DTN News - EGYPT DEFENSE NEWS: Egypt Opts For The Rafale

Defense War News Updates: DTN News - EGYPT DEFENSE NEWS: Egypt Opts For The Rafale
*France is to sell 24 Rafale fighter jets to Egypt along with a naval frigate and missiles in a deal worth more than €5 billion, President François Hollande said Thursday, the first time a foreign buyer has been found for the French-built warplanes

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Dassault Aviation & France 24
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 13, 2015: French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will travel to Cairo Monday to sign the final agreement with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Hollande said in a statement issued by his office.

“The Rafale fighter jet has won its first export contract,” Hollande said, confirming a report in French daily Le Monde published earlier Thursday that said a deal had been agreed.

“The Egyptian authorities have just let me know their intention of acquiring 24 Rafale planes, a multi-mission frigate as well as related equipment,” he added.

These last two items are believed to be a FREMM warship, currently used by the French and Italian navies, and a number of short and medium-range missiles built by MBDA.

The deal follows years of failed attempts by France to export the Rafale, described as one of the most effective and sophisticated fighter jets in the world, but also one of the most expensive.

A potential deal to sell the multipurpose warplanes to Brazil  fell through in 2013 when the country chose jets made by Sweden’s Saab instead.

And although manufacturer Dassault Aviation, which launched the Rafale more than a decade ago, has been in exclusive negotiations with India for the last three years, a final deal has yet to be signed.

The French government has reduced its order for the planes to 26 Rafale jets over the next five years, down from 11 a year so far, putting Dassault under further pressure to find a foreign buyer.

Credit facility

A potential deal with Egypt was first muted in November last year during Sisi’s state visit to Paris, according to Le Monde, where discussions were held about replacing Egypt's fleet of 18 Mirage jets, also built by Dassault.

Though funding issues were believed to be a concern, French business daily Les Echos reported earlier this month that the two countries were discussing using a credit facility – arranged by French credit insurer COFACE and involving some of France’s biggest banks – to finance as much as 50 percent of the sale.

France has a history of military hardware deals with Egypt: as well as being the first foreign buyer of the Mirage jet in 1981, Cairo signed a contract last year to buy four French-built naval frigates in a deal worth €1 billion.

Concerns over the rise of jihadist groups in neighbouring Libya and in Egypt’s Sinai province have also seen the countries establish closer ties in recent years.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Dassault Aviation & France 24
*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 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

DTN News - MID EAST HOT SPOTS: Saudi Arabia Is Israel’s Last Hope ~ Report

Defense War News Updates: DTN News - MID EAST HOT SPOTS: Saudi Arabia Is Israel’s Last Hope ~ Report
*The Al Saud family is very important to Israel because Saudi Arabia is very actively working in countries such as Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon to reduce Iran's influence in those countries.”  Tel Aviv University Report
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Press TV
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 6, 2012: A recent report by Tel Aviv University says Saudi Arabia is the last hope and defense line for Israel and describes the Saudis as Tel Aviv’s last chance to protect its political interests in the Arab world.

The report said most of Israel’s allies in the region have collapsed and cannot play a significant role in the Arab world. 

It added that Saudi Arabia is the only country that stands against the Islamic Republic of Iran and thus it is Tel Aviv’s last line of defense against Tehran. 

The report noted that the Al Saud family is very important to Israel because Saudi Arabia is very actively working in countries such as Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon to reduce Iran's influence in those countries. 

Last March, a senior Egyptian cleric accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of meddling in the internal affairs of other Muslim nations, calling the two states “Israel’s servants.” 

Sheikh Mohammad Alaedin Madhi said the two countries were implementing an Israeli-US plan in Syria. 

He also criticized the Saudi-owned television network Al-Arabiya and the Qatar-owned broadcaster Al-Jazeera for "serving Israeli interests." 

Moreover, in emails leaked by WikiLeaks and obtained by the Beirut-based newspaper Al-Akhbar, it was revealed that Saudi Arabia had reached out to the Mossad, which assisted the kingdom with, as Al-Akhbar reports, "intelligence collection and advice on Iran." 

According to a source quoted in the emails, "Several enterprising Mossad officers, both past and present, are making a bundle selling the Saudis everything from security equipment (to) intelligence and consultation."

Related Stories:

• Israeli Knesset to be dissolved
• Saudis hold anti-government rally
• ‘US, KSA against democracy in Bahrain’
• Saudis hold anti-regime rally in Qatif

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Press TV
*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 - RUSSIA DEFENSE NEWS: Iran, Pakistan, N. Korea May Pose Nuclear Threat to Russia

Defense War News Updates: DTN News - RUSSIA DEFENSE NEWS: Iran, Pakistan, N. Korea May Pose Nuclear Threat to Russia

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Ria Novosti
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 6, 2012: A nuclear-armed Iran, Pakistan and North Korea could potentially trigger regional chain reactions that ultimately threaten Russia's security, the former director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, said.

“Even if Iran, Pakistan and North Korea are not Russian adversaries, their current and projected nuclear potential could destabilize the regional situation. It could trigger a chain reaction of proliferation (Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) that gives rise to a new missile threat for Russia,” Trubnikov said in an article included in the digest for an international conference on missile defense in Moscow.

History shows that relations with unstable states and radical regimes can rapidly deteriorate and their nuclear potential could become a real threat to Russian national security, Trubnikov said.

That is why Russia needs to work toward mutual understanding with the United States and NATO on the issue of missile defense, he said.

Russia's military leadership has for the first time acknowledged a nuclear threat from Iran and North Korea.

“The threat is always there, so we closely monitor the nuclear program developments of many countries," Army General Nikolai Makarov, the chief of the General Staff, told RT television.

"The analysis that we conducted together with the Americans confirms that, yes, there is a probability that the threat exists. And we agreed that it is necessary to create a missile defense system,” Makarov said.

The Russian Defense Ministry has previously held that there is no nuclear threat to Europe and Russia from Iran and North Korea, because they do not have the capacity to build nuclear weapons or deliver them.

“Many countries that claim not to possess nuclear weapons do in fact have them,” Makarov said.

“Certainly, if it gets into the hands of extremists, it represents a threat to international security,” Makarov said.

He added that in order to counter these threats, Russia is ready to work together with other countries.

“Let's solve this problem. Let us work together to get rid of the threats that may arise, not only for Europe but for Russia because we too are part of Europe,” the general said.

North Korea has conducted two underground nuclear weapon tests, in 2006 and 2009.

Earlier in April South Korean media reported that intelligence indicated North Korea was preparing a third in a row underground nuclear test. The information was based on satellite photographs of North Korean test site, where underground nuclear test had been previously conducted.

U.S. and other Western countries suspect Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of peaceful nuclear energy program. Tehran denies the charges, saying its nuclear program is aimed at meeting the country's electricity needs.

Related News

• Russian Military Concedes Iran, N. Korea Nuclear Threat
• Iran, World Powers Resume Nuclear Talks
• North Korea Prepares for Underground Nuclear Test
• Nuclear-Armed Iran ‘Unacceptable’ – Pentagon

Multimedia

• Peaceful Nuclear Energy or Nuclear Weapons?
• How the nuclear weapons era began
• North Korean nuclear facilities
• World’s nuclear states map

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Ria Novosti
*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 - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. DoD Awarded Contract $31,073,677 To General Dynamics Land Systems Related To U.S. Army For The Procurement Of 46 Abrams M1A2 System Enhancement Package V2 Vehicles

Defense War News Updates: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS:  U.S. DoD Awarded Contract $31,073,677 To General Dynamics Land Systems Related To U.S. Army For The Procurement Of 46 Abrams M1A2 System Enhancement Package V2 Vehicles

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources DTN News / U.S. DoD issued No. 307-12 April 25, 2012
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 26, 2012: General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded a $31,073,677 firm-fixed-price contract.  The award will provide for the procurement of 46 Abrams M1A2 system enhancement package V2 vehicles. 

Work will be performed in Lima, Ohio, Scranton, Pa., Anniston, Ala., and Tallahassee, Fla., with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2014. 

One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-12-C-0198).

The M1 Abrams entered U.S. service in 1980, replacing the M60 tank. It served for over a decade alongside the improved M60A3, which had entered service in 1978. The M1 remains the principal main battle tank of the United States Army and Marine Corps, and the armies of Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Iraq in 2010.

Three main versions of the M1 Abrams have been deployed, the M1, M1A1, and M1A2, incorporating improved armament, protection and electronics. These improvements, as well as periodic upgrades to older tanks, have allowed this long-serving vehicle to remain in front-line service. The M1A3 is currently under development.

The M1A2 was a further improvement of the M1A1 with a commander's independent thermal viewer, weapon station, position navigation equipment, and a full set of controls and displays linked by a digital data bus. These upgrades also provided the M1A2 with an improved fire control system. The M1A2 System Enhancement Package (SEP) added digital maps, FBCB2 capabilities, and an improved cooling system to compensate for heat generated by the additional computer systems. The M1A2 SEP also serves as the basis for the M104 Wolverine heavy assault bridge.

Further upgrades included depleted uranium armor for all variants, a system overhaul that returns all A1s to like-new condition (M1A1 AIM), a digital enhancement package for the A1 (M1A1D), and a commonality program to standardize parts between the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps (M1A1HC).

The M1A2 SEP TUSK Abrams and a modernized M1 Abrams were included in the Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) Analysis of Alternatives (AOA). Vehicles included in the AOA were determined to be inferior to the planned GCV. The U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli commended the M1 Abrams program and recommended a similar approach for the GCV program. The Ground Combat Vehicle family of vehicles is the planned successor to the M1 as well as many other U.S. Army vehicles. However, the Army anticipates that the M1A1 will remain in U.S. service until at least 2021, and the M1A2 to beyond 2050.

M1 Abrams ~ Operators (Source - Wikipedia)

•  Australia – Australian Army: 59 M1A1SAs (hybrids with a mix of equipment used by US Army and Marine Corps tanks, without depleted uranium layers in armor) tanks were bought from the United States in 2006, to replace the Leopard AS1 in 2007.

•  Egypt – Egyptian Army: 1,005 M1A1s. Tanks co-produced by the US and Egypt for the Egyptian army. Another 125 Tanks have been ordered.

•  Greece - Hellenic Army: 400 ex-U.S. Army M1 tanks offered to Greece.

•  Iraq – Iraqi Army: 140 M1A1Ms (downgraded, without depleted uranium layers in armor) on order, to be delivered by 2011. Iraq was leasing 22 US Army M1A1s for training in 2008. The first 11 tanks were delivered to the Iraqi Army in August 2010.

•  Kuwait – Kuwaiti Army: 218 M1A2s (downgraded, without depleted uranium layers in armor)

•  Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabian Army: 373 To be upgraded to M1A2S configuration in Saudi Arabia.

•  United States – United States Army and United States Marine Corps have approximately 8,725 M1, M1A1 and M1A2 variants combined in inventory.

US Army 1,547 M1A2 and M1A2SEP variants 4,393 M1A1 variants 2,385 M1 (reserve storage)

US Marine Corps 403 M1A1

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources DTN News / U.S. DoD issued No. 307-12 April 25, 2012
*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 - ISRAELI~PALESTINIAN CONFLICT: Fighting Between Israel, Gaza Continues For 3rd Day

Defense War News Updates: DTN News - ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT: Fighting Between Israel, Gaza Continues For 3rd Day
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Ibrahim Barzak and Karin Laub - The Washington Post
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 12, 2012: Cross-border fighting between Gaza and Israel, touched off by Israel’s killing of a top Palestinian militant leader, showed no signs of letting up after three days Sunday. Gaza militants fired dozens of rockets at Israeli towns, hitting an empty school, and Israeli airstrikes killed three Gazans, including a boy and a farm guard.

Egypt tried to mediate but failed to end the violence, the worst in more than a year. The fighting has killed 18 Gazans, all but two of them militants, and disrupted the lives of about 1 million Israelis living within range of rocket fire from Gaza.

Even so, Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers seemed eager to avoid a full-scale conflict. A three-week war three years ago left both sides badly bruised, Israel in the diplomatic arena and Hamas on the battlefield.

In the current round, Hamas has pointedly kept its large rocket arsenal and thousands of fighters out of the confrontation, even though it has not tried to stop two smaller Gaza groups, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees, from launching rockets and mortar rounds.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak acknowledged that Hamas did not take part in the rocket salvos. Up to now, Israel has blamed the Islamist movement for all violence directed from Gaza because it rules the territory.

Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, said Sunday, “We are not interested in escalation in and of itself.”

On a visit to southern Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that the airstrikes would continue as long as necessary. “We have a clear policy: We will hit anyone who plans to harm us, who prepares to harm us and who harms us,” he said in a meeting with local leaders.

Israel said it launched the initial Friday airstrike, which killed PRC leader Zuhair al-Qaissi in a car in Gaza, to stop a plan by his splinter group to infiltrate into Israel through Egypt’s lawless Sinai Peninsula. Israel says the PRC was behind an August attack on the border that killed eight Israelis.

Palestinians across the political spectrum accused Israel of deliberately escalating tensions. The groups involved in firing rockets dismissed truce offers presented by Egypt.

On Sunday, Palestinians fired more than 30 rockets at southern Israel. One struck the courtyard of an empty school in Beersheba, police said.

Three Israelis have been hurt by rocket fire since Friday, two of them seriously, the Defense Ministry said.

At Israel’s weekly cabinet meeting, Barak asserted success in the first major battlefield test of the Iron Dome antimissile system, which has intercepted 30 of the more than 120 rockets fired from Gaza since Friday, according to a statement from his office. He said anti-rocket batteries were deployed near three southern cities close to Gaza.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Ibrahim Barzak and Karin Laub - The Washington Post
*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 - SYRIA UNREST: Syrian Blasts Kill 14, Arab Monitors May Stay

Defense War News Updates: DTN News - SYRIA UNREST: Syrian Blasts Kill 14, Arab Monitors May Stay

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Reuters
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 21, 2012: Bombs killed at least 14 prisoners in a Syrian security vehicle on Saturday, and fierce battles erupted between rebels and state forces as the Arab League considered whether to keep monitors in place.
The League looks set to extend its monitoring mission in Syria, given the lack of any Arab or world consensus on how to halt the bloodshed there, an Arab diplomatic source said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the 10-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, said an explosive device planted on a road in the northwestern province of Idlib had killed 15 detainees and wounded dozens.

Syria's state news agency SANA said a "terrorist" group had set off two explosions on the road between the towns of Idlib and Ariha, killing 14 prisoners and wounding 26. Six police guards were also wounded, some critically.

Activists in Idlib offered a very different account, saying the vehicle had actually been carrying dead bodies. They uploaded videos of corpses on the bloodied floors of a hospital morgue, some of which appeared to be decomposing, and said they had come from the vehicle.

Foreign journalists are mostly banned from Syria and such reports are impossible to verify.

Elsewhere in Idlib, clashes broke out between rebels and troops in the city of Maarat Noaman.

"Ten soldiers were trying to desert and their escape sparked clashes between the army and the rebels. One rebel was martyred when he helped give the defectors cover and nine army personnel were killed," the Observatory's head Rami Abdelrahman told Reuters by telephone from Britain.

The Observatory said troops had clashed with army deserters who had joined the insurgency in the town of Jebel al-Zawiya, also in Idlib province, which borders Turkey.

FIGHTING NEAR DAMASCUS

Rebels seized parts of the town of Douma near Damascus before retreating, activists said. Explosions and gunfire rocked the area, a hotbed of revolt after dark.

The fighting began on Saturday afternoon, after security forces killed four people when they fired on a funeral march for a slain protester. Ensuing clashes left dozens wounded, activists said.

Syria accuses its neigbours of failing to combat arms smuggling to insurgents across their borders. On Saturday Syrian forces killed a Lebanese fisherman and wounded another when they seized their boat at sea, the father of the dead man said.

Residents said the Syrians may have suspected the men of smuggling.

Hundreds of people have been killed during the month-long observer mission, despatched to assess Syria's implementation of an Arab peace plan originally agreed in early November.

Sudanese General Mohammed al-Dabi, head of the 165-strong monitoring team, was due in Cairo on Saturday to submit his report for a League committee on Syria to consider on Sunday.

Syria is keen to avoid tougher action by the Arab League or the United Nations. It has tried to show it is complying with the plan, which demands a halt to killings, a military pullout from the streets, the release of detainees, access for the monitors and the media, and dialogue with opposition groups.

Critics say the Arab monitors have only given Assad diplomatic cover to pursue a bloody crackdown on his opponents.

The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) told Reuters it had formally asked the League to refer the Syrian crisis to the U.N. Security Council.

But an Arab source said the League was most likely planning only to extend the mission's mandate: "Yes, there is not complete satisfaction with Syria's cooperation with the monitoring mission. But in the absence of any international plan to deal with Syria, the best option is for the monitors to stay.

This month the Syrian authorities have freed hundreds of detainees, announced an amnesty, struck a ceasefire deal with armed rebels in one town, allowed the Arab observers into some trouble spots and admitted a gaggle of foreign journalists.

"TERRORISTS"

Assad also promised political reforms, while vowing iron-fisted treatment of the "terrorists" trying to topple him.

Burhan Ghalioun, head of the SNC, was in the Egyptian capital for meetings with opposition colleagues and Arab League officials.

The group said in a statement he would ask for the case to go to the Security Council in order to get a resolution imposing a no-fly zone or safe zone.

Western powers have failed to overcome Chinese and Russian opposition to any Security Council resolution condemning Syria or imposing sanctions.

The United States and the European Union have toughened their own punitive measures, but have shown no desire to mount a Libya-style military intervention to help Assad's opponents, who include both armed insurgents and peaceful protesters.

Washington warned on Friday that it might soon close its embassy in Syria due to worsening security conditions and said it believed Assad no longer had full control of the country.

U.S. concern about the safety of its mission in Damascus, which was attacked by a pro-Assad crowd in July, intensified after three deadly blasts in the Syrian capital in recent weeks, blamed by Syrian authorities on al-Qaeda suicide bombers.

Closing the embassy would not amount to cutting diplomatic ties, but would reduce direct U.S. contacts with Damascus.

A White House spokesman said Assad's fall was "inevitable" and demanded he halt violence against protesters in which the United Nations says more than 5,000 people have died since March. Syria says 2,000 security personnel have been killed. (Writing by Alistair Lyon and Erika Solomon; editing by Andrew Roche)

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Reuters
*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