Already a Janes customer? Read more here. Technology Developments Russian forces receive 9M333 SAMs Aug:The Kazakhstan Air Defence Forces (KADF) will receive four Sukhoi Su-30SM ‘Flanker-H' multirolefighter aircraft from Russia by the end of 2022, the Director of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, Dmitry Shugayev, was quoted by Russia's TASS news agency as saying on 25August. Shugayev noted that 20 Su-30SMs have been delivered to the KADF so far, adding that thelatest batch of aircraft to be delivered next year is part of an ongoing contract. Janes understands thatthese four aircraft will complete the KADF's second squadron of 12 Su-30SMs. The Kazakh governmentfirst expressed its intention to buy a second squadron of Su-30SMs in August 2017 as part of aframework agreement signed with Russia.

Apr 15: The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced late on 14 April that its Project 1164 Slava (Atlant) class cruiser Moskva sank as it was being towed to port following earlier damage. Conflicting reports as to the cause of the damage have been made, the Russian MoD stated that a fire onboard the cruiser led to the detonation of ammunition. However, in a post on his Telegram social media account on 13 April, governor for the Odessa region Maksym Marchenko said that Moskva had been seriously damaged by missiles fired from the Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile system. He did not provide any evidence to support this claim. Oct 14: The first S-500 55R6M Prometey (Prometheus) strategic air-defence system has entered service with a unit in the Moscow region, the TASS news agency reported on 13 October, citing a source close to the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD). The first regimental set is to be followed by a second in the first half of 2022, the source added. No official announcement has been made by the MoD, but Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told the RIA Novosti news agency in September that deliveries were under way to Russian forces. These initial S-500 units may be intended primarily for training purposes or limited service, as the Izvestia newspaper reported on 12 October that Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov has said serial production and deliveries of the S-500 are scheduled for 2025. In the last quarter-century of Jane’s life he saw the rise of the navies of two aggressive powers, Germany and Japan. Unfortunately he did not live to see these same navies crushed in abject surrender. During his lifetime he witnessed the rise of modern navies all over the world. He also witnessed the infant beginnings of naval aviation. The peculiar genius of the man was indeed fitted to the times in which he lived.

Intelligence podcast: Russia/Ukraine - Coming of Age for OSINT?

To Americans his section dealing with the United States Navy in 1897 should be of especial interest. He lists 13 Civil War monitors built from 1863-1865 and notes that “Most of these ships are unseaworthy.” He includes the “dynamite” cruiser Vesuvius, built in 1888, and notes that she carried “3 pneumatic guns, but these are being removed.” He also includes the Dolphin, one of the first ships of the White Squadron authorized, and all the battleships that were destined soon to bring about the destruction of the Spanish fleet under Admiral Cervera at Santiago. Cervera’s ships are also listed under Espagne, including the Reina Mercedes, built in 1887. Aug:Russia's Tactical Missiles Corporation (KTRV) showcased two 100 kg-class precision weapons aimedat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications at the Army 2021 defence exhibition held from 22–28August in Kubinka, near Moscow. While the company did not reveal accompanying information for thedisplays, one of these had earlier been revealed at the previous year's event alongside KronshtadtGroup's Grom strike-capable UAV with its in-development name of ‘Product 85'. According tospecifications released at the time, the Product 85 munition is understood to be an air-to-ground missilearmed with a 30 kg armour-piercing, high-explosive fragmentation warhead. The missile is 2,400 mmlong and 200 mm in diameter (with its stabilising fins increasing overall width to 400 mm), and has anall-up weight of 120 kg. The 43rd Missile Ship Division’s Admiral Gorshkov Class frigate ADMIRAL GORSHKOV (pen. 461) has conducted two live fire Tsirkon missile tests in the White Sea. In a recent chat one of our more senior members, Norm Rivett, recalled as a young apprentice listening to Lord Haw-Haw (William Joyce) on German propaganda radio interviewing the ace U-Boat commander Gunther Prien. Prien who had an excellent command of English, on being asked how, when he had penetrated the defences at Scapa Flow and sank HMS Royal Oak, he knew it was Royal Oak, Prien answered that he had studied the ship’s charactistics in “Janes” and from the funnel configuration he knew the identity of his target. While many of our readers would have studied Janes, perhaps not as intently as Prien, possibly few know the history behind this authoritive publication. The attached article first appeared in the United States “Naval Institute Proceedings” in December 1996 and is reproduced by kind permission of the Institute. Apr 21: The S-500 long-range surface-to-air missile system has entered series production, Almaz-Antey CEO Yan Novikov told the Russian National Defence journal on 25 April in an interview commemorating 20 years of the corporation.Novikov also mentioned the S-400 and Tor-M2 air defence systems, in addition to identifying the Buk-M3 and S-350 Vityaz as the concern's most promising export prospects, referring to the two medium-range systems as Almaz-Antey's “calling cards”. The 9K317M Buk-M3 and 50R6 S350 are in service with the Russian Armed Forces. The Buk-M3 made its combat debut during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Viking is the name of an export iteration of the Buk -M3.

Apr 21: The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced in a press release on 20 April that at 1512 local time the first test of a super‐heavy RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was conducted at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk Oblast. The MoD declared the test successful and said that the dummy warhead landed at the Kura test range on the Kamchatka Peninsula. At least three ejection tests of the missile have been conducted since December 2017, all at Plesetsk, but the 20 April test represents the first full flight test of the missile. Already a Janes customer? Read more here. Army 2021: Kronshtadt displays expanded range of weapons for Grom UAV Russian forces began joint training exercises with Uzbekistan at the Termez training ground in the Surkhandarya Region the exercises will run until 10 August with the active phase finishing on 06 August. The exercises are believed to have involved some 1,500 troops from the Central Military District’s 15th Motorised Brigade (Peacekeeping) and the 3rd Spetsnaz Brigade, supported by four Tu-22M3 which conducted a flight from Russia on 06 July to bomb targets in Uzbekistan.

The Ukraine Crisis - A Failure of Deterrence or Just the Kick the West Needed?

The Jane's editions of 1898, 1905, 1906, 1914, 1919, 1924, 1931, 1939 and 1944 were reissued in facsimile reprints by Arco Publishing in 1969. Feb 8: In December 2021 the Russian company Kronshtadt completed construction of its manufacturing facility for the Orion unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), enabling serial production of the first aircraft to begin that month, the company noted in a press release. The announcement marked the end of a long gestation period for the Orion, which entered development in 2011 under the Inokhodets (Pacer) programme after a contract was signed between the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Transas, which became Kronshtadt in 2015. The programme set out to produce an unmanned medium-altitude, long-endurance aircraft for use in reconnaissance and strike missions, if necessary. At the time, the Russian armed forces were beginning an extensive period of modernisation following the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. My chum was a sportsman, and after punching my head, proceeded to arm his ship also. We took to armour plates made from biscuit tins, and to squadrons instead of single ships. In the battle that ensued our fleets annihilated each other, and depleted finances forbade their renewal. A pair of Baltic Fleet LSTs, MINSK and KOROLEV, entered the Mediterranean Sea having sailed from the Baltic Sea.

In the introduction to his first edition of the Fighting Ships, Mr. Jane wrote: “I personally inspected the greater part of the naval ships herein.” In addition to this personal knowledge, he had gained the friendship of Navy men the world over, and from them he secured the details of ships built, building, and being planned. These details he included in his books. But like the good reporter that he was, he would never divulge the source of his information. Already a Janes customer? Read more here. Large-scale exercise points to growing Sino-Russian military co-operationFeb 23: The Russian Navy has moved three large landing ships, five warships, and several vessels of other classes, including one missile boat, to the Sea of Azov under the pretext of participating in exercises, Ukraine's Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov stated during a press briefing on 21 February. In video footage posted by Ukrainian media outlet MyKerch on its VKontakte social media account on 21 February, more than 10 Russian Navy warships could be seen headed towards the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait. This included the Ropucha (Project 775)-class landing ships Tsesar Kunikov and Novocherkassk , the Alligator (Project 1171)-class landing ship Saratov , the Bykov (Project 22160)-class corvette Pavel Derzhavin , the Tarantul (Project 12411)-class corvette Neberezhnye Chelny , and the Grisha (Project 1124)-class corvette Eisk. Already a Janes customer? Read more here. Army 2021: Russian MoD procures equipment, Rosoboronexport signs export contracts Already a Janes customer? Read more here. DIA report outlines concerns over Russian and Chinese space capabilities