Current Events in Mideast-Africa

Glad to see this one: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100401/pl_af...ppingseychelles Buddha

From Aviation Week's Ares Blog Sea Sparrow versus Kormoran Posted by Nicholas Fiorenza at 3/22/2010 12:09 PM CDT The Bundeswehr has produced a video of the live firings which took place during Exercise Good Hope IV held between the German and South African navies and air forces on 15 February to 15 March. The film begins with the German task group commander, Capt. Marco von Kölln, saying the Cape of Good Hope is one of only two or three areas where missiles can be tested safely because of the low traffic of what is also known as the Cape of Storms. How stormy the seas are as well as the wind state has to be checked before the firings, the narrator says. The v…

From DefenseNews U.S. Mulls Maritime Interdiction Off Iran By barbara opall-rome Published: 1 March 2010 TEL AVIV - The Obama administration is considering using maritime levers to ratchet up pressure on Iran, from a modest expansion of existing international interdiction initiatives to the more extreme or less likely blockade of the Arabian Sea mouth and the Gulf of Aden. Implemented unilaterally or as part of an upcoming United Nations Security Council Resolution, such moves would complement the diplomatic drive to roll back Iran's nuclear program through sanctions. A senior U.S. government official said Washington was not willing to consider - "at lea…

I saw some vague news reports today of a new indiguous Iranian DDG? Anyone more in tune with this?

From Flight Global DATE: 05/11/09 SOURCE: Flight International South Africa cancels order for eight A400M transports By Craig Hoyle The EADS-led A400M airlifter has suffered its first orders blow since the programme ran into development difficulties, with South Africa having cancelled its order for eight of the aircraft. Confirmed on 5 November, South Africa's decision comes after deliveries of the Airbus Military product have fallen around three years behind schedule. The South African government says the decision was taken during a meeting in Cape Town on 4 November, and that its action was informed by an extensive review into the troubled acquisit…

As if there was any doubt ... From RIA Novosti Ahmadinejad links Iran's nuclear program to Israel MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - Iran will move forward with its nuclear program as long as Israel possesses nuclear weapons, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying on Tuesday. Ahmadenijad's comment came during a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "When an illegal regime possesses nuclear weapons, the other countries' rights for peaceful nuclear energy cannot be denied," he said. Israel does not admit having nuclear weapons. Four UN nuclear inspectors arrived in Iran on Sunday…

From Stratfor Two Leaks and the Deepening Iran Crisis By George Friedman | October 5, 2009 Two major leaks occurred this weekend over the Iran matter. In the first, The New York Times published an article reporting that staff at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear oversight group, had published an unreleased report saying that Iran was much more advanced in its nuclear program than the IAEA had thought previously. According to the report, Iran now has all the data needed to design a nuclear weapon. The article added that U.S. intelligence was re-examining the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) of 2007, which had stated that Ira…

From DefenseNews Iranian Military Planes Crashes in Annual Parade By THOMAS NEWDICK Published: 22 Sep 2009 18:49 TEHRAN - Iran's sole Simorgh AWACS aircraft was lost during a military parade Sept. 22, one of two Iranian military aircraft that crashed in Tehran while participating in a display to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War. The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force operated a single Simorgh, a former Iraqi Air Force Adnan. The Adnan AWACS was in turn a modification of a Soviet-built Ilyushin Il-76 transport. The Simorgh collided with one of the Air Force's Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighters over the area of the Imam Khomeyni …

From DefenseNews Russian Firm Confirms Syria Deal for MiGs AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 3 Sep 2009 06:37 MOSCOW - A top Russian official confirmed the existence of a contract for the supply of MiG-31 fighter jets to Syria but said work on the planes had been frozen, the daily Kommersant reported Sept. 3. "A few years ago, two contracts were signed: one for [the supply to Syria of] MiG-29s and one for MiG-31s," the head of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation, Alexei Fedorov, told the paper. "Consultations on this contract are now ongoing, so its future is unclear." Kommersant reported in May that Russia had halted work on the modernization of the figh…

From DefenseNews Israel Subs Use Suez Canal for 1st Time: Report AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 5 Jul 2009 13:32 JERUSALEM - An Israeli submarine used the Suez Canal for the first time recently to get to military exercises in the Red Sea, a newspaper reported July 5, adding the move was aimed as a message to arch-foe Iran. The Dolphine submarine entered the canal that connects the Mediterranean and the Red seas during the day and was escorted by Egyptian navy vessels sometime in June, the Yediot Aharonot daily said. Previously Israeli submarines rounded the whole of Africa to get to exercises in the Red Sea, Yediot Aharonot reported. The daily said …

While Biden gives a green light? ... From Navy Times Mullen cautions against strike on Iran Vice President Biden says U.S. wouldn’t stop Israeli attack The Associated Press Posted : Sunday Jul 5, 2009 14:10:22 EDT WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden seemed to give Israel a green light for military action to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat, saying the U.S. “cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do.” Israel considers Iran its most dangerous adversary and is wary of hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who just won a disputed re-election. He repeatedly has called for Israel to be wiped off the map and contends th…

From Times Online From The Sunday Times July 5, 2009 Saudis give nod to Israeli raid on Iran Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv and Sarah Baxter The head of Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran’s nuclear sites. Earlier this year Meir Dagan, Mossad’s director since 2002, held secret talks with Saudi officials to discuss the possibility. The Israeli press has already carried unconfirmed reports that high-ranking officials, including Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister, held meetings with…

From Jane's Zonal marking: Kenya looks to position itself for a new role in maritime security 30 June 2009 On 6 May, Kenya submitted a claim to extend its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from 200 n miles out to 350 n miles, adding 103,000 square kilometres to the nation's maritime area of responsibility, alongside the potential benefits of harnessing new and untapped resources such as petroleum, gas and manganese nodules and crusts. The economic importance of succeeding with the bid to extend the EEZ is obvious, but it brings with it some other important considerations, such as how to provide maritime security across hitherto unpatrolled waters. In the abse…

This article is 10 days old, but I think its particularly interesting now that we've had some time to observe the events in Iran. From Stratfor Western Misconceptions Meet Iranian Reality June 15, 2009 By George Friedman In 1979, when we were still young and starry-eyed, a revolution took place in Iran. When I asked experts what would happen, they divided into two camps. The first group of Iran experts argued that the Shah of Iran would certainly survive, that the unrest was simply a cyclical event readily manageable by his security, and that the Iranian people were united behind the Iranian monarch’s modernization program. These experts developed this v…

Well, that's a breath of fresh air ... http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/14/oba...ates/index.html

I suppose now that one of the Somali pirates involved in the latest incident has been apprehended, we can expect a hue and cry from various groups wanting to protect his "rights". Hanging has been an effective method of dealing with these guys for centuries, and I see no reason to change that now. Buddha

From Defense Update Mystery Shrouds Air Strike in Sudan A convoy of trucks carrying weapons destined for the Hamas in Gaza through Sudan was attacked and destroyed January 2009 but no country has assumed responsibility on this attack. Sudanese State Minister for Highways, Mabrouk Mubarak Saleem confirmed that a "major power bombed small trucks carrying arms, burning all of them. According to Sudan-Tribune the attack launched from a US base in Djibouti took place in a desert area northwest of Port Sudan city, near Mount al-Sha'anun and destroyed all 17 trucks in the convoy killing 39 people, among them Sudanese, Eritreans and Ethiopians. The totality of the att…

This should certainly impress the Iranians with our prowess: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090320/ap_on_...y_ships_collide Buddha

From Stratfor Iran's View of Obama March 23, 2009 By George Friedman U.S. President Barack Obama released a video offering Iran congratulations on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on Friday. Israeli President Shimon Peres also offered his best wishes, referring to “the noble Iranian people.” The joint initiative was received coldly in Tehran, however. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the video did not show that the United States had shifted its hostile attitude toward Iran. The video is obviously part of Obama’s broader strategy of demonstrating that his administration has shifted U.S. policy, at least to the extent that it is…

From Examiner Should the F-117 stealth fighter be transferred to Israel? Part One: The Problem March 14, 9:06 PM Long standing US policy in the Middle East has been to assure the state of Israel that America would guarantee their military a qualitative edge compared to other regional powers- particularly relating to airpower. With the rising threat of Iran, Washington has been equipping other allies in the region with advanced armaments such as precision guided munitions and advanced warplanes. Often, these allies are not friendly to the Israelis, which causes unease in our only “Western” democratic ally in the area. Another major concern for Israel is the li…