Current Events in Mideast-Africa

From Aviation Week New Israeli Recon Sat Targets Iran Jun 25, 2010 By Michael A. Taverna Israel’s newest reconnaissance satellite is seen as boosting the country’s intelligence capabilities against Iran. With the observation satellite Ofeq-9 placed in low Earth orbit June 22, Israel now has six operational remote sensing satellites in space: the Ofeq-5 and 7 military observation satellites; ImageSat’s commercial/military EROS-A and EROS-B1, and Israel Aerospace Industries’ (AIA) TechSAR day/night all-weather synthetic aperture radar satellite, now designated Ofeq-8. “From now on, no country in the region will be able to conduct clandestine activities at …

White House fact sheet (DefenseNews, Intercepts blog) Two sides already interpreting it differently (DefenseNews, Intercepts blog)

From RIA Novosti Israel proposes naval blockade of Iran 13:34 | 21/ 05/ 2008 TEL AVIV, May 21 (RIA Novosti) - The Israeli prime minister has proposed that a U.S. naval blockade be imposed on Iran to stop the Islamic Republic from moving ahead with its uranium enrichment program, an Israeli newspaper said on Wednesday. According to the Haaretz daily, at a meeting in Jerusalem with the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Ehud Olmert said, "The present economic sanctions [against Iran] have run out of steam," and proposed "a naval blockade of Iran," using the U.S. navy to limit movement in and out of the Islamic Republic by Iranian mercha…

From Jane's Israel braces for Syrian response By Alon Ben-David 05 October 2007 Israel is preparing for a Syrian response to the 6 September raid in northeast Syria, after both countries confirmed that the attack took place. Israeli intelligence agencies are mostly concerned that the Syrian response will be in the form of a terror attack on an Israeli target around the world. Israeli official delegations worldwide and airlines were ordered to increase precautions, recalling the Syrian attempt to bomb an El-Al flight from London to Tel Aviv in 1986. "I believe that the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad would rather act through proxies, such as terrorist or…

Commanders in Gulf keep in touch with Iran By Jim Krane - The Associated Press Posted : Friday Jun 8, 2007 5:58:39 EDT ABOARD THE USS NIMITZ IN THE GULF — Even as Iran and the U.S. face off bitterly, Navy commanders in the Persian Gulf are working quietly to keep communications open with Iran’s military, hoping the contact will avert an accidental stumble into armed confrontation. Most of the talk takes place over the crackle of radios, using the standard international bridge-to-bridge communications network, Rear Adm. Terry Blake, commander of the strike group led by the aircraft carrier Nimitz, said aboard ship this week. Other contacts are between Iran…

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 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…

An interesting and timely story, particularly in light of today's elections (see BBC News link), though in many ways the outcome has already been decided by the Guardian Council ... From Jane's Evidence emerges of Iran's continued nuclear weapons research By Mark Harrington 14 March 2008 Documents shown exclusively to Jane's indicate that Iran is continuing its pursuit of the advanced technologies necessary to develop a nuclear weapon, regardless of Tehran's claims that its nuclear programme is purely peaceful. Jane's was shown the information by a source connected to a Western intelligence service, and the documents were verified by a number of reliable…

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…

INDIA TO ASSEMBLE RUSSIAN FIGHTER JETS 12:16 Novosti MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti) - Indian President Abdul Kalam has arrived in Russia and visited the Sukhoi aircraft corporation in the forerun to India's assembly of 140 Su-30-MKI fighters under a Russian license, Izvestia, a daily, reported. Kalam and Sukhoi CEO Mikhail Pogosyan discussed New Delhi's participation in developing the fifth generation fighter and the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) medium-range airliner. India is ready to channel $100 million into the RRJ program. In 2004, Sukhoi won a state tender for developing the fighter, which is to phase out current Sukhoi and Mikoyan-Gurevich warplanes…

From Defence Talk South African Navy Commissions Charlotte Maxeke ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems | Mar 16, 2007 EMDEN/HAMBURG/KIEL, Germany: On March 14, 2007, the South African Navy commissioned the submarine “Charlotte Maxeke” at Emden-based Nordseewerke GmbH (NSWE), a company of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems AG (TKMS). This submarine is an ultra-modern submarine of the German 209/1400mod Class. During commissioning ceremony the boat which was christened as S102 on May 4, 2005, got the new name “Charlotte Maxeke.” The boat is the second of a total of three submarines which the South African government ordered from the German Submarine Consortium in 2000. The co…

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…

From DefenseNews Posted 09/06/07 08:14 India to Launch BrahMos From Russian Sub By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI, NEW DELHI India’s supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, built jointly with Russia, is ready to be launched from a submarine, Defence Minister A.K. Anthony reportedly told the Indian Parliament on Sept. 5. Currently, the Indian navy’s submarines do not have the capability to launch BrahMos missiles. Sources in the Indian Defence Ministry said the BrahMos will be tested on an unspecified Russian submarine later this year. Versions of the BrahMos have been developed for the Indian army, navy and air force. The air version will be integrated on IL-38 maritime surveil…

From Flight International DATE: 29/11/07 SOURCE: Flightglobal.com India to extend Sea Harrier by 15 years By Radhakrishna Rao The Indian navy is to go ahead with a "limited upgrade" of its carrier-borne BAE Systems Sea Harrier fighters. This is to be completed in 2008 and will extend their lives by 15 years. The upgrade, to be performed by Bangalore-based Hindustan Aeronautics, will include more advanced sensors, radars and avionics. According to defence minister A K Antony, half of India's Harrier fleet has been lost in accidents.

This could be transcedent by the game engine development, the possibility to add anti anti-air missile capability to some SAM/ABM missiles. This article doubts on the official version, and speculates on the possibility of a retaliatory SCUD launch by Syria against Israel (I doubt it, Syrian army rogue launches or Iranian militias lauches aside, because the fast response and chain of command autorization and issues): http://www.defensenews.com/articles/israels-arrow-scores-first-operational-hit-but-against-what

From Stratfor Pakistan and its Army By George Friedman Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency over the weekend, precipitating a wave of arrests, the suspension of certain media operations and the intermittent disruption of communications in and out of Pakistan. As expected, protests erupted throughout Pakistan by Nov. 5, with clashes between protesting lawyers and police reported in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and several other cities. Thus far, however, the army appears to be responding to Musharraf's commands. The primary issue, as Musharraf framed it, was the Pakistani Supreme Court's decision to release about 60 people the …

From DefenseNews Posted 07/09/07 19:16 Satellite Images Show Work Near Iran Nuclear Site By REUTERS, WASHINGTON Commercial satellite imagery shows Iran is building a new tunnel facility inside a mountain near a key nuclear complex — a possible attempt to protect sensitive uranium enrichment activity from aerial attack, nuclear analysts said July 9. The pictures taken on June 11 were obtained from DigitalGlobe, a commercial satellite imagery firm, by the Institute for Science and International Science, whose president is David Albright, a physicist and former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq. “The construction activity is taking place in the closest mountainous a…

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

From DefenseNews Posted 08/14/07 16:14 Iran President Denies Arming Taliban in Afghanistan By REUTERS, KABUL Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied on August 14 U.S. accusations his country was arming Taliban insurgents in neighboring Afghanistan. U.S. officials say Iranian weapons are entering Afghanistan on such a scale it is hard to believe Tehran is not aware of the shipments. High-powered roadside bombs, which Washington says Iran sends to Iraq, have also begun to appear in Afghanistan. Asked about the accusations, Ahmadinejad told a news conference in the Afghan capital, Kabul: “I strongly doubt that, there is no truth in it... even in Iraq such cl…