Current Events in Mideast-Africa

From eDefense Indian Navy Looking to Orion Alternative by Pulkit Singh Apr. 25, 2005 The Indian Navy is now focused on buying Falcon 900 maritime-patrol aircraft (MPA) from Dassault Aviation of France, as over two years of negotiations over the acquisition of P-3 Orions from the US have not borne fruit. The Indian government has been negotiating the purchase of eight used US Navy P-3Bs Orions, which would be upgraded to the C model prior to delivery to India. However, an Indian Navy official said, with only three Il-38 maritime-surveillance aircraft (two crashed in October 2002) and the service's aging Il-142 surveillance aircraft long overdue for upgrades, …

From Defence Aerospace Israel – Guided Bomb Units (GBU-28) (Source: US Defense Security Cooperation Agency; issued April 26, 2005) On 26 April 2005, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Israel of 100 GBU-28s as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $30 million. The Government of Israel has requested a possible sale of 100 GBU-28s that include: BLU-113A/B penetration warhead, WGU-36A/B guidance control unit, FMU-143H/B bomb fuze, and BSG-92/B airfoil group guide. Also included are: support equipment; testing, spare and repair …

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 Defence Talk Bushehr Nuclear Plant Exempted In UN Sanctions Draft Agence France-Presse Oct 27, 2006 - 5:24:37 AM The Russian-built Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran is specifically exempted from nuclear and missile-related sanctions against Tehran proposed by three European powers, according to their draft resolution seen here Thursday. The draft, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, was crafted by envoys of Britain, France and Germany in consultations with the United States and presented to their Russian and Chinese colleagues late Tuesday. It calls on UN member states to "take necessary measures to prevent the supply, sale or transfer directly or indirect…

UK Admiral Credits F-35 Capabilities For Israel's Success In Taking Down Iran's Air Defense

From Defense Aerospace South African Gripen Makes Its Maiden Flight (Source: Gripen International; issued Nov. 14, 2005) The first South African dual seat Gripen took to the skies on its maiden flight in Sweden on Friday 11 November 2005. Painted in South African Air Force grey livery, the aircraft took off at 13.40 from Saab’s Flight Test Centre in Linköping, Sweden. The flight lasted 1 hr 10 min. South African test pilot Charl Coetzee and Saab test pilot Magnus Olsson were at the controls for the first flight of South Africa’s future multi-/swing-role fighter. During the flight, the test team were able to validate the basic flight control syst…

From Reuters [excerpt]

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 ARES Typhoon Watch Posted by Douglas Barrie at 10/21/2008 7:29 AM CDT The first of the Royal Saudi Air Force’s Tranche 2 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft was flown on its maiden flight October 20th from BAE Systems Warton facility in the north of England. Saudi Arabia has 72 Typhoons on order, with formal delivery of the type to the RSAF expected to begin in June or July 2009. October also saw the start of deliveries of Tranche 2 aircraft to the Royal Air Force. The RAF will receive 91 Tranche 2 aircraft. The first two were delivered to RAF Coningsby October 21. London and Riyadh are continuing to discuss the acquisition of additional Typhoon aircraf…

From DefenseNews Posted 11/01/06 09:51 Iran To Fire Ballistic Missiles In War Games By AGENCE FRNACE-PRESSE, TEHRAN Iran’s Revolutionary Guards will fire ballistic missiles with a range of more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) during war games this week, state television reported Nov. 1. The air, land and naval maneuvers will take place in 14 provinces starting Nov. 2 “with the focus on the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea,” army chief General Rahim Safavi was quoted by the television as saying. ”Missiles Shahab-2 and Shahab-3 with cluster warheads and range of over 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) will be shot as well as hundreds of rockets and other missiles such as F…

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…

http://m.jpost.com/Middle-East/Is-Turkey-setting-up-a-naval-base-on-the-Red-Sea-532904

India, Russia may export 1,000 BrahMos [ 24 Jan, 2007 0005hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ] NEW DELHI: The US used almost 800 cruise missiles for its attack on Iraq in 2003. Much cheaper and easier to operate than ballistic missiles, cruise missiles are rapidly becoming the preferred option to wage a war. So much so that there are around 80,000 cruise missiles in the inventories of 75 countries at this moment. Keeping this "huge export potential" in mind, India and Russia now obviously want to rake in the moolah by selling at least 1,000 of the jointly-developed BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to "friendly" countries in the near future. The export version will basic…

From Flight Global [excerpt]

First MiG-35 nears delivery for Egypt (Flight Global)

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 …

From Defence Talk Iran warns it can fire 11,000 rockets in one minute if attacked RIA Novosti | Oct 22, 2007 TEHRAN: Iran has the capability to fire 11,000 rockets at enemy bases within one minute if the country is attacked, a top commander in the Revolutionary Guards Corps said on Saturday. "Within the first minute of any attack by enemies against our country, the missile and artillery unit of the ground force is capable of firing 11,000 missiles and shells at targets that are known to us," Gen. Mahmoud Chaharbaghi, the top missile commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said on national TV. Iran has precise data on the deployment of potential attackers' …

New Book Suggests America Accommodate China (DefenseNews' Intercepts blog)

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…

Egyptian Patrol Craft Attacked by Ships with Possible Ties to Terrorist Arms Trade (USNI News)