Current Events in Mideast-Africa

From DefenseNews Iran Says It Will Drop Nuclear Pledges if Attacked By AMIR PAIVAR, REUTERS, TEHRAN Iran, a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), would drop all its international nuclear pledges if its atomic facilities were attacked, the outgoing Defense Minister said on Aug. 9. His comments came a day after Iran resumed uranium conversion work, fanning Western fears it may be seeking atomic weapons and defying European Union warnings that Tehran could be referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. Iran insists its nuclear ambitions are limited to peaceful electricity generation. “The day our facilities are attack…

From Defence Talk France may lose Morocco jet deal to US-paper Reuters | Sep 21, 2007 French corporate and combat jet maker Dassault Aviation may lose out on a deal to sell some Rafale fighter planes to Morocco, French newspaper La Tribune reported. In an article due to be published on Friday, La Tribune said the Moroccan government was set to accept a rival offer to buy F-16 fighter planes made by U.S. company Lockheed Martin Corp. La Tribune, citing its own sources, said Lockheed had offered Morocco 36 F-16 planes for less than $2 billion, while France had offered 18 Rafale planes for 2.3 billion euros ($3.22 billion). Officials at Dassault Aviation…

What do we know about this?

From DefenseNews Pakistan Test-Fires First Cruise Missile By DANNY KEMP, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ISLAMABAD Pakistan successfully test-fired its first cruise missile on Thursday, joining a select club of nations which have developed the ground-hugging projectiles, the military said. Military ruler President Pervez Musharraf hailed the launch of the Hatf VII Babur, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, as a “major milestone” in the country’s defense program, an army statement said. Pakistan did not give advance warning to rival India, despite a deal made at the weekend between the two countries to notify each other before missile tests and to set up …

From Navy Times Revolutionary Guards take charge of Hormuz The Associated Press Posted : Thursday Sep 18, 2008 15:59:21 EDT TEHRAN, Iran — Iran announced Tuesday that it has put the elite Revolutionary Guards in charge of defending the country’s territorial Persian Gulf waters in what appeared to be a hardening of its stance in the vital oil route. U.S. commanders in the Gulf have in the past said they find Guards ships more confrontational than the regular Iranian navy, which until the new order was responsible for Iranian defenses in the gulf. Iran has warned repeatedly that it will close the narrow Hormuz Strait at the mouth of the gulf if the United …

Boston Globe April 4, 2007 US Is Said To Advise Militants On Raids In Iran By Reuters WASHINGTON -- The United States has been secretly advising and encouraging a Pakistani militant group that has carried out a series of deadly guerrilla raids inside Iran, ABC News reported yesterday, citing US and Pakistani intelligence sources. The raids have resulted in the deaths or capture of Iranian soldiers and officials, ABC reported. The group, members of the Baluchi tribe, operates from Pakistan's gas-rich province of Baluchistan, just across the border from Iran, the report said. The only relationship with the group that US intelligence acknowledges is…

Eye candy for Tony et al. Pics of Iranian Tomcats escorting Su-27 Flankers of the Russian Knights aerobatic team: Tomcats and Sukhois: What? (from DefenseTech)

Here's an interesting excerpt about how AIP works. Check out the full article at: DefenseIndustryDaily India Looks to Modify Scorpene Subs With MESMA AIP Propulsion Posted 01-Mar-2006 10:50 Back on September 19, 2005, DID offered in-depth coverage of India's $3.5 billion local-build deal for 6 SSK Scorpene Class ultra-quiet diesel-electric submarines between 2012-1017, as well as the present status and future plans of the rival Chinese and Pakistani submarine programs. Now the Times of India reports that India's Navy wants the last 3 submarines to include DCN's MESMA air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems, changing them from CM-2000 to AM-2000 Scorpene desi…

From Navy Times Stennis leaves home port for Middle East The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Jan 17, 2007 7:56:51 EST DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The aircraft carrier John C. Stennis set sail for the Middle East on Tuesday, leaving its Bremerton, Wash., home port to help beef up U.S. forces near Iraq and Iran. The Stennis’ arrival, expected in about a month, will mark the first time since the U.S.-led Iraq invasion in 2003 that the U.S. will have two carrier battle groups in the region. The increase in forces is a show of strength by the U.S. in the face of Iran’s growing regional assertiveness and a perception among adversaries that the U.S. is vu…

From Flight International DATE:20/04/07 SOURCE:Flightglobal.com Israel in talks with USA over F-22 orders By Arie Egozi Israel has approached the USA about acquiring Lockheed Martin F-22s as concern mounts about new threats to the country’s regional air superiority. Sources say that the issue was raised during a one-day trip by US defence secretary Robert Gates to Israel last week. Washington has so far not authorised the export of the Raptor stealth fighter, but sources in Israel say this is the first time a “reasonable” request has been made. Among the subjects discussed with the country’s prime minister and defence minister were Israel’s conce…

Read the IAEA report here (PDF). From the report: (emphasis mine)

Israeli Navy to begin installing Barak 8 on Sa'ar 4.5 corvettes (Jane's)

Israeli Satellite Imagery Shows Russian Nuclear-Capable Missiles in Syria (DefenseNews)

https://www.voanews.com/a/iranian-made-drone-targeted-coalition-patrol-syria/3894474.html

Nuclear subs on lease from Russia to India ST. PETERSBURG—The construction of a training centre for the Indian military in Sosnovy Bor, 70 kilometers west of St. Petersburg, confirms Russia’s intentions to lease nuclear submarines to India, said Green World Chairman Oleg Bodrov. Vera Ponomaryova, 2005-08-16 15:56 Bellona The international centre will open in September in the town that also hosts the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant, and will train some 300 Indian naval officers. Sosnovy Bor is home to the Russian Training Centre for Officers of the Russian Navy which houses working nuclear reactors of the type found on nuclear submarines. These reactors a…

The gas flows from the sea and the IAF is on alert (Flight Global, Ariel View blog) Definitely scenario fodder there ...

From Aviation Week U.S., Israel Ponder How to Slow Iranian Nuclear Weapons Development By David A. Fulghum and Douglas Barrie 09/10/2006 04:47:58 PM BUSTING THE BOMB The fighting in southern Lebanon revealed Iran's willingness to supply sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah, and one of its ships was intercepted trying to do just that for Hamas in the Palestinian territories. A continuing series of tests has demonstrated Iran's growing arsenal of ballistic, tactical and sea-based weapons, and Western intelligence officials anticipate its fielding of locally built versions of fighter-launched, long-range, air-to-surface missiles. But the real fear is Iran's deve…

From DefenseNews Posted 04/20/07 11:14 Kuwait Readies for Possible U.S.-Iran War By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, KUWAIT CITY U.S. ally Kuwait is to form an emergency team to draw up contingency plans for any conflict between the United States and Iran, a senior minister said in comments published April 20. ”The team ... will devise a comprehensive contingency plan to deal with risks that may result in case a war breaks out in the Gulf on the back of the rising U.S. military escalation towards Iran,” State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Faisal al-Hajji told the Al-Watan daily. The cabinet will form the team at its weekly meeting on April 22, drawing on officials from th…

An interesting and timely story, particularly in light of today's elections (see BBC News link), though in many ways the outcome has already been decided by the Guardian Council ... From Jane's Evidence emerges of Iran's continued nuclear weapons research By Mark Harrington 14 March 2008 Documents shown exclusively to Jane's indicate that Iran is continuing its pursuit of the advanced technologies necessary to develop a nuclear weapon, regardless of Tehran's claims that its nuclear programme is purely peaceful. Jane's was shown the information by a source connected to a Western intelligence service, and the documents were verified by a number of reliable…