Time To Change America’s Atomic Arsenal

The new mission for U.S. nuclear weapons -- minimum deterrence: The prevention of a major nuclear attack on America with a small force -- perhaps as low as 300 strategic weapons.

Nuclear weapons in 2013 have been pushed yet again into the policy background as more pressing matters – the appalling collapse of the U.S. budget process among them – have absorbed all of Washington’s intellectual bandwidth. President Obama’s reelection means that the United States will remain publicly committed to nuclear reductions, but the studies that were supposed to detail those further reductions are now languishing in bureaucratic limbo and are unlikely to be a high priority. If nothing changes, the U.S. strategic deterrent will stay right where it has been since the early 1990s: merely a smaller version of the force we once arrayed against the Soviet Union.

Read More.....................

F-35 Production on Track, Program Chief Says

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2013 – The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter program is a different program than it was four years ago, the F-35 program executive officer said here yesterday.
In a speech at the McAleese/Credit Suisse Defense Programs Conference at the Newseum, Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan told attendees that he and his predecessor, Navy Vice Adm. Dave Venlet, worked with Lockheed-Martin and Pratt & Whitney to reform the problem-plagued development program.
“Lockheed-Martin and Pratt & Whitney have been doing a pretty good job over the last few years of stepping up and making those kinds of changes that the government needs for this program to succeed,” the general said.
The aircraft’s development has been rocky, Bogdan acknowledged. A redesign of the short takeoff and vertical landing system in 2004 led to delays and added $6 billion to the cost of the development program, he said.

Read More...................

A U.S. Naval Blockade of China?

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was much debate about whether war between major powers in Asia was even imaginable. It is a disturbing sign of how much the strategic environment has deteriorated that analysts are now starting to write publicly about how such a war might be fought.
There is a growing literature on the U.S. concept of Air-Sea Battle,  including the question of whether its use of conventional strikes against targets on the Chinese mainland would lead to wider escalation.  Presumably this has struck a chord in the Chinese security debate – raising questions about the efficacy of an anti-access strategy against U.S. maritime forces – and perhaps that was the point.
Now there's another emerging theme in American open-source speculation about how a U.S.-China conflict could unfold – a naval blockade.

Read More..................

Report: Iran test-fires short-range missiles during military drill

TEHRAN, Iran –  Iranian media say the military has test-fired several short-range missiles, including the type Palestinian militant Hamas group used to attack Tel Aviv last November.
Thursday's report by the semi-official Fars news agency says the missiles were tested during an army exercise in central Iran. It says the missiles fired were Nazeat-10 and Fajr-5.
During weeks of fighting in November, Gaza's Hamas rulers fired Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets that came close to Israel's heartland, including the cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for the first time.

Read More..................

India Court Bars Italian Envoy From Leaving Country in Marines Dispute

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's top court on Thursday temporarily barred the Italian ambassador from leaving the country, the latest escalation in a dispute over the killing of two Indian fishermen by Italian marines.

¶ India had summoned the Italian ambassador this week to protest against Rome's decision not to send two marines charged with killing the fishermen while on anti-piracy duty back to India to face trial.

¶ Separately, an Indian politician who heads a regional party has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the Italian government over the decision.

Read More.................. 

China's Drone Swarms Rise to Challenge US Power

CREDIT: Project 2049 Institute View full size image

China is building one of the world's largest drone fleets aimed at expanding its military reach in the Pacific and swarming U.S. Navy carriers in the unlikely event of a war, according to a new report.
The Chinese military — known as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) — envisions its drone swarms scouting out battlefields, guiding missile strikes and overwhelming opponents through sheer numbers. China's military-industrial complex has created a wide array of homegrown drones to accomplish those goals over the past decade, according to the report released by the Project 2049 Institute on March 11.

Read More.....................

Indefinite curfew in tense Kashmir Valley

An indefinite curfew was imposed in Srinagar and other major towns of the Kashmir Valley Thursday following the killing of a 28-year-old youth in the city’s old quarters. Early in the morning, thousands of police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers moved into the capital and elsewhere to enforce the round-the-clock curfew.
Tension gripped the capital after Altaf Ahmad Wani succumbed to a bullet injury he sustained in the CRPF firing at Zonimar locality Wednesday, triggering protests. The locals alleged that Altaf was killed in unprovoked firing by CRPF. The CRPF said they opened fire after being subjected to heavy stoning by a mob.
The ruling National Conference called the killing of Altaf “a cold blooded murder”. The party said Altaf was an active worker of the party. Both factions of the separatist conglomerate Hurriyat Conference called for a shutdown Thursday to protest the killing.

Read More................

NKorea threatens to 'wipe out' SKorean island

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at the long-range artillery sub-unit of the Korean People's Army Unit 641, whose mission is to strike Baengnyeong Island of South Korea. Photo: Reuters

SEOUL: North Korea leader Kim Jong-un has threatened to "wipe out" a South Korean island as Pyongyang came under new economic and diplomatic fire from US sanctions and UN charges of gross rights abuses.
Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen to their highest level for years, with the communist state under the youthful Mr Kim threatening nuclear war in response to UN sanctions imposed after its third atomic test last month.
It has also announced its unilateral shredding of the 60-year-old Korean War armistice and non-aggression pacts with Seoul in protest at a joint South Korean-US military exercise that began on Monday.

Read More...............

Success of Chinese Missiles in Syria To Boost Image of Country’s Weapons, Paper Says

BEIJING — Chinese-made missiles have been used to shoot down two Syrian army helicopters, state media reported Thursday, adding that their performance could boost the international sales appeal of Chinese weapons.
The Global Times, a tabloid with close links to the ruling Communist Party, said a pair of videos posted on the Internet by Free Syrian Army rebels showed two Mi-8/17 helicopters being shot down by Chinese shoulder-launched missiles. The paper said it was not known how the rebels, who have been fighting to topple the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad for the past two years, obtained the missiles.
But it said the success of the FN-6 weapons, which it said were developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, could lift the overall image of China’s defense products.
“In regards to export prospects, Chinese weapons need to engage in more conflicts to prove their value,” Daniel Tong, identified as the founder of the Chinese Military Aviation website, told the newspaper. “The kills are proof that the FN-6 is reliable and user-friendly, because rebel fighters are generally not well-trained in operating missile systems,” he added.

Read More....................

HAL Tejas

Intelligence chief offers dire warning on cyberattacks

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (left), and CIA Director John Brennan (right) testify during a hearing before the Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee.

(Credit: Getty Images)

If he was trying to scare the hell out of his listeners about the current state of cybersecurity, consider the newest warning from the nation's top intelligence official a mission accomplished.
In stark testimony delivered today to Congress, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper described a fast-eroding economic and national security landscape that's being rapidly penetrated by foreign agents infiltrating the nation's computer networks. This was the first time Clapper has included cyberattacks in his yearly congressional report on security threats facing the nation -- the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community (PDF) -- and they top the list.

Read More.................... 

The Navy Is Working On A Drone Ship To Track Submarines

DARPA

An artist rendering of the autonomous vessel.

The drone war taking place over the skies of Afghanistan, carrying out remotely-piloted attacks on terrorist targets, will soon take an unexpected turn — underwater.

The new 'drone ship' is called the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vehicle (ACTUV), and once completed, it will be a totally autonomous, submarine spying platform.

With 43 countries fielding submarines, it's getting tougher for the Navy to track the estimated 600 of them. That may change with the ACTUV program, led by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and Raytheon Corp. working to develop it.

Read More...................

Syria Military Shows Strain in a War It Wasn’t Built to Fight

George Ourfalian/Reuters

Soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo last month. The war has forced the Syrian Army to alter its tactics.

By ANNE BARNARD

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Syrian military’s ability to fight rebels and hold territory has steadily eroded, forcing it to cede the job of running many checkpoints to paramilitary groups, give up a provincial city last week without much of a fight and even enlist the top state-appointed Muslim cleric as a recruiter.

Though the government forces remain better armed and organized than the rebels, two years of fighting have pushed the military to continue to scale back its ambitions and rethink its tactics.

In recent days, the government has signaled a growing anxiety over its ability to refresh the depleted and exhausted ranks of soldiers, and has continued to consolidate its forces around the capital, Damascus. 

Read More................. 

China’s defense spending mystery

Editor’s note: Scott Harold is an associate political scientist for the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. The views expressed are his own.
China has once again announced a major expansion in its defense spending, leaving outside observers to again debate what this all could mean. Unfortunately, the planned 10.7 percent increase for 2013 posed more questions than it answered: Is it a sign of a more assertive China that wants to pursue regional dominance? Is it an indication of a country seeking to redress long-term weaknesses in its military? Or is it a sign of a domestic leadership that can’t say no to the military at a time of political transition?
The fact is that it’s a bit of all of these.
In absolute terms, the official Chinese defense budget is slated to rise from approximately $106.4 billion in 2012 to $119 billion this year. (The White House, meanwhile, proposed a $553 billion budget for the U.S. Defense department in fiscal 2012). This means that, after subtracting out expected inflationary costs, the People’s Liberation Army will have approximately $12 billion more in budget this year than last.

Read More...................... 

DM Denies Allegations of Iron Dome's Low Success Rate

Defense Ministry on Wednesday denied allegations that the Iron Dome only had a 5% success rate in intercepting rockets launched towards Israel during Operation Pillar of Defense.
"This is a theory of intelligence and not of performance of the Iron Dome," said Defense Ministry spokesman. "The residents of southern Israel and Gush Dan experienced during Operation Pillar of Defense the proven capabilities of the Iron Dome, which presented a success rate of more than 80%."
 

 

Read More....................... 

A USN's F-14 departs from an aircraft carrier as seen from the rear cockpit

U.S., China Take Part in Pakistan Naval Drills

ISLAMABAD — The United States and China began naval drills in the Arabian Sea with Pakistan and other countries on Thursday, the Pakistani navy said, in a show of strength against terrorism and piracy.
The AMAN-13 exercise involves ships from 13 countries and observers from 20 others and comes two weeks after China took control of a strategic Pakistani Arabian Sea port from Singapore’s PSA International. The five-day exercise, which began earlier this week with meetings and maneuvers in port, will end on Friday and is aimed at “information sharing, mutual understanding and identifying areas of common interest,” the navy said in a statement.


Read More.................... 

China's Cutting-Edge Attack Helicopter Is Actually A Russian Design

Youtube

A recent post on Aviation Week revealed that China's cutting edge Z-10 helicopter is actually Russian. That's right, China's premier attack helicopter, a first for the fledgling super power, was a product of the Russian company Kamov, Guy Norris of Aviation Week reports.
"Sergei Mikheyev, General Designer of the Kamov Design Bureau ... dropped the proverbial bombshell at Heli-Expo here in Las Vegas this afternoon," Norris writes, "Mikheyev told an astonished crowd that China’s Z-10/WZ-10 attack helicopter was actually designed in great secrecy under contract for China by Kamov."

Read More......................

18 Killed in Afghan Attacks During Hagel's Visit

Afghan National Army soldiers keep watch at the site of attack in Kabul, March 9, 2013.

ISLAMABAD — A suicide bomber riding a bicycle blew himself up outside the Afghan Defense Ministry Saturday while U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was in Kabul, but the Pentagon chief was nowhere near the scene. Another suicide bomber in the eastern city of Khost killed a policeman, children and other civilians. Together, the two incidents claimed 18 lives, and highlighted serious concerns about security in Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the international forces in Afghanistan, Charlie Stadtlander, said Hagel was not in the defense ministry at the time. He said there was no apparent connection between the bombing and the Pentagon chief's visit to the Afghan capital.

Read More................. 

M1 Abrams & Eurocopter Tiger of the Australian Army

Pentagon Report Warns Of F-35 Visibility Risks

U.S. Air Force

Two F-35A Lightning IIs from the 33rd Fighter Wing soar over Eglin Air Force Base's range during the unit's first joint strike fighter formation flight in 2012.

Significant visibility issues could lead to dangerous flight conditions, according to test pilots who have flown the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
That is just one of several issues identified by the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester in a February report, published online (PDF) today by the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight.
Other issues include flawed radar, ongoing challenges with the high-tech helmet required to fly the jet, and potential issues with the touch screen control interface.
The operational utility evaluation (OUE) itself was extremely scaled down from the type of testing that is normally done with such a program, to the point where the authors of the report conclude that “the results of the OUE should not be used to make decisions regarding the readiness of the JSF system to support training inexperienced pilots in an F-35A initial qualification course.”

Read More................. 

Narcissus from Caracas: Chávez Death Ends an Era in South America

REUTERS / Miraflores Palace

"I will remain as long as God and the people command me to," said Hugo Chávez in 2008. At the time, the Venezuelan president and left-wing nationalist was at the apex of his power. Fifty-four years old and in office for 10 years, he self-confidently and energetically planned for the next decade as Latin America's longest serving head of state.

ANZEIGE

At the time, it was unimaginable that this gifted orator and former officer would be gravely ill by the time the 2012 presidential elections arrived. A year prior to that vote, Chávez had undergone the first of what would become four operations to free him of cancer. In recent months, his public image had come to be dominated primarily by reports on his health and further surgical procedures -- a significant come-down for a man who had presented a thorny challenge to the political elite of South America and who had seen himself as a bulwark against the US.

Read More................. 

Gears of War: Inside America's Incredible Military Arsenal

From high-tech stealth bombers, to the latest night-vision rifles and assault helicopters, the U.S. armed forces have the most sophisticated military hardware in the world. Here are some of the niftiest pieces of equipment used in recent missions from Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya to the Osama bin Laden raid in Pakistan. 

Read More...................

B 2

India without aircraft carrier as China takes huge strides

India's solitary aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, is out of action for several months once again for a major refit to ensure it can soldier on for another three to four years.

 

NEW DELHI: India may fancy itself as a regional superpower but does not have an aircraft carrier prowling on the high seas. Its solitary carrier, the 54-year-old INS Viraat, is out of action for several months once again for a major refit to ensure it can soldier on for another three to four years.

Despite the Indian Ocean having emerged as the new strategic theatre between India and China, the Indian politico-military establishment's lack of long-term planning and timely decision-making has all but dashed the Navy's long-standing ambition to deploy two potent carrier battle groups (CBGs).

China, in contrast, is taking huge strides in the arena. After last year's commissioning of its first carrier, the 65,000-tonne Liaoning, Beijing is furiously engaged in building more to further expand its "blue-water operations''.

 

Read More.............. 

S-400 vs. MEADS

 

Modern air defense and missile defense systems are not only an integral part of maintaining security of entire countries, protecting them from the enemy aircraft and missiles, but also a deterrence tool. The effectiveness of attacks and the outcome of the war may depend on the performance characteristics of SAMs.

In some cases, the availability of these weapons may force an opponent to revise their plans, and sometimes it may be the cause of friction between two countries. Nearly all countries, regardless of their size, allocate a significant budget for protection of their territories. This is particularly important for great powers in possession of nuclear weapons.

The U.S. and Russia are the leaders in the industry. Perspective S-400, developed by Russia, and MEADS, created by the United States, Germany and Italy, serve as an example.

Read More.................. 

J-31 may become China's next generation carrier-borne fighter jet

China’s second stealth fighter, dubbed J-31, makes its maiden flight Wednesday in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. Photo: Pan Bin

Sun Cong, chief designer of the J-15 carrier-borne fighter jet and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, accepted a special interview with Xinhua News Agency on March 2.

The J-15, nicknamed "lying shark", is China's first generation of carrier-borne fighter jet. When the piloted J-15 fighter landed on the Liaoning aircraft carrier for the first time and successfully took off, Sun was filled with excitement.
J-15 carrier-borne fighter jet has filled the technological gap in the related fields. Compared with land-based aircraft, the carrier-borne aircraft raised more and higher requirements in technological aspects.
Sun said the carrier-borne fighters must have the same combat capability as the land-based fighters in terms of bomb load, combat radius, and maneuverability; it must have good low-speed performance. It also raised higher requirements in terms of blocking landing in the sea and ski-jump takeoff.

Read More................ 

South Korea warns on North Korea threat

South Korea is still technically at war with the North

South Korea's military has warned it will respond to any provocation from North Korea, after Pyongyang's threat to scrap the Korean War armistice.

Army Gen Kim Yong-hyun promised "resolute retaliations" if South Korean lives were threatened.
North Korea said in a statement on Tuesday said it would end the truce on 11 March due to UN sanctions and military exercises in South Korea.
The Koreas remain technically at war, as they have not signed a peace treaty.

Read More.............. 

IAF SU 30 MKI

Deadly missile attack on Afghan parliament foiled

nt

Afghan interior ministry officials on Tuesday announced to foil a deadly attack on Afghan parliament after discovering and seizing around 15 rounds of missiles from capital Kabul.

The officials further added that the militants were looking to carry out attack on an opening ceremony of the Afghan parliament and the missiles were planted in Char Asiab area.

No suspected individuals have been arrested so far and according to interior ministry officials the missiles were BM-16 and BM-21.

Read More............... 

North Korea vows to cancel Korean War cease-fire amid talk of new sanctions, continued U.S. military drills

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. / AP

SEOUL, South Korea North Korea is vowing to cancel the 1953 Korean War cease-fire because of sanctions and ongoing U.S.-South Korean joint military drills.
North Korea's Korean People's Army Supreme Command made the statement Tuesday amid reports that Washington and North Korean ally Beijing have approved a draft of punishing resolutions that is expected to be circulated among U.N. Security Council members this week.
North Korea's latest nuclear test on Feb. 12 was its third. The United States and others worry that North Korea is pushing closer toward its goal of having nuclear-armed missiles that can reach America.

Read More............... 

B-52 bomber.

Lockheed, Austal Share $1.38 Billion for Littoral Ships

Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) and Austal Ltd. (ASB) today received a combined $1.38 billion in orders for continued purchases of the Littoral Combat Ship, according to the Pentagon.
The Navy’s orders, made under existing contracts, will pay for the 13th through 16th vessels in the program’s initial purchase of 20 ships divided between Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed and Austal based in Henderson, Australia, the Defense Department said today in a summary of contracts.
Lockheed is getting $697 million and Austal’s U.S. unit is receiving $682 million to complete work on their new vessels by mid-2018.
The Navy action underscores the service’s commitment to the $37 billion program in the face of automatic budget cuts known as sequestration that started to take effect on March 1. The ship is designed to operate in littoral waters, those close to shore, for missions from clearing mines to delivering humanitarian aid.

Read More................ 

Russia willing to consider making it easier for Libya to buy arms

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS | Mon Mar 4, 2013 5:39pm EST

(Reuters) - Russia is prepared to consider ways of making it easier for Libya's government to buy arms, but voiced serious concern about lifting an embargo on the North African state already awash with weapons, Russia's U.N. ambassador said on Monday.
Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said last week he planned to ask the U.N. Security council to lift the embargo, which was imposed at the start of an uprising in 2011 that culminated in the ouster of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Read More............. 

Australian defense cuts to hit deployments

disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

Proposed Australian defense cuts could affect everything from deployments to weapons acquisitions, Australian defense specialists say.
Canberra University National Security Institute Director Peter Leahy said the government of Labor Party Prime Minister Julia Gillard had to understand that its proposed reductions in defense constituted a strategic risk, leaving the Australian military unable to do as much.
"We will have to pull back on our diplomatic and military objectives," he said in a report in Sunday's The Australian newspaper.

Read More................ 

HMS Queen Elizabeth will be three times the size of HMS Illustrious.

Red Alert: China’s defense spending increases while U.S. cuts back

China’s Communist Party leaders Tuesday announced their spending plans for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) this year, repeating last year’s double-digit growth in Beijing’s military budget, just as their only effective rival, the United States, is slashing defense spending across the board.
China’s annual defense spending will rise by 10.7 percent to 720.2 billion yuan ($114.3 billion) in 2013, according to the official newspaper China Daily.
Last year, China’s military budget grew by 11.6 percent, the paper reported, citing budget documents published Tuesday at the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC). The NPC is China’s rubber-stamp parliament which is meeting in one of its infrequent sessions to endorse the once in a decade generational transfer of power within China’s gerontocratic leadership.

Read More.............

Is the end of the Aircraft Carrer nigh? The rapid decline of the 'carrier navies'

In a further sign that budgets across the globe are beginning to bite, news reports in recent weeks have once again highlighted the challenges associated with operating a modern fleet of aircraft carriers. The challenging global economic situation shows few signs of lessening, and across the world there are reports of further cuts in equipment, hulls and operations.

In Spain for instance the veteran carrier Principe De Asturias (PDA) has finally been paid off after some 25 years service as part of budget cuts. It is perhaps ironic to consider that she was originally  conceived in the early 1980s as a cheap ‘Sea Control Ship’ solution originally looked at by the US Navy to provide cheaper carriers. Intended to put ASW helicopters to sea as a replacement for the Delado, she represented the closest any nation has perhaps come to a truly ‘austere’ carrier, with minimal support facilities for the airwing. Optimised in the first for ASW, with a very limited fixed wing capability using the Harrier (although never to the same level of development as the UK with the mixed FA2 / GR7 airwing), the PDA was an example in the 1980s of how smaller  ‘harrier carriers’ could be built for emerging middle tier navies, providing them with airpower at relatively small cost. In reality she remained the sole of her class built around the world , with the closest other example being a Thai vessel optimised for EEZ protection and to act as a Royal Yacht. 

Read More............... 

Russian knights

Brazil To Get Its First Nuclear Subs

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil is set to join the select group of countries that have nuclear-powered submarines, President Dilma Rousseff said Friday.
Rousseff stressed Brazil was committed to peace but also needed its defense deterrent, as she inaugurated a naval shipyard in Rio de Janeiro state where the country’s first nuclear-powered sub is set to be built in partnership with France.
“We can say that with these installations we are entering the select club of countries with nuclear submarines: The United States, Russia, France, Britain and China,” said Rousseff.


Read More............... 

China frets over India's atomic subs

WASHINGTON – India recently test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead – something that is of serious concern not only to New Delhi’s arch-rival Pakistan, but also to China, according to report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

China recently has been concerned about India’s efforts to expand its influence in the East and South China Seas, where Beijing has asserted exclusive jurisdiction especially over maritime resources. Beijing is upset with India over its assistance to Vietnam in off-shore oil exploration.

Read More...............

Revealed: nearly half of Special Forces could go in deepest cuts in 50 years

The SBS, formed during the Second World War, has fought in every major conflict in the past 70 years Photo: Alamy

 The elite units could be cut by up to 40 per cent, with two famous Territorial SAS regiments being “demoted” to serving with the regular Army, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

The restructuring programme is designed to return the Special Forces to their pre-Iraq War footing as a smaller, less expensive, but highly capable covert organisation.

The proposals will be presented by the director of Special Forces – the officer in control of the Special Air Service (SAS), the Special Boat Service (SBS) and other units – to Gen Sir David Richards, the Chief of the Defence Staff, in the next few weeks.

Read More.................. 

Funeral procession comes under fire in Karachi

AP People raise their hands during the funeral of victims killed from Sunday evenings' car bombing that killed dozens of people, in Karachi on Monday.

According to eyewitnesses, the funeral procession came under heavy firing from all sides in the Sorab Koth area. At least 14 people — including Rangers personnel providing security — were injured in the firing. The procession was targeted en route elsewhere but faced casualties only in the Sorab Koth area.

The death toll in Sunday’s bomb blast in the Shia-dominated Abbas Town area of Karachi climbed to 50 with two people dying when the funeral procession of those killed in the explosion was fired upon on Monday evening. Earlier, ambulances ferrying the dead were also targeted.

According to eyewitnesses, the funeral procession came under heavy firing from all sides in the Sorab Koth area. At least 14 people — including Rangers personnel providing security — were injured in the firing. The procession was targeted en route elsewhere but faced casualties only in the Sorab Koth area.

Read More...............

Iran closer to nuclear 'red line': Israel

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says diplomacy has so far failed to deter Iran from pursuing its nuclear program, warning the Islamic republic is getting closer to crossing a crucial "red line".

"Iran enriches more and more uranium, it installs faster and faster centrifuges," and it is "running out the clock" on diplomatic efforts to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear capability, Netanyahu said.
"We have to stop its nuclear enrichment program before it's too late," he warned in a speech via satellite from his office in Israel to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the largest pro-Israel lobby in the United States.
The Israeli prime minister warned that leaders in Tehran had opted to "just grit their teeth" through punishing international sanctions and pursue their nuclear plan, come what may.
"It's still not crossed the red line I drew with the United Nations last September," Netanyahu said, referring to the point at which Israel believes Iran would be able to build a nuclear bomb.

Read More.................. 

Leopard-2A4

Iraqi official: 48 Syrians killed in attack in western Iraq

Baghdad (CNN) -- Some 48 Syrians, most of them soldiers, and nine Iraqi soldiers were killed Monday in an attack near the western Iraqi town of Ar Rutbah, an official said, raising concerns that Syria's civil war could spill over into Iraq.

The Syrian soldiers' convoy was ambushed by gunmen using roadside bombs and machine guns.

"From the beginning, we have warned that some militant groups want to move the conflict in Syria to Iraq," said Ali al-Mussawi, adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"Militant groups are very active on the border areas between Iraq and Syria. Some of these groups affiliate with al Qaeda in Iraq," he added.

Read More............... 

US and Saudi send warnings to Iran and Syria

Kerry (R) also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) during a meeting in Riyadh [AFP]

The United States and Saudi Arabia have presented a united front to Iran and Syria, alerting Iran's leadership that patience over its alleged nuclear ambitions is wearing thin and warning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that they will boost support to rebels unless he steps down.
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, was in Saudi Arabia on Monday on the latest leg of a nine-nation tour through Europe and the Middle East on his first overseas trip as Washington's top diplomat
In Riyadh on Monday, Kerry reminded Iran that US President Barack Obama has vowed not to allow Iran to get a
nuclear weapon and that he has kept all options, including military options,on the table to prevent that from happening.
The window of opportunity for a diplomatic solution "cannot by definition remain open indefinitely", Kerry said. "There is time to resolve this issue providing the Iranians are prepared to engage seriously on the P5+1 proposal.

Read More............ 

Iran says it has 3,000 advanced centrifuges

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's nuclear chief says his country has produced more than 3,000 advanced centrifuges which are used to enrich uranium.

The semiofficial Fars news agency on Sunday quoted Fereidoun Abbasi as saying that the old generation of IR-1 centrifuges will be phased out soon. Iran has more than 12,000 IR-1 centrifuges enriching uranium at its main Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran.

Read More.................. 

Assad refuses to quit as foes advance in north Syria

• 

DAMASCUS: President Bashar Assad insisted he will not step down and blasted Britain’s support for his armed foes who reportedly killed dozens of soldiers on Sunday in attacks on a police academy in northern Syria.
“We are ready to negotiate with anyone, including militants who surrender their arms,” Assad told Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper, in a rare interview conducted last week at his Al-Muhajireen palace in Damascus.
“We can engage in dialogue with the opposition, but we cannot engage in dialogue with terrorists,” he said in the videotaped interview.
His offer of talks was aired as UN chief Ban Ki-moon and his Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said they were prepared to broker peace talks between the Assad regime and the opposition.

Read More................ 

US carrier in front line of Obama's battle with Congress over $85 billion 'sequester' cuts, with more to follow

The USS Harry Truman is this weekend on the front line of the latest conflict to embroil America

Docked in its home port in Virginia rather than patrolling the waters of the Persian Gulf, the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its 3,360 officers and crew are this weekend on the front line of the latest conflict to embroil America.

The battleground is not military but budgetary, however, as the Truman's nuclear-powered might is shackled by a rancorous new fight between President Barack Obama and his Republican foes.

The two sides are locked into an apparently endless fiscal confrontation over radically different political and fiscal philosophies on the role of government. The resulting conflict over spending cuts and tax rises seems certain to dominate Mr Obama's second term in the White House.

With an impasse over a new deal to tackle the national debt, mandatory across-the-board US federal spending cuts of $85 billion kicked into effect this weekend.

Read More................... 

Anti-aircraft missiles Iran was trying to ship to Yemeni proxy were made at factory of state-owned Chinese corp.

It has been confirmed that the anti-aircraft missiles that Iran, according to American and Yemeni officials, was trying to send to its proxy, Houthi, in northwestern Yemen, in January were made at a factory represented by a state-owned Chinese corporation. The Iranian shipment was seized in Jan. by the United States Navy and Yemen’s security forces. It should be noted here that Iran has been accused of supplying weapons to its Middle Eastern proxies several times before also, but has always denied the charges, saying the United States and its Western allies have been doing false propaganda against the country. This time, however, there has been no comment by Iran so far.
Iran is a Shiite-led theocracy and believed to be a strong supporter of the Shiite community-dominated Middle Eastern states, including Syria, where the Shiite minority has been ruling the Sunni majority for decades. In a number of other Muslim countries as well, Iran is considered supportive of the Shiite community and like-minded groups.

Read More................ 

Bangladesh deploys troops as protest toll hits 76

Bangladesh deployed troops in part of the country after fresh clashes erupted Sunday, taking the death toll to 76 in weeks of violence over the conviction of Islamist leaders for war crimes.
Twenty people were killed in the latest bout of violence as the largest Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami declared a nationwide strike to denounce the trials.
In the northern district of Bogra more than 10,000 Jamaat supporters armed with sticks and home-made bombs attacked 12 police stations, torching four of them and two government offices, police said.

Read More................. 

Syria rebels kill 34 regime forces in academy attack: NGO

Syrian rebels killed more than 34 government forces in an attack Sunday on a police academy in the northern province of Aleppo and seized large parts of the facility, a monitoring group said.

They "seized control at dawn of large parts of the police academy" in Khan al-Assal, after eight days of fierce fighting for one of the regime's last bastions in the west of Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"More than 34 regime forces were killed" inside the town's sprawling police academy, it said.

Read More............... 

French soldier killed in Mali, Belmokhtar fate unsure

(Reuters) - France said on Sunday a third French soldier had been killed in fierce fighting with Islamist rebels in northern Mali but could not confirm Chad's report that its troops had killed the al Qaeda commander behind January's mass hostage-taking in Algeria.
A whirlwind seven-week campaign has driven al Qaeda-linked fighters who took over northern Mali last April into mountain and desert redoubts, where they are being hunted by hundreds of French, Chadian and Malian troops.
France's defense ministry said 26-year-old Corporal Cedric Charenton was shot dead on Saturday during an assault on an Islamist hideout in the desolate Adrar des Ifoghas mountains near Algeria, the third French soldier killed in the campaign.

Read More..........

Mexican Corvette Durango Class

Why Is the Navy Building a Shiny Drone Base in Sunny Malibu?

The Point Mugu base is technically just outside of Malibu—barely—but we're going to go with it because Malibu Drone Base has a ring to it like nothing else in the history of drones nor bases. Don't you think of red Corvettes, sunglasses, coconut oil, and Hellfire missiles? It's perfect, right? The Navy is inclined to agree, and just issued an "environmental impact" report for the proposed base, which would demolish and rebuild a large part of the existing military presence at Point Mugu, a popular surfing haunt.

 Read More...............

Kazakhstan's New Drones

Irkut Corp.

The Irkut-3 UAV

Kazakhstan is testing some new unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, aka drones) from Russia, a military official has said. Kazakhstan had tried out UAVs from France and Israel but they didn't do well in the cold weather, said General-Major Almaz Dzhumakeev, commander of Kazakhstan's 36th Air Assault Brigade:

"It's necessary to strengthen the reconnaissance units. There will be a competition, a selection, we will see which is acceptable for us and our climate, taking into account the wind and the cold. There have been UAVs which took off, flew 20 meters and crashed because it was so cold..."
According to the general-major, in 2014 after the selection of the supplier country the UAVs will enter service in the armed reconnaissance units of the armed forces of Kazakhstan. "Most likely, next year they will enter service. Where there is reconnaissance, there will be UAVs," he noted.

Kazakhstan has plans to produce its own drones, and also apparently has plans to buy some small reconnaissance drones from the Russian Irkut Corporation.It's also been looking at Chinese UAVs. It's not clear from the recent news stories, but it seems likely that the Irkuts are what Maj-Gen Dzhumakeev was talking about. From the website Russian Aviation, last October:

Read More................ 

Russia, India Describe Next-Gen Fighter Plans

The air force commanders of both Russia and India have this month discussed the progress and future schedule of the fifth-generation Sukhoi fighter project. They are keen to have their own pilots evaluate the design so that they can take a decision on further funding for the project.
Russian air force commander Gen. Victor Bondarev said that he expects all four flyable prototypes of the so-called PAKFA (Future Aviation Complex of Frontal Aviation) to gather at the defense ministry’s test base and firing range near Akhtubinsk in Southern Russia, for customer assessment and weapons release trials. By the year-end their number shall increase to eight. If tests are a success, the PAKFA will go into series production in late 2015 or early 2016.

Read More............... 

U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan are at 5-year low

KABUL, Afghanistan — On the eve of the final "fighting season" before the major pullout of American troops from Afghanistan begins, U.S. deaths here have fallen to their lowest levels in five years.
The decline is ever steeper for international forces: The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force suffered its fewest number of troops killed in December, January and February in seven years.
U.S. deaths in those months this winter totaled 17, down from 57 the previous winter.
As of Friday, a Marine who died in Helmand province on Feb. 22 was the only U.S. service member to be killed in 43 days, the longest such stretch since the winter of 2006-07, according to records kept by iCasualties.org, which tracks deaths in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Read More...........

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/03/01/184597/us-troop-deaths-in-afghanistan.html#storylink=cpy

Air Force Tanker Project to Cost More Than $4.9B

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE -- The cost to develop a new Air Force refueling tanker is expected to exceed a $4.9 billion spending cap, but taxpayers won't be on the hook for the extra costs, according to a Government Accountability Office report.
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base manages the program.
The GAO report released this week also found the flight test schedule for the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker was a "substantive concern" for the aircraft that is a top Air Force acquisition priority.
The service branch has a $52 billion fixed-price contract to buy an initial 179 KC-46 tankers from Chicago-based Boeing Co. through 2027.
The KC-46, a military tanker version of the commercial Boeing 767 passenger airliner, will replace many aging KC-135 Stratotanker refuelers, the last of which joined the fleet in 1965.

Read More............... 

Russia Sold Over $2.5 Bln Worth of Weapons Abroad in Jan-Feb

S-300 air defence missile system


MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti) - In the first two months of 2013, Russia sold over $2.5 billion worth of weapons to other countries, the head of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation said Friday.
“In the first month of this year, we sold arms worth $1 billion. In the first two months, total weapons sales exceeded $2.5 billion,” Alexander Fomin told Ekho Moskvy radio.
Fomin said Russia’s portfolio of foreign orders for arms now totals some $46 billion, with “80 percent of this portfolio accounting for orders for the next three to four years.”

Read More.............. 

Why The Russian Army Is Fading Away

February 28, 2013: The Russian government recently bowed to public pressure and agreed not to send conscripts into combat. Only “contract soldiers” (higher paid volunteer troops) will do combat, unless there is a general war. As a result of this new policy, combat training of conscripts will be reduced from six to four months. Actually, training was cut in half but conscripts will not be sent to a combat zone (as in the Caucasus) until they had been in uniform for at least four months. The actual wording of these new regulations allowed conscripts to be sent to do non-combat jobs in the Caucasus, where terrorism is quite common. This was not publicized. These new rules were issued with no fanfare but the word quickly got around and parents of draft age (18-26) men were outraged. This was seen as a subterfuge to save money (less training for draftees) at the expense of the young conscripts and still send them to dangerous service in the Caucasus. While the conscripts would not be chasing after Islamic terrorists down there, they would be targets for terrorist attacks and would, because of the training cuts, be less able to defend themselves. The parents figured that out themselves. The military saw the change as necessary because conscripts are only in for a year now, rather than two, and extensive training is costly and largely wasted because most of the conscripts leave after their year is up. The larger problem is that Russia has fewer and fewer people to conscript and a very difficult time attracting volunteers.


Read More..........

Israeli-Palestinian tensions could ultimately spark a major confrontation

At some point, in the year ahead, depending on the deployment of troops on the ground and the nature of the specific trigger that is pulled, there could be a serious explosion between Palestinians and Israelis.

 

Read More............ 

F-35 Cleared For Flight; Turbine Crack Cause Identified

WASHINGTON: The entire F-35 fleet has been cleared to resume flying only one week after being grounded for the second time this year. In vintage Pentagonese, this is how the return to flight was announced today to Capitol Hill:"Upon completion and compliance with the immediate action Time Compliant Technical Directive (TCTD) issued this week to borescope inspect the LPT stage 3 turbine blades, F-35 LRIP aircraft are returned to flight status. Additionally, a 25 Effective Flight Hour (EFH) reporting cycle of creep damage will now be implemented to monitor and limit turbine creep exposure."

Basically, it means that a potentially really serious problem -- turbine blades suffering from high cycle fatigue -- was not the cause of the half-inch crack which led to last week's highly publicized grounding.

Read More................