PARIS — Naval Group has delivered the FREMM Alsace, the first multimission frigate with enhanced air defense capabilities, to the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation, which received it April 16 in the Mediterranean port of Toulon on behalf of the French Navy. OCCAR is a European intergovernmental group that manages cooperative defense equipment programs. It

Iran’s nukesIran Says 60 Percent Enrichment “Under Way” at Natanz Site Published 16 April 2021 Iranian officials say the country has begun enriching uranium up to 60 percent purity, higher than it has ever done before, despite ongoing talks between Tehran and world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Under the 2015 nuclear deal,

ARGUMENT: Biological destructionThe Importance of “Biological Destruction” in Responsible Coverage of Xinjiang Published 16 April 2021 Recent news coverage of the ongoing situation in Xinjiang has focused on whether or not those events meet the international legal definition of genocide.The majority of nonacademic pieces seem to presume, however, that if genocide is occurring, it must

Chemical weaponsUN Watchdog Confirms Assad Used Chemical Weapons against Civilians Published 16 April 2021 The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Monday released the findings of the second report by the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT). IIT concludes that units of the Syrian Arab Air Force used chemical weapons in Saraqib

Conspiracy theory“Deprogramming” QAnon Followers Ignores Free Will and Why They Adopted the Beliefs in the First Place By Paul Thomas Published 16 April 2021 Recent calls to deprogram QAnon conspiracy followers are steeped in discredited notions about brainwashing. As popularly imagined, brainwashing is a coercive procedure that programs new long-term personality changes. Deprogramming, also coercive,

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has selected Mara Karlin, a well-known figure in Washington defense circles, to serve as assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans and capabilities, the White House announced Friday. If confirmed, Karlin would take the lead role in developing the next National Defense Strategy, a guiding document for the Defense Department’s

Given its location in the South China Sea and its utility as a place to station American forces, the Philippines has long been able to count on American military support as a deterrent to antagonism from China. Historically, this support has included a steady flow of arms transfers. Since 2002, the United States has sold

Access the tracker HERE: Trend Overview Edited by Jonathan Schanzer Welcome to FDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Every two weeks, we will ask our experts and scholars to provide real-time assessments of the administration’s foreign policy. The analyses below go beyond “quick take” tweets. Our contributors are instead tasked with providing a succinct rationale

WASHINGTON — Three vendors demonstrated capabilities to destroy small drones using low-collateral effects interceptors at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, earlier this month as part of a bigger Pentagon effort to develop enduring systems capable of combating the growing and evolving threat, an Army official told Defense News in an April 15 interview. Boeing-owned Aurora Flight

WASHINGTON — Two key Democratic lawmakers re-introduced legislation Thursday that would make it U.S. policy not to use nuclear weapons first. Opponents, including top military leaders, argue the vague threat of nuclear escalation serves as a deterrent to conventional war and the use of chemical and biological weapons. But the sponsors ― House Armed Services