DefenceTalkA total of 72 military units in Crimea have hoisted Russian flags instead of Ukrainian and applied to join the Russian armed forces, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday. “Yesterday, 72 military units almost in full strength decided to join the Russian armed forces. We are now dealing with service and citizenship issues of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/72-crimean-military-units-request-joining-russia-59122/

DefenceTalkGermany on Wednesday halted a major deal to provide a fully equipped training camp to Russian forces, saying any arms trading with Moscow was currently “indefensible”. Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel announced the suspension of the Rheinmetall project as Moscow tightened its grip on the flashpoint Crimean peninsula. The German government said in a statement it was […]https://www.defencetalk.com/germany-halts-major-arms-deal-with-russia-59098/

DefenceTalkA prospective series of Russia’s new fifth-generation conventional submarine equipped with an advanced air-independent propulsion system will be designated the Kalina-class, the commander of the country’s navy said Wednesday. “Russia is currently designing a fifth-generation conventional submarine, dubbed Project Kalina, which will be fitted with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system,” Adm. Viktor Chirkov said. “Our […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russian-navy-unveils-new-class-of-submarines-59084/

DefenceTalkUkrainian servicemen filed out of navy headquarters in Sevastopol on Wednesday with tears in their eyes after the base was seized by pro-Moscow militants, Russian troops and Cossack forces. The assault began when some 200 unarmed militants — some of them in balaclavas — sawed through a fence and overran the base before heavy heavily […]https://www.defencetalk.com/tears-and-threats-as-ukrainians-quit-navy-hq-59100/

DefenceTalkParis will consider canceling a 1.4-billion-euro deal to deliver two Mistral-class warships to the Russian Navy if Moscow provokes further escalation in Ukraine, the French foreign minister has said. In the interview with France’s TF1, Laurent Fabius denied the legitimacy of Sunday’s referendum in Crimea to join Russia and urged Moscow to take urgent measures […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-may-scrap-russian-warship-deal-over-ukraine-crisis-59076/

DefenceTalkNATO said several of its websites were targeted in a “significant” cyber attack on Saturday that was claimed by Ukrainian hackers in what appeared to be the latest bout of virtual warfare linked to the country’s crisis. Spokeswoman for the military alliance Oana Lungescu said on Twitter that the websites had been hit by “a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-websites-targeted-in-attack-claimed-by-ukrainian-hackers-59055/

DefenceTalkA US Navy guided-missile destroyer will remain in the Black Sea to conduct more exercises with allied ships, its commander said on Saturday, the eve of a breakaway vote in Crimea. The USS Truxtun this week conducted joint exercises with Romanian and Bulgarian naval forces just a few hundred kilometers (miles) away from the disputed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-destroyer-to-conduct-more-black-sea-drills-commander-59058/

DefenceTalkMoscow has deployed six SU-27 fighters and three military transport jets to Belarus, in an apparent reaction to growing NATO activity near the Belarusian border, the Russian defense ministry said Thursday. “The air crews of the Russian jets will be on combat duty with their Belarusian colleagues for purposes of air reconnaissance and ensuring defense […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-flies-warplanes-to-belarus-for-joint-combat-duty-59034/

DefenceTalkThe Yantar shipyard in Russia’s Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad on Friday floated out the first in a series of six Project 11356 frigates being built for the Black Sea Fleet, the company said. The Admiral Grigorovich was laid down in December 2010. Four more ships of the same class are in various stages of construction […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-floats-out-new-frigate-for-black-sea-fleet-59039/

DefenceTalkRussia would be unable to disrupt the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan even if it cut off access to supply routes across its territory, a top US commander said Wednesday. Amid rising tensions between Washington and Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine, the head of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan reassured lawmakers that Russia could not […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-cant-derail-us-exit-from-afghanistan-general-59008/