Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- March 9, 2018

Reuters

National Interest: North Korea's Army: 1.1 Million Strong (And They Have Lots of Guns)

Infantry weapons have long been a pillar of the North Korean People’s Army, or KPA for short. The KPA that invaded South Korea was largely an infantry army, and despite significant mechanization in the 1970s the foundation of the army has been its infantry forces. Today, the bulk of the KPA’s 1.1 million army is infantry, with approximately 200,000 light infantry and special forces.

After the Korean War, North Korea followed the Soviet Union’s lead in infantry weapons. The oldest gun still in service is the KPA Type 58 assault rifle. A clone of the Soviet AK-47, the Type 58 was produced in two factories, #61 and #65 located near Chongjin, between 1958 and 1968. The Type 58 was a basic AK-pattern rifle with a 30 round magazine and a rate of fire of up to 650 rounds per minute. Approximately 800,000 rifles were produced, and while the 7.62-millimeter assault rifle is no longer in service with frontline units it allegedly still equips reserve units and militia.

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Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- March 9, 2018

4 reasons why North Korea's AK variant is just dumb -- We Are The Mighty

Talks with North Korea won't stop annual US-South Korea military exercises -- ABC News

Xi Jinping's Military Might -- Wall Street Journal

More Russian Su-35 fighters rumored to join PLAAF -- Asia Times

PLA wants its border troops to be multilingual -- Asia Times

China Is Building a Spaceplane of Its Own -- Popular Mechanics

China Will Soon Have the Ultimate Naval Weapon: Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carriers -- Zacharey Keck, National Interest

Israeli Army Sets Up 'Consciousness Ops' Unit to Influence Enemy Armies, Foreign Media and Public Opinion -- Haaretz

Is Putin’s Nuclear Boasting for Real? -- Paul Dibb, RCD

Norway Says Russian Aircraft Ran Mock Attacks On A Secretive Radar Base -- The Warzone/The Drive

Russia Will Challenge US Military Superiority in Europe by 2025: US General -- Defense One

Defense Officials: Russia Poised to Challenge US for Military Dominance -- VOA

Top general says Balkans, not Baltics the most vulnerable to Russian influence -- Army Times

US still pouring weapons into Yemen war -- Jack Detsch, Al-Monitor

Air Force Pursues B-21 Design Review, Builds New "Generation" Stealth -- Warrior Maven

The rate of oxygen loss events in the Navy's training jets has plummeted in the last 6 months -- Defense News

New F-35 modernization plan could come with hefty $16B price tag -- Defense News

F-35 Logistics System Faces Challenges -- National Defense

Boeing to provide services for Air Force cruise missiles -- UPI

Navy taps Northrop Grumman for laser weapon system -- UPI

US Navy canceling program to turn gas-guzzling destroyers into hybrids -- Defense News

Army Aims to Reach Readiness Goal by 2022, Then Shift to Modernization -- DoD Buzz

The Army Needs to Buy Capability Today to Be Modern Tomorrow -- Daniel Gouré, RCD

U.S. Army Squads Getting New Marksman Rifles -- Popular Mechanics

US Special Operators Want a Super Vehicle They Can Disguise As Different Civilian Trucks -- The Warzone/The Drive

The Army’s costly quest for the perfect radio continues -- Ars Technica

ISIS Stole Footage From a Soldier in the Niger ISIS Ambush. Now the Military Is Reviewing the Use of Head Cams -- TIME

DoD approves danger pay for Niger, Mali, Cameroon -- Military Times

‘Fat Leonard’ wrongdoing not a definite career killer for Navy officers -- Navy Times

Army: No more kissing soldiers on St. Patrick's in Savannah -- Army Times

The Case for a 21st-Century Battleship -- Salvatore Babones, National Interest

How The Pentagon's Space Program Cratered In The 1990s -- And Why It's Now In Danger Again -- Loren Thompson, Forbes

The Sunset of the Predator: Reflections on the End of an Era -- Joe Chapa, War On The Rocks