Rapid Fire July 16, 2013: Russia Tests Its Siberian Readiness, Neighbors’ Nerves

Rapid Fire July 16, 2013: Russia Tests Its Siberian Readiness, Neighbors’ Nerves

* Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a massive surprise exercise last Friday in the Eastern Military District, which he is now overseeing himself. With 160,000 men, 5,000 tanks and armored vehicles, 130 aircraft, and 70 warships, nothing of this scale had been...
Rapid Fire July 16, 2013: Russia Tests Its Siberian Readiness, Neighbors’ Nerves

Rapid Fire July 15, 2013: KMW and Nexter Reportedly in Merger Talks

* According to a German financial newspaper, vehicle manufacturers Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Nexter are well on their way to negotiate a merger. Handelsblatt [in German] | Les Echos [in French]. * 5 Chinese ships coming back from a joint exercise with Russia...
Rapid Fire July 16, 2013: Russia Tests Its Siberian Readiness, Neighbors’ Nerves

Rapid Fire July 12, 2013: US Bill Introduced to Get DoD Civilians Unfurloughed

* US congressman John Barrow [D-GA, centrist voting track record] introduced a bill (H.R. 2613) to exempt civilian DoD staff from furloughs, in addition to military personnel already exempt since before the furloughs started. That bill does not look very likely to get...
Rapid Fire July 16, 2013: Russia Tests Its Siberian Readiness, Neighbors’ Nerves

Rapid Fire July 11, 2013: Pentagon Sequestration Contingency Planning Lacks Specificity

* US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sent a letter [PDF] to the Senate Armed Services Committee’s leadership outlining the consequences of keeping sequestration in place next year, though the Pentagon has yet to produce anything granular enough to express more...