is not up for reelection as he’s serving his final term.

Through his two five-year terms, Indonesia’s economy — Southeast Asia’s largest — has grown at about 5% a year. His infrastructure building, cash and food assistance to the poor and health and education policies have been popular.

Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of nickel, used in making electric vehicle batteries, and Jokowi has barred the export of raw nickel, to help Indonesia move up the value chain from mining to manufacturing.

…

Prabowo is Suharto’s son-in-law. He received training in the 1980s from the U.S. military at Fort Benning, Ga. (now Fort Moore) and Fort Bragg, N.C. (now Fort Liberty).

Indonesia’s presidential election emerges as key battleground in US-China rivalry

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