Current Events in Europe

Israel buys 2 German subs By YAAKOV KATZ Jerusalem Post In the face of Iran's race to obtain nuclear power, Israel signed a contract with Germany last month to buy two Dolphin-class submarines that will, according to foreign reports, provide superior second-strike nuclear capabilities, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The submarines will be assembled in Germany and provided with a propulsion system allowing them to remain underwater for far longer than the submarines currently in the Israel Navy's fleet. According to sources close to the deal, the submarines will be operational in the near future. The Post has also learned that the navy is considering ins…

Navy returning to former Cold War base in Iceland (Stars and Stripes)

Another commercial succes for the Gripen. This plane is unofficialy seen as the next belgian combat aircraft, but not untill 2015-2020. Jan

From Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report 04.17.2007 The Coming Era of Russia's Dark Rider By Peter Zeihan Russian opposition members rallied in Moscow's Pushkin Square on April 14. The so-called Dissenters' March was organized by Other Russia, an umbrella group that includes everyone from unrepentant communists and free-market reformers to far-right ultranationalists whose only uniting characteristic is their common opposition to the centralization of power under President Vladimir Putin's administration. Minutes after the march began, the 2,000 or so protesters found themselves outnumbered more than four to one by security forces. They quickly dis…

From DefenseNews French Carrier Heads Home a Day into Anti-Piracy, Afghan Mission

In the wikipedia, OOB of the Greek Air Force, including inventary of missiles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenic_Air_...e#Modernization

Russian Navy to Get Dugon Landing Ships This Year (RIA Novosti)

From Defense Aerospace HMS Invincible Retires Early (Source: Thales UK. Issued Aug. 4, 2005) The Royal Navy's flagship, the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible, has been retired from service in Portsmouth six months early. She had been in service since 1977, and was deployed in the Falklands war. She was honoured on her final trip by a fly-past involving Sea Harriers, Sea King helicopters, the Lynx Pairs Display Team and RAF Chinook helicopters. With the Ark Royal currently undergoing a major refit and due to re-enter service late next year, Invincible's retirement leaves the Illustrious as the only aircraft carrier in operational service. In 2012 the MoD…

Navy faces 'losing its ability to be a force' IAN BRUCE, Defence Correspondent April 18 2007 The Herald Britain's strategic safety and the national ability to design and build warships are at risk because a "dysfunctional" Ministry of Defence has gone to war with a peace-time accountant's mentality, according to a former deputy chief of the defence staff. Vice-Admiral Sir Jeremy Blackham, who edits Naval Review and is vice-president of the Royal United Services' Institute, says the Royal Navy is on the brink of "losing irretrievably" its ability to act as a decisive force in world events for the first time since Nelson's day. Writing jointly in the April iss…

From Defence Talk World's Most Advanced Warship Departs River Clyde on Maiden Voyage BAE Systems | Jul 20, 2007 The most advanced warship in the world to date, HMS Daring, has departed from BAE Systems’ shipyard in Scotstoun on her maiden voyage down the River Clyde to begin sea trials off the west coast of Scotland. Launched by HRH the Countess of Wessex in February 2006, HMS Daring is the first of six Daring class Type 45 destroyers being built for the Royal Navy. They will provide the British fleet and her allies with an unparalleled level of anti-air warfare capability through to the middle of the 21st century and will be the most capable warships of the…

From Stratfor The Russian Resurgence and the New-Old Front September 15, 2008 By Peter Zeihan Russia is attempting to reforge its Cold War-era influence in its near abroad. This is not simply an issue of nostalgia, but a perfectly logical and predictable reaction to the Russian environment. Russia lacks easily definable, easily defendable borders. There is no redoubt to which the Russians can withdraw, and the only security they know comes from establishing buffers — buffers which tend to be lost in times of crisis. The alternative is for Russia to simply trust other states to leave it alone. Considering Russia’s history of occupations, from the Mongol horde to …

From DefenseNews Russian Air Force Withdraws 90 MiGs: Report By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 13 Mar 11:48 EDT (15:48 GMT) MOSCOW - Ninety of Russia's MiG-29 fighter jets have been rejected by military inspectors during checks after a crash in December, an air force spokesman said March 13, quoted by Interfax. "So far from the overall fleet of MiG-29s, about 200 planes have been examined, of which 100 have been permitted to fly. About 90 MiG-29s have been withdrawn from flying," Col. Vladimir Drik said. He added that checks were continuing on the rest of the MiG-29 fleet and that faulty planes would be repaired and put back in service as funds became a…

Russia to Scrap Last Soviet-Era Nuclear Sub by 2014 (RIA Novosti)

From DefenseNews Posted 01/15/07 11:24 Austria’s New Defense Minister Wants To Drop Eurofighter Contract By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, VIENNA Austria’s new defense minister, Norbert Darabos, in an interview appearing here Friday, said he remained determined to drop a contract signed by the former government to purchase 18 Eurofighter jets. “The objective is still to pull out of the Eurofighter contract. The costs are simply too high,” the Social Democrat minister told the daily newspaper Oesterreich. But he added: “I cannot say yet whether a pull-out is financially feasible.” Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, also a Social Democrat, made a campaign pledge to scrap the…

From Jane's [excerpt]

Ministry Of Defence (National) ROYAL NAVY TAKES EARLY DELIVERY OF WORLD BEATING SUBMARINE DETECTION SYSTEM The Royal Navy has taken delivery of a world class new naval sonar system five months ahead of schedule, Defence procurement Minister Lord Drayson announced today. The high tech underwater detection system, known as Sonar 2087 is a vital defence capability needed by the Royal Navy in order to detect a new generation of increasingly stealthy, and potentially deadly, submarines which often operate close to shore - making them very hard to detect. Ordered in 2001, as part of a programme worth over £300M, the system, which is one of the most advance…

From DefenseNews RAF Accepts 1st Nimrod MRA4 By andrew chuter Published: 11 Mar 2010 14:12 LONDON - The first BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4 maritime surveillance aircraft destined for the Royal Air Force has been formally accepted and declared ready for crew training by Britain's Ministry of Defence. The aircraft is the first of nine MRA4s ordered to fulfill maritime and wider intelligence surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance roles for the air force here. Handover of the first production aircraft may have taken place but it will be 2012 before the machine is introduced into service following a decision by the government late last year to delay i…

From Defense Aerospace Changes to Royal Navy's Surface Fleet Announced (Source: U.K Ministry of Defence; issued December 15, 2010) Changes to the Royal Navy's surface fleet, including the withdrawal from service of HMS Illustrious and the four remaining Type 22 frigates, have been announced today by Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox. The changes follow announcements regarding the Royal Navy's surface fleet in the White Paper 'Securing Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The Strategic Defence and Security Review' published on 19 October. In a written ministerial statement to parliament today, Dr Fox said that HMS Illustrious will be withdrawn from service in 201…

From CNN Ukraine 'admits missile sales' Friday, March 18, 2005 Posted: 4:18 AM EST (0918 GMT) LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Ukraine has acknowledged exporting 12 cruise missiles to Iran and six to China amid mounting pressure from other countries to explain how the sales occurred, the Financial Times reported on Friday. It quoted Ukraine's prosecutor-general Svyatoslav Piskun as saying 18 X-55 cruise missiles, also known as Kh-55s or AS-15s, were exported in 2001, although none was exported with the nuclear warheads they were designed to carry. ....

From Jane's Defence Weekly Aiming for the high ground By Rob Hewson Editor Jane's Air-Launched Weapons London In the global market (excluding Russia and China) the US dominates the industrial and operational landscape in two ways. With the largest deployed air force it obviously has the largest weapons requirement. US manufacturers will always be supported by this single, fiercely protected market that guarantees sales. For example, the US Air Force (USAF) plans to replace its AIM-9M Sidewinder stocks (about 4,400 missiles) on an almost one-for-one basis with the AIM-9X (4,000 missiles) by 2012. No other customer has this kind of buying power. Europe's missi…