Coronavirus and Army

A New Field of Confrontation in the World

 

Victor Hvozd
Doctor of Military Science

 

Since the mid-first decade of the 2000s, one of the themes of world literature, movies and other works of art has been a new wave of simulations of various situations related to global disasters on the Earth. Unfortunately, this has not remained just fantasy of writers and screenwriters, but has come true as a reflection of real world processes.

According to experts, the essence of such processes is the emergence of new lines of confrontation between the leading countries and the rest of the world. At this, they cover a wider range of different spheres and fields. Thus, in addition to the traditional lines of confrontation in the political, economic, military, information and special spheres, the struggle in the cyberspace has developed in recent years. And now, to top it all, — in the biological environment, which makes the confrontation in the world more complex and unpredictable.

 

…The biological sphere is becoming a new arena of confrontation between the leading and other states of the world. And biological threats to humanity that were previously considered potential are becoming quite real…

Of course, biological weapons are nothing new and have been used since ancient times. In particular, during the sieges, catapults would lob into castles or fortresses the bodies of people who died from infectious diseases, causing an epidemic there. Later, in most of the leading countries, the development of biological weapons was put on a scientific basis.

It is known that such weapons were developed, manufactured and tested in Japan before and during World War II. Less known is the fact that the Soviet Union actually used biological weapons against the German army during the critical period of summer–autumn 1942 on the Stalingrad direction. According to the data declassified after the collapse of the USSR, ordinary mice infected with tularemia were thrown into places of deployment and concentration of German troops, from which not only German military but also, to a great extent, the local population, and then the Red Army, would catch this infectious disease. This is precisely what kept the Soviet Union from continuing biological warfare.

However, this did not stop the development of new biological agents, as well as methods of protection, in leading and other states. It even became one of the components of the Cold War between the Western and Eastern blocs, an element of their preparation for a possible Third World War.

Such activity was mainly concentrated within the armed forces and special services, which is quite understandable given the military application of biological weapons. To this end, special research centers, industrial enterprises, and combat units were created within the armed forces. Along with the new generation of biological agents, special delivery systems were developed — from microcontainers to special warheads of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

So these biological weapons have become a strategic weapon of mass destruction. Moreover, it is, in fact, more dangerous than nuclear one, which is explained by the relative ease of production, transportation and covert use of biological agents. In fact, it can be used not only by countries with a low level of development but also by individual terrorist organizations.

…Unlike nuclear weapons, until recently biological weapons did not play a significant role in the development of world geopolitical processes…

But, unlike nuclear weapons, until recently biological weapons did not play a significant role in the development of world geopolitical processes. For example, no country or terrorist organization used biological weapons, let alone as a tool to blackmail its opponents. All due to the practical impossibility of providing selective effect of biological weapons, which can cause a boomerang effect. Moreover, in light of the above, the Biological Weapons Convention was adopted in 1972. To date, about 180 countries are parties of the Convention (including ratified it). Under its terms, they pledged both to abandon the production of biological weapons and to dispose of their stock.

However, the Convention has not resolved the problem of biological weapons in the world due to the lack of appropriate verification mechanisms. After all, a number of countries, including leading ones, have joined the Convention only for a public image, that is, formally, without stopping the development of combat biological agents, and preserving the ability of their use.

 

Besides, there is another problem — new infectious diseases due to mutation of viruses caused by environmental changes. Global transport communications contribute to the fast and wide spread of epidemics in the world. This way, “natural biological weapon” appears actually simultaneously with the systems of its delivery.

…Today, natural viral infections cannot be fully controlled by humanity, but some states use them for their geopolitical purposes…

Today, natural viral infections cannot be fully controlled by humanity, but some states use them for their geopolitical purposes. For example, China is probably trying to address the accumulated problems of the national economy during the process of neutralizing the coronavirus, as well as to prevent the obvious actions of the US and Russian leaderships, which also seek to strengthen their positions in the guise of fighting the epidemic. In more detail I wrote about this in the article “Coronavirus and Oil. Geopolitical Conclusions for the World”.

At the same time, this practice cannot yet be called widespread. Although, as the world economy further deteriorates, and, consequently, disagreements between states worsen, this practice may become more widespread and its forms — more diverse.

Worsening of international relations will increase the threat of armed conflicts and wars in the world. At this, in the context of the spread of natural viral infections, individual countries and terrorist organizations may also use real biological weapons. Of course, probability of this is quite low, but it should not be ruled out, especially as new centers of power are formed and chaos encompasses the world. Therefore, some countries are beginning to project, so to speak, epidemic-related problems into the military sphere. In particular, because of coronavirus, the USA and NATO have greatly reduced the scope of the Defender-Europe 20 military exercise, which has been planned to be the largest in the last thirty years. Despite the epidemic, Russia has stepped up its military exercises in the Baltic and Black Sea regions, including in the occupied Crimea, even so trying to demonstrate its superiority over the West and indirectly blackmailing it with biological danger.

…Leaders of the United States and France already declared the spread of the epidemic as “a state of war”…

Leaders of countries such as the United States and France already declared the spread of the epidemic in American and French territories as “a state of war”. At this, viral threats are equated with threats of terrorism. All this greatly enhances the role of the armed forces in defending the interests of their countries in the context of confrontation in the new battlefield — biological. Other law enforcement agencies and special services are already facing new challenges. Considering the general purpose of the military and paramilitary structures, these tasks include:

  • scientific research in the counteracting artificial and natural biological threats, as well as developing domestic biological warfare agents. According to some media, such work is underway in the United States, China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. And this researches are top secret;
  • disinfection with the use of special equipment of places of mass gathering. For example, nuclear, chemical and biological defence units of the Eastern Military District of the RF Armed Forces were involved in such tasks in the Primorsky Krai of Russia;
  • deployment of special medical and quarantine facilities (camps) designed to treat and isolate patients and potential carriers of infection. Thus, in all medical institutions of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, specialized infectious units are opened, where they will treat patients with coronavirus. The Russian government has allocated 8.8 billion rubles to its Defense Ministry to build 16 modular infection centers;
  • taking measures of the state (or situation) of emergency. In China, the United States, Russia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Iran, Israel and other countries, armed forces (including military vehicles) are involved in the tasks of: blocking entrances to large cities and epidemic-prone areas; protecting medical and strategic facilities in case of civil unrest; control at borders and checkpoints; patrolling the streets; evacuating the population and transporting the sick; delivering the supplies needed, etc. For this purpose, reservists are sometimes mobilized.

In this context, indicative was the decision of the French President E. Macron to launch a military operation Résilience in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the country, to support the population and public authorities in the struggle against the epidemic. The military operation is separate from the Sentinelle counterterrorism operation. Dixmude and Mistral amphibious assault ships are being used to assist the population of the French overseas territories in the Antilles and Guiana and in the southern Indian Ocean.

 

At the same time, biological warfare agents and viral infections pose threats and damage to the armed forces and security services. According to the US Department of Defense, several dozens of cases of coronavirus disease have been detected among the US military in Europe. Therefore, the US and NATO European Command are preparing for the worst scenario of the epidemic.

Due to the threat of the spread of the coronavirus, the USA is going to close a number of defense contractors. These are the Boeing factories, manufacturing aircrafts for the US Department of Defense. Similar problems are emerging in Europe. In France and Italy, all enterprises of the leading developer and manufacturer of missile systems in the EU — MBDA (Matra BAE Dynamics Alenia) — are closed.

Now they are trying to do their best to prevent unwanted trends.

…Ukraine is the object of overlapping interests of the leading powers of the world, which creates for it a number of additional threats in the sphere of global biological warfare…

To this end, a number of programs have been developed and implemented in the United States to protect US military from the coronavirus infection. They are trying to ensure the sustainability of the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), which controls the US nuclear triad. The relevant services of the Strategic Command isolate personnel carrying combat duty on missile launchers and submarines. There are also plans to respond to epidemic-related emergencies in US strategic nuclear forces.

Similar measures are being taken in Russia. March 12, 2020, an emergency center was created in the RF Armed Forces to prevent the spread of coronavirus in military units. Measures to prevent infection include regular inspections of military units, organizations and educational institutions of the Ministry of Defense. The entire leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces have been tested for coronavirus. Formats of meetings and conferences have been changed. The spring conscription into the RF Armed Forces has been postponed.

In many countries, state support is provided to the defense industry. For example, the US government has declared defense companies and their suppliers part of the country’s most important infrastructure sector, allowing their staff to continue working under the quarantine. Temporary tax exemptions for defence industry is also being considered. Besides, the United States has already implemented the provisions of the Defense Production Act from the times of the 1950s Korean War, which allows to increase the production of needed to combat the epidemic.

 

…Along with the epidemic-related crisis common to all countries, Ukraine is facing new challenges, created by Russia, which uses the spread of the viral infection for its own purposes…

This is equally relevant to Ukraine, as it is an integral subject of international relations and is fully integrated into the world economic system (including labor exports and tourism) and transport communications. Besides, Ukraine is the object of overlapping interests of the leading powers of the world, which creates for it a number of additional threats in the sphere of global biological warfare.

Thus, the spread of the coronavirus in the world is already affecting the situation around Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine. In particular, Moscow uses the epidemic as an excuse to resume cooperation with the USA and Europe, persuading them of the need to lift sanctions from Russia. To this end, the Russians have launched an active political and information campaign to promote the idea of the feasibility of uniting the efforts of Russia, the West and other countries to jointly combat viral threats.

One form of such a show is to assist other countries in combating the epidemic. For this purpose, the units of the Russian Armed Forces are involved, which should demonstrate the possibility of their use not only in wars and armed conflicts, but also for peaceful purposes. An thus, to confirm the “peaceful nature” of the Russian policy.

…Moscow uses the epidemic as an excuse to resume cooperation with the USA and Europe, persuading them of the need to lift sanctions from Russia. In this way Moscow is trying to make up for the failure of its efforts to improve relations with the West through cooperation in the struggle against terrorism in Syria…

In particular, March 22, 2020, nine Il-76 of the VKS of Russia delivered to Italy about 100 Russian professional virologists and epidemiologists, as well as 8 hospital crews. In addition, Italy received protective and medical equipment and KAMAZ-based mobile complexes for aerosol disinfection of transport and territory. In this way Moscow is trying to make up for the failure of its efforts to improve relations with the West through cooperation in the struggle against terrorism in Syria. Moreover, unlike in the Middle East, such Russia’s actions are beginning to produce results. This is evidenced by new calls by representatives of different political forces in NATO and EU countries to lift sanctions from Russia as a result of the current global coronavirus epidemic in the world. March 26, 2020, Moscow and its partners and allies, namely China, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, asked the UN Secretary-General for assistance in lifting sanctions as they “undermine countries’ capacity to respond to the pandemic”.

At the same time, the actual “political paralysis” in the world and in Ukraine as a result of the epidemic is being used by Russia to impose on our country Russian approaches to resolving the conflict in the Donbas. First of all, to create conditions for the federalization of Ukraine and returning it into the sphere of Russian influence.

Besides, under the pretext of the epidemic, Russia, through pro-Russian militants in the DPR and LPR, keeps blocking the access of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to the occupied territories and thus conceals its violations of Ukrainian-Russian agreements to reduce tensions in the conflict zone. Including its non-withdrawal of troops and weapons from the front line. Thus, according to the Ukrainian intelligence, Russian troops and armed separatist units keep heavy weapons in the restricted area and concentrate additional forces in disengagement areas.

A serious problem is the inability to take quarantine measures both on the occupied territories of the Donbas and directly on the front line. Especially, as Russia continues its armed provocations in the Donbas, trying to put pressure on Ukraine. Therefore, the conflict zone in the Donbas is not only one of the main sources of instability in Europe, but also a source of the coronavirus infection.

 

…The biological factor in the form of weapons or natural viral infections is increasingly affecting all spheres of international relations, the military one included…

So, at present, the biological sphere is becoming a new arena of confrontation between the leading and other states of the world. And biological threats to humanity that were previously considered potential are becoming quite real. Therefore, the biological factor in the form of weapons or natural viral infections is increasingly affecting all spheres of international relations, the military one included, causing new challenges to the armed forces of all countries.

For Ukraine, all this creates a number of additional problems with significant negative consequences. At this, along with the epidemic-related crisis common to all countries, Ukraine is facing new challenges, created by Russia, which uses the spread of the viral infection for its own purposes.

 

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