Military News : Russian, Chinese Navies; Yemeni Drone And Missile Strikes

Well there are other things going on around the world. We have to keep an eye on everything. Or allow me to keep an eye - since I am a busybody. And I will upload it here for your information and I hope it is beneficial for you.

The Russian Navy is evolving. Russia is moving away from large fleets and huge naval vessels to a smaller "regional" navy with smaller vessels. The way things are going the average size of the Russian naval ship will be less than 5000 tons, some even displacing just a few hundred tons.  

Vladimir Putin and Russia's military strategy is evolving to stay inside Russia and to remain within Russia's territorial waters and areas. 

Vladimir Putin and Russia do not plan to be a huge global player. Here is some news :


1.  RUSSIAN NAVY Evolving Into Smaller, Regional Navy

 Super powerful 500 tons missile corvette Smerch

Russian navy’s transformation into small-ships accelerating
More large ships are decommissioning 

smaller vessels taking their place
reshaping from major global force into regional fleet

• 2019 Russian fleet has 360 ships
• Chinese fleet possesses 624 warships
• American fleet has  333 “battle force” ships
• 
  
• U.S. fleet in total displaces 4.6 million tons 
• Chinese fleet displaces 1.8 million tons
• Russian fleet displaces just 1.2 million tons
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• U.S. fleet carry 12,000 offensive missiles
• Chinese ships in total carry 5,200 missiles
• Russia’s fleet packs no more than 3,300 missiles

Russia on Aug. 14, 2019 completed key test of upgraded missile corvette
missile corvette Smerch live-fire exercise in Sea of Japan

modernized small ship Smerch held missile firings against naval, air targets

Smerch, Nanuchka III-class corvette, displaces around 500 tons 

Smerch has 30-mm and 76-mm guns, small  SAMs and Uran anti-ship missiles

equivalent to U.S. Navy’s Harpoon anti-ship missile

Smerch one of 150 corvettes, patrol boats and mine-warfare ships 
Each displaces few thousand or few hundred tons 

Russian navy operates fewer than 30 large frigates, destroyers, cruisers

U.S. Navy by contrast operates only 24 small ships 

and more than 100 large ships

American and Russian fleets are opposites
each reflecting their country’s strategy

U.S. fleet favors large ships in support of interventionist foreign policy

Russian navy’s transformation into small-ships accelerating
More large ships decommissioning and smaller vessels taking their place
reshaping major global force into new regional fleet

In April 2019 Kremlin dismantled two Kirov-class battlecruisers
Moscow considered scrapping sole aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov 

new Russian missile corvettes no more than 5,000 tons 
American destroyers, by contrast, displace 9,000 tons

Kremlin bought just four new warships in 2018, all corvettes
vessels pack serious firepower
corvettes fired long-range Kalibr cruise missiles at Syria 
without ever leaving Russian waters

Contrary to Russia the Chinese Navy is going 'blue water' all the way. The Chinese are building a world class navy with a global reach.  Plus the Chinese are becoming super high tech - soon their military technology will be unmatched by anyone.

The Chinese already have TWO aircraft carriers in the water. The THIRD Chinese aircraft carrier is under construction with the FOURTH at the advanced stage of design.  

The Chinese hope to have SIX aircraft carriers by 2035.  This is the present building program. It will not stop there.

2. Chinese Navy Builds One Aircraft Carrier Every 27 Months

Finally here is news about Yemen.  Despite being the poorest country in the Middle East, Yemen has militarily defeated (yes defeated) Saudi Arabia - the wealthiest Arab country ever. FIVE years ago Saudi Arabia launched an unprovoked military bombing and attack against Yemen. Todate about 100,000 people have been killed by the Saudis in Yemen, mostly children, women, men (civilians).

The Yemenis have mastered the science of building and launching cheap but effective drones to attack deep into Saudi Arabia. 

Recently the Houthis launched two major attacks - one by missile and another using drones - deep into Saudi Arabia, striking targets over 1200 km away. The first was a ballistic missile strike at Dammam in Saudi Arabia, close to Bahrain.

The second was a long range drone strike at the Shaybah oil field near the UAE border, also a distance of about 1,200 km.

Here is some news :

3. Yemenis Launch Long Range Drone Attack Against Shaybah oil field in eastern Saudi Arabia

Yemeni Air Forces launched largest offensive deep into Saudi  
10 drones targeted Aramco's Shaybah Oil field and refinery 
largest strategic oil reserve - more than 1 billion barrels

coming attacks will be more painful

called on civilians stay away from vital sites 

they are legitimate targets 

Aramco acknowledged Sat Shaybah oil field damaged following strike
fire at Shaybah NGL facility, statement by oil giant

Saudi energy minister confirmed natural gas liquefaction facility hit

Here is some extra info I received from a reader (thank you) :

Shaybah is 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) from Houthi-controlled territory. 


This attack on Shaybah demonstrates the range of the Houthis’ drones. 
The Houthis’ new UAV-X drone has a range of up to 1,500 kilometers (930 miles). 

That puts Saudi oil fields, an under-construction Emirati nuclear power plant and Dubai’s busy international airport within their range.

Unlike sophisticated drones that use satellites to allow pilots to remotely fly them, analysts believe Houthi drones are likely programmed to strike a specific latitude and longitude and cannot be controlled once out of radio range. 

The Houthis have used drones, which can be difficult to track by radar, to attack Saudi Patriot missile batteries, as well as enemy troops.

4. Yemenis launch ballistic missile against Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Yemeni Houthis carried out longest-range ballistic missile attack Aug 1
targeted military site in Dammam on Saudi eastern coast

missile used was new Burkan-3
to target Saudi and (UAE) 

missile range of around 1,200 km
significantly further than longest missile hit on Riyadh

missile with 1,200 km range can reach Gulf coast, Bahrain, Qatar

previous attacks on Riyadh used liquid-fuel Qiam missile

using long-range UAV to attack deep inside Saudi and UAE 

My conclusion :  These are major developments  around the world. Especially that long range Houthi  missile and drone attack against Saudi Arabia. The US is silent.

Saudi Arabia is getting into deeper trouble.