March 22, 2016
By Oryx
Subject to severe sanctions for almost a decade, the proliferation of North Korean conventional armament on the international arms market is an often underreported topic, and many arms deals of the past are completely undocumented. Nonetheless, the traces of these deals still mark many of the world’s conflict areas, and every once in a while…
February 18, 2016
Despite little to show in the way of damages, critics of the Iron Dome missile defense system, Theodore Postol in particular, have remained vocal in their insistence that the system does not work. Professor Postol is most vocal, but other experts have also spoken out, namely the late Richard M. Lloyd, a warhead expert formerly…
January 11, 2016
China has increased the size of rotations at its Lhasa Gonggar airbase located in Tibet, satellite imagery has revealed. DigitalGlobe space snapshots from November 2014 show eight Chengdu Aircraft Corporation J-10s parked on the operations apron at the Lhasa-based civil-military airport (above image). The airport is located approximately 130 miles from the disputed territory of…
December 30, 2015
While India and Bangladesh settled their land border issues, China and India still maintain their competing claims. Recent satellite imagery may suggest that our state actors are playing an increasingly aggressive game. Located less than 80 miles from the Aksai Chin disputed border area, the Hotan civil-military airport has seen larger deployments in the past…
October 20, 2015
Since the installation of two S300PMU2 in Azerbaijan, photos and imagery have confirmed reports of the operational capability and combat readiness of the S300PMU-2 systems. Sean O’Connor spotted the systems in late 2012. Detailed ongoing coverage by IMINT Analysis of the increasing possibility of the resumption of conflict in Nagorno Karabagh has included updates on these systems, including the above imagery and its location. Bellingcat has continued with the Caucasus updates, drawing on the contribution of experts from IMINT Analysis.
October 5, 2015
By Aric Toler
In the early hours of Saturday, October 3, the main building of the Kunduz Trauma Center, operated by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), was hit by a series of airstrikes that last for approximately an hour. By latest counts, 22 people, including multiple children, were killed by the attack carried out by United States/Coalition forces. There…
September 18, 2015
Located near the important deep-water port of Cam Ranh Bay, a new aircraft support apron has been recently added and expanded, satellite imagery confirms. Vietnam is currently engaged in a long delayed military modernization program. For obvious reasons, part of the modernization has been centered on the Navy which aims to bring substantial combat capability…
August 23, 2015
China’s enormous Divine Eagle UAV is larger than the U.S. Air Force’s Global Hawk, recently released satellite imagery suggests. While China’s UAVs are getting better, if not bigger, little is known about one of its latest models. Photos of China’s mysterious UAV appeared in May and June while a concept of operations along with payload specs was released earlier…
July 8, 2015
Three weeks ago, I wrote over at the Swiss defense blog, Offiziere, requesting information about a possible new Chinese midget submarine spotted at the Wuchang shipyard. The article was widely spread and cross-posted here on Bellingcat, among others. Unfortunately, we didn’t receive any substantive information and even Offiziere partner sites like CIMSEC remained silent. A week after…
June 30, 2015
In case you missed it, Kazakhstan’s recent military parade in May confirmed that the central Asian country is operating at least four Su-30SM aircraft. The parade, which took place in Astana, commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II. The Kazakhstan Air Defence Forces took delivery of the 4++ generation Russian-built…
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