Current Events in Mideast-Africa

From RIA Novosti 15:50 15/02/2011

From RIA Novosti [excerpt] CV32: Perhaps 'more ready' would be a better description?

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

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

From the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA): Outside In: Operating from Range to Defeat Iran's Anti-access/Area Denial Threats (PDF)

Details on the late 2023 incidents, drone attacks, SRBM attacks and others: https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2023/12/several-new-major-incidents-in-the-red-sea/

From Navy Times Iran says it plans major gulf naval exercise By Philip Ewing - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Nov 27, 2007 5:38:40 EST Iran’s navy will stage a large exercise in the Persian Gulf in February, an official English-language Tehran newspaper reported Sunday, including maneuvers planned specifically for the Strait of Hormuz, the choke point through which some 20 percent of the world’s oil passes. Code-named “Etand 86,” or “Unity 86,” the exercise will include the operational debut of a homebuilt diesel-electric attack submarine, The Tehran Times reported. Navy commander Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayari told the newspaper that the navy expected to tak…

France Says Egypt to Buy Mistral Warships (DefenseNews)

I suppose now that one of the Somali pirates involved in the latest incident has been apprehended, we can expect a hue and cry from various groups wanting to protect his "rights". Hanging has been an effective method of dealing with these guys for centuries, and I see no reason to change that now. Buddha

The Aviationist

Contradictory news reports about the ex HSV-2 Swift total loss near Bab-El-Mandeb strait, after impacted (probably) by a shore launched Chinese C-802 SSM, fired by Houthis militias. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-emirates-security-yemen-idUSKCN1213B7 But this video shows the great fire after the impact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTNeEYlO3Iw After the ex HSV-2 Swift demise, we can reckon on the same impact in a Independence-class LCS ... (yes, I know Independence displacement is some 2607 tn and Swift only some 940).

From DefenseNews India, Russia End Spat Over Soviet-Era Aircraft Carrier AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 28 Feb 09:46 EST (04:46 GMT) NEW DELHI - India and Russia have ended a protracted dispute over the cost of a Soviet-era aircraft carrier which will be now sold at a higher price to the Indian navy in 2011, officials said Feb. 28. Indian Defence Secretary V. K. Singh, returning from Moscow, said a new undisclosed price had been agreed upon for the 44,570-ton Admiral Gorshkov. Russian export firm Rosoboronexport in 2004 signed a deal to refurbish the carrier for $970 million but last year demanded India pay an additional $1.2 billion. Singh declined…

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt]

Israels Deadliest Submarines Are Nearly Ready (DefenseNews)

From Flight International Libya 'to order 13-18 Dassault Rafale fighter jets', rejecting Eurofighter, French press reports By Justin Wastnage Libyan leader Col Muammar al-Gaddafi has reportedly selected the Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter jet to re-equip the country's air force ahead of the Eurofighter Typhoon. Libya is reportedly close to finalising an order for between 13 and 18 Rafales in a deal worth as much as €2.5 billion ($3.24 billion), French Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche says. The newspaper cites industry sources and government insiders as saying Gaddafi chose the French offer over a refurbishing of and unspecified number of the count…

U.S. winds up biggest war games in Gulf since 2003 Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:52AM EDT MANAMA (Reuters) - The U.S. navy said on Thursday it had ordered an aircraft carrier to the Gulf to replace one of two patrolling the region, as the United States winds down naval war games on Iran's doorstep. The Nimitz carrier strike group will sail from San Diego for the Gulf on Monday, a navy spokesman told Reuters, to replace the Dwight D. Eisenhower, as tensions mount between Iran and the West over captured British troops and Iran's nuclear program. "She (the Nimitz) will deploy to the Gulf region. She is the relief for Eisenhower, who leaves and she replaces her," Lieutenant Co…

What do we know about this?

Read the IAEA report here (PDF). From the report: (emphasis mine)

Hez Hacked Israeli Radios DefenseTech This is downright shocking, if true. "Hezbollah guerrillas were able to hack into Israeli radio communications during last month's battles in south Lebanon, an intelligence breakthrough that helped them thwart Israeli tank assaults," Newsday reports. Using technology most likely supplied by Iran, special Hezbollah teams monitored the constantly changing radio frequencies of Israeli troops on the ground. That gave guerrillas a picture of Israeli movements, casualty reports and supply routes. It also allowed Hezbollah anti-tank units to more effectively target advancing Israeli armor, according to the officials... T…

Published: 3/10/06, 10:36 PM EDT by the AP UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The five veto-holding members of the Security Council considered proposals on Friday to pressure Iran to resolve questions about its nuclear program, including demands that it abandon uranium enrichment and stop construction on a reactor, diplomats said. Full story Security Council Considers Iran ProposalsPublished: 3/10/06, 10:36 PM EDT by the AP