Current Events in Mideast-Africa

From Defense Aerospace Statement (Source: Spokesperson of the Israeli Ministry of Defense; issued Feb. 11, 2007) The Arrow Weapon System marked tonight at 9:18 PM, 11/02/07, an important milestone by completing another successful test. The test, the 15th for the interceptor, the 10th for the complete weapon system, is part of the Arrow System Improvement Program, ASIP, which is being carried out jointly, by Israel and the United States. The objectives of the test were: - To examine improved performance including widening of the interception envelope - To test the system in an integrated operational configuration engaging two batteries located…

From Ares An interesting legal question, one in which I suspect Israel (and others) would advise that Iran is due a rather large sum of general and special damages.

From Time's Battleland blog [excerpt]

Iran tested medium-range ballistic missile: U.S. official (Reuters) In direct contravention of UN resolutions and the Obama 'deal'

Iran displays captured ScanEagle UAV (Jane's)

Marines join counter-piracy mission Find Marine Corps Times article here. By Trista Talton - Staff writer Posted : Friday Jan 23, 2009 13:30:36 EST Members of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are participating in counter-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia, a spokesman for Marine Corps headquarters said Thursday. Amphibious transport dock San Antonio, the flagship for Combined Task Force 151, is carrying a reinforced Marine platoon, said 2nd Lt. Josh Diddams. Officials will not say how many Marines are on the ship, which left Camp Lejeune, N.C., in late August with the Norfolk, Va.-based Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group. A typical Marine infan…

From US Institute of Peace: Gulf I: Iran's Power in the Air Gulf II: Timeline of U.S.-Iran Encounters Gulf III: Iran's Power in the Sea Lanes Iran's military doctrine

In a French blog, with links saying they will be Rafale standard F3 (no AESA radar?) and equipped with SCALP/Black Shasheen cruise missiles: http://www.defens-aero.com/2015/07/les-premieres-photos-des-rafale-de-la-force-aerienne-egyptienne.html

Pakistan Pins High Hopes on New Chinese Fighter Jet By TAHIR IKRAM, REUTERS, KAMRA, Pakistan eDefense Pakistan, which has been seeking high technology aircraft for the last two decades, said May 9 it hoped to start joint production with China from 2007 of multi-role fighter jets. The first four JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft are expected to be introduced into the air force some time in 2006, said Air Vice Marshal Shahid Latif, project director for JF-17 planes. The medium-technology aircraft matches the Mirage in performance but has better avionics and weapons, Latif told a news conference at the Kamra Aeronautical complex, 80 km (50 miles) west of Islama…

Jihadists Moving Into Lebanon From Syria By Christopher Allbritton, Washington Times NAHR EL-BARED, Lebanon -- Heavily armed foreign jihadists have been entering Lebanon from Syria from around the time Western authorities noticed a drop in the infiltration of foreign fighters from Syria to Iraq, Lebanese officials say. Syrian authorities, hoping to disrupt Lebanon so they can reassert control of the country, "have stopped sending [the jihadists] to Iraq and are now sending them here," charged Mohammed Salam, a specialist in Palestinian affairs in Lebanon. "They sent those people to die in Lebanon." Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, commander of Lebanon's Internal Sec…

Is the Colonel still a kook? From Aviation Week's ARES Blog Moscow Eyes Strategic Port of Benghazi as Second Med Naval Station Posted by David Eshel at 11/4/2008 9:01 AM CST Colonel Mummar el-Qaddafi, Libya's longtime controversial leader, visited Moscow over the weekend and apparently offered the Port of Benghazi to Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev during their talks in the Kremlin last Saturday. The port is located in a highly strategic position, on the north east coast on the Gulf of Sidra, facing southern Europe. No wonder then that prominent Russian naval officers are happy with this lucrative offer. “Russia is interested in getting access to naval…

Russia Confirms Sale of Missiles to Iran By HENRY MEYER Associated Press Writer MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia has struck a deal to sell short-range, surface-to-air missiles to Iran, the defense minister said Monday, confirming reports that have raised concern in the United States and Israel. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov didn't give details. But Russian media have said that Moscow agreed in November to sell $1 billion worth of weapons to Iran, including up to 30 Tor-M1 missile systems over the next two years. "A contract for the delivery of air defense Tor missiles to Iran has indeed been signed," Ivanov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. "This…

Musharraf's Grip Falters In Pakistan Nationwide protests push the U.S.-backed general into a corner. By Laura King, Times Staff Writer ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — When President Perez Musharraf survived back-to-back assassination attempts in 2003, he might have thought the worst was behind him. But now, after easily quelling any threat to his power during eight years of military rule, the general appears trapped in a labyrinth of his own making. His attempt 2 1/2 months ago to sideline Pakistan's independent-minded chief justice touched off nationwide protests that have coalesced into a full-blown pro-democracy movement. Islamic militants have established a firm…

MRAPs going to Iraq on Russian cargo planes By Erik Holmes - Staff writer Posted : Friday Oct 26, 2007 17:29:47 EDT The Air Force has been forced to use Russian commercial cargo jets to rush mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles from the U.S. to Iraq because it does not have enough C-5 and C-17 planes to do the job, the service’s top civilian official said recently. Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne said at an Oct. 24 House Armed Services Committee hearing that American reliance on Russian Antonov jumbo jets to move critical war supplies indicates that the Air Force may need more than its current 300 C-5s and C-17s. “We are now sharing the mission o…

After succesful test, Israeli medium-range anti-missile missile System to enter service near July 2015: http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-successfully-tests-new-anti-ballistic-missile-system/

Mideast Militants Gain Footholds Lebanon Standoff Shows Spread Of al Qaeda-Style Extremism By Bill Spindle and Cam Simpson The standoff in Lebanon between a group of armed extremists and the Lebanese military, now in its second week, vividly shows how political turbulence in the Middle East has helped a new breed of al Qaeda-style militants gain footholds where they had rarely been active on such a scale. In Lebanon, the Fatah Islam militant group now holed up inside a Palestinian refugee camp has capitalized on the crosscurrents of conflict in the region -- from Iraq to Lebanon and the Palestinian territories -- to recruit followers, cultivate support and…

From Iraq considers MiG-29 fighter buy [excerpt] This on the heels of ... Iraq Says Signs Contract For 18 F-16 Fighter Jets [excerpt]

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…

Tehran officially launches production of first Iranian-made submarine CanadaEast Tehran launches production of Iranian-made submarine TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran officially launched production of the country's first Iranian-built submarine, a craft capable of operating stealthily, state-run television reported. Defence Ministry spokesman Mohammad Imani was quoted as saying "the enemy would not be able to detect the submarine." He did not elaborate. One submarine has apparently already been built and was shown on television Tuesday, cruising at sea level. The Defence Ministry has commissioned an unspecified number of the craft, dubbed Ghadir in honour of a site…

While no one would entirely discount 'flying telephone poles', Tehran should take note that a version of the S-200 (NATO SA-5 Gammon) is not a version of the S-300 (NATO SA-10 Grumble family), and to say otherwise does nothing for one's credibility ... From RIA Novosti Iran's domestic air defense system is upgraded version of S-200 Iran's domestic air defense system reported to be an analogue of the Russian S-300 is a mere upgraded version of the obsolete Soviet-made S-200, Iran's Press TV website said referring to top military officials. The S-200 was officially accepted into service in 1967. Iran acquired several systems from the Soviet Union in the la…