Naval Forces Research Articles

Pedagogical and organizational conditions for stepwise training of future Naval Forces Officers

Pedagogical and organizational conditions for stepwise training of future Naval Forces Officers

The Most Significant Technical Challenges for the US Naval Forces at the South China Sea

The United States of America’s Naval Forces constantly prepare for operations againstpotential adversaries, most notably the military threat posed by the People’s Republicof China. Chinese developments over the past decades have successfully reduced thetechnological and procedural gap compared with the US Navy in some areas, and insome cases they have already demonstrated certain advantages. In my study, I willexamine the US response to these challenges in the recent past, with regard to theNavy and the Marine Corps.

The Integration of High Power Laser Weapon Systems into The Turkish Naval Forces Warships

Bu çalışma kapsamında Yüksek Güçlü Lazer Silah Sistemlerinin (YGLSS) Türk Deniz Kuvvetleri Komutanlığı envanterindeki savaş gemilerine entegrasyonu incelenmiştir. Savaş gemileri için önemli bir tehdit olan insansız hava ve deniz araçlarının etkisiz hale getirilebilmesi için ihtiyaç duyulan YGLSS çıkış güçleri hesaplanarak bu çıkış gücüne sahip sistem için gerekli olan elektriksel güç ve montaj alanı belirlenmiştir. Elde edilen değerler Türk Deniz Kuvvetleri Komutanlığı envanterindeki savaş gemilerinin alt yapısı ile karşılaştırılarak entegrasyon için uygun gemiler belirlenmiştir. Sonuç olarak; belirli senaryolar dahilinde Türk Deniz Kuvvetleri Komutanlığı envanterindeki fırkateynlerin, korvetlerin ve hücumbotların entegrasyon için uygun olduğu ancak sistem boyutlarından dolayı bazı tadilatların yapılması gerektiği değerlendirilmiştir.

SIMULATION MODEL OF A MISSILE STRIKE

Abstract. As modern naval warfare systems and tactics continue to evolve, it is crucial to employ contemporary tools capable of assessing their potential across various combat scenarios. This study model simulates interactions between anti-ship missiles and naval forces during landing operations. Our research seeks to develop a robust method for quantitatively analyzing the impact of anti-ship missiles on naval vessels under diverse combat conditions. The model's scalability allows for the incorporation of emerging naval tactics and procedures, maintaining its relevance and utility in dynamic strategic environments. It supports enhancements in precision through statistical analysis and ongoing assessments of new weaponry and technological advancements. By simulating a broad range of missile types, naval strategies, warship classes, aircraft, reconnaissance systems, and electronic warfare capabilities, the model provides insights into the strategic utility of anti-ship missiles. Our findings aim to optimize the allocation of military resources by accurately determining the necessary missile quantities to thwart enemy naval landings, thereby enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of defensive operations. Keywords: Anti-ship missiles, missile guidance, naval landing, simulation framework, missile damage estimation.

Plan z Albany i koncepcja brytyjskiej konstytucji imperialnej Benjamina Franklina

The Albany Plan of Union was a plan to create a unified federal government for the British colonies in America at the Albany Congress on July 10, 1754 in Albany, New York. One of its originators was Benjamin Franklin – a delegate from Pennsylvania. The plan called for a general government to be administered by a President-General, to be appointed and supported by the Crown, and a Grand Council to consist of delegates nominated by the colonial assemblies. Proposed powers included treaty-making, and raising army and naval forces and, most significantly, included the right of taxation. The plan was part of the implementation of Franklin’s concept of changing the way British rule in America and creating a federal British Empire. The plan was rejected by colonial assemblies and the Crown but it was a forerunner for the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution.

Maritime Applications of Prolonged Casualty Care: A Series Introduction.

The current United States Navy and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) maritime strategy is coalescing around the concept of Distributed Maritime Operations (DMOs) to prepare for future large-scale combat operations with peer or near-peer competitors. As a result, individual components of naval forces will be more geographically dispersed and oper- ating at a significant time and distance from higher levels of medical care. We developed a series of educational scenarios informed by real-world events to enhance the ability of Role 1 medical caregivers to apply the principles of Prolonged Ca- sualty Care during current routine, crisis, and contingency DMOs.

Военное судостроение в азиатской части Российской империи: результаты изучения и оценки отечественных исследователей

The article examines the problem of the formation and development of military shipbuilding in the Asian part of Russia in the 18th – early 20th centuries. The objectives are to identify the main stages of the formation of the shipbuilding and ship repair base of the Okhotsk (Siberian) flotilla in the Far East and Siberia, as well as the Amur Flotilla in the Amur River basin; to analyze the course of the formation and development of industrial facilities of this base, quantitative and qualitative indicators of their work; to show ways and means of solving problems of a logistical and logistical nature in the formation and functioning of the shipbuilding industry; to get an idea of the replenishment of the Aral Flotilla by ship. The work is based on the analysis of the works of Russian researchers of the prerevolutionary, Soviet and post-Soviet periods using the necessary set of general philosophical, general scientific and special historical methods, such as ascent from the concrete to the abstract, historical-genetic, problem-chronological and perspective analysis. The article shows that during the period of sailing shipbuilding (18th – the first half of the 19th centuries), about ten shipyards operated in Siberia and the Far East, most of which were temporary. The leading role at that time was played by the shipyard in Okhotsk, where the vast majority of the most diverse vessels for the Okhotsk military flotilla were built. The Irkutsk Admiralty acted as a subsidiary enterprise for the Okhotsk shipbuilding. The most important factor that influenced the appearance of the shipbuilding industry in the region was the absence here, unlike in the European part of Russia, of the need to solve important military and political tasks. Large naval formations were not created here, and the ships under construction were intended mainly for transport and security functions. Despite the enormous difficulties, primarily of a logistical nature, the shipbuilding base formed in Siberia and the Far East made it possible, on the whole, to successfully solve the tasks facing it. During the period of steam and metal shipbuilding (the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries), in the context of a sharp increase in the geopolitical role of the Far East for Russia, the development of the shipbuilding industry here was reduced only to the creation of a rather limited ship repair base. The reasons for this situation could be both traditional problems for domestic military shipbuilding (chronic technical and technological lag behind the leading maritime powers, constant lack of funding for naval programs, etc.), and the same logistical factor. The following methods were used to solve the urgent tasks of replenishing the naval forces of the fleet in the Far East: the construction of collapsible ships of small tonnage with their final assembly at local production sites, the arming of civilian vessels, and, most importantly, the creation of branches of large shipbuilding enterprises based in the European part of Russia in the region.

Maritime Applications of Prolonged Casualty Care Sepsis on a Destroyer During Distributed Maritime Operations.

During distributed maritime operations, individual components of the naval force are more geographically dispersed. As the U.S. Navy further develops this concept, smaller vessels may be operating at a significant time and distance away from more advanced medical capabilities. Therefore, during both current and future contested Distributed Maritime Operations, Role 1 maritime caregivers such as Independent Duty Corpsman will have to manage patients for prolonged periods of time. This manuscript presents an innovative approach to teaching complex operational medicine concepts (including Prolonged Casualty Care [PCC]) to austere Role 1 maritime caregivers using a hypothetical scenario involving a patient with sepsis and septic shock. The scenario incorporates the Joint Trauma System PCC Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) and other standard references. The scenario includes a stem clinical vignette, expected clinical changes for the affected patient at specific time points (e.g., time 0, 1, 2, and 48h), and expected interventions based on the PCC CPG and available shipboard equipment. Epidemiology of sepsis in the deployed environment is also reviewed. This process also identifies opportunities to improve training, clinical skills sustainment, and standard shipboard medical supplies.

КАПИТАН ИВАН БОРИСОВ НА ОСТРОВЕ САМОС В АВГУСТЕ 1771 Г.: К ИСТОРИИ РУССКО-ГРЕЧЕСКИХ ОТНОШЕНИЙ В ПЕРИОД ПЕРВОЙ АРХИПЕЛАГСКОЙ ЭКСПЕДИЦИИ

The article considers the short staying of stay of the commander of the “Saint Ianuarius” ship, captain Ivan Borisov, on the Greek island of Samos in 1771. during the Russian-Turkish War of 1769–1774. The Russian naval forces were on the island for only about a month. But, thanks to the report of the ship commander preserved in the Russian State Naval Archives, we have the opportunity to analyze the social relations of the local villages among each other, as well as evaluate their attitude towards the Russian naval forces. The cited document shows that with apparent sympathy for Russia, there was no uniform opinion as regards whether to accept the patronage of the Russian Empire and whether to enter into open confrontation with Istanbul, in whose power they were. One part of the island’s population, including the clergy, had a conservative position and did not want to disrupt the more or less stable relations established with the Ottoman Empire. The other part was strongly opposed to such a position and persistently asked Borisov, as a representative ofthe Russian government, to take them as [Russian] subjects despite the threat of the punitive measures from Turkey in the future. That micro-narrative could be partially applied to the Greek people on the whole. Within that picture, the nature of such contradictory things becomes more clearly visible: on the one hand, it was the readiness of the Greeks to participate in the war on the Russian side, on the other – the failed uprising in the Peloponnese and the Russian ruling elite’s lack of understanding of the reasons of that failure.

Missile Strike Simulation in a Video Game Engine

In the field of modern computer gaming (especially within the genre of war-game strategies, realistic first-person shooters and other warfare games) the complexity of virtual naval warfare mechanics and strategies significantly increases. There is a growing demand for advanced simulation tools to provide more immersive experience and more complex gameplay for all players. The goal of this research is to create a model and tool that can accurately predict the impact of anti-ship missiles on ships engaged in different game scenarios, considering a wide range of battle conditions. By encompassing a broad array of missile types, landing strategies, ship classes, aircraft types, reconnaissance options, electronic warfare technologies and various anti-air and missile defense systems, the simulation includes both offensive and defensive maneuvers to make sure that anti-ship missiles are important within the game scenarios. Firstly, the research focuses on enhancing prediction models for calculating the damage inflicted by missile strikes on opposing naval forces. Secondly, it seeks to refine algorithms for determining the required number of missiles to prevent rival player advances, thereby maximizing operational efficiency and effectiveness in defensive missions.

ANALYSIS OF NAVTEX MESSAGES PUBLISHED FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION IN TERMS OF SAFE NAVIGATION OF SHIPS

Navigational Telex (NAVTEX) messages have a significant impact on the navigational safety of ships. NAVTEX plays an important role in decreasing the chances of near-misses, groundings, and collisions in the sea by disseminating safety-related information. In this study, it was aimed to present that navigational risk trend in a region could be revealed by analyzing NAVTEX messages. The analysis of NAVTEX messages as a data set will constitute a good data source for ship managers, researchers and seafarers who are navigating on the seas. Since there is no current research on NAVTEX messages in terms of navigational safety focused on Mediterranean Sea in the literature, this study aimed to fill this gap. The NAVTEX messages that pertain to the Mediterranean region were examined in the notice to mariners bulletin published by the Turkish Naval Forces Office of Navigation, Hydrography and Oceanography between 2019 and 2022. The examination was limited to messages broadcast from Antalya station. The study employed the document analysis method. The distribution of the number of messages by year, the annual distribution of messages by topic, and the annual distribution of messages by type were determined as the main research questions. It has been observed that studying the trends of NAVTEX messages can provide significant data about the region. It has been evaluated that this approach will contribute to the decision-making mechanisms of ship managers, particularly seafarers, and can serve as a source of information for rule makers. This study was produced by developing the undergraduate thesis titled "Review of NAVTEX Messages for the Mediterranean Sea Published in Notice to Mariners", which was completed successfully in June 2023.

『雪窖酬唱集』에 수록된 曺漢英의 시 연구

This paper was attempted to examine the poetry of Cho Han-young found in the collection Seolgyosuchangjip. In 1639, after the Manchu War of 1636(丙子胡亂), the Qing Dynasty requested the deployment of naval forces(水軍) from Joseon for their war against the Ming Dynasty. In response, Kim Sang-heon(金尙憲), Cho Han-young, and Chae Ihang(蔡以恒) submitted a petition opposing the dispatch of naval forces. As a result, the Qing Dynasty summoned these three men to Shenyang(瀋陽). During their confinement in Shenyang's prison, Cho Han-young and Kim Sang- heon spent their time composing poetry, the poems exchanged between them are compiled in the collection Seolgyosuchangjip. In this paper, Cho Han-young's poetry included in this book was divided into two aspects.
 The first aspect is the portrayal of deep sorrow and lamentation in the foreign land. Cho Han-young employed a technique of contrasting the present with the past to reveal his discontent with life in confinement and his yearning for freedom. Through the metaphor of a bird, he lamented his own situation, and he frequently expressed nostalgia using the theme of dreams. Additionally, he incorporated regret and heartbreak into playful poetic expressions. These works indicate that Cho Han-young's eyes were often directed towards the south.
 The second aspect is an expression of the anti-Qing consciousness. Cho Han-young depicted Shenyang and its surroundings as a dark and unstable space, and used negative expressions and a strong tone to reveal his resentment towards the Qing Dynasty. He also blamed himself for failing to become a warrior and revealed his great will to play an active part in the battlefield. Meanwhile, He also revealed a sense of anti-Qing consciousness through retrospection on historical figures. He recalled individuals who achieved victory in wars, those who punished the barbarians, and those who harbored a spirit of revenge. He also recited his desire for these characters to appear in the reality of Joseon. Works that manifest anti-Qing consciousness indicate that his eyes were oriented towards the north, including Shenyang.
 Jo Han-young's poetry is significant in that it shows the conscious orientation of an anti-Qing writer who had to live in detention in Shenyang after the Manchu War of 1636.

MILITARY-TECHNICAL CULTURE OF NAVAL FORCES SPECIALISTS: ESSENCE, CONTENT AND STRUCTURE

The article examines the psychological-pedagogical essence, content, and structure of the military-technical culture of naval forces specialists in modern Ukrainian higher education institutions. It has been proven that the level of development of the military-technical culture of the naval forces specialists in the modern armed forces today does not meet the needs and requirements of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It has been established that in the process of professional training at a military higher education institution, interest turns into a purposeful desire to master military-professional activities. However, students’ interest in improving military-technical literacy is unstable and unsystematic. It has been proven that the military-technical culture of naval specialists is a type of professional culture that represents an integrative property of the individual, which includes a set of knowledge, skills, professionally essential qualities, and value orientations that ensure the readiness of the future officer to carry out military engineering activities. The system of formation of military-technical culture of naval specialists is based on general (awareness and activity, compatibility of the implementation of the system with the conditions of military training, connection of theory and practice, differentiation and individualization) and specific (transformation of general engineering culture into military-technical culture cadets, axiologising the content of the system, innovations, interdisciplinary integration) principles.
 Based on the study of a complex of literary sources, it has been established that military-technical culture is considered by scientists as a personal education, as a set of personality qualities, as a sum of professional engineering knowledge, abilities, and skills, and as a means of achieving results and self-development of students in educational activities. In the process of scientific research, the functions of military-technical culture (directive, translational, meaningful, developing, reflexive-evaluative) have been singled out; components of military-technical culture (value-motivational, cognitive and activity-communicative) and logical levels of their formation (algorithmic, reproductive, reconstructive and creative).

War at Sea: Burn Care Challenges—Past, Present and Future

Throughout history, seafarers have been exposed to potential thermal injuries during naval warfare; however, injury prevention, including advances in personal protective equipment, has saved lives. Thankfully, burn injuries have decreased over time, which has resulted in a significant clinical skills gap. Ships with only Role 1 (no surgical capability) assets have worse outcomes after burn injury compared to those with Role 2 (surgical capability) assets. To prepare for future burn care challenges during a war at sea, Military Medicine must re-learn the lessons of World War I and World War II. Burn injuries do not occur in isolation during war and are associated with concomitant traumatic injuries. To care for burn casualties at sea, there is an urgent need to increase the availability of whole blood and dried plasma, resuscitation fluids that were ubiquitous throughout the naval force during World War II for both hemorrhagic and burn shock resuscitation. Furthermore, those providing trauma care at sea require formal burn care training and skills sustainment experiences in the clinical management of Burn, Trauma, and Critical Care patients. While burn education, training, and experience must be improved, modern high-energy weapons systems and anti-ship ballistic missiles necessitate concurrent investments in prevention, countermeasures, and personal protective equipment to decrease the likelihood of burn injury and damage resulting from these attacks.

FORMALIZATION OF DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES IN AVIATION MANAGEMENT

Currently, fighter aircraft is one of the most important components in the war with the russian federation. It is used to gain superiority in the air during combat, destroy means of air attack, air support of the Ground Forces, the Naval Forces, provision of aerial intelligence data to control bodies, aerial damage to enemy aviation, land and sea formations, objects of the state and military administration, rear facilities and military-economic potential, transport communications, performance of other special tasks. To ensure high efficiency of combat use, tactical (fighter) aviation brigades are equipped with automation equipment. The experience of the combat use of fighter aircraft during wars and local military conflicts of the last decade shows that ensuring high efficiency of aircraft control is achieved by automating control processes through the use of modern software and mathematical support of the automated control system, based on fundamentally new approaches, in including the use of a single formal system for presenting the knowledge of combat control officers. However, the capabilities of aviation and air defense control systems to solve logical and analytical problems are limited. In the existing complex of automation tools, the final result of the task of determining the impact on the target is evaluated qualitatively – if it is possible for the fighter to enter a given tactically advantageous position relative to the target. The existing SPMZ ASU uses mathematical models, the systems of restrictions of which do not allow to fully use the existing potential of the available composition of information sources, to form recommendations based on incomplete, inaccurate input information, which negatively affects the quality of aviation management. Thus, the need to automate decision- making processes in aviation management using the latest information technologies is urgent. One of the promising directions of formalization of decision-making processes in aviation management is the creation of models that provide for the formalization of the mental activity of decision-makers. The purpose of the article. Automation of decision-making processes in aviation management using the latest information technologies. One of the promising directions of formalization of decision-making processes in aviation management is the creation of models that provide for the formalization of the mental activity of decision-makers.

The Build-up of Naval Forces with NATO Standards: The Case of Ukraine's 2035 Strategy of the Naval Forces

Azak Denizi ve Karadeniz’e bulunan kıyıları, enerji rezervlerine yakınlığı, Rusya ve Orta-Asya enerji kaynaklarının Avrupa’ya taşınmasındaki transit ülke konumu Ukrayna’yı bölgede sürdürülebilir güvenliğin kilit aktörü haline getirmektedir. Bağımsızlığını kazandığı 1991 yılından itibaren NATO ile ortaklık geliştiren Ukrayna, bir taraftan ülkedeki otokratik eğilimleri yumuşatmak diğer taraftan Rusya’dan gelen baskıları dengelemek için NATO ile iş birliğini askerî, siyasi ve jeopolitik kapsamda araçsallaştırmıştır. Ukrayna, 2.759 km kıyı uzunluğu ve 72 bin km²’den fazla münhasır ekonomik bölgesiyle askerî ve ekonomik açıdan ulusal çıkarları denizlerle yakından bağlantılı olan bir devlettir. Dolayısıyla denizlerde hareket yeteneğine sahip, modern ve gelişmiş bir donanma gücüne sahip olmak Ukrayna açısından kritik önem taşımaktadır. Ancak 2014 yılında Rusya’nın Kırım’ı ilhak etmesiyle birlikte Ukrayna Donanması’nın %70’i yok olmuş, 2022 yılında Rusya tarafından Ukrayna’ya karşı başlatılan geniş çaplı askerî operasyon ise Ukrayna Donanması’nın hayati önemini yeniden ortaya koymuştur. Bu çalışmanın amacı Ukrayna tarafından yayınlanan 2035 Deniz Kuvvetleri Strateji Belgesi’ni analiz etmek ve belgede yer alan reformların NATO standartları, ilkeleri ve değerlerini içeren hedefleri incelemektir. Ukrayna Deniz Kuvvetleri, 2035 yılına kadar NATO standartlarında modern ve gelişmiş donanma gücü inşa etmeyi ve açık deniz hareket kabiliyetine sahip bir kuvvet yapılanması gerçekleştirmeyi hedeflemektedir.

Military Security in the Baltic Sea during Cold War: Analysis Based on the Materials of the Naval Reconnaissance Unit of the Polish People’s Republic

The purpose of the article was to present, in the proverbial nutshell, the issues related to the military situation in the 1950s and 1960s during the so-called Cold War in the Baltic Sea, based on the materials of the Naval Reconnaissance Unit of the Polish People’s Republic. These materials were very important for analytical teams preparing concepts for operations in the Northern European Theater of Operations, as well as ensuring the security of the maritime borders of the Warsaw Pact countries.
 The 1950s and 1960s were characterized by a wide range of reconnaissance activities as a consequence of the changing reality in the Baltic Sea. The naval potential of both NATO countries, especially Denmark and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), was expanded, thus the other side began to create the People’s Navy of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), as well as to strengthen the combat potential of the naval forces of the People’s Republic of Poland. At the same time, the cooperation of allied fleets of the Warsaw Pact countries was improved, and for this purpose, staff exercises were conducted on maps and in the Baltic Sea.
 In retrospect, both NATO and the Warsaw Pact appreciated the military importance of the Danish Straits and the Baltic Sea. In the following years, efforts were made to improve the concepts of naval forces in these waters.

“ Hippapai !” Horse-Carriers: A Master Ship of Ancient Thalassocracies

Summary Most powerful ancient navies included a type of ship that conveyed cavalry known as hippagogos – a master weapon of all sea powers – to carry out their expeditions overseas. Ancient thalassocracies understood that their dominion depended not only on fighting ships. Cavalry was necessary for victory on land and was thus a necessary component of their maritime strategy. Control of Mediterranean waters necessitated the construction of horse-carriers that provided much needed auxiliary support to the fleet. Although a naval force might include only a few of these vessels, their role was essential, and for this reason they were part of every significant fleet. Only sea powers with large resources and advanced nautical skills could commission horse-transports, which were old warships that had been transformed. This investigation traces the evolution in the use of vessels conveying cavalry from Persian expeditions in the Aegean to the Battle of Actium. The study considers the literary and epigraphic sources evidencing them in order to emphasize their continued importance for the evolution of naval warfare throughout antiquity. Athenian horse-carriers are the best documented examples and are considered the most extensively, even though many other powers used these kinds of vessels. At the peak of their maritime empire, the Athenian employed horse-carriers on multiple occasions against their enemies. The city-state was renowned for them to the extent that Aristophanes dedicated a comedic episode to them in his play Knights, which indicates the great interest of elites in these vessels. The article also reassesses the role of the cavalrymen who played pivotal roles in the expeditions of all maritime empires in antiquity.

An Analysis Of The Origin And Growth Of The Indian Military Justice System And Its Drawbacks

Military justice in any nation refers to a collection of laws aimed at regulating the personnel of the country's armed forces. Each state requires a code of regulations and guidelines for the raising, support, and organization of its military, which may all be viewed as the field of military regulation. The object of the disciplinary code is to guarantee that the desire of the commandant is placed into impact. Military regulation in this way traces its origin to the prerogative force of rulers. The Indian Army, Air Force, and Naval Force in India have special laws formed to govern the Land, Air and Water forces, also known as The Indian Army, Air Force, and Naval Force in India. The purpose of military regulation is to ensure that the trooper is not empowered to get away from the commitments of his country's normal regulation or of global regulation. The three Army, Navy and Air Force Acts are nearly identical, but there are a few differences in the authorities and processes. The Air Force has three kinds of Court Martial - General Court Martial, District Court Martial and Summary General Court Martial. The Indian Army has one kind of court-martial during peacetime and also a disciplinary tribunal during times of war. The Indian Military Justice System has multiple drawbacks that often lose out on the purpose of granting justice and restrict it for the military officials . The Indian Armed Forces have a structure of regulation, standards, and methods called military regulation, which has encountered rehashed modifications and changes. This research slightly touches and compares certain drawbacks of the Indian Military Justice System to the procedures of the USA and UK military forces The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) was established in 2007, but it failed to make a mark due to the rigidity of the tribunal and the lack of support from the Government. The AFT has failed to provide adequate verdicts for the cases due to lack of experts in the tribunal, and there is a serious case of the non-execution of the final orders that could’ve granted relief to the complainants.

The Israel-Iran conflict: between Washington and Beijing

ABSTRACT Since its establishment in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been openly and vociferously committed to the destruction of the State of Israel. To thwart this genocidal goal – especially the lethal threat of Tehran’s dogged quest for nuclear weapons – Israel has heavily relied on the United States, its longstanding, foremost international ally. Over the past two decades, as its relations with China have greatly expanded, Israel has also sought to harness Beijing’s close and multifaceted ties with Tehran to the fight against a nuclear Iran – to no avail. With the burgeoning Israeli-Chinese relationship stirring recurrent frictions with Washington, especially due to the latter’s alarm over Beijing’s involvement in key infrastructure and hi-tech projects in Israel, Jerusalem has been forced to walk a tight rope between the two rival superpowers so as to maintain their maximum support without alienating either of them. This dilemma was resolved overnight after the invasion of southern Israel by the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorist organization (on 7 October 2023) and its massacre of some 1500 Israelis (fifteen times the 9/11 death toll in relative terms). With Beijing quickly siding with the Palestinians (and Iran), and President Biden throwing the US’ full support behind Israel, warning Tehran and its proxies off intervention and sending a large naval force to the eastern Mediterranean, it has transpired beyond shadow of a doubt who Israel’s real friend is and where its interests lie.