Defense

RUSSIA MILITARY NEWS 2018: HISTORIC YEAR FOR VLADIMIR PUTIN AS NEW WEAPONS, STRATEGY AIM TO CHALLENGE U.S.

Russia's armed forces have claimed historic technological achievements and regional partnerships throughout 2018, making it a year in which the country further challenged U.S. military dominance around the world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin first set out in 2008 to revamp his country's military, whose might was devastated by the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. A decade later, he said the most modern and even prospective defense systems are "incapable" of thwarting Russia's newly minted arsenal of weapons. In addition, Moscow forged new ties with Asian powers such as China, India and Pakistan, enhancing the country's footing in the East—a region often touted as the up-and-coming global economic powerhouse.

In the West, however, heightened tensions between Moscow and the U.S.-led NATO Western military alliance have led to dueling military exercises across militarized borders. The East-West dispute also played out in the Middle East, where Moscow's pro-Syrian government campaign outpaced a rival one led by the Pentagon, which has since been ordered to leave the war-torn nation.