The Defense Post
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Your source for global defense news. For submissions or collaborations 👉 [email protected] #war #peace #defense #globalsecurity
Washington, DC
Joined November 2015
Israel will deploy its new missile warning system in Kyiv next month to detect incoming Russian attacks, according to Israeli and Ukrainian officials.
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France to study possibility of sending heavy Leclerc tanks to Ukraine.
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Ethiopian residents say the historic town of Lalibela was rocked by the sound of heavy artillery on Wednesday, as federal government troops fired towards areas where local militias were believed to be hiding.
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The SDF defeated ISIS in northern Syria. The US and its allies should support them in Afrin – @sinam56 •
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Suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen killed five south Yemen separatists in Abyan province on Monday, in the terror group's biggest attack in the region for months.
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Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand says eight Leopard 2 tanks that Canada promised to Ukraine have arrived in neighboring Poland.
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EXCLUSIVE: Coalition retraining 15,000 veteran SDF fighters to serve as part of new Syrian border security force
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"The Syrian Kurds see the Afrin battle as an existential fight that will either mean the downfall of the Kurds in Syria, or a victory over Turkish-led Islamist proxies and the Turkish army," @vvanwilgenburg reports
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Ukraine reportedly intercepts all Kalibr missiles fired by Russia after the attack on the Crimean Kerch Bridge.
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Turkey is using refugees to justify attacks on Afrin, Syrian Kurds say – @vvanwilgenburg reports from Qamishli
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Lithuania and US sign $47.8M contract for delivery of Switchblade 600 kamikaze drones.
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"When they target anybody in Manbij Military Council … they are targeting the project, not the people, not the person," @shervanderwish says. "My blood is not more expensive than other martyrs like Abu Amjad and Faisal Abu Layla."
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The US should prepare for the possibility that Ukraine will need political and military support to fight an unconventional campaign against Russia, @JennyCafarella argues.
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Canada confirms new tranche of munitions for Ukrainian Armed Forces to defend against Russia’s invasion.
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For Yemen’s southern resistance, the next battle is for independence
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“The Kurds are an important check on the kind of radicalism that Turkey has been pushing at all costs in Syria for the sake of regime change. The #Kurds deserve more from the U.S. and Russia," @MaxAbrahms says
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Erbil and Baghdad are on brink of war in Kirkuk - Kurdistan Representative
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Manbij Military Council is one of the most active, decorated and bloodied Arab-majority SDF groups. @NicholasAHeras argues that @coalition agreeing to relinquish SDF/@mmc2016c control in Manbij would betray of some of America’s best partners in Syria •
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US sending “secretly acquired” Soviet-made short-range air defense equipment to Ukraine.
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A key point that @StateDept left out is that Manbij Military Council is local and majority Arab, and is a "nightmare" for Turkey because it is a model for how Syrian Arabs can support Ocalan’s ideas, @NicholasAHeras says
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OPINION: Our honorable sacrifices in Syria deserve justice – Syrian Kurdish leader @Xelilaldar argues that a Turkey-run safe zone in northern Syria would undermine sacrifices that have brought relative stability to the region
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'Nobody will be added to Manbij Military Council without our approval,' @shervanderwish says of the deal between the US and Turkey. 'We paid [with the blood of] a lot of our sons and young people to liberate this city from terrorism'
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Ukraine shows how US and NATO efforts to train local partners pay off when they mirror local priorities, @AlexCecylia argues.
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Although defeated on the battlefield, ISIS will continue to be a threat to stability in Syria, SDF commander-in-chief General Mazlum Kobane writes.
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France-led cross-border Operation Aconit kills 18 more Islamic State fighters in Niger
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Ukraine’s military is effective against Russia because for the past eight years it was rebuilt in collaboration with NATO partners, @AlexCecylia argues.
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From Hasakah to Manbij: in his latest dispatch from Syria, @vvanwilgenburg reports on permits, access, and the importance of remembering your bulletproof vest
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With nowhere to go since the Taliban took over, 80 Afghan cadets who completed military training in India contemplate an uncertain future.
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The 13-day Operation Aconit involved troops from France, Mali and Niger, with support from UK helicopters and, according to Niger's defense minister, the US. Around 40 Islamic State fighters were killed.
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INTERVIEW: Kurdish leader Ilham Ahmed on security in North and East Syria
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Omar Alloush – murdered for building a shared future for Syria’s Arabs and Kurds? @vvanwilgenburg reports
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France to send troops to Manbij as Trump says US coming out of Syria "very soon”
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Russian soldiers’ phones hacked after their secure encrypted phone system was destroyed in Ukraine.
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OPINION: It is the responsibility of the world to repay the Kurdish people and the rest of the peoples of the region for their sacrifice in the fight against ISIS
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Hypersonix and Rocket Lab partner to conduct US Defense Innovation Unit’s first hypersonic drone test.
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Coalition says it does not support Turkey’s “unilateral” action in Afrin, after SDF called on @CJTFOIR to "assume its responsibilities"
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Yemen’s internal splits have festered for years, but a move towards independence for the south could change the miserable status quo, @STCUS_ORG's Abdulsalam Mused argues
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Australia says it has snapped up a US offer to buy Ukraine-tested HIMARS systems .
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ICYMI: SDF general commander Mazlum Abdi writes in @DefensePost about the next steps in the fight against ISIS
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The US has a plan to negotiate a peace deal between and Syrian allies and Ankara, but no one has told Syrian Democratic leaders, who were left on their own to stave off a host of predatory neighbors as Washington went on Christmas break .
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Turkey ramping up military equipment deliveries to Ukraine angers Russia, but for Erdogan, the rewards might well be worth the risk.
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Iraq, including Kurdistan, relies on the Euphrates and Tigris for 98 percent of its water, and hydroelectric dam building in Turkey is ratcheting up cross-border tensions, @D_abdulkader writes
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Counting down our 18 most-read stories of 2018: . 11. Turning east: the rise of Islamic State’s Khorasan Province (@SaladinAlDronni) .
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Ukrainian town Borodyanka near capital Kyiv is devastated by Russian strikes
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Lockheed Martin joins Hanwha Defense-led Team Thunder to manufacture K9A2 Self-Propelled Howitzer for UK.
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Denmark will triple defense budget over the next 10 years in the wake of Ukraine war.
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UK, Latvia launch solicitation process for First-Person View unmanned aerial systems under a drone coalition program for Ukraine.
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Russian claims that its Kornet anti-tank missile systems can destroy the Western-supplied Leopard tanks being sent to Ukraine.
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Turkey’s ULAQ armed unmanned surface vehicle prototype completed its first live-fire trial last month, its developers have announced.
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‘We can’t lose hope’ – SDF willing to cooperate with US despite ‘huge blow’ in northeast Syria, Kurdish leader @ilham_ehmed tells @JM_Szuba
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government would purchase a US air defense system to donate to Ukraine.
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The US clears both Poland and the Netherlands to purchase extended-range Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles from Northrop Grumman.
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“The sky is against us” – Syrian Christian fighters struggle to hold their lines in Tel Tamer, @SyriacMFS commander tells @joanne_stocker .
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Lockheed Martin joins Hanwha Defense-led Team Thunder to manufacture K9A2 Self-Propelled Howitzer for UK.
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Morocco is set to receive an unspecified number of Merkava tanks from Israel as part of the African nation’s efforts to bolster its military firepower.
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After Afrin, will Turkey attack Manbij? .We asked @NicholasAHeras, @aronlund, @Charles_Lister, @MaxAbrahms and @KristianBrakel for their thoughts
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EXCLUSIVE: Syriac Military Council plans imminent deployment, will fight alongside Kurds to defend "our democratic project" in Afrin
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A Russian soldier reports that Ukrainian troops almost wiped out his entire unit amid heavy fighting in Kharkiv.
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Rheinmetall and Lockheed Martin sign Memorandum of Understanding to develop rocket artillery system for German military.
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“I take Turkey at its word that Afrin isn’t the last stop. We should expect Turkey and its Free Syrian Army henchmen to try to mop up other Kurdish areas too, like in Manbij," @MaxAbrahms says
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EXCLUSIVE: “What can we tell them?”: US general pressed for reassurance for SDF after Syria withdrawal decision .
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US Army awards BAE Systems $72.5M contract to continue research, development, advancing precision-guided artillery munitions.
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Syrian Kurds ask regime to shoot down Turkish jets to save civilians in Efrin – the latest on Afrin from @vvanwilgenburg •
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JUST IN: UK Prime Minister Theresa May says the nerve agent used to poison Sergei Skripal has been identified as a military-grade nerve agent of the Novichok group developed by Russia.
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Taiwan's president says defense spending will reach record $19 billion in 2024, a demonstration of the island’s “determination to ensure national security”.
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The Islamic State group continues to expand globally with some 20 affiliates, despite being forced out of Syria and the killing of its leaders.
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As modern Russian EW/EA systems get towed into barns by Ukrainian farm tractors, it could not be clearer how epically Russia failed in the EMS battlespace, USAF Colonel (Retired) @JeffFisch writes.
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Flapless flight: Successful first flight of ground-breaking @BAESystemsAir MAGMA UAV developed in partnership with @OfficialUoM
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US presses for deal with Turkey to protect Syrian Kurdish partners
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Czech Republic to spend $630 million on 12 @BellFlight helicopters – 8 UH-1Y Venoms and 4 AH-1Z Vipers .
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Australia to scrap its fleet of French-made Taipan military helicopters, despite last-ditch lobbying by Paris to save the contract.
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Canada and Latvia to provide combat leadership training to Ukrainian junior officers starting next week.
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Iran's IRGC is increasingly using drones to carry out air strikes and supplying proxies.
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New military councils set up by the SDF in northeast Syria "are not part of the broader counter-ISIS campaign anymore. They’re now part of a process in the system to provide local security and prevent the reemergence of ISIS,” @NicholasAHeras said.
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EXCLUSIVE: US to leave Syria-Turkey border observation posts in effort to buy withdrawal time.
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NATO’s newest member Finland kicks off military air exercises involving over a dozen countries and 150 aircraft.
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Somali troops and US forces killed senior commander of Al-Shabaab with $10 million US bounty on his head.
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Any military alliance between SDF and Syrian regime is “very far away,” senior Kurdish politician @SalehMaslem says
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Royal New Zealand Air Force accepts second and third C-130J Super Hercules aircraft at Base Auckland.
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BREAKING: High-value target captured by SDF isn't ISIS spokesperson Abu Hasan al-Muhajir, @CJTFOIR says
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Turkey and Pakistan signed a contract to jointly produce Anka military drones.
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General Atomics secures US military LongShot air-launched armed drone program phase 3 contract.
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The Romanian Ministry of National Defence selects South Korea’s K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers to modernize its artillery fleet.
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The USAF recently tested its “Angry Kitten” electronic countermeasures training pod on an F-16 aircraft.
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An insightful interview with @PavoGroup Chairman Dr. Alper Özbilen, highlighting the company's vision for the US market and discussing the future of defense technology. Our interview with @A_Ozbilen 👇.
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‘French and US troops are operating on the ground,’ northern Syria official says
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Joint Mali-France commando operation kills 20 'terrorists' in Menaka
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Japan will begin offering aid to militaries of "like-minded countries" under new rules, as Tokyo builds more proactive defense strategy to address growing threats.
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US gave guarantees to protect Manbij after Turkey deal, Manbij Military Council spokesperson says
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Lithuania seeking to buy battalion of German-made Leopard 2 tanks.
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The Manbij Conundrum: The collapse, or eviction by military force, of the SDF from Manbij would have dire consequences for the stability of the entire US mission to build stability in the wake of the ISIS in Syria
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Sweden plans contribution to France-led Task Force Takuba in Mali
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Poland announces sharp increase in defense spending in light of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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More than 100 combatants get killed over the last two days in northern Syria in fighting between Turkish-backed groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.
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Lithuania seeking to buy battalion of German-made Leopard 2 tanks.
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Danish government considering purchasing military submarines again after retiring entire fleet in 2004.
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“If Pakistan were to pull the plug on these supply lines, the US war effort in Afghanistan, already so difficult, would get even more challenging – and fast” @MichaelKugelman tells us
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