Current Events in Mideast-Africa

As reported on the News, Security Council passes the No-Fly zone resolution 10-0 with 5 abstentions (Russia and China were 2 of the abstentions). So now what ??? Claims have been made of Arab support. Is Egypt likely to provide fighter-bomber support such as F16s? Or use of airbases? How much can France and UK bring if they can't use bases in Italy or Egypt? Can or will Saudis help if they can fly from closer airports? US should not be going alone to fly the cover (personal opinion here). I realize these are political questions as much as military.....

Russia Is Setting Up A Forward Operating Base in Syria, Pentagon Confirms (Defense One)

At least 173 killed - Human Rights Watch Reports that the regime has actually used "heavy weapons" including a missile on protesters.

From ARES Blog U.S. Confirms Iran Bought SA-20 Missiles Posted by David A. Fulghum at 12/10/2008 10:10 AM CST “The Iranians are on contract for SA-20,” says a senior, U.S. government official. The U.S. and Israel now face a “huge set of challenges in the future that we’ve never had [before]. We’ve been lulled into a false sense of security because our operations over the last 20 years involved complete air dominance and we’ve been free to operate in all domains,” he adds. Other senior officials independently confirm that Iran will get the Russian SA-20 strategic SAM system, irrespective of Kremlin protestations to the contrary. Tehran’s deployment of such a s…

From Stratfor Red Alert - Possible geopolitical consequences of the Mumbai attacks 27 November 2008 Summary If the Nov. 26 attacks in Mumbai were carried out by Islamist militants as it appears, the Indian government will have little choice, politically speaking, but to blame them on Pakistan. That will in turn spark a crisis between the two nuclear rivals that will draw the United States into the fray. Analysis At this point the situation on the ground in Mumbai remains unclear following the militant attacks of Nov. 26. But in order to understand the geopolitical significance of what is going on, it is necessary to begin looking beyond this event at wha…

From DefenseNews Posted 03/23/07 08:25 Britain: 15 Navy Personnel Held by Iran REUTERS, LONDON Iran captured 15 British Royal Navy personnel during a "routine boarding operation" in Iraqi waters March 23, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said. Iran’s ambassador in London has been summoned and Britain is demanding the immediate safe release of the sailors. "At approximately 1030 Iraqi time this morning, 15 British naval personnel, engaged in routine boarding operations of merchant shipping in Iraqi territorial waters ... were seized by Iranian naval vessels," the ministry said in a statement. "We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian authorities at t…

USS Mason Fired 3 Missiles to Defend From Yemen Cruise Missiles Attack (USNI News)

This almost certainly warrants its own thread.

Breaking news: British government loses a vote on the principle of military action in Syria.

From BBC News Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 September 2007, 20:38 GMT 21:38 UK Israel's Syria 'raid' remains a mystery By Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent During the early hours of last Thursday morning, a number of Israeli jets appear to have entered Syrian air-space from the Mediterranean Sea, possibly penetrating deep into the country. Later unidentified drop tanks, which may have contained fuel for the planes, were found on Turkish soil near the Syrian border, indicating perhaps the Israeli jets' exit route. The Syrian authorities are livid. They say that the aircraft were driven off but that they fired their weaponry into a deserted ar…

From Fars News Agency [excerpt]

I'm still not convinced that this deal does not have serious potential to come back and bite someone someday ... From ARES Pakistan Fields Newest F-16s Posted by Robert Wall at 6/28/2010 4:34 AM CDT The Pakistan air force on June 27 formally took delivery of the first F-16C/D Block 52s, with a goal of having all 18 aircraft in country before year-end, the service says. The handover at the PAF Base Shahbaz represents a big jump in the service’s air-to-ground attack capability. In particular, the service stresses the new aircraft will provide a vital capability to carry out missions at night. (credit: Pakistan air force) Pakistani air force pilots …

A topic which (unsurprisingly) is taking up a lot of bandwidth on Harpgamer IRC these days is the recent attack by an anti-ship missile(s) on the Israel Defence Force's Sa'ar V (Eilat) class corvette INS Hanit. Here's a summary of what has been reported and some comments on the same. Please feel free to add your own thoughts. My hope is to make this into a little "case study" of sorts, and hopefully we can all learn something from it. It has been said that tonne for tonne, the Sa'ar V corvettes are among the most heavily armed warships in the world. As a primer, the Naval Technology website has a helpful summary of the Sa'ar V and its various systems, sensors and…

the BBB : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7637257.stm Extract from the full news page : Somalia's pirates seize 33 tanks The waters off Somalia are among the most dangerous in the world A Ukrainian ship seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia was carrying 33 tanks and other weapons, the Ukrainian defence minister has confirmed. Earlier, the country's foreign ministry said the ship had a crew of 21 and was sailing under a Belize flag to the Kenyan port of Mombasa. There has been a recent surge in p…

Hi, a technical question to more expert forum members than me, about the possibility of a Libyan no-fly zone. Is it possible for a AWACS plane to be aware of and to track even very low flying little planes, or helicopters? If not, I suppose Gheddafi could continue to target rebels taking off from airstrips or cities and NATO/UE forces would be impotent. Any opinion? Francesco

From Flight Global [excerpt]

I'm surprised no one has even breathed mention of the situation in Gaza. Yes, its a politically sensitive issue, and maybe the silence is because we have been conditioned to the same tired, old Israeli-Palestinian grudge?

France Carries Out Airstrikes In Mali France Loses Gazelle, Soldier in Air Raid (from Aviation Week, Ares blog)

Russia Lifts Its Ban on Delivery of S-300 Missiles to Iran (Wall Street Journal)

U.S. launches show of force in Gulf Aircraft carriers, warplanes feature in maneuvers off the coast of Iran The Associated Press Updated: 8:17 a.m. ET March 27, 2007 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The U.S. Navy on Tuesday began its largest demonstration of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, led by a pair of aircraft carriers and backed by warplanes flying simulated attack maneuvers off the coast of Iran. The maneuvers bring together two strike groups of U.S. warships and more than 100 U.S. warplanes to conduct simulated air warfare in the crowded Gulf shipping lanes. The U.S. exercises come just four days after Iran’s capture of 15 Brit…