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?

PART 1: Winning the intelligence war By Alastair Crooke and Mark Perry Introduction Writing five years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, US military expert Anthony Cordesman published an account of the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict. "Preliminary Lessons of the Israeli-Hezbollah War" created enormous interest in the Pentagon, where it was studied by planners for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and passed hand-to-hand among military experts in Washington. Cordesman made no secret of his modest conclusions, rightly recognizing that his study was not only "preliminary", but that it took no account of how Hezbollah fought the conflict or judged its results. "This ana…

From Foreign Policy [excerpt]

From Flight International DATE: 10/11/08 SOURCE: Flight International Israel revives interest in F-22 purchase By Arie Egozi Israel may renew its request for the acquisition of Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter from the incoming US administration. "I anticipate that the Pentagon will release $140 million to let the next administration more easily extend production of the F-22," said Lockheed chief executive Robert Stevens during a 9 November press conference in Tel Aviv. While Lockheed is making efforts to keep its F-22 production line alive, the Israeli air force has again expressed interest in the stealth fighter. "This aircraft…

From Jane's Zonal marking: Kenya looks to position itself for a new role in maritime security 30 June 2009 On 6 May, Kenya submitted a claim to extend its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from 200 n miles out to 350 n miles, adding 103,000 square kilometres to the nation's maritime area of responsibility, alongside the potential benefits of harnessing new and untapped resources such as petroleum, gas and manganese nodules and crusts. The economic importance of succeeding with the bid to extend the EEZ is obvious, but it brings with it some other important considerations, such as how to provide maritime security across hitherto unpatrolled waters. In the abse…

From http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/138660/royal-navy-task-force-heads-to-the-med.html [excerpt]

Iran flexes Air Force muscle on National Army Day, 18 April http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fA5J3qEn7-c

From Stratfor The Shift Toward an Israeli-Syrian Agreement April 29, 2008 By George Friedman The Middle East, already monstrously complex, grew more complex last week. First, there were strong indications that both Israel and Syria were prepared to engage in discussions on peace. That alone is startling enough. But with the indicators arising in the same week that the United States decided to reveal that the purpose behind Israel’s raid on Syria in September 2007 was to destroy a North Korean-supplied nuclear reactor, the situation becomes even more baffling. But before we dive into the what-will-be, let us first explain how truly bizarre things have gotten.…

From Aviation Week Rebuilding IQAF Not Without Challenges Nov 9, 2008 By Robert Wall The Iraqi vision is grand: build one of the Middle East's premier air forces flying F-16s, attack helicopters and modern airlifters. But years of neglect, combat losses and domestic turmoil mean that attaining this goal will be an enormous challenge. Trying to create a new air force in what's effectively still a war zone may be an unprecedented undertaking. Nevertheless, such efforts are gaining momentum as a new generation of systems, pilots, maintenance personnel and processes starts coming into its own. Transitioning to a Western-style flying culture is proving to be …

From DefenseNews Posted 12/07/06 11:35 Israelis Piqued by Gates Nuclear ‘Confirmation’ By DAN WILLIAMS, REUTERS, JERUSALEM Robert Gates, the incoming U.S. secretary of defense, won plaudits in Washington this week for his candor on the Iraq war. Some Israelis were less pleased, however, to hear Gates mention with equal frankness what U.S. administrations have long avoided saying in public -- that the Jewish state has the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal. To be fair, it was pretty oblique. During his Senate confirmation hearing on Dec. 5, Gates mentioned why Iran might be seeking the means to build an atomic bomb: "They are surrounded by powers with nuclear …

From ARES Blog IDF Drills Simulating War with Syria and Lebanon Posted by David Eshel at 11/10/2008 9:32 AM CST The Israel Defense Forces Northern Command concluded a large-scale exercise yesterday which simulated a double-front conflagration with Syria and Lebanon. The exercise incorporated its various branches including Israel Air Force, Israel Navy, IDF Army, and the IDF Intelligence Corps, lasted four days. Toch command post during the exercise The exercise, codenamed "Shiluv Zro'ot III" (Hebrew - Crossing Arms III), was the second largest of its kind since the end of the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and was largely based on lessons learned. During…

From ARES Has Hamas Tested a C-802 Shore-to-Ship Missile off Gaza? Posted by David Eshel at 2/2/2009 9:42 AM CST Israeli military analysts have revealed what could become a formidable addition to Hamas' arsenal: The missile fired from Gaza out to the Mediterranean last week and shown on Israel TV as a Hamas display, was not a Qassam as reported but could be a modified version of a Chinese C-802, possibly an Iranian shore-to-ship Nur C-802 missile, which is based on the Chinese "Silkworm." Chinese C-802 shore-to-ship missile launched A C-802 shore-to-ship missile was fired during the Second Lebanon War from Beirut beach hitting the rear section of the I…

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.

From Defence Talk Iran warns US: your Mideast bases in our range Agence France-Presse | Jun 11, 2007 Iran has warned that US military bases in the Middle East are within the range of its missiles, amid increasing tensions with Washington over the Iranian nuclear programme, media reported Sunday. "All the American bases in the region are within the reach of our weapons," said Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr, the deputy interior minister in charge of security issues. "If the United States attacked Iran, US interests would be in danger everywhere in the world," added Zolghadr, a former deputy chief of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards. Iran has an array of mediu…

Well, this is interesting ... From DefenseNews [emphasis mine]

Only technical and operative considerations in this topic, I hope. It sembles a lot of rumours about the use of a stealty variant of the H-60 Black Hawk: Photos (of the strange helo wreckrage and some corpses): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/20...326&index=0 Bill Sweetman comments: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=...&id=8112975 Also, developing my little scenario, I don't see very clear this point about helicopter ranges and helicopter loads made public after: http://www.timesleader.com/news/Inside__ls...05-04-2011.html Two full loaded Blackhawk with the team and assault gear and weapons. Perhaps from Bagram (I think the Speci…

From DefenseNews EU Threatens Support for Sanctions Against Iran By BROOKS TIGNER, BRUSSELS Tense back-channel talks are under way between European Union countries and Iran to persuade the latter from re-starting its nuclear enrichment research — an activity Tehran promised in late 2005 to freeze in exchange for a new economic and political relationship with Europe. The EU lead nations of Germany, France and the United Kingdom — the so-called EU3 — are warning they will support United Nations sanctions, long desired by Washington, if Iran does not immediately reverse its position. European support for U.N. sanctions “would certainly see them come into effect …

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

Chemical Attack in Syria - National Evaluation presented by Jean-Marc Ayrault following the Defense Council Meeting (26 April 2017) (France Diplomatie)

This is both a "Congratulations" moment and an "Oh Dear" one...