North Korea May Launch Missile / Fears Grow About Possible North Korea Missile Launch

North Korea May Launch Missile / Fears Grow About Possible North Korea Missile Launch

(NSI News Source Info) SEOUL - February 3, 2009: North Korea appears to be preparing to test-launch an intercontinental missile amid growing tensions on the peninsula, a South Korean intelligence source was quoted as saying Feb. 3. The source, quoted by Yonhap news agency, said U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies have recently spotted a train carrying a long cylindrical object believed to be a Taepodong-2 missile. Launch preparations are likely to be completed in a month or two, the source said. Seoul's defense ministry and National Intelligence Service refused to comment on the report. Several analysts have said the communist state may stage some event such as a long-range missile launch to test the resolve of the new U.S. administration. The North has raised tensions with the South in recent months. Last week it announced it was scrapping a non-aggression pact, and Feb. 1 it warned of a possible military conflict. A South Korean media report last year said the North has carried out an engine ignition test for a missile believed capable of reaching the U.S.' West Coast. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper said the engine was presumed to be for the Taepodong-2, with a range of 6,700 kilometers, or 4,150 miles. It said the test was conducted at a launch site being developed on the west coast. South Korea said last year the site was 80 percent complete. North Korea has a separate site at Musudan-ri on the east coast which was used to launch a Taepodong-1 missile in 1998 over Japan.

The Taepodong-2 is a designation used to indicate a North Korean three-stage ballistic missile design that is the successor to the Taepodong-1. Very little is currently known about the missile design; on July 5, 2006, one was reportedly tested and, according to preliminary reports, failed around 35-40 seconds after launch, crashing into the ocean.

A Taepodong-2 missile was launched from there in July 2006, along with smaller missiles, but U.S. officials said it failed after about 40 seconds. The North conducted a nuclear weapons test in October 2006. It is not known whether it has the technical capability to fit an atomic warhead to a missile.

Iran Launches Its First Satellite

Iran Launches Its First Satellite

(NSI News Source Info) February 3, 2009: Iran has launched its first domestically made satellite into orbit, state media reports. TV commentary said Monday's night-time launch from a Safir-2 rocket was "another achievement for Iranian scientists under sanctions". The satellite was designed for research and telecommunications purposes, the television report said. Iran is subject to UN sanctions as some Western powers think it is trying to build a nuclear bomb, which it denies. Tehran says its nuclear ambitions are limited to the production of energy. The launch of the Omid (Hope) satellite had been expected and was clearly timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Iranian revolution, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran. Space centre Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the satellite was launched to spread "monotheism, peace and justice" in the world. But the launch could cause alarm in the West because of fears the technology could be used to make a long-range missile, possibly with a nuclear warhead, our correspondent says. IRAN SPACE AMBITIONS Aug 2008: Iran launches rocket 'capable of carrying satellite' Feb 2008: Iran launches research rocket as part of satellite launch preparations, Tehran says Feb 2007: Iran says it launches rocket capable of reaching space, which makes parachute-assisted descent to Earth Oct 2005: Russian rocket launches Iran's first satellite, Sina-1 Iran will no doubt reply that it is once again being judged by double standards for using a technology that is commonplace in many other parts of the world, he adds. Last August, Iran said it had successfully launched a rocket capable of carrying its first domestically built satellite, having in February launched a low-orbit research rocket as part of preparations for the satellite launch. That launch marked the inauguration of a new space centre, at an unidentified desert location, which included an underground control station and satellite launch pad. The White House called the 2008 launch "unfortunate", warning it would further isolate Iran from the global community. In February 2007, Iran said it had launched a rocket capable of reaching space - before it made a parachute-assisted descent to Earth. In October 2005, a Russian rocket launched Iran's first satellite, the Sina-1, which carried photographic and telecommunications equipment.

Karzai Scares Obama With Russia

Karzai Scares Obama With Russia

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - February 3, 2009: Russia may become a major factor in the presidential ambitions of the leading Afghan politicians during the country's presidential elections next summer. Speaking to the graduates of the Kabul Military Academy, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that if Americans did not speed up the implementation of the program to supply armed forces, this task would be carried out by other countries. Last week, the press service of the Afghan President published Dmitry Medvedev's reply to Karzai. The Russian President expressed readiness to help the Afghan armed forces. An Afghan delegation consisting of high-level civil and military officials will visit Moscow in the near future. Expansion of bilateral military-technical cooperation will be the main subject of the talks. What has compelled Karzai to turn to Russia, a country he did not care much for until recently? In its foreign policy concept, Kabul has declared "strategic partnership" with the United States and the rest of the democratic world, whereas Russia has been allotted a modest place among regional countries, after India and China. This intrigue is easy to understand. New U.S. President Barack Obama has declared Afghanistan to be the main U.S. counterterrorist front, and is bent on doubling U.S. troops from 30,000 to 60,000. Moreover, he intends to streamline the Afghan political elite. While Karzai was scaring the West with "other countries" in the above-mentioned speech, Obama was holding talks with influential Afghan leaders and potential hopefuls at the forthcoming presidential elections, including ex-Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, ex-Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, and current Nangarhar Province Governor Agha Gul Sherzai. Analysts think that the White House will withdraw support for Karzai because it blames him for the drug-based economy, corruption, and embezzlement of donors' funds. In principle, Karzai's plan is correct. At one time, the Soviet-trained Afghan army was considered one of the most powerful in the region. It was also well-armed in comparison to other regional forces. However, little has been achieved in recent years. From 2002 to 2005, Russia rendered the Afghan army $200 million in aid, but this cooperation was later curtailed. Neither the United States nor NATO as a whole has made much progress in building an Afghan army during the last seven years. There is no aviation or heavy armament, and the army itself is far from ready to guarantee domestic stability. In Afghanistan, the army has been traditionally allotted a leading role in politics, and a stake on the army has always been failsafe, which is why Karzai has appealed to Russia for aid. Whether this will help him during the election or not is another matter. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

Russia To Show MiG-35 Jet Fighter At Aero India 2009

Russia To Show MiG-35 Jet Fighter At Aero India 2009

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - February 3, 2009: Russia will use an upcoming air show in India to showcase its MiG-35 advanced jet fighter, a contender to win an Indian fighter tender, an official from Russia's state arms exporter said on Monday. Aero India-2009, which will be held in the southern city of Bangalore on February 11-15, is one the largest aerospace shows in the Asia-Pacific region, hosting leading manufacturers, vendors and suppliers from 35 countries. "The MiG will certainly make several demonstration flights after its presentation on the first day of the air show. We would like it to show its best features," said deputy director of Rosoboronexport Viktor Komardin. Six major aircraft makers - Lockheed and Boeing from the United States, Russia's MiG, which is part of the UAC, France's Dassault, Sweden's Saab and the EADS consortium of British, German, Spanish and Italian companies - are in contention to win the $10 billion tender for 126 light fighters to be supplied to the Indian Air Force. Komardin reiterated that the MiG-35 has excellent chances to win the tender because the Russian aircraft has superb performance characteristics and Russia and India share a long-standing partnership in strategic and military-technical cooperation. "The MiG family is well-known in India. Our Indian partners have production and maintenance facilities ready to produce part for our aircraft," the official said. The existing Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation program until 2010, lists up to 200 projects worth about $18 billion. India is a key buyer of Russian weaponry, with contracts including the delivery of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier with at least 16 MiG-29K Fulcrum-D carrier fighters, the Smerch MLRS, and licensed production of T-90 tanks in India. Russia signed in March a contract with the Indian Defense Ministry to upgrade around 70 MiG-29 fighters, in service since the 1980s, and agreed to develop a fifth-generation fighter together with India. Russia's MiG-35 Fulcrum-F, an export version of the MiG-29M OVT (Fulcrum F) is a highly maneuverable air superiority fighter, which won high acclaim during the Le Bourget air show in France last year. The fighter is powered by RD-33 OVT thrust vectoring engines. The RD-33 OVT engines provide superior maneuverability and enhance the fighter's performance in close air engagements. Moscow said if MiG-35 wins the tender, Russia is ready to transfer all key technology to India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. and provide assistance for the production of the aircraft in the country.

Waste, Fraud In Afghanistan, Auditor Warns

Waste, Fraud In Afghanistan, Auditor Warns

By Karen DeYoung and Walter Pincus - The Washington Post (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON — February 3, 2009: After five years of investigations and 250,000 pages of audits, Stuart Bowen wishes he could say the $50 billion cost of the U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq was money accounted for and well spent. "But that's just not happened," Bowen said. Instead, the largest single-country relief and reconstruction project in U.S. history — most done by private U.S. contractors — was full of wasted funds, fraud and a lack of accountability under what Bowen, the congressionally mandated special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, calls an "ad hoc-racy" of lax or nonexistent government planning and supervision. Despite the Iraq experience, he said, the United States is making many of the same mistakes again in Afghanistan, where U.S. reconstruction expenditures stand at more than $30 billion. "It's too late to do the structural part and make it quickly applicable to Afghanistan," Bowen said. President Obama could take several steps to mitigate future damage, Bowen said. Instead of the "multiple versions" of the federal acquisition regulations (FAR) adopted and amended by "multiple agencies" operating in Iraq, Obama "could just issue a FAR regulation applicable to Afghanistan that everyone will follow" in issuing and supervising contracts, he said. Bowen's office, SIGIR, is releasing a book today that recounts the Iraq experience and suggests how to avoid future mistakes. "Hard Lessons" is being published as the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting holds its first public hearing. The commission will examine expenditures in Iraq and Afghanistan and propose solutions. "Hard Lessons," a draft of which was leaked in December, concludes the U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq was a failure, largely because there was no overall strategy behind it. Goals shifted from "liberation" and an early military exit to massive, ill-conceived and expensive building projects under the Coalition Provisional Authority of 2003 and 2004. Many of those projects were abandoned as security worsened. Overall, SIGIR and other law-enforcement agencies have obtained 35 convictions, including two major bribery schemes involving $14 million solicited by U.S. military officers who ran Kuwait-based units contracting for the billions of dollars in supplies sent to Iraq. Also American kidnapped: Gunmen kidnapped John Solecki, an American U.N. official, and killed his driver in southwest Pakistan today as they were heading to Solecki's job as the head of the U.N. refugee office in Quetta, senior police official Khalid Masood said. Afghanistan bombing: A suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside a police training center in Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, today, killing 19 officers and wounding at least 20, a police chief said.

Pakistan Key To Afghanistan; While Iran Looks On

Pakistan Key To Afghanistan; While Iran Looks On

(NSI News Source Info) London - February 3, 2009: Peace will only come to Afghanistan if Pakistan can sort out the militants on its side of the border, where US strikes are not helping, the head of Britain's armed forces told The Sunday Times newspaper. Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup said only politics, long term, could bring peace on both sides of the frontier. The chief of the defence staff said that weaknesses in Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government were causing difficulties for the 8,300 British troops battling Taliban insurgents in the troubled south of the country. "The weakness of governance in Afghanistan worries me considerably," Stirrup told the weekly broadsheet. "But governance is not just about what goes on in Kabul. We have to look at the wider picture. "The Taliban movement -- and Taliban is now a catch-all phrase for ideologues, criminals, people with tribal grudges, people who are quite simply guns for hire to keep bread on the table -- is on both sides of the border. "It makes no distinction between one side or the other. Some people move across. Some are based almost exclusively in Pakistan. Some are based exclusively in Afghanistan. "It's impossible to distinguish between those two and actually, in my view, not necessary. The border is not relevant." Stirrup sympathised with the difficulties faced by the Pakistani military, admitting that its success so far had been "limited". "The Pakistan army has a series of very considerable problems," he said, adding it had realised that "the growing insurgency within its own borders is an existential problem for Pakistan." General Ashfaq Kayani, the head of Pakistan's army, "is absolutely clear on the size of the challenge that he faces. "The Pakistan army has become much more sophisticated and much more flexible and adaptable in terms of its approach. "So we have to do all we can to support the military in that shift, but we have to recognise that they can't do it overnight. "Just as in Afghanistan, that kind of insurgency cannot be defeated by conventional military means. It can only be dealt with, in the long term, through politics." He said it was "very important" for the Islamabad government to start changing public sentiment that all would be well if western troops were not in Afghanistan. "While they shouldn't be driven by public opinion, they can't operate in the face of it. The Predator strikes don't help in that regard," he said, referring to US air strikes on the Pakistani side of the border.

NATO Members May Use Iran For Afghan Supplies

NATO Members May Use Iran For Afghan Supplies

(NSI News Source Info) KABUL – February 3, 2009: NATO would not oppose individual member nations making deals with Iran to supply their forces in Afghanistan as an alternative to using increasingly risky routes from Pakistan, the alliance's top military commander said Monday. Gen. John Craddock's comments came just days after NATO's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, urged the U.S. and other members of the Western military alliance to engage with Iran to combat Taliban militants in Afghanistan. "Those would be national decisions. Nations should act in a manner that is consistent with their national interest and with their ability to resupply their forces," Craddock, an American who is NATO's supreme allied commander, told The Associated Press. "I think it is purely up to them." Securing alternative routes to landlocked Afghanistan has taken on added urgency this year as the United States prepares to double its troop numbers there to 60,000 to battle a resurgent Taliban eight years after the U.S.-led invasion. It also comes at a time when the main supply corridor through neighboring Pakistan is becoming increasingly dangerous as insurgents attack convoys that supply the foreign troops in Afghanistan. Some political and military leaders have hinted at the need for closer cooperation with the government in Iran over the war in Afghanistan, where some 70,000 NATO and U.S. troops are currently trying to beat back the resurgent Taliban. The United States has viewed Iran's role in Afghanistan with suspicion, although the Islamic Republic has a long history of opposing Taliban rule. U.S. officials have previously alleged that Iranian-made weapons and explosive devices were finding their way in the hands of insurgents in Afghanistan. But such criticism has been muted recently as President Barack Obama's administration tries to set a new tone in relations with Iran. Some experts suggest that nations with good relations with Iran such as France, Germany and Italy may try to set up an alternate supply route to western Afghanistan via Char Bahar, a port in southeastern Iran. "NATO is looking at flexible, alternate routing. I think that is healthy," Craddock said, when asked about the possibility of using Iranian territory for supply. "Options are a good thing, choices are a good thing, flexibility in military operations is essential," he said. "What nations will do is up to them," he said, without elaborating. Craddock's comments came after U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus said last month that America had struck deals with Russia and several Central Asian states close to or bordering Afghanistan to allow supplies to pass through their territory. U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan get up to 75 percent of "non-lethal" supplies such as food, fuel and building materials from shipments that cross Pakistan

US Supplies Shrinking In Afghanistan

US Supplies Shrinking In Afghanistan

(NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - February 3, 2009: The milk is now pulled from the mess hall by 9 a.m., to ration the limited supply. At the Camp Phoenix base store nearby, the shelves look bare. There's no Irish Spring Body Wash, no Doritos, no Tostitos Scoops, no Bayer Aspirin. "We're having the same problems all over Afghanistan," said Randy Barnes, who manages warehouses for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, which operates stores at many of the bases where U.S. troops are deployed in the war on terror here. For the Soldiers at Camp Phoenix, about 650 of whom are from the Illinois National Guard, the missing supplies underscore what senior military officials have been saying for months: U.S. and coalition troops must find new routes to supply what will be a rapidly growing force in Afghanistan, ones that avoid the treacherous border areas of Pakistan where convoys have been ambushed. Supplying an army in any war is crucial; it's not just bullets and bombs, but everything from fuel to lettuce, that must be shipped in by the ton and the truckload. And a country like Afghanistan -- landlocked, mountainous and with few good roads -- poses enormously difficult challenges even without attacks by militants. Gen. David Petraeus, the chief of U.S. Central Command, announced late last month that the military had reached transit deals with Russia and several Central Asian states to the north of Afghanistan, to provide an alternate route from Pakistan. But it's not yet clear whether any new route would be able to absorb the heavy traffic. "It is very important as we increase the effort in Afghanistan that we have multiple routes that go into the country," Petraeus said. President Barack Obama has made the fight against militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan -- rather than in Iraq -- his top priority in the war on terror. His administration is expected to send as many as 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in the coming months. The supply-route challenge is politically sensitive; as long as the U.S. and coalition troops depend on Pakistan to move supplies, it's difficult to be too critical of its government's help in the war on terror. Some in Washington have questioned Pakistan's commitment. But a route through Russia and neighboring countries is not necessarily a long-term solution either. The over-land route is much longer and more expensive, and dealing with repressive regimes in Central Asia also could pose political dilemmas. Sensitive military goods, such as weapons and ammunition, are transported by military convoy or air, and have not been hurt by supply-route problems, officials say. Air transport for non-combat goods is prohibitively expensive and also logistically difficult. Right now, subcontractors transport about 75 percent of non-sensitive military goods for U.S. troops and a smaller but significant amount for NATO troops from the port in Karachi, Pakistan, through the Torkham border crossing into Afghanistan. About 125 shipping containers pass through that crossing daily. It's the shortest route to Kabul and Bagram Air Base, the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan, yet it goes through narrow roads, mountain passes and hostile areas. Despite the risk, security is often lax. In recent months, Taliban-led militants have frequently attacked the military shipping containers, often stored by these subcontractors just outside Peshawar, Pakistan, in five ramshackle yards with little security and no barbed wire. Militants have destroyed more than 300 shipping containers so far, torching at least 80 Humvees for the Afghan National Army. Pakistani officials blamed the subcontractors for sacrificing security for profit. "There are two or three guards, no lights, no cameras. An office consists of an empty container, two broken-down chairs, no phone and no fax line," said Tariq Hayat Khan, the political agent for Khyber tribal agency, which includes the main road from Peshawar to Torkham. "By no stretch of the imagination can you call them shipping terminals. They've just started leveling fields and stacking containers. All they do is charge money and deliver from Point A to Point B." Because of the escalating number of attacks, Pakistan has suspended traffic through this crossing three times in the past seven weeks to launch offensives against militants. At the other major crossing in Pakistan, through Chaman in Baluchistan province, tribesmen blockaded the road for five days recently because a tribesman was killed, stranding hundreds of trucks and fuel tankers. Barnes said some of the destroyed containers set on fire near Peshawar were bound for stores at U.S. military bases. He said his company was still determining what was lost. In a roadside bomb attack on the route a couple weeks ago, four shipping containers filled with "near beer," soda and water for the troops were hit, dooming the entire shipment bound for Camp Phoenix and Camp Eggers, said Lt. Col. Eric Little, 37, of Springfield, the garrison commander for Camp Phoenix. Only at the end of January -- a month late -- did the last of 21 shipping containers with the personal goods of Illinois National Guard Soldiers arrive at Camp Phoenix. "The majority of stuff makes it from Point A to Point B -- but not necessarily timely," said Little, adding that finding other supply routes was a necessity. Taliban-led militants are not the only ones to blame. Some drivers are known to steal fuel and supplies from the trucks, or fake militant attacks and sell the goods, commonly available at markets in Kabul and near Bagram. Islamic holidays and tribal conflicts have also been used as an excuse for the massive delays. Although the supply-route problems are not yet hurting the military effort here, they affect daily life at the bases, at least at Camp Phoenix, usually one of the most well-stocked because it is in the capital. "I've never seen the store this empty, ever," said Ula Loi, the store manager. The troops can still get medicine from the medical tents, where the stocked supplies are plentiful, so the only immediate shortages are quality-of-life ones, which probably won't win much sympathy from Soldiers in more remote bases. Still, most snacks, half the beauty products, and all the adapter plugs and combination locks are sold out. Last week, several Illinois National Guard Soldiers complained about the empty shelves -- one traded a pack of spare razor blades for a bag of chips, neither of which were available. "They don't even have any Vaseline," said 2nd Lt. Michael Quam, 27, from Dubuque, Iowa, who wanted Vaseline for an Afghan friend whose wife just had a baby.

Israel May Reject Turkish Arms Request

Israel May Reject Turkish Arms Request

(NSI News Source Info) February 3, 2009: As Turkish-Israeli diplomatic relations continue to crumble, the close ties between the two countries in other areas are being reexamined as well. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks in front of President Shimon Peres during a plenary session on the Middle East Peace at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland. The Defense Ministry is considering rejecting a number of requests by Turkey to purchase advanced Israeli-made military platforms, officials told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. The IDF and the Turkish military enjoy strong ties, but there is growing concern in Israel that the military could be losing its power and influence within and over the government. "Turkey is eyeing moderate Arab countries and is hoping to strengthen its ties with them," one senior defense official explained. "Just like we don't sell advanced military platforms to Jordan and Egypt, we may decide not to sell to Turkey." According to officials, several Turkish requests recently submitted to the Defense Ministry's Foreign Defense Assistance and Defense Export Organization (SIBAT) will need to be reviewed due to the change in political ties between Jerusalem and Ankara. The officials would not reveal which new military platforms Turkey had requested. The defense establishment is concerned that the diplomatic crisis with Turkey may also lead Ankara to annul an arrangement allowing the Israel Air Force to train and fly in Turkish airspace. "No one knows yet how this will affect our relationship on a defense level," explained one official. "We need to wait to see how this plays out." While defense officials reconsider the country's military ties to the Turkish state, other government officials worry about the significant business ties between the two economies. Non-military trade accounts for almost $4 billion annually, 60 percent of it in Turkish exports to Israel. Tourism is another enormous source of revenue for the Turkish economy, with 580,000 Israelis visiting Turkey last year according to government figures. Since the start of the diplomatic row over Operation Cast Lead, flight bookings to Turkey have dropped by 70%. However, "despite all the talk, no joint economic initiatives between the two states have been canceled," a senior Israeli diplomatic official told the Post Sunday. In particular, plans for a joint Israeli-Turkish infrastructure and energy corridor between the ports of Ceyhan and Haifa are still under way. "But people are starting to talk about the direction Turkey is taking," the official added. Politically, "Turkey's natural inclination is not toward Iran and Syria, but toward Europe and the US. Turkey wants to have regional influence - what could offer this more than a real role as a mediator between warring parties in the region?" asked the official. That mediating role has been severely damaged by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's excoriation of the Jewish State during the three weeks of fighting in Gaza. A senior diplomatic official told the Post over the weekend that Erdogan, and Turkey under his leadership, had "lost all credibility as an honest broker" in regional negotiations. In the field of defense, two Israeli companies most likely to lose out from a collapse in ties are Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. In December, subsidiaries of IAI and Elbit Systems signed a $140 million deal to supply the Turkish Air Force with targeting pods. Israeli Military Industries (IMI) recently completed a $700m. deal signed several years ago with Turkey to upgrade the country's fleet of aging Patton-series M60 tanks. IAI also recently supplied Turkey with its advanced long-range Heron unmanned aerial vehicle. Sources in defense industries expressed hope that the crisis with Ankara would pass and would not have a negative impact on sales to Turkey. "Despite the soured diplomatic ties, there are very good relations between the two militaries," explained one official. "Israel has several contracts with Turkey that have been signed, and there is no reason to believe that they will not be upheld."

Southern Afghanistan Is Slipping Away From Kabul Administration To Taliban And Drug Lords

Southern Afghanistan Is Slipping Away From Kabul Administration To Taliban And Drug Lords

(NSI News Source Info) February 3, 2009: Southern Afghanistan is suffering a crime wave, and it's cause is religious fanatics and drug runners. These two groups make an odd couple, but they need each other, even though Islamic conservatives condemn the use of heroin and opium. They are more open minded about just helping manufacture and export the drugs. A British patrol passes opium poppies in southern Afghanistan's violent Helmand province. The Afghanistan province being patrolled by British troops will produce at least a third of the world's heroin this year, according to drug experts who are forecasting a record harvest that will be an embarrassment for the western-funded war on narcotics. In the last two years, there have been 10-40 violent incidents a day in southern Afghanistan, all of them attributed to the Taliban (but some are actually drug, gang or tribe related.) About a quarter of the attacks are roadside bombs, which are mostly used against foreign troops. This is because the Taliban, and Afghans in general, have discovered that, unlike the Russians during the 1980s, the current bunch of foreign troops (NATO and American) are much harder to kill. Worse, they come after you. Attacking foreign troops tends to result in lots of dead Afghan gunmen. Roadside bombs aren't very effective (it takes ten or more of them to kill one foreign soldiers), and they are expensive to set up and set off. Lots of technically trained people are required to build and place bombs. Since the illiteracy rate in southern Afghanistan is over 70 percent, skilled people are hard to come by. But it's even more difficult to get tribesmen to go head-to-head with the foreign troops in a gun battle. The tribal fighters are willing to take on Afghan police or soldiers. The government security forces are not pushovers, but they are not nearly as lethal as the foreign troops. That is slowly changing, especially with Afghan soldiers. So more of the Taliban attacks are being directed at the police, who take more casualties than the Afghan army. This is making it difficult to recruit police, because in some parts of southern Afghanistan, being a cop is very, very dangerous. Some police take the easy way out, accept Taliban or drug gang bribes, and just look the other way. Foreign troops are constantly on the lookout for this, and try to get dirty cops fired (sometimes that works, sometimes the provincial officials are also bought, and even some national level security officials are suspected of bribe taking.) About eight percent of the bomb attacks are suicide bombers. These also require lots of technical skills and a big team to carry out. Plus, suicide bombing is more of an Arab thing, and it's difficult to recruit them in Afghanistan. The best candidates seem to be teenage religious school students imported from Pakistan. While suicide bombers are the most effective bombs, they are not all that effective against foreign troops, and mostly kill Afghan civilians. Overall, Taliban combat efforts are not very successful. The Taliban lose 4-5 men for each enemy (usually an Afghan policeman or soldier) they kill. They will keep trying as long as they can raise enough money to keep thousands of gunmen on the payroll. The cash comes from drug gangs, criminal activities (theft, extortion, kidnapping) and donations from Moslem charities (that raise funds worldwide, but especially from wealthy Gulf Arabs who sometimes know where the money is really ending up.) Another problem the Taliban have is keeping reconstruction programs out of territory they wish to control. Most Afghans want the roads, water, health and sanitation programs the reconstruction efforts (mostly paid for by foreign donors). But the Taliban realize that these improvements contradict Taliban efforts to force everyone to live a pure, seventy century, Islamic lifestyle.

U.S. Army Awards Combat Identification Contract To BAE SYSTEMS-THALES Team

U.S. Army Awards Combat Identification Contract To BAE SYSTEMS-THALES Team

(NSI News Source Info) GREENLAWN, New York - February 3, 2009: BAE Systems and Thales have been contracted by the U.S. Army to provide combat identification solutions for ground combat and combat support vehicles to minimize the risk of fratricide. BAE Systems and Thales have been contracted by the U.S. Army to provide combat identification solutions for ground combat and combat support vehicles to minimize the risk of fratricide, commonly referred to as "friendly fire." Under a $3.3 million contract from the U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Life Cycle Management Center, the companies will study how millimeter-wave combat identification systems can address issues related to affordability, information security, and platform integration. The contract was awarded as part of the Joint Cooperative Target Identification-Ground program, an effort to develop a low-cost target identification capability for the Army and Marine Corps. "BAE Systems and Thales are working together to develop a systems approach that combines Thales's expertise in combat identification equipment and BAE Systems' expertise in platform integration and network-centric combat identification capabilities," said Paul Markwardt, vice president of identification and surveillance for BAE Systems in Greenlawn, New York. BAE Systems is the lead in the partnership with Thales that began in 2006. "Thales is proud to support this effort with its Combat ID technology and integration experience proven on a range of platforms and coalition exercises" said Merry Michaux, director of Thales's Communication Navigation Identification business line in Paris, France. The contract covers the program's risk-reduction phase, focusing on ground-to-ground combat identification between platforms. The program specifies a NATO-standard all-weather, millimeter-wave interrogate-and-respond system for use on U.S. fighting vehicles to signal the presence of friendly. The system must be day-and-night capable and not affected by camouflage or battlefield obscurants.

U.K.: 1,000th Warrior Repaired And Upgraded - MoD Report

U.K.: 1,000th Warrior Repaired And Upgraded - MoD Report

(NSI News Source Info) February 3, 2009: The 1,000th Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle to be repaired, rebuilt and upgraded at Shropshire's Defence Support Group (DSG) Donnington workshop will be put through its paces this month before returning to active front-line duty. Stripped down to every last nut and bolt and then meticulously repaired and rebuilt, each Warrior is upgraded to the latest standard of equipment and protection before being re-painted and sent back to Army units in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The FV510 Warrior tracked vehicle family, are a series of British armoured vehicles originally developed to replace the older FV430 series of armoured vehicles. The Warrior started life as the MCV-80 project that was first broached in the 1970s, GKN Sankey winning the production contract in 1980. GKN Sankey is now a part of BAE Systems Land and Armaments. The Warrior has the speed and performance to keep up with a Challenger 2 main battle tank over the most difficult terrain, and also possesses the firepower and armour to support infantry in the assault. "These vehicles leave Donnington better-than-new," said DSG's Chief Executive, Archie Hughes. "The repair and maintenance team here is utterly committed to the safety and protection of the soldiers on the front-line and puts everything into turning these vehicles – often damaged because of accident or enemy action – into ultra-modern, finely-tuned fighting machines." Major General Alan Macklin, the Army’s Armoured Fighting Vehicles Group Leader said; “Since it came into service over 20 years ago, Warrior has been the backbone of the British Army’s armoured infantry’s capability and has seen service in all the major conflicts in which the British Army has been engaged. Frequently adapted to deal with new threats and opportunities, Warrior will continue to be a stalwart for the British Army for many years to come. Many Warriors have been through the workshop twice or more, and the 1,000th vehicle going through base overhaul is a watershed for all at Donnington who have been working on the overhaul, repair and upgrade of these Infantry Fighting Vehicles. The commitment and dedication of the workforce is truly impressive and is appreciated by many including by me and by those currently deployed on operations. It is, perhaps, appropriate that on my last day in post as Armoured Fighting Vehicle Group Leader I should be here with the Defence Support Group paying tribute to their workforce and to this platform which is one of the key vehicles saving the lives of our soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan today." Among the Warriors to be repaired at Donnington was the one that Private Johnson Beharry of the 1st Battalion, The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment drove in May 2004 when, in acts of remarkable gallantry in Iraq, he saved the lives of several colleagues and earned the Victoria Cross.

Serbia Hopes for APC Sales to Iraq / Serbia Hopes for Lazar APC Sales to Iraq

Serbia Hopes for APC Sales to Iraq / Serbia Hopes for Lazar APC Sales to Iraq

(NSI News Source Info) NEWTOWN, Conn. - February 3, 2009: Serbia hopes to find an export market for its Lazar armored personnel carrier and believes Iraq may provide just such an opportunity, according to statements from the Serbian Defense Ministry.

During a visit last week to Iraq, Serbia's Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac and his delegation took note of the enthusiastic response to a presentation concerning the Lazar APC.

The Lazar armored personnel carrier is a mine resistant and ambush protected vehicle. The Lazar armored personnel carrier was revealed in 2008. It is named after the Serbian Prince Lazar, who headed Serbian Army in 14-th century. This mine resistant, ambush protected vehicle is intended to be used in urban conditions, settlements and other environments, involving ambushes and landmines. This APC is aimed at Serbian Army and possible export customers.

Serbia is keen on stressing close ties with the new Iraqi government and, in particular, reigniting its former relationship as a defense supplier to the country. Recent initiatives in the latter regard have come under scrutiny, as in the case of a controversial defense contract reached in December 2007, which Serbian authorities estimated to be $236 million (media reports placed the figure higher, at $833 million).

The deal included one item in particular that raised eyebrows - the sale of between 20 and 35 piston-engine Lasta 95 light training aircraft. At the time of the deal, the Lasta 95 prototype remained under development and mass-production still has not begun.

As for the Lazar APC, it is produced by domestic firm and principal state arms exporter Yugoimport SDPR. Named after a 14th-century Serbian prince, the Lazar is an 8x8 armored vehicle.

It is armed with a 20mm cannon main gun and capable of carrying up to 10 troops. The vehicle can be fitted with add-on armor, such as explosive-reactive armor and is protected against mines by its V-shaped hull and high ground clearance. The Serbian Army is expected to purchase the Lazar for its own use in the near future.