Aug. 6, 2014 – Defense News
 

06 August 2014 by defenceWeb

While nearly 50 African heads of state convene in Washington DC, one of Africa’s biggest defence contractors is making a pitch to let Africa have more advanced defence and security equipment and training.

This week, at the kickoff of the first US-Africa Leaders Summit, President Obama is hearing from young people, women, civil society leaders, change agents, stakeholders, heads of state - and South Africa’s Paramount Group.

For Ivor Ichikowitz, Executive Chairman of aerospace and defence company Paramount Group, the message is simple: Give Africa a chance to defend itself. He says he is attending the summit in Washington to make the case to the Obama administration that African countries should be encouraged to build up their own intelligence services, militaries, and national police to combat the continent’s rogues, insurgents, and fanatics.

The West, according to the South African defence entrepreneur, discourages governments from creating their own security infrastructures. And that’s a problem, in the age of Boko Haram and al Shabaab, he said. “The message from the U.S. and other countries is: ‘We will give you aid if you don’t use budgets to create armies and intelligence services.’”

To illustrate this point, Ichikowitz talks about a recent conversation he had with an African head of state that is currently involved in resisting insurgencies. “I have met with the president and he told me that he has no capacity to be able to afford the solutions they require because of limitations imposed by the international community on how they use their budget,” Ichikowitz said.

According to Ichikowitz, the International Monetary Fund told the head of state that it could not use money provided by the fund for its budget for advanced military equipment. “As a result, the government involved is forced to be reliant on the charity of Western powers, they are forced to be reliant on third parties to resolve a domestic problem,” he said.

Ichikowitz acknowledged in the interview that the African continent is awash in weapons, particularly small arms. “The Cold War resulted in the introduction of millions of small arms into the continent over the years,” he said. “A lot of this equipment has fallen into the hands of thugs, of fundamentalist organizations. As a result there is a formidable threat to almost every single African democracy. Unfortunately, the West has not necessarily given African governments the capability to create sophisticated, world-class capabilities to counter these threats.”

It’s also worth noting that the United States military has long-standing partnerships with many African militaries. But those partnerships often do not allow these states to acquire advanced technologies.

This is where Paramount believes it can step in, if given the chance. It makes a full range of armoured vehicles and also produces surveillance drones with the kind of sensors that can sniff out wireless communications from a discreet geographic area. Paramount also upgrades the electronics and avionics systems for Soviet-era helicopters, many of which are still used by African militaries.

Ichikowitz stressed that his company will not do business with any country that is under a United Nations embargo, is at war with its neighbours or opposes other sovereign democratic governments. Furthermore South Africa, through the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) has some of the most stringent arms export regulations in the world to govern every single piece of defence equipment that is exported from the country.

Ichikowitz said he believes it’s time to arm countries like Mali, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda with the kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles, surveillance systems and weaponry that will give them an edge against the insurgencies and rogues that threaten their survival.

“Today in Africa this is about outlaws versus governments,” he said. “It’s time to trust the governments and give them the capability to defend their democracies.”

“In order to avoid the perpetuation of violence and conflict in Africa, African governments need to be allowed to create deterrence and the way to create deterrence is by encouraging and facilitating the creation of a strong domestic defence capability.”

06/08/2014 ASP Maude FOUQUET

Dans le cadre d’une activité opérationnelle soutenue sur les théâtres d’opération extérieure, l’armée de Terre a besoin de matériel et d’armement performants et efficients. C’est le rôle de la section technique de l’armée de Terre (STAT) que de s’assurer de la réponse aux besoins en équipements des forces aéroterrestres sous le pilotage du sous-chef plans programme de l’EMAT. En étroite collaboration avec la Direction générale de l’armement, elle assure la conduite et le suivi des opérations d’armement. Explication d’un processus en plusieurs étapes.

« La spécificité de l’armée de Terre, c’est l’action en tout temps et en tout lieu. En s’appuyant sur une industrie de Défense performante, nous avons vocation à intervenir dans le monde, il faut que nos équipements répondent à la stratégie de la nation », explique le général Charles Beaudoin, directeur de la section technique de l’armée de Terre (STAT). La STAT est au cœur des opérations d’équipement. Elle a deux vocations : la première consiste à proposer des expressions de besoin et à conduire les opérations grâce à des officiers de programmes, la deuxième concerne l’expérimentation des systèmes d’armes qui sont livrés par l’industriel grâce à des équipes de marque. « Nous sommes présents de bout en bout », reprend le général. En plus de ces missions exécutées selon les directives du bureau programmes et systèmes d’armes de l’EMAT, depuis 2008, la STAT appuie les forces déployées en opérations extérieures, selon une boucle très courte : « Nous proposons des acquisitions en urgence pour les spécificités des différents théâtres. Nous accompagnons nos camarades sur place pour leur expliquer le fonctionnement d’un équipement et nous en profitons pour recueillir les informations sur le matériel et les impressions des utilisateurs. » La STAT participe aussi à la préservation de l’industrie de Défense française, en prenant part à des salons de l’armement, tel Eurosatory dont l’édition 2014 aura lieu en juin. « Expérience opérationnelle, professionnalisme et initiative sont les clés de notre travail. Parmi tous les intervenants dans l’élaboration des équipements. Nous ne sommes pas des ingénieurs techniciens car nous connaissons parfaitement les besoins opérationnels de l’armée de Terre, nous en sommes les garants », insiste le général. Si la STAT conduit les opérations d’armement pour les forces aéroterrestres de l’expression du besoin à leur livraison, les évaluateurs suivent les différents stades de la vie d’un équipement : initialisation, orientation, élaboration, réalisation, utilisation et retrait du service.

04.08.2014 Source Ria Novisti – RT.com

Le premier championnat du monde de biathlon en chars d'assaut a débuté lundi sur le polygone militaire russe d'Alabino, dans la région de Moscou. La compétition se déroule comme une course de relais à ski. Les chars doivent parcourir une piste de plus de 20 km parsemée d'obstacles et participer à trois séances de tir - en utilisant un missile, une mitrailleuse antiaérienne et trois obus d'artillerie.

06/08/2014 par FRANCE 24

Riyad a offert un milliard de dollars à l'armée libanaise pour l'aider à lutter contre les djihadistes de l'EIIL, à la frontière syrienne. Les affrontements ont causé au moins 16 morts dans les rangs de l'armée, dont deux officiers.

L'armée libanaise qui combat les djihadistes à la frontière avec la Syrie a reçu une aide d'un milliard de dollars de la part de l'Arabie saoudite, a annoncé mercredi 6 août l'ex-Premier ministre libanais Saad Hariri, à Jeddah.

Suite de l’article

July 29, 2014 Press Conference by the Defense Minister
 

2014-08-06 xinhua

La Chine a critiqué mardi le dernier livre blanc sur la défense publié par le Japon, accusant le pays d'utiliser la soi-disant menace chinoise comme excuse pour accroître son développement militaire.

Le gouvernement japonais a approuvé mardi un livre blanc sur la défense pour 2014. Le document explique que le Japon doit renforcer sa capacité de défense afin de faire face à un environnement de sécurité de plus en plus rigoureux dans son voisinage, précisant que les menaces venaient de la République populaire démocratique de Corée, de la Chine et de la Russie.

Le document exprime une vive préoccupation concernant le développement militaire de la Chine, l'établissement de la zone d'identification de défense aérienne en mer de Chine orientale, les "rencontres anormalement rapprochées" entre les avions militaires japonais et chinois ainsi que les activités de la partie chinoise en mer de Chine orientale et en mer de Chine méridionale.

Fermant les yeux sur les faits, le Japon procède à des accusations sans fondement et insiste délibérément sur la menace chinoise, selon un communiqué de presse du ministère chinois de la Défense nationale.

"Tout cela constitue une excuse permettant au Japon d'ajuster ses politiques militaires et de sécurité et de renforcer son développement militaire", déclare le ministère tout exprimant sa "forte opposition".

"Nous évaluons actuellement les détails du livre blanc et ferons part de nos réactions complémentaires en temps voulu", a-t-il ajouté.

Le livre blanc propose que le Japon joue un rôle dominant dans la coopération internationale et régionale en matière de défense, ce qui, d'après des analystes, illustre l'ambition de l'administration Abe de faire du Japon une puissance militaire dans la région.

22/07/2014 Communauté Défense

Ce jeudi 9 juillet à Orange, la Cité des princes, la population a rendu un dernier hommage à ses soldats, les légionnaires du 1er régiment étranger de cavalerie.

Après 47 ans de présence, le régiment quitte la ville d'Orange pour rejoindre le camp de Carpiagne, dans les Bouches-du-Rhône. Ce transfert s’inscrit dans le cadre des restructurations militaires annoncées en octobre 2013.

Le transfert du régiment vers Carpiagne permettra au régiment de rester parfaitement opérationnel, notamment en termes d’entraînement et de projection. En effet, le camp, d'une superficie de 1 500 hectares, est situé à proximité de plateformes aéroportuaires et d'aéroports militaires.

La cérémonie de départ du 1er régiment étranger de cavalerie s'est achevée par un défilé des légionnaires qui, une dernière fois, ont traversé l'arc de Triomphe d'Orange.

04 August 2014 defenceWeb (Reuters)

Ask Major-General Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., the top U.S. military officer in Africa, how he thinks U.S. and European-backed African troops are faring in their war on Islamist militants in Somalia, and his answer comes back smartly: "Pretty darn good!".

But when "son of Africa" U.S. President Barack Obama hosts 50 African leaders in Washington this week, the admiration may be less than mutual. Many Africans feel America is lagging behind China and others in its engagement with their continent.

The Aug. 4-6 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, billed by U.S. officials as a first-of-its-kind event, looks like a belated imitation of Africa gatherings hosted in recent years by China, India, Japan and the continent's former colonial master Europe.

The world's richest nation has been slow coming to the party of an economically rising Africa, long dismissed as a hopeless morass of poverty and war, but now offering investors a huge market for everything from banking and retail to mobile phones.

"The United States has fallen perhaps a little bit behind in the race to win African hearts and minds. So I think this is an attempt to compete with the likes of China and the European Union," said Christopher Wood, an analyst in economic diplomacy at the South African Institute of International Affairs.

The top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Linda Thomas-Greenfield bridles at suggestions that the Obama administration is playing catch-up. "Absolutely not," she said.

"Our relationship with Africa is a very strong historic relationship ... We see this as an opportunity to reaffirm that to African leaders," she said in a pre-summit conference call.

CHINA RACES AHEAD

China overtook the United States as Africa's biggest trade partner in 2009. Its leaders have criss-crossed the continent, proffering multi-billion dollar loans, aid and investment deals.

From Malabo to Maputo, Africa is studded with signs of Beijing's diplomatic and commercial outreach: Chinese-built roads, bridges, airports, stadiums, ministries and presidencies.

Since 2009, Obama, despite his African blood through a Kenyan father, has been a far less frequent visitor. His first substantial trip to the continent was only made last year.

Washington's many embassies in Africa - imposing concrete fortresses built to protect against angry mobs or terrorist attacks - project a cautious engagement from an Obama administration highly sensitive to a home public which has no appetite for overseas interventions after Iraq and Afghanistan.

Even U.S. Army Major-General Grigsby, surrounded by F-18s, C130 transports, helicopters and Humvees at his Camp Lemonnier toehold in the turbulent Horn of Africa, acknowledges the U.S. military's "small footprint" on a continent where flaring Islamist insurgencies are stirring international concern.

Security, governance and democracy will be on the agenda when Obama engages the leaders in an "interactive" discussion on Wednesday, following business talks with U.S. CEOs on Tuesday and discussions about health and wildlife trafficking on Monday.

Presidents Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan are among a few left off the invitation list because they are not "in good standing" with Washington for failing to respect human rights and democracy.

Presidents Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone have dropped out because of the deadly Ebola epidemic ravaging their nations. Thomas-Greenfield said ways of fighting the outbreak would be discussed at the summit.

TRADE IN FOCUS

Some concrete initiatives are expected from the meeting.

The United States will announce nearly $1 billion in business deals for the region, increase funding for peacekeeping in six African countries and boost food and power programmes.

Uppermost too will be Obama's strong recommendation for Congress to renew the African Growth Opportunity Act, or AGOA, a 14-year-old trade programme giving most African countries duty-free access to U.S. markets that expires on Sept. 30 next year.

Total U.S. two-way trade in Africa has actually fallen off in recent years, to about $60 billion in 2013, far eclipsed by the European Union with over $200 billion and China, whose $170 billion is a huge increase from $10 billion in 2000, according to a recent Africa in Focus post by the Brookings Institution.

While African leaders are keen on the AGOA renewal, Robert Besseling, Principal Africa Analyst, Economics and Country Risk, at IHS consultancy, said some are seeking better terms of trade.

"Some countries are skeptical about AGOA because it is oriented towards the U.S. companies and can be politically manipulated," Besseling said. For example Swaziland was cut from AGOA last month due to U.S. concerns over democracy there.

Obama officials are hoping to leverage U.S. corporations like General Electric Co, Caterpillar Inc and Procter & Gamble Co into more business opportunities in Africa amid intense competition from across the globe.

"In the boards of directors of big global U.S. companies, more and more people are raising their hands at meetings and saying 'why aren't we in Africa?'," said Toby Moffett, a former Congressman from Connecticut and a senior adviser at law firm Mayer Brown LLP, who has represented African governments.

Orji Uzor Kalu, a Nigerian businessman with oil, tourism and other interests in West Africa, echoed such complaints. "I'm not seeing the effort the U.S. made in Asia, they're not making the same effort in Africa," Kalu said from his Washington D.C. home.

BUILDING SECURITY, DEMOCRACY

Pointing to an Africa map showing hotspots like Somalia, Major-General Grigsby toes the line of a cautious security policy that involves keeping U.S. "boots on the ground" to a minimum while financing African peacekeeping and local training.

"My responsibility from a regional approach is to assist my East African teammates to be able to neutralize violent extremists and conduct their crisis response," Grigsby told Reuters at the Africa Command's Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, where some 3,500 U.S. service personnel are based.

Obama said last year during his Africa trip his country put "muscle behind African efforts" to fight Islamist militants or brutal warlords in the Sahel, Central Africa and Somalia.

Although French forces did the heavy lifting on the ground in driving back an offensive by al Qaeda-allied Islamists in Mali in 2012, Washington has stepped up training African armies and deploying surveillance drones - to Niamey and N'Djamena besides those already operating over the Horn of Africa.

Some of the latest U.S. initiatives have clearly played to American domestic opinion and social media campaigns, such as sending a specialist team to help Nigeria search for the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist group Boko Haram.

While U.S. officials say Washington remains influential, it may no longer wield the diplomatic clout it once had in Africa when it was squaring up to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Many noted how Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, an ally in turbulent central Africa, went ahead in February with signing into law tougher penalties against homosexuality, ignoring an appeal from Obama who warned it would "complicate" relations.

This kind of diplomatic slap in the face "shows they have to reboot the relationship" with Africa, IHS's Besseling said.

On Friday, Uganda's constitutional court struck down the law, citing procedural irregularities.

African leaders have made clear they do not take kindly to moral lectures from Western leaders. By contrast, Beijing's pledges of aid and investment come with "no-strings attached".

But Moffett believes the U.S. insistence on democracy and good governance, which U.S. officials say will be re-affirmed at the summit, reflects a real transformation underway in Africa.

"President (Obama) can actually say, with a straight face, that the trajectory across Africa ... (is) towards more democracy, more adherence to rule of law, more transparency, more judicial independence, less corruption.

"The Chinese guys don't give that speech," Moffett said.

05/08/2014 Sources : EMA

Le 4 août 2014, dans la matinée, la force Sangaris a été violemment prise à partie par une centaine d’individus, formant des groupes lourdement armés à 600 km au Nord de Bangui, à Batangafo. Une partie des groupes a été neutralisée et les autres se sont repliés. Il n’y a pas de blessé parmi les soldats français. Aujourd’hui, la situation est stabilisée à Batangafo.

Des soldats français qui étaient en mission de reconnaissance en direction de Batangafo, en vue de faire appliquer les mesures de confiance, ont été violemment pris à partie par des groupes lourdement armés employant notamment des armes anti-char. L’attaque a été menée par une centaine de combattants qui agissaient de manière coordonnée et ont tenté à plusieurs reprises de déborder le dispositif militaire français.

Le détachement français a immédiatement riposté de façon ferme et proportionnée, bénéficiant de l’appui aérien d’avions de chasse, en provenance de N’Djamena, ainsi que des hélicoptères de la force Sangaris. Ces combats ont duré 07 heures. Ils ont cessé à la tombée de la nuit.

Depuis hier soir, il n’y a pas eu de reprise des combats et la situation est stabilisée à Batangafo. Les éléments de la force Sangaris poursuivent leur mission et maintiennent leur dispositif dans la localité. Déployés dans la ville, les soldats français ont ainsi pris contact avec les autorités locales et les ONG. La force Sangaris travaille en coordination avec les éléments de la mission de l’Union Africaine, afin de faire appliquer les mesures de confiance et en appui de la MISCA. Dans ce cadre, les groupes armés présents à Batangafo ont rejoint leur cantonnement.

L’opération de reconnaissance avait été décidée suite aux récentes exactions rapportées dans la région de Batangafo. Elle est toujours en cours.

Environ 2 000 militaires français sont actuellement déployés dans l’opération Sangaris, aux côtés des 6 000 hommes de la MISCA. Lancée le 5 décembre 2013 par le Président de la République, l’opération Sangaris vise à rétablir une sécurité minimale en République centrafricaine et à faciliter la montée en puissance de la MISCA ainsi que son déploiement opérationnel.

05 August 2014 by Oscar Nkala - defenceWeb

The Nigerian Army says the service will soon get a new camouflage which will make the troops look 'smarter' and more distinguishable from impostors following recent incidents in which civilians and Boko Haram militant group members were arrested for committing crimes while wearing security services camouflage attire.

All three wings of the Nigerian Defence Forces - army, navy and air force - have over the past few years been caught up in extortion and bribery scams in which tricksters in full military fatigues posed as recruiting officers and were paid millions by would-be soldiers.

The defence and police services have also suffered battlefield casualties to Boko Haram militants who attacked them while wearing camouflage attire identical to theirs.

Addressing soldiers of the 149 Battalion at its Ojo Cantonment in Lagos, Chief of Nigerian Army Staff Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah said all officers will soon be outfitted with new sets of uniforms which the defence ministry hopes will differentiate them from impostors. Minimah said the army will now produce the uniforms.

“The Nigerian Army has decided to change the camouflage uniform of the service. We have also decided to make it ourselves so that it will have a uniform look. We will not allow anybody to make them for us. They are currently being made at the Nigerian Army Tailoring Department at Yaba, Lagos State. It will make us look smarter and better,” he said.

Previously, all security services attire and camouflage was tailored by private companies contracted by the respective ministries. Criminal groups including armed carjackers and bank robbers took advantage of the relatively easy access to security services attire and often wear fatigues belonging to the army, navy, air force, police, immigration and other public inspectorate services while committing crimes.

The change of uniform comes against a backdrop of rising incidents in which small military units have been wiped out by Boko Haram militants wearing identical uniforms and driving vehicles painted in services camouflage in war-zones in the restive north.

Minimah warned disgruntled soldiers against using social networks to spread “falsehoods” about alleged dire conditions in the service and information about military equipment and operations in the three war-torn northern states.

“One trend that is also dangerous to the service we all seem to cherish is the misuse of the social media. I urge you to be careful of social media. Some of you like to use Facebook, Twitter and others to report the Army as if you are not a member.

"What you do not know is you are undoing a system you are part of. You can twit on social issues. Do not twit about our locations, equipment, weapons and ammunition. I hope you did not come in to undo the system," he said.

The warning follows revelations from disgruntled soldiers who have taken to social media to voice their frustrations in a dossier of complaints which includes the army's use of poor and defective equipment, lack of reliable re-supply lines, long-duration non-payment of salaries, lack of motivation and lack of operational and force protection vehicles among the reasons for high casualties as the army appears to be losing the war against Boko Haram in the north.

The defence ministry has also threatened to prosecute all officers involved in spreading the information, which the government views as damaging to the local credibility and international standing of the Nigerian Army.