Tuesday, January 20, 2015

RUSSIAN CHIEF OF STAFF: RUSSIA TO CREATE A “NEW KIND OF ARMED FORCES”… INCLUDING AEROSPACE DEFENSE FORCE

Yesterday I blogged about the new Russian-Chinese Universal Credit Rating Group, and the over-all context in which, I believe, it must be viewed, namely, the announcement of the BRICSA development bank last year, and the eventual need for the BRICSA bloc to create a parallel system of international financial clearing. That, as I've observed on numerous occasions, will require in turn the development of space-based communications assets, and the ability to protect them.
No sooner said than done, as these two articles, shared with us by Mr. M.D., and Mr. K.C., attest:
Russia to boost military capabilities in Crimea, Kaliningrad, Arctic
While some of these moves are predictable - for example, the beefing up of Russian defense capabilities in its isolated Kaliningrad oblast(the northern half of the former German province of East Prussia, Kaliningrad being the city of Koenigsberg). This move is predictable and understandable given the American pivot of its bases into Eastern Europe, for Russia is protecting its energy flows, and hence its trade, to Western Europe from potential American interdiction against them. Similarly, beefing up its defenses in the Crimean peninsula and Arctic make sense from the Russian point of view given the context of the rising tide of tensions with the West over the Ukrainian crisis.
But there's one statement in the article that caught Mr. M.D.'s eye, and mine too, and it's this odd statement:
"A new branch of the Russian military, the Aerospace Defense Force, will be formed in 2015, ahead of schedule, through the merger of Air Force and Space Forces."

This might be viewed, and doubtless will be viewed in some quarters, as Russian bluff. Except for one significant thing: it comes from high echelons within the Russian general staff and Ministry of Defense. Additionally, Russia and China are currently the only nations with fully independent manned spaceflight capability(at least, in the public sense). And within the context of my hypothesized eventual establishment by the BRICSA bloc of a parallel system of international financial clearing, it makes sense, and could be taken as yet another small indicator that this is and will be the eventual goal. In this context, one should also recall last year's announcement by Russia and China that they will pool their global satellite positioning assets. The creation of an "Aerospace Defense Force" clearly implies the intention to protect space-based communications assets, essential to any modern system of international financial clearing, and, in a nation geographically as large as Russia, domestic clearing as well.
But there's more, and this brings us to the article shared by Mr. K.C.:
Is Russian Mystery Object a Space Weapon?
While the article points out the usual Russian secrecy surrounding its space missions, in the above context of the announcement of the creation of a Russian Aerospace Defense Force, which announcement occurred two months after the launch of the curious object, the likelihood of a satellite-killer weapons test becomes more likely:
"The orbital maneuvers of a mysterious object Russia launched earlier this year have raised concerns that the satellite may be a space weapon of some sort.
"The speculation centers on 'Object 2014-28E,' which Russia lofted along with three military communications satellites in May. The object was originally thought to be space junk, but satellite trackers have watched it perform a number of interesting maneuvers over the past few weeks, the Financial Times reported Monday (Nov. 17).
"Last weekend, for example, 2014-28E apparently met up with the remnants of a rocket stage that helped the object reach orbit. [The Most Destructive Space Weapons Concepts]
"As a result, some space analysts wonder if Object 2014-28E could be part of an anti-satellite program — perhaps a revived version of the Cold War-era "Istrebitel Sputnikov" ("satellite killer") project, which Russian officials have said was retired when the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s."
In other words, my high octane speculation of the day is that this is indeed a satellite weapon, given this year's announcement by the Russians that they intend to create a new military service branch, an "Aerospace Defense Force", a key and necessary step to protect any such system of international financial clearing the BRICSA nations may develop, and essential to the current Russian system of domestic clearing.
So what to watch for, if these speculations be true? Watch for announcements of joint Russian-Chinese (or other BRICSA) military cooperation on space asset defense matters, coupled with announcements of joint space missions launching communications satellites for those nations, for the bottom line here, is if one factors in last year's developments - Russian announcements of GMO prohibitions and long-term inter-generational scientific study, the BRICS development bank, the Russian-Chinese satellite asset pooling - with this year's announcements of a Russian-Chinese credit rating agency, and now the announcements of a Russian Aerospace defense force and a possible satellite weapon, then the indicators are clear: Russia and China are not backing down, and 2015 is already shaping up to be an interesting year. And it's yet another indicator that the assumption that there are no weapons already in space is simply naive.

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