Current Events in Mideast-Africa

Did someone said "Casus Belli"? PS: doesn't the GWB quote sound like a circonstancial "i told you"?

From Jane's Defence Weekly: Iran answers Hizbullah call for SAM systems By Robin Hughes JDW Deputy Editor London Additional reporting by Alon Ben-David JDW Staff Reporter Israeli-Lebanese border Iran is to supply the Islamic Resistance - the armed wing of the Lebanese Shi'ite Party of God (Hizbullah) - with a quantity of surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems over the coming months, Western diplomatic sources have confirmed to Jane's. According to the sources, Tehran will supply Hizbullah with Russian-produced SAMs, including the Strela-2/2M (SA-7 'Grail'), Strela-3 (SA-14 'Gremlin') and Igla-1E (SA-16 'Gimlet') man-portable SAM systems. Iran is also unde…

A topic which (unsurprisingly) is taking up a lot of bandwidth on Harpgamer IRC these days is the recent attack by an anti-ship missile(s) on the Israel Defence Force's Sa'ar V (Eilat) class corvette INS Hanit. Here's a summary of what has been reported and some comments on the same. Please feel free to add your own thoughts. My hope is to make this into a little "case study" of sorts, and hopefully we can all learn something from it. It has been said that tonne for tonne, the Sa'ar V corvettes are among the most heavily armed warships in the world. As a primer, the Naval Technology website has a helpful summary of the Sa'ar V and its various systems, sensors and…

From Defense-Aerospace Saudi Arabia Launches Huge Arms Buying Spree; France to Net Most Orders (Source: defense-aerospace.com; issued July 22, 2006) By Giovanni de Briganti Saudi Arabia will buy 142 helicopters from France, including 64 NH-90 helicopters such as the one shown here, as well as tanker aircraft and other weapons in the largest arms export deal ever signed by France. PARIS --- The Saudi government last week agreed to purchase a total of 142 helicopters from France, in a deal that will modernize its military helicopter fleet at a single stroke and that, together with additional contracts to follow, firmly establishes France as the kingdom’s main …

From Defence Talk Iraq Warns Turkey Against Any Military Incursions Reuters Fri, 7 Jul 2006, 00:49 Iraq warned neighboring Turkey on July 6 to refrain from any military incursions into its northern border region to fight Kurdish guerrillas based there. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, on a visit to Athens, noted no Turkish incursions had taken place so far. "But if this does happen in the future, then our position will be different," he said after meeting Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyanni. "Iraq will demand its borders are not violated and that no country is involved in its domestic matters." Ankara has kept around 1,500 special operations for…

From Defence Talk Israeli Nukes Complicate International Nuclear Doctrine AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Wed, 28 Jun 2006, 01:28 Houston, Texas: The United States cannot denounce Iran's nuclear program while accepting Israel's possession of nuclear bombs, the head of the Arab League said Tuesday. "This will ultimately bring the Middle East to further instability and there will be an inevitable arms race," Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa told the US Arab Economic Forum in Houston, Texas. The United States is locked in a standoff with Iran over its uranium enrichment program. Washington and its allies suspect the program masks a nuclear bomb-making effort. …

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…

For a related HCCE scenario, check out "My Love is Vengeance" for the EC2003 IOPG battleset at the Harpgamer Scenarios page. From Navy Times June 06, 2006 Deployment could take Cole to area of 2000 attack By William H. McMichael Times staff writer NORFOLK NAVAL STATION, Va. — The crew of the destroyer Cole is getting ready to deploy once again. But this time, its sailors could end up operating in the vicinity of the October 2000 terrorist attack that crippled and nearly sank the ship. It would be natural to assume that everyone on board would love to sail to Yemen and the waters off east Africa to somehow “get back” at al-Qaida — which investigators say…

Link to their Middle East Military Balance "database" with by country analysis, many updated this calendar year. Can provide useful information to wargamers/scenario designers alike. Find it here.

Indian Fighter Copies Costlier Than Russian Originals By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NEW DELHI, India DefenseNews A federal watchdog May 19 blasted Indian military plane-makers for spending more on copying Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jet than it would cost to buy them. Some of the copied Sukhoi-30MKI interceptors are also flying without critical airborne systems, the Controller-Auditor General (CAG) said in a hard-hitting report about India’s military hardware manufacturers. Moscow allowed New Delhi to locally build Sukhois in the late 1990s as part of a bilateral pact to save India using up foreign exchange reserves. But the national watchdog said the deal ha…

Navy pushes for Israeli Barak on all warships Shiv Aroor Posted online: Tuesday, May 09, 2006 at 0000 hrs Print Email IndianExpress.com ON BOARD INS BRAHMAPUTRA, MAY 8: When the Indian Navy gave Prime Minister Manmohan Singh an operational demonstration last Saturday of a Barak missile intercepting and destroying an incoming anti-ship missile, there was a subtle message embedded in the brazen firepower. The navy has emerged as the first of the three armed forces to successfully induct anti-missile defence into its operational profile and, oing by the accuracy of the Israeli-made Barak system, now wants to put Baraks on all its frontline warships, starti…

Would these "countries" include Hamas, one wonders ? From DefenseNews Iran Says It Will Share Nuclear Technology By REUTERS, TEHRAN Iran is ready to share its nuclear technology with other countries, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said after talks on April 25 with the visiting Sudanese president, state television reported. Iran is embroiled in a nuclear standoff with the West, which fears Tehran is secretly developing atomic weapons which could be transferred to terrorist groups or spark an arms race in the Middle East. Iran insists it only wants nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, such as producing electricity. "The nuclear strength of the Ir…

From DefenseNews Bush Declines To Exclude Nuclear Strike on Iran By EDMUND BLAIR, REUTERS, TEHRAN U.S. President George W. Bush refused on April 18 to rule out nuclear strikes against Iran if diplomacy fails to curb the Islamic Republic’s atomic ambitions. Iran, which says its nuclear program is purely peaceful, told world powers it would pursue atomic technology, whatever they decide at a meeting in Moscow later in the day. Bush said in Washington he would discuss Iran’s nuclear activities with China’s President Hu Jintao this week and avoided ruling out nuclear retaliation if diplomatic efforts fail. Asked if options included planning for a nuclear strike, B…

From Defense Aerospace Reports Citing Imminent Attack on Iran Are Wrong, Official Says (Source: US Department of Defense; issued April 17, 2006) WASHINGTON --- Recent news reports citing an imminent U.S. military attack against Iran are flat wrong, a senior Defense Department official said here today. Such reports constitute "wild speculation," DoD spokesman Bryan Whitman told Pentagon reporters, reiterating previous policy remarks President Bush has made on the Iran issue. The president has chosen diplomacy in concert with the international community as the preferred approach in persuading the Iranian government to jettison its nuclear programs, Whit…

The "little crappy ship" is so 'crappy' the Israelis want to study it ... hmmm From DefenseNews The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a $5.2 million contract to study adapting the company’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) design for the Israeli Navy. During the nine-month feasibility study, Lockheed Martin will examine its LCS for hull, mechanical and electrical system compatibility with the Israeli Navy’s combat systems and other requirements, according to a company press release. The study could lead to contracts to design and build one or two ships for the Israeli Navy, the company said. The Lockheed single-hull design is one of two LCS versions being built…

From DefenseNews Iran To Launch Navy War Games in Gulf By REUTERS, TEHRAN Iran will launch a week of naval war games in the Gulf and Sea of Oman on March 31 involving more than 17,000 troops and 500 large and small naval vessels, the official IRNA news agency reported. It quoted Admiral Morteza Saffari as saying on March 29 that the maneuvers would extend from the northern Gulf coastline to Chabahar on Iran’s southern coast on the Sea of Oman, IRNA reported. The naval war games were aimed "to display the Islamic system’s defensive capabilities", IRNA reported, adding that the maneuvers would start with firing a Shahab-2 missile. Air and ground forces would also…

SA’s new generation of submarines Jonathan Katzenellenbogen BusinessDay.SA THE first of three of SA’s S101 new-generation German-made submarines will sail into Simonstown this morning, marking one of the final steps in the creation of the country’s new navy. Four frigates — general-purpose warships which can be armed with guided missiles — have already been delivered and two more submarines will be in service within about two years. Claims of irregularities in parts of the contract for the frigates, the lack of transparency in the industrial offset programme, the fact that it is very unlikely that the fleet will be used in peacekeeping, and just its sheer cost …