Current Events in Mideast-Africa

Army records first UAV kills kosborn@defensenews.com - kosborn@defensenews.com Posted : Saturday Sep 15, 2007 7:58:53 EDT When Army scouts in Iraq spotted two men planting a roadside bomb Sept. 1, they called in a nearby Hunter unmanned aircraft, which dropped a laser-guided bomb and killed the two men. “We had the first confirmed use of an Army weaponized UAV,” said Col. Don Hazelwood, project manager for Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. The Army is mounting precision-guided weapons on hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hazelwood said. The MQ-5B Hunter will carry the laser-guided GBU-44/B Viper Strik…

Now, with ever deadlier Adobe Photoshop stealth technology ... New York Times

From Jane's Defence Weekly Ukraine sells Kolchuga to Iran By Robert Karniol JDW Asia-Pacific Bureau Chief Bangkok The Kolchuga is intended to detect the take-off and formation of aircraft groups at ranges beyond those of existing radar, as well as determine the course and speed of targets while designating them for air-defence systems. It can identify aerial targets through their emissions and identify the mode of aircraft weapon control systems. Three Kolchuga stations would normally operate along with a command vehicle to provide accurate triangulation on a target. The system is claimed to have a range of 600 km (narrow beam) or 200 km (wide beam) along a …

Very widely reported this - which would make it the first US downing of a manned aircraft since 1999. Pilot of the Su-22 is apparently missing.

From RIA Novosti India, Russia develop airborne supersonic cruise missile 16:49 | 20/ 06/ 2008 NEW DELHI, June 20 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian-Indian BrahMos Aerospace joint venture has finished the development of the airborne version of an advanced supersonic missile, the company's managing director has said. Established in 1998, BrahMos Aerospace designs, produces, and markets supersonic missiles, whose sea-based and land-based versions have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian Army and Navy. "For the airborne version...we had to reduce the mass of the missile and to ensure aerodynamic stability after its separation from the airc…

From DefenseNews Iranian Military Planes Crashes in Annual Parade By THOMAS NEWDICK Published: 22 Sep 2009 18:49 TEHRAN - Iran's sole Simorgh AWACS aircraft was lost during a military parade Sept. 22, one of two Iranian military aircraft that crashed in Tehran while participating in a display to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War. The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force operated a single Simorgh, a former Iraqi Air Force Adnan. The Adnan AWACS was in turn a modification of a Soviet-built Ilyushin Il-76 transport. The Simorgh collided with one of the Air Force's Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighters over the area of the Imam Khomeyni …

From DefenseNews Pakistan To Buy Four Warships from China By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ISLAMABAD Pakistan will buy four frigates for its navy from long-time ally China, the defense ministry said April 4, ahead of a visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. “Pakistan and China have signed four contracts for the construction of four F-22P frigate ships for Pakistan Navy,” a Pakistani defense ministry statement said. The frigates will be equipped with anti-submarine helicopters, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and other defense systems, the statement added. “These ships, after construction, will be inducted into Pakistan Navy which would not only e…

From Army Times Wars costing $12B a month, analysts say By Andrew Taylor - The Associated Press Posted : Tuesday Jul 10, 2007 6:26:35 EDT The boost in troop levels in Iraq has increased the cost of war there and in Afghanistan to $12 billion a month, and the total for Iraq alone is nearing a half-trillion dollars, congressional analysts say. All told, Congress has appropriated $610 billion in war-related money since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, roughly the same as the war in Vietnam. Iraq alone has cost $450 billion. The figures come from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, which provides research and analysis to lawmakers. For the…

From http://www.defensenews.com United States, Europe Consider Penalties Against Syria By ADAM ENTOUS, REUTERS The United States and European allies are considering joint measures to punish Syria if it fails to take concrete steps to withdraw from Lebanon, officials said March 3, as President George W. Bush renewed his demand that Damascus get out now. Stepping up public pressure on Syria for a second day in a row, Bush said, "The message is loud and clear -- from the United States and France and many other nations -- that Syria must withdraw not only her troops, but her secret service forces out of Lebanon now." The president said he would discuss the is…

Iran Intercepts Cargo Ship, US Moves to Respond (DefenseNews)

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 Jane's US and Israel differ on Iranian nuclear ambitions By Alon Ben-David 12 March 2009 United States and Israeli assessments of Iran's nuclear aspirations appear again to be at odds, following a new assertion by Tel Aviv that Tehran has "crossed the technological threshold" in its bid to produce a nuclear weapon. In testimony to the Israeli cabinet on 8 March, Major General Amos Yadlin, head of military intelligence, said that for Iran, from this point on, "reaching a military-grade nuclear capability is a question of synchronising strategy with production of a nuclear bomb". While acknowledging that Iran is keeping its options open, such predicti…

From DefenseNews India Begins To Build an Aircraft Carrier By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NEW DELHI India on April 11 began an eight-year project to build an aircraft carrier in its most ambitious military program to date, officials said. Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee launched the construction of the 37,500-ton carrier at the state-run Cochin Shipyard in the southern state of Kerala, a naval spokesman said. The carrier will carry 30 British- and Russian-made jet fighters as well as locally designed light combat aircraft that took India more than 22 years to develop. Federal Shipping Minister T.R. Balu said the ship-building yard would complete the proje…

From Flight International DATE: 20/02/08 SOURCE: Flightglobal.com Singapore 2008: India to induct two squadrons Tejas Light Combat Aircraft from 2010 By Siva Govindasamy India is to induct two squadrons of the long-delayed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft from 2010, with up to six squadrons possible if the first batch impress in operations. The decision is a shot in the arm for the programme, which national research organisation Aeronautical Development Agency developed and state-owned contractor Hindustan Aeronautics is responsible for production. The long-delayed and much derided aircraft was to enter service early this decade, but design and performanc…

Grounding the Ayatollah’s Tomcats (War is Boring)

Britain to propose condemnatory UN resolution

From Defense Aerospace New Success for DCNS in Morocco (Source: DCNS; issued Oct. 23, 2007) PARIS --- In the course of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's recent state visit to Morocco, the Kingdom's highest authorities confirmed an agreement between the two countries to provide the Royal Moroccan Navy with a FREMM multi-mission frigate. This multi-mission front-line fighting ship will expand the Navy's operational capabilities, particularly for anti-air, anti-surface and anti-submarine missions. In addition to reduced crewing (a little over 100 officers and sailors), the ship will benefit from the many advances arising from the FREMM programme to produce a …

Glad to see this one: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100401/pl_af...ppingseychelles Buddha

From Flight International DATE: 21/03/08 SOURCE: Flightglobal.com Cancer-causing substance halts F-16I training flights By Stephen Trimble Fears about a cancer-causing substance in the cockpit has prompted the Israeli Air Force (IAF) to suspend training flights for its 62-aircraft fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16I Sufas. “According to tests the substance is formaldehyde that recently was defined as causing cancer above certain concentration,” says the IAF spokesman. Formaldehyde is a known by-product of jet engine exhaust, but it’s not clear if the IDF detected uniquely high levels in the cockpit of the F-16I. By contrast, the IAF’s fleet of 125 F-16C/D…

From RIA Novosti Israel ready to counter Yakhont missiles — General Staff Israel is concerned by Russia's decision to sell anti-ship Yakhont missiles to Syria but the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) would be able to "deal" with the challenge, the chief of Israeli General Staff said on Tuesday. Russia earlier announced it would honor a 2007 contract on the delivery of several Bastion anti-ship missile systems armed with SS-N-26 Yakhont supersonic cruise missiles to Syria, despite efforts by Israel and the United States to stop the deal. "We have been following the deal for a long time. There were attempts by the highest political levels to thwart the deal but …