Pacific Perspective:Chinese Military Operations from Belarus to the Bering Sea

According to Staright Arrow News,China and Belarus launched military drills along the Polish and Ukraine borders.This is raising concern across Europe.It just points up that China sees itself as a global power.Exercise Eagle Assault was held near Brest,Belarus which is on the Polish border and 30 miles from Ukraine's northern frontier.It was the first time that Chinese troops were on Belarusian soil.The drills are dubbed anti-terrorism exercises and continued through mid-July.The drills began as NATO held the 75th Anniversary Summit in Washington,DC.*Belarus has just joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO),a body praised by China and Russia as a counterbalance to the West.As well,Belarus has provided logistical support to Russia and recently began hosting Russian nuclear weapons,which troubles NATO and the EU.The drills held near Poland are seen as a provocation and power projection.*For its part,Belarus is accused of waging hybrid warfare against Poland by sending hundreds of migrants a day across the Polish border.The migrants,mostly from the Middle East,Asia and Africa,caused the death of a Polish Soldier recently when a migrant stabbed him.Poland is sending 17,000 troops to protect its border,and is on course to create the largest land army in Europe.*Meanwhile,the U.S. Coast Guard issued a press release on 10 June 2024 about encountering four People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships in the Bering Sea.U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball (WMSL 756),a Legend-class National Security Cutter,detected three PLAN warships about 124 miles north of Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands.An HC-130J Hercules from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak detected a fourth warship about 84 miles north of the Amrika Pass in the Aleutians.All the PLAN warships were in international waters,but inside the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone,which extends out 200 nautical miles from the shorline.The PLAN followed international rules and norms,according to RDL Megan Dean,Seventeenth Coast Guard District commander:We must preserve with presence to assure there were no disruptions to U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska.*Responding to U.S. Coast Guard radio transmissions,the PLAN said they were exercising freedom of navigation operations.The Kimball continued to monitor the warships until they transited south of the Aleutian Islands into the North Pacific Ocean.The Coast Guard,in coordination with U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM),was fully aware of and tracked the PLAN presence.In September 2021 and 2022,Coast Guard cutters deployed to the Bering Sea also encountered Chinese surface action groups.The Kimball patrolled under Operation Frontier Sentinal,which is a Coast Guard operation designed to meet presence with presence when strategic competitors operate in and around U.S. waters.The Coast Guard's presence strengthens the international rules-based order and promotes the conduct of operations in a manner that follows international norms.*The Kimball is a 418 ft. Legend-class National Security Cutter (NSC) homeported in Honolulu,Hawaii.Such National Security Cutters are the largest active patrol class of the USCG,with the size of a frigate.Among the NSC's missions is providing ports,waterways and coastal security;countertterrorism;law enforcement;defence operations and other military operations,including assigned Naval Warfare duties within the U.S. Navy.It has several advanced sensors and processing systems,including radar tactical data links.The NSC has an NBC detection and defence system to repel chemical,biological or radiological attacks.It is armed with 1 x Mk 110 57mm gun;1 x 20mm Block 1B Baseline 2 Phalanx Close-In Weapons System;2 x crew-served M240B 7.62mm machine guns;4 x crew-served Browning M2 machine guns;and has a 50x80 ft. hangar for aircraft.The NSC is optimised for communications with NATO.It is built by Huntington Ingalls Industries.*Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc (HII)

US Army, NATO. Armored Forces in Lithuania on the border with Belarus.

Hybrid Threat:Poland Reacts as Wagner Group Mercenaries Approach NATO Chokepoint

On 29 July 2023,Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said his government had received information that Wagner Group mercenaries were nearing Grodno,Belarus close to the Suwalki Gap,a part of Northeast Poland regarded as a NATO chokepoint,since it connects Belarus with Russia's Kalilingrad Oblast exclave.In a conflict with NATO,Russia and Belarus could seize the sparsely populated area,thus cutting off land access to the three NATO member Baltic States of Lithuania,Latvia and Estonia.Over a hundred Wagner Group mercenaries were reported to be gathering in the area.*Prime Minister Morawiecki feels it is another effort to destabilise the Polish border,after Belarus had sent waves of illegal refugees across the border in summer 2021,causing chaotic scenes.Said Mr.Morawiecki:They (Wagner Group mercenaries) will probably be disguised as Belarusian border guards and will help illegal immigrants to enter Polish territory,destabilising Poland;but they will also probably try to infiltrate Poland,pretending to be illegal immigrants,and this creates additional risks.*Recall that Russia invaded Ukraine for the first time in 2014 with men in unmarked green uniforms,the so-called little green men.So the Wagner Group could wage hybrid warfare against NATO Ally Poland on behalf of Putin and his crony,Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko.Grodno,Belarus is about 10 mi/16.09 km from the Polish border.Speaking at a press conference,Mr.Morawiecki said that:Now the situation is becoming even more dangerous.This is certainly a step towards a further hybrid attack on Polish territory.*Such an attack could activate NATO's Article V,which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all.Article V has only been activated once,following the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.The Suwalki Gap is the border between Poland and Lithuania.Lukashenko reportedly remarked to Putin that:The Wagner guys have been starting to stress us.They would like to go West,saying 'Let's go on a trip to Warsaw and Rzeszow.'"Wagner Group has been training Belarusian troops lately.So Poland has reinforced its border with troops and 500 police.Recent drills near the border have been seen by Poland as a provocation.Kaliningrad Oblast is heavily fortified with up to 30,000 Russian troops and heavy artillery.In 2019,there were Russian/Belarus drills near the Polish border.

Arkansas National deployed to Lithuania, after MQ-9 Reaper successfully mapped nukes in Belarus

Dozens F-16 Fighter Jets Arrive Near Russian Border Amid Russian Nuclear Threats

Bulletin:Rapid Response to Russia's Deployment of Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Belarus

In recent weeks,NATO has been bulking up its forces-especially on the Eastern Flank of the Alliance-apparently in response to Russia's threat to deploy,and then actual deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia has many more tactical nuclear weapons than NATO does.Last week,the NATO Nuclear Committee held its classified meeting and very likely discussed the potential crisis.* The US Air Force has deployed a squadron of eight fighter jets to Lithuania;the US Army deployed members of an Armored Brigade Combat Team to Germany;the British Army has been deployed to Poland;the US Army deployed a massive 5,000+ troops to Latvia's border,all in apparent response to the new threat.It is in line with Operation Atlantic Resolve,the deployment of US troops to reassure Allies and deter adversaries in light of Russia's illegal aggression against Ukraine.The US has warned Russia that any use of tactical nuclear weapons would have unspecified devastating consequences for the Kremlin regime.* At the NATO Summit in Vilnius,Lithuania in July,NATO will agree further deterrence and defence measures in response to Russia's brutal war against Ukraine.* This blog is hearing about even more troop movements than these going on.

NATO Secretary General - Doorstep statement at Defence Ministers Meeting 15 JUN 2023