Every Friday, The Diplomat looks out across the net to find the best articles and analysis involving defense, strategic affairs, and foreign policy. From America’s pivot to Asia, China’s growing military power, important defense trends, to the various territorial spats across the region, The Diplomat has you covered with what you need to know going into the weekend.
Here is our top ones this Friday. Have we missed something you think should be included? Want to share an important article with other readers? Please submit your links in the comment box below! Happy Friday!
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced on Friday that Russia is trying to develop “terrorist-killer robots.”
A South Korean government think tank has confirmed the Pentagon’s estimate that North Korea may now have up to 200 mobile missile launchers. Previously, Seoul had assessed that Pyongyang had at most 94 such units.
Ahead of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s trip to India next week, Afghan’s envoy to Delhi called on India to increase its defense cooperation with the government in Kabul. “We would like to have both lethal and non-lethal assistance to our defense forces” from the Indian government, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India, Shaida M Abdali, told reporters on Thursday.
The U.S. Navy’s chief of naval operations and the chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force have a jointly written op-ed on Foreign Policy today on how the U.S. can overcome anti-access challenges.
Breaking Defense (formally AOL Defense) reports that after failing its first test in 2008, America’s Raytheon-built SM-3 Block IB missile completed its third successful test in a row this week when it shot down a missile over the Pacific Ocean. “The SM-3 IB is the latest iteration of the venerable Standard Missile, the main weapon fired by the fleet’s Lockheed Martin-built Aegis defense system, which makes it central to the Navy’s role in missile defense,” the report explained.
A new report by AMI International estimates that China and India’s Navies will each purchase 100 new ships and submarines by 2032.
The U.S. Navy's “newest and most advanced nuclear-powered attack submarine” successfully completed its Alpha and Bravo Sea Trials. Its nuclear missile submarine replacement program is not going as smoothly, however.