Israeli, U.S. defense chiefs conclude arms deal amid growing unrest in Mideast

Source : Xinhuanet

JERUSALEM, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli and U.S. defense chiefs on Monday announced 10 billion U.S. dollars' sale of U.S. arms aimed at ensuring the Jewish state's military superiority in the Middle East amid the region's growing unrest.

Reiterating his country's unshakeable commitment to Israel's security, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said the deal included the supply of anti-radiation missiles and advanced radars for fighter jets, KC-135 refueling aircraft and V-22 Osprey troop and cargo transport planes.

"We took another significant step in the U.S.-Israel defense relationship," Hagel said at a joint news conference with Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon in Tel Aviv, adding that the new arms would ensure Israel's capability to preserve its air superiority in the coming decades.

The V-22, which to date has not been sold to any foreign country, will provide the Israeli Air Force with long-range, high- speed capabilities "to deal with a number of threats and contingencies," Hagel said.

The Pentagon chief arrived in Israel on Sunday on the first leg of his week-long Middle East tour that includes stops in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

It is also Hagel's first official visit to the country since entering his post earlier this year, and Iran's nuclear program topped the agenda of his meetings with Israeli leaders, as well as Syria's civil war and other regional issues.

In remarks to reporters on his flight from Washington overnight Sunday, Hagel said the arms sale to Israel was "a clear message" to Iran, which poses "a threat, a real threat."

He underscored that Israel's right to exercise its right to self-defense against Iran's nuclear drive, echoing comments made by U.S. President Barack Obama, who said during his visit here last month that Israel has the right "to defend itself, by itself. "

"In dealing with Iran, every option must be on the table," said Hagel, who in the past stated that he saw "no viable, feasible" military option against Tehran.

Asked whether Israel should strike Iran's nuclear facilities on its own, Hagel said that Israel is a sovereign nation and "every sovereign nation has a right to defend itself."

Ya'alon, for his part, said that while Israel prefers a diplomatic solution to the Iranian issue, its strategy regarding Iran is that its military nuclear project "must be stopped."

"We believe that the military option (to curb Iran's nuclear program) should be a means of last resort... But without a credible military option, there is no chance that the Iran regime will stop it" on its own," said Ya'alon.

Turning to the ongoing civil war in Syria, Ya'alon said that Israel has drawn "very clear red lines" to the administration of President Bashar Assad, the first of which is that it won't allow the delivery of advanced weapons to "rogue elements" like Lebanese Shi'ite militia Hezbollah and global jihadists who have joined the Syrian insurgency.

"And we proved it. When they crossed this red line we operated, we acted," said Ya'alon, alluding to Israel's alleged involvement in an airstrike in late January that targeted a convoy on the Syria- Lebanon border carrying anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah.

Regarding Israel's growing concerns about Syria's stockpiles of chemical weapons, Ya'alon said that attempts to deliver such weapons into the hands of Hezbollah or other militant groups would constitute the crossing of a red line that would warrant Israeli military action.

Asked about conflicting assessments by different governments about whether or not the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against insurgents and civilians, Hagel said that intelligence agencies in both Israel and the United States are currently assessing "what happened, what did not happen" and warned that "the use of chemical weapons would be a game ch

Baghdad to Rethink Allowing Turkish Military Bases in Iraq

Via: StratRisks

Committee member Mahdi al-Musawi told Azzaman yesterday [Oct. 6]: “Committee member Safia al-Suhail — in the presence of officials from both the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and from the central government [in Baghdad] — said that 16 Turkish military bases exist on Iraqi territory. No one denied these claims.”

Suhail explained that “the committee is implementing several measures to deal with this issue. These include communicating with the KRG to review and re-examine the agreements that the former regime had previously signed with Turkey regarding Turkey’s presence inside Iraqi territory.

These measures also involve discussions with senior military and armed-forces leaders to find out why the KRG is silent regarding the presence of these camps.”

Musawi explained that “northern areas are constantly subjected to Turkish attacks,” adding that “such behavior is not new, as we have seen these problems for a long time. The central government was engaged in a dialogue with the KRG and expressed its readiness to mobilize the army to these areas in order to protect them from attacks. However, the KRG has some reservations.”

Suhail noted that the committee “will keep communicating with the foreign ministry and the relevant officials,” adding that next week, it “will see intensive steps aimed at resolving the problem of Turkish military incursions.”

Musawi said, “The KRG did not deny the presence of these forces. Moreover, some non- governmental officials and figures from civil-society groups said that the KRG is familiar with these military camps on the border, and that this is why the KRG is not taking any action against them.

Russian, Central Asian Pilots in Air Defense Drills

Source: RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russian and Central Asian military pilots are carrying out joint exercises to repel missile strikes over Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, Russian Defense Ministry Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Vladimir Deryabin said on Friday.

The Clear Sky 2012 military exercises get underway on Friday an run through October 16, with planned scenarios including intercepting cruise missile attack.

MiG-31 log-range interceptors, A-50U airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft, Il-76 heavy transport planes, as well as anti-aircraft missile systems and radio equipment will be used in these training exercises.

Iran building new naval vessels: admiral

Source: Tehran Times

TEHRAN – The commander of the Iranian Navy has announced that the country’s experts are building new destroyers, submarines, and missile-firing warships. In an interview with the Persian service of IRNA published on Wednesday, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said that the projects to build destroyers of the Jamaran class, semi-heavy and light submarines, and missile-firing warships are well underway. The Jamaran is the first domestically manufactured destroyer. It can carry helicopters and is equipped with torpedoes. It is 94 meters long and weighs over 1,500 tons. The warship is capable of engaging in surface, air, and undersea warfare. Velayat destroyer to be launched by March 2013 Sayyari also said that the second domestically manufactured destroyer, named the Velayat, will be launched during the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2013. The Velayat destroyer is highly advanced and differs greatly from the Jamaran, he said. He added that other destroyers of the Navy have also been equipped with new radar, propulsion, communications, and surveillance systems and weapons. Elsewhere in his remarks, the admiral said that the Navy has planned to expand its presence on the open seas, adding that the scope of Iran’s naval operations is beyond the country’s borders. AM/PA

Newsfeed - Iran: IRGC Rear Admiral Fadavi: "Dark Days await US forces in case of an Attack against Iran

Via Breaking News.com Asenior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps says dark days await US forces in case of an attack against Iran. Referring to the mine-sweeping drill held by the United States near the Persian Gulf, IRGC Navy Commander Rear-Admiral Ali Fadavi said, “We keep a moment-by-moment watch on every move of the Americans.” “Over the past years, we have not neglected to enhance our naval capabilities, particularly in the field of mines, and these capabilities are unimaginable to the Americans,” the Iranian commander added. “Our missile-equipped speedboats are only a small part of our naval capabilities and each of these vessels can be effective in fighting huge US warships,” Fadavi said. Fadavi added that only Britain, France, Japan and the United Arab Emirates have joined the US in the Persian Gulf maneuver and other countries merely attend the meetings and conferences related to the exercise. He said the latest estimates suggest that 64 US vessels are present in the region, adding that the Americans claim, however, that 20 of the vessels are participating in the drill. He added that Six British, French, two Japanese and two Emirati ships are also taking part in the maneuver. The US anti-mine exercises began on September 16 and are scheduled to wrap up on September 27. The US Navy claims that the exercises are purely defensive and not directed at any country.

Iran unveil Meshkat medium-range cruise missile

Via Islamic Invitation Turkey "Meshkat cruise missile, which God willing will be unveiled soon, has a range of more than 2,000 kilometers. It will be the upper hand of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Brigadier General Mehdi Farahi, who is also the director of Defense Ministry’s Aerospace Organization, said on Sunday. “Meshkat cruise missile will have submarine-, ground-and air-launched properties and could also be fired from a warplane,” the general said. Farahi said the Iranian Defense Ministry has already produced five cruise missiles, namely, Zafar, Nasr, Nour, Qaser and Ghadir, adding that the development of nine more cruise missiles is under study. He went on to say that Iran is upgrading the “precision, radar-invasiveness, tactical aspects and durability” of its missiles. The general, however, noted that the development of cluster warheads does not lie within Iran’s defense strategies, stressing that the country has done a lot in tweaking missile warheads, which is an important factor in upgrading ballistic missiles. Farahi played down the US deployment of missile defense systems in the region, saying they could never overpower Iranian missiles. “We hope that nothing would happen. But if any confrontation is to take place, they will see how their claims will turn out to be groundless.” In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in the defense sector and gained self-sufficiency in essential military hardware and defense systems. Iran has repeatedly assured other nations, especially regional neighbors, that its military might poses no threat to other countries, insisting that its defense doctrine is merely based on deterrence.

The Tug-of-war over the South China Sea

The tug-of-war over the South China Sea is seen mainly as a struggle among rival claimants -China, Taiwan and several South-East Asian states -for control of valuable fisheries as well as sea bed oil, natural gas and mineral resources. China's claim to about 80 per cent of the 3.5 million square kilometre sea and its hundreds of atolls, rocks and reefs, has also alarmed outside seafaring and trading nations, including the United States, Australia and Japan. They regard the South China Sea as an international maritime highway with free navigation for seaborne trade, unimpeded movement of naval vessels, and unfettered over-flight for military aircraft. But recent developments in China's nuclear weapons program suggest there is another important dimension to China's increasing assertiveness in enforcing its claimed jurisdiction in the semi-enclosed sea: protecting a new generation of nuclear-powered submarines armed with atomic warheads and based at Sanya on China's Hainan Island. Okazaki Institute in Tokyo special research fellow Tetsuo Kotani says, ''Without understanding the nuclear dimension of the South China Sea disputes, China's maritime expansion makes little sense.'' One of the new generation subs was first spotted by a commercial satellite at Sanya in 2008. It was tied up to a pier that analysts said was China's first and so far only demagnetising facility for submarines. Demagnetisation is conducted before deployment to remove residual magnetic fields in the metal of a sub to make it harder to detect by hostile submarines, surface ships and anti-submarine aircraft. Initially, these new generation Chinese subs and the nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles they could launch while submerged would be able to target potential adversaries in the Asia-Pacific and US bases in the region. Eventually, with longer-range intercontinental missiles, they could cover the whole of the US from launch points in the deep waters of the South China Sea without having to venture too far from their rock shelter tunnels bored into a mountain that forms part of the Sanya naval base for China's South Sea Fleet. . This would give China a more effective deterrent against nuclear attack, one that operated from under the sea in addition to land-based nuclear missiles. In recent years, China has built up a relatively small but increasingly impressive arsenal of approximately 140 nuclear ballistic missiles either concealed in silos or mounted on special launch vehicles and moved around to different hiding places on land. Each carries a single nuclear warhead. But earlier this month, a newspaper controlled by the ruling Chinese Communist Party reported that China was developing the capability to do what Russia and the US have the technology to do -put multiple warheads on its intercontinental ballistic missiles, each capable of hitting different targets. This could greatly increase the number of China's operational nuclear weapons and overwhelm any missile defence system. At the same time, China is building a fleet of new JIN-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), known as Type-094. Two are in operation, a third is under construction and may already have been launched, and at least two more are expected to be built. Meanwhile, China is hoping to complete testing of the JL-2 nuclear-tipped missile for the Type-094 sub, which can carry 12 of the missiles. The US Defence Department's annual report to Congress in May on China's armed forces and military strategy noted that the while the JL-2 program had faced repeated delays, it ''may reach initial operating capability'' within the next two years, giving the Chinese Navy "caredible sea-based nuclear'' deterrent. In addition to adding a nuclear dimension to China's interests in the South China Sea, having a sea-based nuclear deterrent may pose serious control problems for the Central Military Commission which supervises the country's nuclear arsenal. The commission and the Chinese Navy have no experience in operating SSBNs in either peacetime or during a crisis. Yet remaining submerged and out of communication for lengthy periods is essential if SSBNs are to remain undetected. So for the foreseeable future, China's land-based nuclear missile force is expected to be the mainstay of the country's deterrent and retaliatory strike capability against the continental US or other faraway targets. But that will be cold comfort for any regional adversary of China that might soon be targeted by a new SSBN fleet armed with nuclear ballistic missiles. The writer is a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of

Moscow to react to Asian missile defense

Via RT.com Published: 07 September, 2012, 15:04 X-Band Radar (SBX) (AFP Photo) Russia has expressed its concern over American plans to deploy a new missile defense shield in Southeast Asia. "The continuing growth of the US potential in what we call the Far East –the Asia-Pacific region –does not go unnoticed in Russia," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said at a nonproliferation conference in Moscow. “We are closely following what is happening between the USA and its allies in Asia.” According to the diplomat, “important events” are unfolding in the region and “a lot has already been achieved,” cites Interfax. Moscow’s concerns about the situation arise from the technology involved, as well as the “geography and the US capability to deploy these assets in different locations.” It is important that Washington eases these concerns. Otherwise, “there is a set of measures worked out by the Russian leadership,” Ryabkov noted. Earlier, it was reported that Washington was planning to expand its missile defense in Asia in response to threats from North Korea and to counter China’s growing missile capabilities. Ryabkov noted. Earlier, it was reported that Washington was planning to expand its missile defense in Asia in response to threats from North Korea and to counter China’s growing missile capabilities. The buildup could include an early-warning radar system on a southern Japanese island and possibly another one in Southeast Asia. These two new radars would supplement the one already installed in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan in 2006. The US global missile defense shield –in particular its European sector –has long been a stumbling block in the relations between Moscow and Washington. Russia worries that the planned system may pose a threat to its national security. The US has so far refused to provide legally-binding guarantees that the European missile defense assets would not be targeted against Russia. “The US missile defense system –is surely one of the key issues on today’s agenda because it involves Russia’s vital interests,” President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with RT. The differences on the issue can only be solved if both sides accept as an axiom that they are “reliable partners and allies for each other.” That would mean the parties “jointly do missile threat assessments and control this defense system together,” Putin said. The president stressed that Russia had done what it could and offered to work on the system together. However, the American partners are “refusing to go along.” Moscow is set to continue the dialogue on the matter, he stressed. “But naturally, as our American partners proceed with developing their own missile defense we shall have to think of how we can defend ourselves and preserve the strategic balance,” Putin added. In November last year, then-President Dmitry Medvedev said d Russia could place offensive weaponry on its borders with Europe as one possible measure against the deployment of American elements of missile defense shield in the region.

Israeli diplomat denies Egypt submarine deal straining ties with Germany

By Israeli diplomat denies Egypt submarine deal straining ties with Germany | Egypt Independent

A former Israeli ambassador to Germany cast doubt on speculation that Germany supplying Egypt with two submarines would considerably change German-Israeli relations, the German news agency DPA reported Monday. “More important is that Israel gets the German Dolphin submarines that can carry nuclear warheads,” former Ambassador Avi Primor said. “It is the only real defense we have against Iran.” On Sunday, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Israeli government sources said the deal would affect the two countries’ relations. A German government spokesperson, Steffan Seibert denied that, stressing that Germany was dedicated to Israeli security. Major General Osama al-Guindy, commander of the Egyptian Navy, had told the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram newspaper on Friday that Egypt and Germany signed an agreement for two Model 209 Submarines, which Yedioth Ahronoth said raised Israeli fears of a declining military edge. “Egypt gets weapons from the United States, our greatest ally, and we do not say anything to that,” Primor added.

Iran upgrades short-range missile –officials Tehran

August 21, 2012 — RT News line

Tehran has reportedly upgraded a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile just weeks after it was test-fired. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled the new version of Fateh-110, or Conqueror, IRNA news agency said on Tuesday. The new version has a quicker launch capability and longer life, according to officials. The missile has been in service over the past decade. Iran said in August it had successfully test-fired the missile with an improved accuracy to strike lane land and naval targets within a 300 kilometer range.

Source: rt.com