UK academics say latest chemicals are ‘wake-up call’ and urge global action to stop weaponisation of neuroscience
Sophisticated and deadly “brain weapons” that can attack or alter human consciousness, perception, memory or behaviour are no longer the stuff of science fiction, two British academics argue.
Michael Crowley and Malcolm Dando, of Bradford University, are about to publish a book that they believe should be a wake-up call to the world.
Continue reading...Grenades filled with rubber pellets and other so-called ‘less lethal’ munitions have been increasingly deployed, despite being linked to serious injuries and even deaths
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Scout* barely realised that something round and hard, with smoke coming from it, had landed in front of them before it exploded.
Pain suddenly shot through their leg and arm. Scout fell to their knees before someone nearby helped them rush out of the area.
Continue reading...If the US navy needs the subs, they cannot be sold to Australia, regardless of how much the president might wish it
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Even by the standards of the Trumpian promise, the unvarnished commitment to Australia on US nuclear submarines – “they’re getting them” – is entirely unreliable.
They are not the US president’s boats to give.
Continue reading...Quantum sensing, satellite tracking and AI are part of an accelerating arms race in detection that should prompt a re-evaluation of Australia’s defence strategy
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Military history is littered with the corpses of apex predators.
The Gatling gun, the battleship, the tank. All once possessed unassailable power – then were undermined, in some cases wiped out, by the march of new technology.
Continue reading...On display in Beijing were nuclear weapons launched by air, sea and land, laser weapons and four-legged drones
It was hardly a subtle attempt to project power. China showed off air-, sea- and land-launched nuclear weapons in its parade on Wednesday, a triad intended to demonstrate that Beijing’s long-term aspiration is to match US military might.
Also on display were large underwater torpedo-like drones, intended to threaten western warships, as well as anti-drone lasers and four-legged “robot wolves”, all designed to be noticed, regardless of their actual military effectiveness.
Continue reading...Israel says Britain’s decision to exclude it from military weapons showcase is a ‘regrettable act of discrimination’
The UK has banned Israeli officials from attending the country’s flagship defence event next month.
Israeli industry, including UK subsidiaries of Israeli companies, will be able to attend London’s Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) show in September but the UK government will not invite representatives of the Israeli government to the major industry event.
Continue reading...Junta obtained ‘anti-jamming’ product made in Europe through a Chinese company, research finds, triggering calls for tighter sanctions
Myanmar’s military is using advanced European technology to protect its drone fleet as it carries out brutal aerial campaigns, research suggests, prompting calls for sanctions against the junta to be tightened.
Myanmar’s military, which has been widely condemned for its indiscriminate attacks against civilians, obtained “anti-jamming” technology made in Europe through a Chinese company, according to a report by Conflict Armament Research (Car).
Continue reading...President hints at ‘major announcement’ on Monday after halting arms shipments due to dwindling stockpiles
Donald Trump appears poised to deliver weapons to Ukraine by selling them first to Nato allies in a major policy shift for his administration amid frustrations with Vladimir Putin over stalling negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
During an interview with NBC News, Trump said he will probably have a “major announcement” on Russia on Monday and confirmed he had struck a deal with Nato leaders to supply weapons to Ukraine.
Continue reading...Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania cite rising threats from Russia to justify once again using one of world’s most indiscriminate weapons
Rights groups have expressed alarm and warned of a slippery slope of again embracing one of the world’s most treacherous weapons, after five European countries said they intend to withdraw from the international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines.
In announcing their plans earlier this year, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all pointed to the escalating military threat from Russia. In mid-April, Latvia’s parliament became the first to formally back the idea, after lawmakers voted to pull out of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which bans the use, production and stockpiling of landmines designed for use against humans.
Continue reading...Defence secretary says lessons from Ukraine highlight need for homegrown supply chain
Britain is set to significantly increase its weapons production in order to no longer rely on importing from the US and France.
This comes as British and European defence companies move away from buying US-made weaponry and equipment due to concerns over president Donald Trump making the country an unreliable military partner.
Continue reading...US authorities charged Takeshi Ebisawa with conspiring to traffic nuclear materials from Myanmar for expected use by Iran in nuclear weapons
A member of the Japanese criminal underworld has pleaded guilty to handling nuclear material sourced from Myanmar and seeking to sell it to fund an illicit arms deal, US authorities have said.
Yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa and a co-defendant had previously been charged in April 2022 with drug trafficking and firearms offences, and both were remanded.
Continue reading...Small FPV drones, which travel at 37mph, have become ubiquitous, evolving from ‘a novelty to a weapon of choice’
Denys, a soldier with Ukraine’s Khyzhak brigade, describes a new kind of war. Standing in a barracks workshop with piles of basic Ukrainian First Person View (FPV) drones behind him, he says simply: “There are fewer gunfights because there are more drone fights.”
Frontlines that were once a gunshot apart are now a killing zone several miles deep, as Russian and Ukrainian drone squads, hidden about one- to three miles behind the frontline, target each other’s forces with simple aerial attacks. “Back in 2022, we were still running around with machine guns from the tree lines,” Denys says, almost with nostalgia.
Continue reading...Killing of journalists in Israeli strike could be war crime, legal experts say after Guardian investigation
A Guardian investigation has found that Israel used a US munition to target and kill three journalists and wound three more in a 25 October attack in south Lebanon which legal experts have called a potential war crime.
On 25 October at 3.19am, an Israeli jet shot two bombs at a chalet hosting three journalists – cameraman Ghassan Najjar and technician Mohammad Reda from pro-Hezbollah outlet al-Mayadeen, as well as cameraman Wissam Qassem from the Hezbollah-affiliated outlet al-Manar.
Continue reading...Joe Biden gave the green light for the US-made weapon to be used inside Russia. How will it affect the war?
Senior US and Ukrainian officials have confirmed that US-made Atacms missiles have been fired into Russian territory for the first time during the Ukraine war.
The attack in Russia’s south-western Bryansk region came two days after Joe Biden’s administration permitted their use, and on the 1,000th day of the war since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Continue reading...Test of apparent ICBM theoretically capable of striking US mainland comes amid warnings over North Korean troops in Ukraine
North Korea has test launched a long-range missile theoretically capable of striking the US mainland in another display of defiance by the regime amid growing warnings over its troops’ participation in the war in Ukraine.
US officials said they believed Thursday’s launch was that of an intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM] but did not say how they had reached that assessment. Japan’s defence minister, Gen Nakatani, said the missile had flown higher and for longer than others tested by North Korea.
Continue reading...Academics say vulnerability of the two countries’ nuclear launch sites makes dangerous mistakes more likely
The US and its allies are capable of threatening and destroying all of Russia and China’s nuclear launch sites with conventional weapons, creating what two experts describe as a potentially unstable geopolitical situation.
Prof Dan Plesch and Manuel Galileo, from Soas University of London, describe a “quiet revolution in military affairs” reflecting increased US military power relative to Moscow and Beijing, particularly in missile technology.
Continue reading...Israeli leader made claim in X post, although Biden administration says it does not ‘know what he is talking about’
The Biden administration has reacted furiously to criticisms by Benjamin Netanyahu that the US is holding back weapons and ammunition from Israel in its war in Gaza, reportedly cancelling a high-level meeting with Israeli officials on Iran in retaliation.
Netanyahu made the claims of a supposedly deliberate weapons delay in a video posted on X in which he implied that Israel’s ability to prevail in the nine-month war with Hamas was being hampered as a result.
Continue reading...China shows off mechanical canine with an automatic rifle on its back at joint military drills with Cambodia
The Chinese army has debuted its latest weapon: a gun-toting robotic dog.
The mechanical canine, which has an automatic rifle on its back, was front and centre of recent joint military drills with Cambodia, according to footage from the state broadcaster CCTV.
Continue reading...Israeli prime minister says country can ‘stand alone’ but later says he hopes US and Israel can overcome differences
Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Israel will stand alone and “fight with our fingernails” in defiance of US threats to further restrict arms deliveries if Israeli forces proceed with an offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was speaking on Thursday after Israeli and Hamas delegations left the ceasefire negotiations in Cairo. It was unclear whether the talks had broken down or simply paused. Hamas said early on Friday that the “ball is now completely” in Israel’s hands, while Israel has claimed that Hamas’s version of a deal fell far short of its requirements.
Continue reading...Human rights experts say attack was violation of international law, and that US supplying of weapon defies 1997 Leahy law
Israel used a US weapon in a March airstrike which killed seven healthcare workers in southern Lebanon, according to a Guardian analysis of shrapnel found at the site of the attack, which was described by Human Rights Watch as a violation of international law.
Seven volunteer paramedics, aged between 18 and 25, were killed in the 27 March attack on an ambulance center belonging to the Lebanese Succor Association in the town of al-Habariyeh in south Lebanon on 27 March.
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