Current Events in Mideast-Africa

Apparently 4xC-704 anti-ship missiles. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defe...d-ship-1.349410

BBC story

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

Country: Libya 2010 Air Assets: Air Force 18,000 personnel Flying hours 85 hrs/year FORCES BY ROLE & EQUIPMENT BY TYPE (many non-operational, many ac in store) AIRCRAFT 590 combat capable BMR (6): 1 sqn with: 6 Tu-22B Blinder-A FTR (200): 9+ sqn with: 15 Mirage F-1ED 65 MiG-25P/PB/PDS/M Foxbat-A/B/D/E (storage) 75 MiG-23ML/MS Flogger-B 45 MiG-21bis Fishbed-N MiG-25U Foxbat FGA 134: 7 sqn with: 11 Su-24MK Fencer-D 14 Mirage F-1AD 40 MiG-23BN Flogger-H 45 Su-22M-2 Fitter-J 8 Su-22UM-3K Fitter-G MiG-23UB Flogger-C* 16 Soko J-21E Jastreb (Light Ground Attack) Recce 2 sqn with: 30 MiG-25R/RE Foxbat-B/D Mirage 5D…

From RIA Novosti

Well, this is interesting ... From DefenseNews [emphasis mine]

From RIA Novosti 15:50 15/02/2011

Live BBC feed The government have taken down the bulk of Egypt's internet; this looks like a massive crackdown.

While no one would entirely discount 'flying telephone poles', Tehran should take note that a version of the S-200 (NATO SA-5 Gammon) is not a version of the S-300 (NATO SA-10 Grumble family), and to say otherwise does nothing for one's credibility ... From RIA Novosti Iran's domestic air defense system is upgraded version of S-200 Iran's domestic air defense system reported to be an analogue of the Russian S-300 is a mere upgraded version of the obsolete Soviet-made S-200, Iran's Press TV website said referring to top military officials. The S-200 was officially accepted into service in 1967. Iran acquired several systems from the Soviet Union in the la…

From Ares An interesting legal question, one in which I suspect Israel (and others) would advise that Iran is due a rather large sum of general and special damages.

From RIA Novosti Israel ready to counter Yakhont missiles — General Staff Israel is concerned by Russia's decision to sell anti-ship Yakhont missiles to Syria but the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) would be able to "deal" with the challenge, the chief of Israeli General Staff said on Tuesday. Russia earlier announced it would honor a 2007 contract on the delivery of several Bastion anti-ship missile systems armed with SS-N-26 Yakhont supersonic cruise missiles to Syria, despite efforts by Israel and the United States to stop the deal. "We have been following the deal for a long time. There were attempts by the highest political levels to thwart the deal but …

A bit of free advertising for Clash of Arms' new wargame Persian Incursion ... And their rather good briefing on the subject matter: Israel and a Nuclear Iran (PDF)

From Haaretz Published 15:40 15.08.10 Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved the purchase of 20 F-35 fighter planes for the Israel Air Force on Sunday. The planes, manufactured by the American company Lockheed Martin, are expected to be delivered to Israel between 2015 and 2017. Barak's approval of the $2.7 billion deal came after more than two years of tough talks between the Israeli defense establishment, the U.S. Pentagon, and Lockheed Martin. The talks were complicated by the IAF's demand to install Israeli systems on the aircraft and the refusal of the Americans to allow those changes. In the end, the IAF's desire to be the first air force in th…

From DefenseNews Iran Navy Equipped With Four New Submarines AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 8 Aug 2010 14:11 TEHRAN, - Iran's navy on Aug. 8 took delivery of four new mini submarines of the home-produced Ghadir class, media reports said. The navy already owns seven submarines of this type which weigh 120 tons and were first launched in 2007. Iran has described the Ghadir as stealth submarines, hardly detectable by sonar and aimed at coastal operations in shallow waters, notably in the Gulf. The vessel is based on North Korean models of the Yono class and can shoot torpedoes, but their main tasks appear to be moving commandos, laying mines and reconn…

From Aviation Week New Israeli Recon Sat Targets Iran Jun 25, 2010 By Michael A. Taverna Israel’s newest reconnaissance satellite is seen as boosting the country’s intelligence capabilities against Iran. With the observation satellite Ofeq-9 placed in low Earth orbit June 22, Israel now has six operational remote sensing satellites in space: the Ofeq-5 and 7 military observation satellites; ImageSat’s commercial/military EROS-A and EROS-B1, and Israel Aerospace Industries’ (AIA) TechSAR day/night all-weather synthetic aperture radar satellite, now designated Ofeq-8. “From now on, no country in the region will be able to conduct clandestine activities at …

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 RIA Novosti 11:36 02/06/2010 Algeria and Libya are ready to buy Russian Pantsir-S1 short-range air defense systems, deputy head of the Russian Military-Technical Cooperation Service Vyacheslav Dzirkaln said on Wednesday. [CV32: This is the SA-22 'Greyhound' in NATO parlance]. "The new system has shown high efficiency. Algeria and Libya have shown interest. Syria has already bought these systems in the past," Dzirkaln said, adding that other potential customers were likely to appear. Earlier in March the Russian press said Algeria was planning to buy 40 Pantsir-S1s for $500 million. Several Russian papers also reported that Russia had signed a $734…

Lots of defense contract news out of Russia today ... From RIA Novosti 10:24 02/06/2010 Russia will supply Su-30 Flanker fighters and Yak-130 Mitten trainer/light attack jets to Algeria in 2011, the deputy head of the Russian Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation, Vyacheslav Dzirkalin, said. "The delivery of Su-30s and Yak-130s [to Algeria] is due to begin next year, this is no military secret," Dzirkalin said. Earlier in April, the head of Russian Technologies state Corporation, Sergei Chemezov, in an interview with the Novaya Gazeta weekly said Russia would ship to Algeria "a party of modern Russian fighters" at a price of about $1 billi…

From Ares IAF and Greek Air Force Conduct Joint Exercise Over Mediterranean Posted by Noam Eshel at 5/28/2010 8:20 AM CDT The Israeli Air Force began joint training exercises with the Greek Air Force on the island of Crete in the Aegean Sea. The exercise, codenamed "MINOAS 2010", includes training for aerial combat, attacks on terrestrial targets, long-range missions and mid-air refueling. The exercise will also include search and rescue missions from Souda air force base up to the Aegean island of Aghios Eftrastio. "MINOAS 2010", is scheduled to continue through the weekend. 10 IAF aircraft are participating in the exercise – five F-15I 'Rams' and five F16I …

For anyone who's interested, here are links to two of the English language daily papers we read when I worked in the KSA: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm http://www.arabnews.com/ There was another called the Riyadh Daily, but apparently it folded a few years ago. Buddha