Current Events in Mideast-Africa

From BBC [excerpt]

Turkey and Israel a high altitude crisis (Flight Global, Ariel View blog)

From Jane's Israel braces for Syrian response By Alon Ben-David 05 October 2007 Israel is preparing for a Syrian response to the 6 September raid in northeast Syria, after both countries confirmed that the attack took place. Israeli intelligence agencies are mostly concerned that the Syrian response will be in the form of a terror attack on an Israeli target around the world. Israeli official delegations worldwide and airlines were ordered to increase precautions, recalling the Syrian attempt to bomb an El-Al flight from London to Tel Aviv in 1986. "I believe that the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad would rather act through proxies, such as terrorist or…

Launch of modernized Project 877EKM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o19rmiU-CuI Test launch of 3M14 (SS-N-27 Sizzler) cruise missile http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFyAJhJfjQU&feature=share

From DefenseNews India Begins To Build an Aircraft Carrier By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NEW DELHI India on April 11 began an eight-year project to build an aircraft carrier in its most ambitious military program to date, officials said. Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee launched the construction of the 37,500-ton carrier at the state-run Cochin Shipyard in the southern state of Kerala, a naval spokesman said. The carrier will carry 30 British- and Russian-made jet fighters as well as locally designed light combat aircraft that took India more than 22 years to develop. Federal Shipping Minister T.R. Balu said the ship-building yard would complete the proje…

From Defence Talk Algeria to acquire six modern Sukhoi-30 jet fighters Xinhua News Agency | Oct 5, 2007 Algeria will acquire, in the next few weeks, six Russian-made Sukhoi-30 jet fighters, local media reported Wednesday. The six Sukhoi aircrafts are part of a comprehensive purchase order of Russian arms by Algeria concluded in 2006, worth nearly 4 billion U.S. dollars. This order also includes Mig jet fighters, anti-air missiles and T-90 tanks, according to the Algerian daily newspaper "El Watan." The high prices of oil have enabled Algeria, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, to finance the professionalization of its armed for…

France takes 'immediate' military action amid CAR clashes (BBC)

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

Angola receives first Su-30K fighters (Jane's)

The IAF vs Iran's Nuke Complex

From Stratfor Mediterranean Flyover: Telegraphing an Israeli Punch? June 23, 2008 By George Friedman On June 20, The New York Times published a report saying that more than 100 Israeli aircraft carried out an exercise in early June over the eastern Mediterranean Sea and Greece. The article pointed out that the distances covered were roughly the distances from Israel to Iranian nuclear sites and that the exercise was a trial run for a large-scale air strike against Iran. On June 21, the British newspaper The Times quoted Israeli military sources as saying that the exercise was a dress rehearsal for an attack on Iran. The Jerusalem Post, in covering these events, …

Syria 'confirms' Israeli air strike near Lebanon border (BBC News)

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 …

CV32: That didn't take long! From DefenseNews [excerpt]

From DefenseNews Saudi Arabia said on April 3 that a deal to purchase Typhoon Eurofighter jets from Britain, believed to be worth billions of dollars, was on course after technical committees signed relevant documents. ”The papers of the Eurofighter jets deal were signed by the (Saudi and British) technical committees on March 28,” Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz told reporters. The documents “are now being studied by the political leadership (as a prelude to) signing them,” said Sultan, who is also defense minister of the oil-rich kingdom. ”The deal is on course, and there are no obstacles to it because it is in the kingdom’s interest,” he added. Saudi Arabia …

Meet Irans Carrier Killer: The Khalij Fars (The Diplomat, Flashpoints blog)

From Navy Times Nimitz set to replace Ike in Persian Gulf area By Barbara Surk - The Associated Press Posted : Sunday May 6, 2007 15:42:51 EDT DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Navy said Sunday it was replacing an aircraft carrier now departing the Middle East as part of the Bush administration’s stepped up military presence in the Persian Gulf area. The aircraft carrier Nimitz and the accompanying ships of its strike group were expected in Mideast waters within two days, replacing the departing carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, said Navy Cmdr. Kevin Aandahl of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. The San Diego, California-based Nimitz will join the aircraft carrier…

From AOL Defense [excerpt]

From BBC News The Indian Air Force (IAF) has announced it will retire its fleet of MiG 25s, Cold War-era spyplanes, previously shrouded in secrecy. A spokesman said the last of the IAF's four surviving MiG-25s will be phased out of service on 1 May. The MiGs, capable of flying at over three times the speed of sound, were bought from the USSR in 1981. "It will be a nostalgic event and a flypast will be held," Air Vice Marshal S Mukherjee said. He said the aircraft would be shown at various installations after they had been retired. 'Darned good machine' India originally bought 10 of the MiGs from the Soviet Union and nicknamed the 20-ton reconna…

From Voice of America [excerpt]