BREAKING – Syria: Russian fighter jets carried out two airstrikes with high-explosive missiles on positions of Turkish-backed HTS positions, west of Idlib city.

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JAPAN – First Air Self-Defense Force and Italian Air Force joint training.

Around 9 o'clock last night, nine aircraft including F35A fighters arrived at Komatsu base.

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Russian and Chinese naval vessels conducted anti-submarine warfare training in southwestern part of Bering Sea during joint maritime patrol of Pacific Ocean. They traveled more than 2,300 nm, passing through Sea of Japan, La Pérouse Strait, Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka Strait.

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In a video released recently, Ukraine unveiled “Marichka” - a torpedo style missile / underwater drone (as the video puts it) that appears to be threatening the Russian naval fleet and the Kerch bridge.

This video is the property of Ammo Ukraine as retrieved from TikTok.

🔗 Ukraine War Now

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Russian Northern Fleet finished preparation for one of the Project 955A Borey-A/Borei II-class SSBNs to be transferred to the Pacific Fleet.

"Part of the transit will be under the ice of the Northern Sea Route (Sevmorput)." - Commander of the Northern Fleet, Admiral Alexander Moiseev.

🔗 Saturnax

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Russia has doubled its 2023 defence spending target to more than $100 billion - a third of all public expenditure.

Defense spending in the first six months of 2023 amounted to 5.59 trillion roubles (37.3% of a total 14.97 trillion roubles spent in the period). 600bn more roubles spent than originally allocated.

Russia's budget plan envisages 17.1% of total funds spent on "National Defence".

The Bank of Russia forecasts GDP growth at 1.5%-2.5% this year. Military production has driven a strong recovery in industrial output, and defence contracts have been a key driver in Russia's economic recovery to GDP growth so far this year.

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Video of dangerous and hostile action yesterday by China Coast Guard against small, unarmed PH vessel manned by the PH Navy on its way to resupply its Ayungin (2nd Thomas) Shoal outpost. China again violates the principle of self-restraint under the 2002 DOC.

🔗 Jay L Batongbacal

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A combined Russian and Chinese naval force patrolled near the coast of Alaska earlier this week in what U.S. experts said appeared to be the largest such flotilla to approach American shores,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Eleven Russian and Chinese ships steamed close to the Aleutian Islands, according to U.S. officials. The ships, which never entered U.S. territorial waters and have since left, were shadowed by four U.S. destroyers and P-8 Poseidon aircraft.

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The attacked Russian tanker, “SIG,” was supplying aviation fuel to the Russian air group in Syria

The vessel was under US sanctions since 2019.

For several years, it had been traveling to Syria almost monthly. Interestingly, near Cyprus it always turned off its transponder on its way to the Syrian port of Baniyas.

Was it civilian?

Wagner Group is also “civilian,” in that it was not formally part of the Russian military. It is how Russia tries to muddy the waters so that the facts are less clear.

It was a totally legitimate target and located within Ukraine’s territorial waters.

🔗 Jason Jay Smart

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UKRAINE – Integration of a French-made SCALP-EG cruise missile with a Soviet-made Su-24.

The aircraft had a software update to bring the ammunition to NATO standards.

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Research vessel activity: Russian GAZFLOT owned & operated RV "Akademik Golitsyn" conducted a northbound transit of the Taiwan Strait, 3-4 August 2023.

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Russian MoD: "The crew of the Project 1914.1M Zodiak/Marshal Nedelin-class missile range instrumentation/control ship Marshal Krylov is conducting an exercise in the Peter the Great Bay to test a new complex telemetry data recorder "Registrator".

"The ship's crew practiced the construction of a stable secure communication network at sea, transmission of control signals over considerable distances, signal retransmission, including the use of satellite communication channels."

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The Social Democratic Party of Germany, which is headed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, called for the first time to transfer Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine.

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URGENT – Several hundred Nigerien soldiers are being deployed to the borders with Benin and Nigeria as a military intervention by the ECOWAS is imminent.

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The Philippines Coast Guard has released a new video showing China Coast Guard's “dangerous maneuvers” and “illegal use of water cannons” against Philippine Coast Guard vessels going to to resupply its Ayungin Shoal outpost on August 5.

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“Travel to Niger Burkina Faso, Mali [including Niamey and Ouagadougou Bamako] is formally discouraged. French nationals are called upon to limit travel, to stay away from any gathering and to keep themselves informed.

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