DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: India Shifts From Importing Weapons To Exporting Them

DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: India Shifts From Importing Weapons To Exporting Them
World's biggest weapons importer is fostering home industry in bid to become major exporter.

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Washington Post
(NSI News Source Info) HONG KONG - December 4, 2014: For more than a decade, India shopped around the world in search of a deal for more than US$1 billion worth of helicopters to replace about 200 of its military's ageing light-utility aircraft.

But in August, the new nationalist government surprised many when it abruptly scrapped the request for global bids to buy the helicopters in favour of manufacturing them in India instead.

In recent months, India has reversed two more proposals for buying transport aircraft and submarines and decided to make them at home. It's part of a push by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to foster a domestic arms industry.

India is the world's largest buyer of weapons, accounting for 14 per cent of global imports, three times as many as China.

Over the next seven years, India is likely to spend more than US$130 billion importing arms, officials say, to upgrade its understocked, Soviet-era arsenal.

India's military modernisation can generate billions of dollars worth of business for American companies, but it also helps strengthen the nation's strategic role in the region - at a time when the Indian and US militaries are conducting more and more joint exercises. The massive buying spree coincides with India's growing border tensions with China and Pakistan.

In the past three years, India spent nearly US$14 billion importing weapons, of which more than US$5 billion worth were from the United States.

Now, Modi wants to upend India's arms-importer tag and turn the country into not only a defence manufacturer but also a major weapons exporter, much like China has become.

"We dream of making India strong enough to export defence equipment to the world," Modi said in August after christening India's largest home-built warship. "Instead of having to import every little piece of defence hardware, we want India to become an exporter of such equipment over the next few years."

To realise this goal, the government removed the laborious licence requirements on almost 60 per cent of defence products for private manufacturing companies. This year, the government raised the limit on foreign investment in the defence industry from 26 per cent to 49 per cent to encourage more partnerships with foreign investors.

"We want the global defence companies to come to India not merely to sell to us but also to manufacture here and export to other countries," said Amitabh Kant, secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in New Delhi.

But that still may not be enough to bring critical defence technologies to India.

"Qualitatively, nothing changes because [49 per cent] doesn't give control to the foreign investor," said Pratyush Kumar, president of Boeing India.

Critics say India is being torn by two competing goals: the nationalistic aspiration to produce weapons locally and the urgent need to fix the crippling shortages in the military.

Despite the push, many defence experts say India is not ready to make a giant leap like China's - from being the largest arms importer in 2006 to becoming the world's sixth-largest defence exporter by 2011.


"Becoming a defence exporter is a noble aspiration but it will take a lot of doing," said Arun Prakash, a retired navy chief. "Given the current state of our defence research and industrial base, it is not something that will happen overnight."

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Washington Post
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: IAF In Mountain Strike Corps To Counter Chinese Might

DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: IAF In Mountain Strike Corps To Counter Chinese Might

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Rahul Datta ~ The Pioneer
(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - December 1, 2012: Keeping China’s growing military prowess in mind, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will now be part of India’s proposed mountain strike corps that will be based in Uttarakhand and the North-East.

This move came about after the Government turned down the Army’s Rs 60,000-crore proposal seven months back on the grounds that it was too Army-specific and that the three Services should jointly put up the proposal.

The new proposal sent to the Defence Ministry by Chairman Chief of Staff Committee Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne 10 days back projects requirements for combat helicopters, radars, anti-aircraft and anti-missile guns and electronic surveillance equipment.

This is besides the Army’s projection of recruiting nearly 40,000 to 60,000 jawans and officers trained in mountain warfare apart from acquisition of artillery guns, howitzers and long and short range infantry weapons including rifles.

Incidentally, the earlier proposal was drafted by the Army alone after the Government gave an approval in principle more than a year back. However, the Finance Ministry later sent back the proposal to the Defence Ministry and asked it to come up with a joint proposal by the three Services, sources said here on Wednesday.

Explaining the rationale behind the objection on the Army’s proposal, sources said given the magnitude of the project with huge expenditure involved, the Government wanted to avoid a scenario where the IAF and the Navy also put forward their requirements at a later stage. Against this backdrop, the Government asked the Chairman Chief of Staff Committee to draw a joint proposal about the strategy to meet the challenge of China’s growing military prowess and listing their requirements in a synergised manner for the strike corps, officials said.

The new proposal reinforces the need for setting up the corps at the earliest with air elements including combat helicopters to provide cover to advancing troops from enemy and destroy its fortified positions and gun locations.  Moreover, the new plan also gives details of the deployment of frontline IAF fighter jets in forward bases in the North-East and Uttarakhand and requirements to upgrade these bases to aid the proposed corps, sources said.

The Army has already started raising the second mountain division (one division has 10,000 men). The first division was raised a year back for Arunachal Pradesh and these two divisions will form part of the strike corps. The raising of a strike corps is the brainchild of former Army Chief VK Singh. The objective was to launch a counter-offensive in Tibet if China carries out a Kargil-type  adventure.

Moreover, rapid modernisation of China’s armed forces and its vastly superior infrastructure in Tibet and other areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) opposite Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh regions was another reason for this strike corps as China has carried out offensive exercises in Tibet Autonomous Region in the past few years.
Besides these factors, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) also expressed reservations about the corps saying such a move may send wrong signals to Beijing and escalate tension in the region.

The PMO felt that China in the last few years has not increased its troop strength along the LAC and any accretions by India will prove counter-productive as both the countries are holding regular dialogue to resolve the vexed boundary dispute. However, the defence establishment maintained that China has improved its military infrastructure backed by excellent sensors and radars and therefore, did not need to have troops on the ground to guard its territory. Enjoying this advantage over India, China has not increased its troop strength in the last few years.

India lacks infrastructure including roads, rail and airfields and has to maintain its presence in the Ladakh region and Arunachal Pradesh throughout the year. While China has built more than a 10,000-km long rail network and airports in the Tibet region and can rush troops and maintain logistical support in case of an eventuality, India is way behind and troops have to be physically present there.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Rahul Datta ~ The Pioneer
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

DTN News: Australian Weapons Found In Hands Of Taliban, WikiLeaks Reveals

DTN News: Australian Weapons Found In Hands Of Taliban, WikiLeaks Reveals

Source: DTN News / The Sydney Morning Herald by Rafael Epstein (NSI News Source Info) SYDNEY, Australia - August 1, 2010: Australian weapons and equipment have repeatedly been discovered among Taliban stockpiles, raising fears that Afghan troops trained by Diggers have been pilfering military supplies. Documents released by the WikiLeaks website show that in the past six years International Security Assistance Force troops have uncovered Australian mortar shells, a hand-grenade and other equipment when defusing roadside bombs and capturing Taliban weapons stores. Australian soldiers have trained hundreds of Afghan army soldiers, and work alongside Afghan police. Last December a NATO patrol found Australian equipment in a Taliban weapons cache, alongside AK-47 rifles and materials to make roadside bombs. The equipment found is used by Australian soldiers to ensure their safety during offensives, and if used by insurgents it could disrupt the distinct advantage held by NATO troops. The Defence Department has asked the Herald not to publish any details identifying this equipment. The department is reviewing the tens of thousands of WikiLeaks documents and did not respond directly to the reports about Australian weapons, other than saying ''an important part of this review will be determining whether there are force protection implications for our personnel''. Last year the US found there were incomplete records for about a third of $US4 billion ($4.4 billion) worth of US-purchased weapons used by the Afghan military. US soldiers training Afghan forces have repeatedly complained about pilfering, with one US officer reported as saying: ''It's not, 'Let me teach you your job'. It's more like, 'How much did you steal from the American government today?' '' Defence sources with experience of training in Oruzgan province doubted that Australian weapons were going missing. Such reports are ''probably a load of crap'', said one source. ''There may be a misunderstanding about what is being reported.'' Sources said Afghans usually use their own weapons, not Australian munitions, when trained by Australian troops. The Taliban have been found to have used rifles, mortars and other weapons made in the US, Russia and China.

*This article "Australian Weapons Found In Hands Of Taliban, WikiLeaks Reveals - The Sydney Morning Herald by Rafael Epstein" & link to read in originality form....click here.

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com

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* Video: WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange talks to RT *Burden of war in Afghanistan shifts even more to the US Los Angeles Times Xinhua - Daily Mail - New York Times - The Guardian - Wikipedia: Afghan War Diary

DTN News: Israel Images 'Show Hezbollah Hiding Arms'

DTN News: Israel Images 'Show Hezbollah Hiding Arms' Source: DTN News / AFP Patrick Moser

(NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - July 8, 2010: The Israeli military has published a series of aerial photographs of south Lebanon showing what it says is evidence of Hezbollah stockpiling weapons in towns and villages near the border.

Israel declassified the intelligence just days ahead of the fourth anniversary of the Lebanon war, in what a military official said was a move to expose the Lebanese militia's "use of civilians as human shields." Declassified images and intelligence maps show what the military says are bunkers and arms caches located in the middle of Al-Khiam village just four kilometres (two miles) north of the Israeli border. One heavily marked up aerial photograph shows 15 buildings in the middle of the village which the military says are being used as weapons stores, bunkers and operational headquarters for the Shiite militant group. Also marked on the map are schools, hospitals and other public buildings, some just a few hundred metres (yards) from the alleged weapons caches. "They have warehouses of rockets near mosques, schools, medical centres, in the middle of villages, and they look like any other building," Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovitz told AFP on Thursday. "They have taken the term human shields to a new extreme." Leibovitz said the intelligence material showed a shift in tactics by Hezbollah, which during the war, largely stored its arms in rural areas or forests along the border. "We are talking about new tactics Hezbollah has adopted since 2006," she explained, saying that Hezbollah had previously stored its weapons in "open areas." "As a result of the war, Hezbollah has moved three-quarters of its weapons into urban areas. We are talking about over 100 villages in the south that Hezbollah has turned into military bases." During the 34-day war, much of the fighting took place on open scrubland, but since then, the militia has gravitated towards built-up areas out of the reach of UN peacekeepers -- and into heavily-populated civilian areas, Israel says. Hezbollah changed its operational tactics based on Israel's "sensitivity towards civilians," Leibovitz claimed. "They know we put a lot of effort to avoid hurting civilians, that is why they put their weapons in the middle of civilian areas to make it difficult for us to act against them," she said. During Israel's 22-year occupation of south Lebanon which ended in 2000, its Lebanese militia ally operated a notorious prison and garrison in Al-Khiam. Colonel Ronen Marley, an officer stationed along the border, was quoted in the Haaretz daily as saying around 90 Hezbollah militants were now operating in Al-Khiam, and an average of between 30 and 200 fighters were deployed in every Shiite village across the south. Israel estimates that Hezbollah has an arsenal of 40,000 short- and medium-range rockets, which are being held in towns and villages across the south -- a significant rise from the 14,000 rockets held by the group in 2006. It says the stockpile includes hundreds of longer-range rockets, some with a range of more than 300 kilometres (116 miles), capable of reaching major Israeli population centres. The military believes Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon number 20,000, more than a third of whom have undergone combat training in Iran. July 12 marks the fourth anniversary of the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, which destroyed much of Lebanon's major infrastructure and killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mainly soldiers.

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DTN News: Israel TODAY April 21, 2010 ~ 'Hizbullah Arms Real Danger To Israel'

DTN News: Israel TODAY April 21, 2010 ~ 'Hizbullah Arms Real Danger To Israel' Source: DTN News / By JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP (NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - April 21, 2010: Following last week's uncertainty surrounding a reported Syrian Scud missile delivery to Hizbullah, a senior US senator said Tuesday that the guerrilla group most likely obtained the weapons and that its missiles posed a real danger to Israel. "I believe there is a likelihood that there are Scuds that Hizbullah has in Lebanon. A high likelihood," Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, told AFP."The rockets and missiles in Lebanon are substantially increased and better technologically than they were and this is a real point of danger for Israel." Feinstein stressed that the tensions in the North would only subside with a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. "There's only one thing that's going to solve it, and that's a two-state solution," she said. Hizbullah sources confirmed last week that the group had received a shipment of Scud missiles from Syria, but Damascus denied the reports, saying Israel was trying to stoke tensions in the region. On Monday, the State Department summoned the senior Syrian diplomat in Washington to accuse his government of "provocative behavior" in supplying the arms. A department statement announcing the complaint was imprecise about the alleged arms deals by the Syrians. It alluded to the transfer to Hizbullah of Scud ballistic missiles but did not say explicitly that Syria was behind such a deal. The State Department said deputy chief of mission Zouheir Jabbour was called in to "review Syria's provocative behavior concerning the potential transfer of arms to Hizbullah." It went on to say that providing Hizbullah with Scud missiles risked escalating tensions in the volatile region. "The United States condemns in the strongest terms the transfer of any arms, and especially ballistic missile systems such as the Scud, from Syria to Hizbullah," the statement said. "The transfer of these arms can only have a destabilizing effect on the region and would pose an immediate threat to both the security of Israel and the sovereignty of Lebanon." Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman in whose name the statement was issued, said in a telephone interview that the department was not confirming that a Scud transfer to Hizbullah had taken place. He said the meeting with the Syrian diplomat was conducted to seek answers about Syrian arms deals and to reiterate US concerns. Last week White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that US concern about reports of Syrian Scud missile transfers to Hizbullah had been raised at the highest levels of the Syrian government. On April 1, during a visit to Damascus, Democratic Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reiterated US misgivings about the flow of weapons through Syria to Hizbullah and told reporters the US view is that this is "something that must stop" for there to be peace. The State Department statement linked the issue of Syrian arms provisions for Hizbullah to the broader Middle East conflict. "The risk of miscalculation that could result from this type of escalation should make Syria reverse the ill-conceived policy it has pursued in providing arms to Hizbullah," it said. "Additionally, the heightened tension and increased potential for conflict this policy produces is an impediment to ongoing efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace in the Middle East." Related News; U.S. warns Syria after scud missile allegations

DTN News: Russia To Produce Most Arms Domestically -Says Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin

DTN News: Russia To Produce Most Arms Domestically -Says Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin *Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - February 23, 2010: Russia's Army will mostly use domestically-built arms, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin told Ekho Moskvy radio on Saturday."The national defense sector will shoulder [the production of] most arms. The purchase of military equipment abroad will be made only in those fields where there are flaws," Vladimir Popovkin said. He said "flaws" were reported in the production of sophisticated arms, including unmanned aircraft. "Work is underway to develop drones and train people," the deputy defense minister said. He confirmed Russia's Defense Ministry would import drones in 2010. Popovkin admitted that the Army had bought little over the past 15 years and that the Defense Ministry had funds to maintain strategic nuclear forces and repair operating arms only. He said the Army currently had a large fleet of outdated equipment. "We have some 20,000 tanks, while we need 5,000 to 6,000, and there are over 200,000 combat vehicles and several thousands aircraft, but the quality of hardware leaves much to be desired," Popovkin said. He pledged the ministry would scrap unneeded hardware or put it to international auctions through the country's state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport. Popovkin also said arms producers would soon handle servicing and warranty maintenance of hardware, and that the Defense Ministry was considering leasing arms.

DTN News: Copycat Weapons A Threat To Russia's Economic Security

DTN News: Copycat Weapons A Threat To Russia's Economic Security *Source: DTN News / RT (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - February 16, 2010: Pirate production is among the key problems of the global weapons market. Superpowers that used to help their allies establish their own defense industries during the Cold War now face the consequences of that help.

Many countries have created successful copies of foreign weapons and do not need to import arms any more. Furthermore, weapon clones are offered for export, which poses an immediate economic threat for major players in the arms market. Copying weapons is a worldwide policy favored by countries whose scientific potential and defense industry are not up to the task of producing this or that type of weapons or lack a certain technology. As early as during World War II, combating countries did their best to get hold of the most successful weapon models. For example, Germany was trying to produce something similar to the USSR’s Katyusha MLRS, but their multiple-launch systems were still inferior to the Soviet original. Also, the Wehrmacht recognized the advantages of the T-34 tank, whose efficient sloped-armor design was used in Germany’s Panther tank. The USSR, too, copied Allied equipment. By the end of the war, the USSR began working on a strategic bomber project, and the Americans involuntarily assisted Soviet designers in that. In 1944, B-29 Superfortresses made numerous emergency landings on Soviet Far East airfields after bombing missions in Japan and Manchuria. According to the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact, the aircraft and their crews were subject to internment. Aircraft designers carefully studied the bomber and created its copy: the Tu-4, which was hard to tell from its American original. Today, the main victim of weapons piracy is perhaps the famous Kalashnikov assault rifle. During Soviet times, licenses to produce the AK were granted to most Warsaw Pact countries, Cuba, China, Libya, Egypt, and Finland. In most cases, the deals were politics-driven, their goal being to ensure that all friendly armies field uniform weapons. Despite the expiration of the licenses, the Kalashnikov rifle is still manufactured in Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Slovakia, and even the US. Rosoboronexport is trying to change the situation by claiming royalties or seeking new license agreements. However, according to the company, only China has so far obtained a new license to manufacture the world’s most popular assault rifle. The pirate parade China is the world-recognized leader in arms copying. This is largely due to the fact that the entire Chinese economy is based on borrowing foreign technology. Besides this, the country has a well-developed defense industry, so its copycats are quite good. The scale of “reproductions” was obvious at the military parade commemorating the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The Chinese leadership made a point of the fact that only Chinese-made vehicles and equipment took part in the parade. (Image/Photo Type 88 ~ PLZ-05, China). In reality, many models presented that day clearly had foreign origins. The FT-2000 surface-to-air missile system is a carbon copy of Russia’s S-300. China never obtained a Smerch multiple rocket launcher from Russia, but fields its own look-alike PHL-03 system. The People’s Liberation Army has a “carbon copy” of the Russian-made Msta self-propelled howitzer under the designation of Type 88. A clone of Russia’s BMP-3 is an infantry fighting vehicle with a Russian turret mounted on Chinese ZBD-05 chassis. Sometimes, Chinese designers create hardware blending two foreign origins at once. For example, the PGZ-04 self-propelled air defense system features 25-mm cannons taken from Italian SIDAM-25 AD system and four QW-2 missiles that copy Russia’s Igla-1. Quite often, Chinese copies, upon permission by China, are further reproduced in other countries. France’s Crotale short-range air defense system has become HQ-7 in China, but that same system, under the designation of Shahab Thaqeb, is now produced in Iran. According to experts, China has made great progress in copying missile technology. Having purchased the X-55 missile from Ukraine, the Chinese created their own DH-10 cruise missile. License with no guarantee Quite often, a license to manufacture military equipment is not protection from copying but quite the opposite: a rather legal way to obtain samples for the development of similar weapons. Ruslan Pukhov, head of the Strategy and Technology Analysis Center, says software codes are not transferred under military equipment supply agreements. Also, there are restrictions on essential and most complex components and systems of the armaments in question; such items are usually supplied assembled by the supplying country. However, sales of equipment without sales of technology are impossible, Mr. Pukhov says; some countries (e.g. India) flatly refuse to consider offers that do not provide for production technology handover. China uses production licenses to create helicopters and airplanes. France’s helicopter SA-365 Dauphin 2 has been upgraded to the WZ-09 combat chopper. However, the clearest example of “licensed copying” is the Chinese J-11 fighter jet, based on Russia’s Su-27. In 2006, Moscow and Beijing struck a deal on licensed production of the Su-27SK (Chinese designation J-11A). The agreement only provided for licensed assembly of components provided by Russia. The Chinese, though, studied the aircraft while assembling it and ended up producing a similar fighter, the J-11B, only with a Chinese-made engine and avionics. Tehran is keeping up Iran, spurred by its aspiration to become the leader of the Islamic world yet strangled by numerous sanctions, is forced to develop an independent defense industry of its own. Evidently, the easiest way to achieve such a goal is to upgrade and copy foreign armaments instead of developing weapons from scratch. However, Tehran, upon permission of friendly powers, often copies the already-copied weapons. Its Sayyad-1A missile is based on the Soviet S-75, supplied by China. Procured during the Iran-Iraq war, those missiles became the base for the development of Iran’s tactical ballistic missile Tondar-68. With the help of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iranian factories were able to launch production and assembly of SCUD-B missiles (Iranian designation Shahab-1). North Korea also supplied the longer-range version SCUD-C (Shahab-2), with a range of 500km. The North Korean missile Nodong-1 later became Iran’s Shahab-3, capable of hitting targets at ranges of up to 1000km. Such approaches to creating and upgrading missile armaments now prevail in the development of other missile classes. Iran currently produces anti-tank guided missiles based on American TOW (Toophan and Toophan 2) and Dragon (Saeghe and Saeghe-2) systems, and its I-RAAD-T missiles is nothing else than the Soviet Malyutka ATGM. Another sphere where Iran is attempting to copy is shipbuilding. Few countries today would sell Tehran warships for use in the Gulf without facing negative reaction from the US. Iranian shipyards are currently busy building small frigates (copies of Britain’s Alvand frigates) and missiles boats (copies of French La Combattante II). The originals were, of course, procured before the complication of relations between Iran and Western countries. Still unresolved is the issue of possible deliveries of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Iran. Such a system can significantly strengthen Iran’s air defense. The US and Israel are strongly against the sale of the S-300 to Iran. All “technical difficulties” hampering the sale of the missile system to Iran are purely diplomatic problems. In the meanwhile, General Heshmatollah Kasiri said recently that Iran is about to field an air defense complex that is superior to the S-300. According to the general, the new complex is the brainchild of Iran’s defense industry. The unit has yet to be shown to the public, yet experience shows that Iran’s military developments often have Chinese and North Korean roots. The solution “There is only one way we can prevent the copying of Russian armaments in other countries, and that is to sign intergovernmental intellectual property agreements,” Rosoboronexport chief Anatoly Isaikin told reporters recently. But the results of that work are scarce so far. First, licensing and various agreements are complicated bureaucratic procedures that not all Russian companies can cope with. For example, for many years the Russian armored personnel carrier Tigr has had its Jordan-made clone Nimr (which means “tiger” in Arabic). Second, not all countries are willing to extend existing, or sign new, agreements regarding the production of Soviet military equipment, considering them to be past their expiration date. In the meanwhile, copying of Russian military technology means colossal economic losses for Russia. For example, the United Arab Emirates have purchased the Jordanian-made vehicles for their army, not the Russian “Tigers.” The Malaysian Armed Forces have bought Polish PT-91 tanks, which are a modification of the Russian T-72. In the future, China may be the key threat to Russia’s arms exports. It is China’s cheap yet quality clones of Russian military products that have aroused the interest of Pakistan and a number of states in Africa and Southeast Asia. Egor Sozaev-Guryev, Infox.ru

DTN News: India To Spend $200 Billion On Defence Systems By 2022

DTN News: India To Spend $200 Billion On Defence Systems By 2022 *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - February 15, 2010: India is set to spend a whopping $200 billion on defence acquisitions over the next 12 years to replace its outdated Soviet-vintage inventory.Boeing announced on Jan. 8, 2010 that the U.S. government has received a Letter of Request from India's Ministry of Defence and the Indian Air Force regarding the potential acquisition of 10 C-17 Globemaster III advanced airlifters. The C-17 Globemaster III ~ A high-wing, 4-engine, T-tailed military-transport aircraft, the multi-service C-17 can carry large equipment, supplies and troops directly to small airfields in harsh terrain anywhere in the world day or night. The massive, sturdy, long-haul aircraft tackles distance, destination and heavy, oversized payloads in unpredictable conditions. It has delivered cargo in every worldwide operation since the 1990s. Capabilities and Functionality The C-17's ability to fly long distances and land in remote airfields in rough, land-locked regions make it a premier transporter for military, humanitarian and peacekeeping missions. It can: *Take off from a 7,600-ft. airfield, carry a payload of 160,000 pounds, fly 2,400 nautical miles, refuel while in flight and land in 3,000 ft. or less on a small unpaved or paved airfield in day or night. *Carry a cargo of wheeled U.S. Army vehicles in two side-by-side rows, including the U.S. Army's main battle tank, the M-1. Three Bradley infantry-fighting vehicles comprise one load. *Drop a single 60,000-lb. payload, with sequential load drops of 110,000 lb. *Back up a two-percent slope. *Seat 54 on the sidewall and 48 in the centerline. According to a study by the India Strategic defence magazine, nearly half of this funding, or $100 billion, will go to the Indian Air Force (IAF) which would need to replace more than half of its combat jet fleet as well as the entire transport aircraft and helicopter fleet. The Army needs new guns, tanks, rocket launchers, multi-terrain vehicles while the Navy needs ships, aircraft carriers, an entire new range of submarines including nuclear-propelled and nuclear-armed. The Army has the largest requirement of helicopters while the Navy needs both combat jets, helicopters, and a fleet of nearly 100 carrier-borne combat jets. The details of the study will be published in March but according to a brief report in India Strategic's DefExpo show daily being published Monday, it is not that India has military ambitions but just that more than 70 per cent of the inventory of the Indian Armed Forces is 20-plus years old, and needs to be replaced as well as augmented with the sophistication of modern technology. There have been few defence deals after the allegations over the acquisition of Bofors in the 1980s, and Russia, which inherited the Soviet military infrastructure, is unable to meet all the requirements. According to official Russian reports, only 10 per cent of the Russian weapons could be described as modern. All the three services as well as the Coast Guard and paramilitary organisations also need satellites and net centricity. Plans to acquire surveillance aircraft, lesser in capability though the IAF's Phalcon AWACs and the Navy's P8-I Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) are also being worked out. Pilotless intelligence aircraft (drones) generally called UAVs, including those armed, are also on the top of the list of the three arms of the forces. The report says that the Pakistani 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai, in which scores were brutally killed and wounded, has given a wake up call to India and that the authorities had realised that 24-hour, 360-degree eyes and ears and preparedness to meet any attack were a necessity. That also meant increased diplomatic and security cooperation with other countries. It may be noted that the only major aircraft to be acquired by the IAF is the Su-30 MKI, some 280 of which have already been ordered in successive follow-on deals that do not involve fresh tendering and are easy to go through procedurally. IAF has a plan to build 45 combat squadrons (about 900 aircraft), up from its maximum effective strength of 39.5 squadrons a few years ago. Many of its aircraft have been phased out due to simple ageing.

DTN News: Thailand TODAY February 12, 2010 ~ Bangkok Drops Charges Over North Korea Weapons

DTN News: Thailand TODAY February 12, 2010 ~ Bangkok Drops Charges Over North Korea Weapons *Source: DTN News / By Thanaporn Promyamyai (AFP) (NSI News Source Info) BANGKOK, Thailand - February 12, 2010: Thailand said on Thursday it had decided to drop charges against the crew of a plane carrying sanctions-busting weapons from North Korea and ordered the five men deported. One of the plane's crew inside Bangkok criminal court last year The attorney general's office said it was not in the national interest to pursue the case against the Belarussian pilot and four-member Kazakh crew and said they would instead face trial in their home countries. "The trial here will not benefit Thailand so we have decided to drop the charges," Thanapich Mulapruk, spokesman for the attorney general's office, said in a statement. "Their countries of origin want to try the men in their home countries." No decision has been taken on what to do with the seized haul, which was found December 11 on a US tip-off after the crew requested to land their Ilyushin-76 plane at Thailand's domestic Don Mueang airport for refuelling. The men, who claimed they were carrying oil drilling equipment bound for Ukraine, were initially charged with possessing illegal weapons and ammunition, smuggling weapons and other banned products and failing to report the cache. The 35-tonne cargo, which included missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, is now being held at an air force base north of Bangkok. "The plane landed to refuel. Those arms were not aimed at attacking Thailand so the trial does not benefit (us)," Thanapich added. The United Nations banned all North Korean arms exports in a tougher resolution passed in June following Pyongyang's latest missile and nuclear tests. The Bangkok case is believed to be the first airborne arms cargo from Pyongyang to have been seized since then. A flight plan obtained by investigators showed the plane was bound for Iran -- which has denied it was the destination -- while US intelligence chief Dennis Blair has said it was headed to the Middle East. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at the time that the United States was "very pleased" with the seizure of the weapons and that it "demonstrates the importance of international solidarity behind the sanctions". A spokeswoman for the US embassy in Bangkok said she could not immediately comment on Thursday's developments. Thai prison authorities handed the men over to police for fingerprinting before they were released to immigration officials for deportation, but the men's lawyer, Somsak Saithong, said that would not take place until at least Friday. "They arrived as pilot and crew so it would not be fair to fly them out on a commercial flight. But we wait to see when they will be ready (for deportation) and when their plane will be ready," Somsak said. Kazakhstan and Belarus both petitioned Thailand to ask for their nationals to be released for trial in their home countries. Analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn university, said the decision to release the men was a blow to the United States. "It will be received as another point against Thailand in the American scheme of things," said Thitinan, adding that Thailand did not want to gain enemies by proceeding with the case. "I think the conclusion here was that the North Koreans have sparred with the Americans and there's a UN resolution on this, but why should Thailand be dragged into it?" he said. The five men had been held at the same jail as Russian alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout, dubbed the "Merchant of Death". He was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008 while allegedly agreeing to supply missiles to Colombian rebels. The Thai government is perceived to have worked closely with Washington on that case and is appealing a court decision rejecting a US request for his extradition. Related Articles Thailand To Deport Crew Of N. Korea Weapons Plane RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty - 14 hours ago Il-76 crew arrested in Thailand to be released Gazeta.KZ - 13 hours ago Thailand to deport crews of weapons cargo plane The Nation - 15 hours ago

DTN News: Taiwan To Seek More Arms Despite Improved China Ties

DTN News: Taiwan To Seek More Arms Despite Improved China Ties *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) TAIPEI, Taiwan - February 8, 2010: Taiwan's defence minister has vowed to seek more weaponry from the United States, which he said would give the island greater confidence in pushing for rapprochement talks with China. Taiwan's defence minister has vowed to seek more weaponry from the United States. The remarks come as Beijing and Washington are locked in an escalating row over a massive US arms sale to Taiwan, which Beijing insists is part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. China has responded furiously with a raft of reprisals, saying it would suspend military and security contacts with Washington and impose sanctions on US firms involved in the 6.4 billion-US-dollar arms package. But Taiwan's Defence Minister Kao Hua-chu defended the arms sale Saturday, saying the arms package would help stabilise the Taiwan Strait. "The United States has kept providing Taiwan with defensive weapons according to the Taiwan Relations Act, enabling Taiwan to be more confident in pressing for reconciliation with the Chinese mainland," he said, according to the Military News Agency. "In the future, Taiwan will continue purchasing more weaponry from the United States... so as to build a smaller and leaner deterrent force." Ties between Taipei and Beijing have improved markedly since Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou came to power in 2008, pledging to boost trade links and allow in more Chinese tourists. Still, Beijing has not renounced its use of force against Taiwan, which has governed itself since the end of a civil war in 1949. Speaking at the opening of a security conference in Munich Friday, China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said US arms sales to Taiwan violated standards in international relations and would provoke a reaction from Beijing. Taiwan's Premier Wu Den-yih dismissed Yang's allegations, saying Beijing's continued missile buildup along the mainland coastline facing the island had prompted Taiwan to seek more self-defensive weaponry. "It's just like two people trying for reconciliation. If one of them sticks a gun in his waist, it would be weird, don't you think so," Wu said in an interview with Hong Kong-based Phoenix satellite television Saturday. "The people of Taiwan would feel better if China can withdraw its missiles hundreds of kilometres away (from where they have been deployed)," he said. Taiwan's latest package of US weaponry includes Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and communication equipment for its fleet of F-16 fighter jets, but not the submarines and fighter aircraft it had requested.

DTN News: Israel Says Seized weapons Bound For Hezbollah

DTN News: Israel Says Seized weapons Bound For Hezbollah *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) TEL AVIV, Israel - November 8, 2009: Israeli Defense Forces have said a vessel intercepted on Wednesday by the country's naval commandos was carrying a huge shipment of arms from Iran to Lebanese Hezbollah militia. The Cyprus-owned and Antigua-flagged ship, the Francop, had been intercepted about 180 km (100 nautical miles) from Cyprus during a routine patrol by the navy on Tuesday evening and was towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod. "Dozens of containers containing large amounts of weapons and ammunition disguised as a civil cargo were discovered on board [the ship] among hundreds of [other] containers," the Israel Defense Forces press service said in a statement. Israeli defense officials said the shipment was "unusually large", adding missiles and rockets were among the weapons discovered on board the ship. "Iran was the weapons' country of origin. The weapons were intended for the Hezbollah terrorist organization," the statement said. CBC News quoted Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying the interception of the Francop was "another success against the relentless attempts to smuggle weapons to bolster terrorist elements threatening Israel's security." The country's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was quoted by the news network as saying the arms supply "was intended to hit Israeli cities." The Israeli authorities accused Iran of violating international law, including several resolutions of the UN Security Council, which stipulate restrictions on export of weapons to Lebanese paramilitary groups. Tehran has so far not commented on the claim. Cyprus government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said the country is not linked to the intercepted vessel. "The Republic of Cyprus has no connection to the vessel, as it does not sail under the Cypriot flag," Stefanou said in a statement, adding the vessel did "not pass through Cypriot ports, and the interception took place beyond the territorial waters of the Republic of Cyprus." The reported interception was the second major arms seizure Israel has claimed. In January 2002, Israeli naval forces said they stormed a freighter on the Red Sea and confiscated dozens of tons of weapons, intended for Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY November 6, 2009 ~ Pakistan In 'State Of Trauma' Over Blasts

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY November 6, 2009 ~ Pakistan In 'State Of Trauma' Over Blasts *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - November 6, 2009: The anxious wives were on the phone again to their husbands in the Pakistani garrison town of Rawalpindi, a terrorist target where daily routine can turn to horror in an instant.A Pakistani policeman (2nd R) checks a weapon amongst weapons and ammunition recovered from a group of bandits in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman November 5, 2009. 5 bandits were killed in a pre-dawn police operation near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, local media reported. "She's very worried," Abdul Habib said after putting down the receiver while visiting a friend's carpet shop close to the site of a bombing which left 35 people dead. Not far from the carpet shop, Junaid Anwar Baig's wife had also phoned. "She calls two or three times a day," said Baig, 62, who sells copper ornaments and other handicrafts. "She always says: 'Be careful. Don't move around.'" Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists have carried out a two-year campaign of attacks that have killed more than 2,400 people in Pakistan, which has a population of around 167 million. The indiscriminate killing, beamed into living rooms by television channels broadcasting round the clock, is cultivating a state of fear and uncertainty across Pakistan. "The whole nation is in a state of trauma," said Naima Hassan, a psychologist who has counselled victims of the attacks. There have around 300 blasts since the wave of violence began. Last week in northwestern city Peshawar 118 people -- many of them women and children -- died in a market bombing that was the country's second-worst attack. "The problem is this: you can't stop it," said Habib, 57. "Anything can happen at any time. Mentally, everybody's upset." That feeling of helplessness is common, said the psychologist. "They feel that they are unable to cope with this terrorism," she said. Along Mall Road, a wide, busy street in front of the carpet shop and Baig's business, they have already had a lot to cope with. In the latest attack to strike this city adjoining the capital Islamabad, a bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up close to people queuing for their salaries outside a Pakistani bank and hotel, police said. The bomb site, still blocked by police, is about 200 metres (yards) from army headquarters where last month 10 gunmen kept up a nearly 24-hour siege that left 23 people dead and deeply embarrassed the military. A short walk from Baig's shop, another suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden car into a convoy, killing the military's top doctor and at least seven other people in February last year. Similar violence across the country has left people suffering "at extreme levels", Hassan said. "Their mental well-being is at stake." Pakistanis are "losing quality of life", constantly in a state of fear and anxiety which is leading to ailments as well as sleep disorders, she said. Baig has been in business for a quarter of a century at the same location, which he remembers was once "a very peaceful place". Sitting behind his desk, the man with a long beard and glasses still manages to chuckle and smile but says the security problem has produced two types of personalities. "One group of people is very much depressed," he said, while others feel: "We have to fight." He is no psychologist but says: "There is an effect on the mental soundness of Pakistanis." So focused on militants, the country is unable to move forward, he said. "When I go out from my home, I am ready for death," says Muhammad Idress, 29, who runs a simple medical clinic built of plywood within sight of the spot where the military doctor died. Idress's attitude is typical, Hassan said. "They always think that they are close to death," and are extremely worried about the future of their children, she said. "This the majority of the population." Naseem Akhtar, 29, said her worried family told her to stay away from work at Idress's clinic after the latest bombing. Just a few months after moving to Rawalpindi from her farming village southwest of the city, she says she is going back for the sake of her two children. "I am so afraid that I don't want to send them to school in the city," she said. The nation can eventually recover from its moderately traumatised state if government forces can exert control and prevent attacks, Hassan said. Prolonged insecurity will lead to severe psychological trauma that will badly damage people's lives and place them in need of longer-term counselling support, she said. "This is not a headache which you can remedy by taking two aspirin," the psychologist said.

DTN News: Israel Says Seized Big Hezbollah-Bound Arms Ship

DTN News: Israel Says Seized Big Hezbollah-Bound Arms Ship *Source: DTN News / Reuters / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - November 5, 2009: Israeli naval commandos seized a ship carrying hundreds of tonnes of Iranian-supplied arms, including rockets that can hit Israeli cities, to Lebanon's Hezbollah group, Israeli officials said on Wednesday.The 137-metre (450-foot) Antigua-flagged vessel 'Francop' which was seized at dawn, bound for Syria and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, around 100 nautical miles from the Israeli coast, at the port of Ashdod on November 4, 2009 in Israel. The Antigua-flagged vessel named 'Francop' was carrying 40 containers packed with thousands of rockets, hand grenades and mortar shells, the largest ever seized by Israel. Commodore Ran Ben-Yehuda, speaking as the search of the Antigua-flagged Francop was under way in Israel's Mediterranean port of Ashdod, said the weapons were found behind civilian goods in at least 40 shipping containers. The shipment, he said, was enough to keep Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which fired some 4,000 rockets into Israel during a 34-day war in 2006, supplied for a month of fighting. "The weapons came from Iran and were meant for Hezbollah," Ben-Yehuda told reporters at Ashdod port, where wooden crates of bullets, rocket-propelled grenades and variety of rockets which he said were unloaded from the ship filled a dock.Israeli soldiers remove sacks labeled "Made in Iran" from a shipment seized by Israeli authorities on a ship near Cyprus, from a container in the port of the Israeli city of Ashdod, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009. Israeli commandos seized a ship Wednesday that defense officials said was carrying hundreds of tons of weapons from Iran bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas, the largest arms shipment Israel has ever commandeered. He said the containers were picked up by the Francop in the Egyptian port of Damietta and were to have reached Hezbollah in Lebanon via Syria. Syria and Iran denied the Israeli allegations. "It's 10 times the size of the cargo on the Karine-A," Ben-Yehuda said, referring to a freighter with 50 tonnes of arms that Israel seized in 2002. Israel said that vessel's cargo was supplied by Iran and destined for Palestinians in Gaza. Israel believed Egypt and the vessel's crew were unaware weapons were being shipped on the Francop, Ben-Yehuda said. He said naval commandos boarded the ship overnight without incident after receiving the captain's permission to inspect his cargo. The interception, the military said, was carried out in international waters about 100 miles (160 km) from Israel. Ben-Yehuda said Israeli intelligence constantly kept taps on suspected smuggling lanes. HIDDEN At Ashdod port, some of the crates on display were still wedged in containers behind white sacks of polyethelene in what the Israeli military said had been a bid to hide the weaponry.Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak looks at munitions displayed at the port of Ashdod November 4, 2009, in this picture released by Israel's Defence Ministry. According to the military the arms were found on the Antigua-flagged Francop vessel, intercepted overnight in the Mediterranean Sea, 100 miles (160 km) from Israel. Israeli naval commandos seized the ship carrying hundreds of tonnes of Iranian-supplied arms, including rockets that can hit Israeli cities, to Lebanon's Hezbollah group, Israeli officials said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that weapons discovered on the vessel could have been used to attack Israeli cities. But in public comments on the incident, Israeli leaders gave no hint they were contemplating military action against Hezbollah in response to the alleged weapons smuggling attempt. The Israeli-Lebanese frontier has been largely quiet since 2006. A Cyprus-based shipping source told Reuters the ship had been due to call in Lebanon. The 8,622 deadweight tonne ship was due to have arrived on Nov. 1 at Damietta and was last seen on Oct. 31 in the Mediterranean sea between Lebanon and Cyprus, according to AISLive ship tracking data on Reuters.The Israeli military display hundreds of tonnes of arms seized at dawn on a ship bound for Syria and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, around 100 nautical miles from the Israeli coast, at the port of Ashdod on November 4, 2009 in Israel. The Antigua-flagged vessel named 'Francop' was carrying 40 containers packed with thousands of rockets, hand grenades and mortar shells, the largest ever seized by Israel. The vessel is owned by German shipping company Reederei Gerd Bartels, based near the port of Hamburg. Asked to comment, Mirko Bartels of the private shipping firm told Reuters: "We have nothing to say." An official with Cyprus-based United Feeder Services told Reuters it had acted as the time charterer and carrier for the Francop, charged with loading and discharging the vessel. "The vessel sailed from Damietta, and was bound for Limassol, Cyprus and then Lebanon, Turkey and back to Damietta," the official, who declined to be named, said. "We are not allowed to open up containers to see what is inside," he said. "We do not have much information. We just know that the vessel was seized and was forced to go to Ashdod to check the cargo." (Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Jonathan Saul in London and Michael Hogan in Hamburg, Editing by Richard Williams)

DTN News: Taliban, al-Qaeda Sling US, German Guns ~ Media Report

DTN News: Taliban, al-Qaeda Sling US, German Guns ~ Media Report *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) PESHAWAR, Pakistan - November 1, 2009: Pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants have reportedly been outfitted with state-of-the-art American arms and other weaponry made in the US-allied states, including Israel, Germany and India. (Image/Photo: H&K MP-5) The pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan were equipped with expensive and expertly-crafted firearms made by the German arms manufacturer Blazer, Deutsche Welle reported on Wednesday. The rifles are priced at USD 2,960 (EUR 2,000) a piece and are characterized with heavy-duty outer parts and 'lifelong' durability. The weapons are well suited for operational purposes in mountainous areas such as the tribal Pakistani region of South Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan. The northwestern militant-infested area has for long troubled the Pakistani military. Islamabad is currently engaged in full-scale military operations against the gunmen. The German broadcaster named the other armaments in militant possession as the German-made "Walther P1 handguns, automatic weapons made by another German defense manufacturer Heckler & Koch (H&K), handguns build at the Austrian weapon producer the Glock, the American M249 machine guns and the Israeli-made Uzi submachine guns." Some of the weapons are worth USD 2,072 (EUR 1,400). The report added that militant gangs were training with German G3 assault rifles. The latest version of the gun is valued for its durability and pinpoint precision. Questions remain as to how the al-Qaeda-linked terrorists acquired the weapons. Heckler & Koch (H&K) is rated as one of the defense industry's 'Big Five' and a mainstay trading partner to the German military. Last year, the company, the volume of whose exports are yet to be specified, sold USD 267 million ( EUR 181 million) worth of weapons. The company as well produces weapons for the United Kingdom, Norway and Greece and has been contracted to equip the French army. The company has survived the global economic crisis almost unharmed. Every 14 minutes a person reportedly dies by a H&K-made weapon.

DTN News: Russia Sells Special Purpose Weaponry To NATO According To Rosoboronexport

DTN News: Russia Sells Special Purpose Weaponry To NATO According To Rosoboronexport *Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - October 29, 2009: Russia supplies weaponry and equipment for police and special purpose military units in several NATO countries, state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said on Wednesday. "Our main customers are ex-Soviet states, the Middle East, Latin American and African countries, but we also deliver special purpose weaponry and equipment to several NATO countries," said Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, an advisor to Rosoboronexport general director. More than 300 Russian companies, including 23 defense firms, are participating in the Interpolitex 2009 International Exhibition of State Security Technology in Moscow October 27-30. According to Ovchinnikov, foreign clients are mostly interested in weaponry for anti-terrorism police task forces, optical and infrared equipment, means of individual protection and non-lethal weapons. The official said that at least four foreign delegations at the show have expressed interest in purchasing several types of Russian-made equipment. "The negotiations have entered an active phase and this work will continue after the show," Ovchinnikov said. Delegations from Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Canada, The Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan and Ukraine are participating in Interpolitex 2009.

DTN News: Who Should Fear Russia’s New Military Doctrine?

DTN News: Who Should Fear Russia’s New Military Doctrine? *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - October 25, 2009: Russia’s new military doctrine, which is to come into force in 2010, has provoked a heated debate, first of all because it stipulates preemptive nuclear strikes. Moreover, it says that nuclear weapons may also be used in local conflicts in case of critical threats to Russia’s national security. The wording has encouraged some people to say that Russia intends to use nuclear weapons in conflicts with its closest neighbors – former Soviet republics. A critical threat to Russia’s national security can come from different types of conflicts, including a large-scale war with a block of countries, or a hypothetical territorial conflict with one or several militarily developed countries. Since the armed forces of the former Soviet republics are not very efficient, it can be assumed that only the Baltic countries, which are NATO members, can pose a critical threat to Russia. Although there is zero probability of a conflict with a Baltic country, if such a war does break out, it will immediately overgrow the scale of a local conflict, and it is not a Baltic territory that will be Russia’s target in this case. A critical threat can also be created by an attempt by a more developed neighbor who is not a member of a NATO-type military alliance to use military force against Russia to settle a territorial dispute. Theoretically, such a conflict is possible with Japan if Japanese politicians seeking to use military force to solve the Kuril problem come to power there. However, a critical threat to Russia is more probable in a larger war. Russia started speaking about the possibility of delivering preemptive nuclear strikes long ago, in the late 1990s after NATO bombed Yugoslavia. Russia subsequently held war games West 1999 simulating a military conflict with NATO similar to the one in Yugoslavia. That war game showed that only nuclear weapons would save Russia in case of a Western aggression. The Russian government subsequently changed the schemes of using nuclear weapons, especially tactical ones. The new provision was sealed in two fundamental documents – the military doctrine and the national security concept adopted in 2000. They read that the use of nuclear weapons is justified and necessary “to repel a military aggression when all other methods of settling the crisis have been used and proved ineffective.” The decision looked logical at the time since NATO’s military power was superior to Russia, and the situation has not changed much since then. On the other hand, the possibility of a dispute – let alone a military conflict – with NATO has decreased because Russia has launched a new round of dialogue with the bloc. But military doctrines stipulate basic provisions that do not take into account the current tactical situation. It should be said that other countries, including the United States, are also considering preemptive nuclear strikes. Russia’s new military doctrine also has a clause on the use of military force to protect the lives and interests of Russian citizens abroad. This new addition to the Law On Defense was approved in the summer of 2009, and it will also be sealed in the new military doctrine. On the whole, the new military doctrine reflects Russia’s gradual movement toward Western standards of the use of military force. The ideological provisions of the Soviet Union’s military doctrine – with the exception of the term “potential enemy” – have long been forgotten. Russia now intends to use its military force when and where necessary, and against any opponent.