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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Satellite imagery of Hangzhou Bay shows that China has recently renovated a reserve airfield for dedicated drone operations in the East China Sea. With military aviation being a priority, China’s been slowly moving toward operating more capable UAVs. Analysts and policy wonks alike have little doubt those capabilities will be put to good use as…
Imagery acquired by commercial satellite firm DigitalGlobe from October 2014 shows what appears to be a new midget submarine at China’s Wuchang shipyard. The space snapshots captured the vessel berthed at the shipyard’s fitting out pier. According to imagery measurements, the vessel has a load waterline length of approximately 35 meters and a beam of approximately…
US interests in the Caspian Sea are part of the larger framework of US geo-strategic interests in the Eurasian region. US proxies such as Israel provide support, technical advice and military equipment to the Azerbaijani navy. Both US and Israeli interests against Iranian and Russian influence in the Caspian Sea have aided Azerbaijan in its…
The latest space snapshots acquired by the commercial satellite firm DigitalGlobe show eleven of the carrier-based aircraft parked on the south apron of the airbase at Vizag. It appears the aircraft arrived since previous imagery was taken in March. Two Hawk Mk 132 trainer and a new aircraft hangar (under construction) were also visible on…
New satellite imagery shows that India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier has made significant progress since it was launched in August 2013, helping India inch towards the goal of a two carrier battle group. Imagery acquired by commercial satellite firm DigitalGlobe in February 2015 shows further assembly on INS Vikrant, a 40,000 ton aircraft carrier and India’s soon-to-be…
