Current Events in Mideast-Africa

Israel takes new torpedo into service (Jane's) Is this an indigenous design (seems unlikely?) or a variant or name for the DM2A4?

US offers warships to India for first time NEW DELHI, JULY 22 (PTI) OutlookIndia For the first time, the United States has offered India military hardware including warships like minesweepers and big landing ships, Chief of Naval staff Admiral Arun Prakash said here today. "The new defence framework being worked out between the two countries provides, for the first time, sale of military hardware," Prakash said as he pointed out that a high-level Naval delegation would visit the US soon to look at American Naval minesweepers and troop and equipment landing ships. According to military experts, the US gesture is significant as so far Washington's defence dea…

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 Flight International Lockheed tempts India with F-35 access By Siva Govindasamy Lockheed Martin is dangling the carrot of future access to its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme to India, with industry observers saying that the strategy could be a way of enticing New Delhi to choose the company's F-16 for its ongoing F-X competition. The company has long eyed a potential market for the F-35 in India from 2015, possibly to replace its British Aerospace Harriers and some land-based fighters, says Tom Burbage, F-35 vice-president. The F-16 and F-35 will not be formally linked in a package deal, but Lockheed officials are emphasising that the former ser…

From DefenseNews Posted 09/27/07 14:15 Israel again scrambles warplanes over ‘false alert’ By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, JERUSALEM Israeli fighter pilots scrambled warplanes on Sept. 27 for the third time in a week after concern was raised about activity over Syrian airspace, a military official said. The alarm was raised after assault helicopters were spotted on Israeli radar before eventually landing. ”This was a routine measure,” the official said. “The planes returned to base after it was determined the flight did not have aggressive intentions.” Last Saturday, an alert was sparked after a blip from an aircraft over Syria disappeared from radar screens, public…

From Jane's Intelligence Digest North Korean test emboldens Iran North Korea's apparent nuclear weapons test appears to have strengthened Iran in its defiance of the international community and increased the likelihood of an Iranian-Israeli military confrontation. Iranian leaders have reaffirmed their intention to continue their own avowedly peaceful nuclear programme. They believe that Russia and China, despite differences in their respective bilateral relationships with Tehran and Pyongyang, will resist applying harsh sanctions against Iran. Even if, against expectations, the UN Security Council eventually adopts sanctions against Iran, they would most l…

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,462466,00.html Apparantly their boat broke down. A boat filled with weapons. Every little victory counts.

From Jane's Defence Weekly 06 April 2007 Hizbullah prepares for war By Nicholas Blanford Lebanon's Hizbullah organisation is mobilising its military wing, the Islamic Resistance (IR), in preparation for an expected new confrontation with Israel in mid-2007. New recruits are being pushed through an intensified training programme at the Iranian-backed group's training camps in the Bekaa Valley and a steady flow of arms, including surface-to-surface rockets, is coming into Lebanon from Syria, sources within Hizbullah, Lebanese military intelligence and other Lebanese close to the Shia Muslim party told Jane's. The preparations have been detected by Israel, …

From eDefense Saudi Arabia to Buy Typhoon Aircraft Source: UK Ministry of Defense Dec. 22, 2005 The governments of Saudi Arabia and the UK have today signed an "understanding document" intended to establish a greater partnership in modernizing the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces and developing close service-to-service contacts, especially through joint training and exercises. As part of this, the BAE Systems will invest in local Saudi companies, develop an industrial technology transfer plan, and provide suitable training for thousands of Saudi nationals providing through-life support for key in-service equipments. In addition, under the terms of the signed d…

France confirms sale of Rafale to Egypt (Defense Update)

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

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 ARES Pakistan Inks AWACS Deal with China? Posted by Graham Warwick at 12/18/2008 1:00 PM CST The Pakistani press is reporting that Islamabad has stuck a deal with China for airborne warning and control system aircraft - believed to be KJ-2000s, a Chinese version of the Beriev A-50 Mainstay. If true, it would give Pakistan an approximate equivalent to the Israeli-equipped A-50EIs on order for arch rival India. Photo: Chinese internet, via sinodefence.com According to sinodefence.com, the KJ-2000 is based on the Russian-supplied A-50, but with a Chinese electronically scanned array radar and mission system developed after the U.S. blocked the sale of…

From DefenseNews U.S. To Sell F-16 Fighters to Pakistan By P. PARAMESWARAN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE The United States on March 25 announced plans to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, despite objections from Islamabad’s nuclear rival India. The sale was part of a new strategic approach to the troubled subcontinent that was presented to both countries by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on her visit there earlier this month, a senior U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. President George W. Bush telephoned Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on March 25 to inform him of the decision, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. Singh e…

From Air Force Times Reports: Iran may buy 250 jets from Russia By Philip Ewing - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Jul 31, 2007 7:42:16 EDT Iran is in negotiations with Russia to buy 250 state-of-the-art fighter jets, an Israeli newspaper reported, in a pointed response to a new American bid to sell billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to potential Iranian adversaries in the Middle East. The English-language Jerusalem Post of Israel reported Monday that top Israeli defense officials are investigating the potential Iran-Russia deal, in which Iran would pay $1 billion for about a dozen squadrons’ worth of Sukhoi Su-30 “Flanker” fighter-bombers. As a part of t…

Gulf States Prepare for Blockage of Hormuz Strait By REUTERS, ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates DefenseNews Oil-exporting Gulf states adopted a contingency plan on June 14 in case of a blockage of shipping through the mouths of the Gulf and the Red Sea, the United Arab Emirates’ official news agency WAM reported. The move came amid tension between the United States and Iran over its nuclear program, and a warning this month by Iran’s supreme leader that world energy flows could be endangered by any U.S. "wrong move" against Tehran. WAM said transport ministers of the six Gulf countries "adopted an emergency plan to be implemented on (Gulf Arab) seaports if Hor…

From Defence Talk Iran Threatens Longer Stride For Nuclear Drive Agence France-Presse | Jun 22, 2007 Washington: Iran warned Thursday it would take a "longer stride" in its hotly contested nuclear program if it is slapped with a third set of United Nations sanctions. The comment in a Newsweek interview by Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, came as Larijani prepared to discuss the row with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Portugal this weekend. Iran has been hit with two sets of UN Security Council sanctions and faces a third for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment work, the process which makes nuclear fuel and the fissile c…

From DefenseNews U.S., EU Tentatively Back Russian Atom Plan for Iran By FRANCOIS MURPHY, REUTERS, VIENNA A Russian plan aimed at satisfying the world that Tehran’s atomic aims are peaceful has won tentative backing from the United States and the European Union’s top powers, diplomats said on Nov. 10. Under the proposal, supported by France, Britain and Germany, known as the EU3, and Washington, Iran would keep part of its atomic fuel production program if the most sensitive part, uranium enrichment, was scrapped and moved to Russia, diplomats say. Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, supports the compromis…

From DefenseNews UAE Takes Delivery of First F-16s from United States By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ABU DHABI The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on May 3 took delivery of the first batch of an order for 80 F-16 fighters from the United States, estimated to cost $6.4 billion, the official WAM news agency reported. It did not specify the number of warplanes received at an official ceremony attended by Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. The UAE signed a contract for the sophisticated F-16 Falcon fighters built by Lockheed Martin Corp in March 2000 for delivery that was due to have started at the end of 2004 and continued through 2007. …

From Defence Talk Military strike on Iran would be catastrophic: Pakistan PM Agence France-Presse | May 21, 2007 AMMAN: Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Friday that a military strike on Iran over its nuclear activities would be "catastrophic" and hoped US-Iranian talks this month would reduce tensions. "The use of force to solve this issue will have catastrophic implications for the whole umma (Muslim nations) and for the whole world," Aziz told a press conference in Amman. "We are pleased to see that Iran will be engaging in a dialogue with the United States and we hope that leads to a reduction of tensions in the region," said Aziz, who is in …