5 juillet 2011 Par Rédacteur en chef. PORTAIL DES SOUS-MARINS

Selon la presse officielle iranienne, un sous-marin iranien de conception locale, le Younes, qui avait été envoyé en mission dans les eaux internationales, est rentré mardi dernier.

Le sous-marin iranien Younes avait été envoyé en mission dans les eaux internationales en avril dernier. C’est le premier sous-marin iranien à naviguer en haute-mer.

Il a traversé la mer d’Oman, le nord de l’océan Indien, le golfe d’Aden et la mer Rouge. Il a identifié et intercepté des navires de surface et des sous-marins appartenant à divers pays, pendant sa mission de 66 jours.

Un responsable naval iranien, Hossein Hariri, a expliqué que la « présence du sous-marin en haute-mer prouvait que la marine iranienne n’était pas simplement capable de mener des missions en surface mais aussi sous la surface ».

« Les systèmes modernisés qui ont été utilisés pendant la mission, ont été testés avec succès et la présence du sous-marin dans les eaux internationales a augmenté la confiance en soi de la République Islamique d’Iran et a fait la preuve de sa puissance, » a-t-il poursuivi.

L'analyse de la rédaction :

Le Younes est en réalité un sous-marin de construction russe, classe Kilo (projet 0877EKM), et non pas un sous-marin de conception locale comme le prétend la presse officielle. Certaines sources indiquent une modernisation en 0877.3 (la même que celle subie par les sous-marins indiens).

Selon certains observateurs, en particulier américains, il ne s’agit que de propagande. Une chose est certaine, le sous-marin n’a qu’une autonomie de 45 jours. Si il a bien effectué une mission de 66 jours, cela signifie qu’il s’est ravitaillé quelque part...

Référence : Iranian Students News Agency

photo europaeische-sicherheit.de

04/07/2011 AEROCONTACT

RIYAD/BERLIN, 4 juillet (Reuters) - L'Arabie saoudite achètera à l'Allemagne 200 de chars d'assaut Leopard 2A7+, ont révélé lundi des sources militaires saoudiennes. L'Etat pétrolier du Golfe a déjà acheté 44 chars Leopard dans le cadre de cet accord, a indiqué l'une des sources.

"Jusqu'ici, l'Arabie saoudite a acheté 44 chars à l'Allemagne et (...) au total souhaite en acquérir 200", a-t-elle déclaré, refusant par ailleurs de révéler le montant de cette transaction qui porte sur plusieurs milliards d'euros.

Le gouvernement allemand a refusé de confirmer cette vente.

Les chars d'assaut sont construits par Krauss-Maffei Wegmann et par Rheinmetall.

Der Spiegel avait révélé dimanche que le conseil de sécurité du gouvernement allemand avait donné son feu vert la semaine dernière à cette transaction.

Le journal allemand précisait que l'Arabie saoudite songeait depuis longtemps à acheter des Leopard mais qu'elle s'était vu opposer plusieurs refus, Berlin évoquant un danger pour Israël. Mais, selon le Spiegel, l'Allemagne ne considère plus que les divisions blindés saoudiennes soient un danger pour l'Etat hébreu.

Les Verts et le parti Die Linke (La Gauche) avaient dit qu'ils condamneraient une telle vente si elle se confirmait dans la mesure où elle enfreindrait les restrictions sur les exportations d'armements.

(Amena Bakr et Eric Kelsey, Michael Nienaber à Berlin et Jens Hack à Münich, Catherine Monin pour le service français, édité par Wilfrid Exbrayat)

4 juillet 2011 Guysen International News

La commission parlementaire des lois a approuvé lundi les nouveaux règlements visant à encourager le système militaire à faire l’acquisition de produits fabriqués en Israël, comme les textiles, les tentes et les couvertures utilisées par Tsahal. Cette initiative a été lancée par la député Shelly Yehimovitch (Parti travailliste) et a été adoptée antérieurement par le gouvernement.

Mitrailleur d'un hélicoptère Chinook américain au dessus de l'Afghanistan.AFP/TED ALJIBE

03.07.11 LEMONDE.FR avec AFP

Le général Ahmad Vahidi, ministre iranien de la défense, a qualifié de "mensonges" les accusations des responsables militaires américains sur l'envoi d'armes par l'Iran en Irak et en Afghanistan pour armer les rebelles. "Les mensonges répétitifs et ridicules des Américains visent à justifier leurs erreurs", a déclaré, samedi, le général Vahidi à l'agence semi-officielle Fars.

Le Wall Street Journal, citant des officiers américains ayant requis l'anonymat, a affirmé vendredi que l'Iran fournissait des armes aux rebelles irakiens et des roquettes longue portée aux talibans pour attaquer à distance les forces américaines et de la coalition. "Nous assistons à une augmentation des attaques dans le pays surtout à Bagdad et dans le sud" de la part des milices chiites soutenues par l'Iran, a déclaré pour sa part le général Jeffrey Buchanan, porte-parole des forces américaines en Irak, interrogé par le quotidien américain.

Le général Buchanan a souligné que les groupes d'insurgés chiites irakiens étaient liés à la Force al-Quds, l'unité chargée des opérations secrètes au sein des Gardiens de la révolution, l'armée idéologique du régime iranien.

Avec 14 morts, l'armée américaine en Irak a connu en juin son mois le plus meurtrier depuis trois ans à la suite d'attaques menées surtout dans le sud chiite par des insurgés soutenus par l'Iran qui veulent empêcher une présence militaire américaine après 2011. Ces dernières semaines, les talibans ont également multiplié les attaques contre les forces américaines et leurs alliés de l'Otan en Afghanistan.L'Iran répète régulièrement son hostilité à la présence des forces américaines en Irak et en Afghanistan.

Washington (AFP) July 1, 2011- spacewar.com

The Iranian military smuggled new deadly munitions to its allies in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent months in order to to accelerate the US withdrawals from these countries, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday

Citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has supplied its allies with rocket-assisted exploding projectiles, which have already killed American troops.

The officials said Iranians had also given long-range rockets to the Taliban in Afghanistan, increasing the insurgents' ability to hit US and other coalition positions from a safer distance, the report said.

"I think we are likely to see these Iranian-backed groups continue to maintain high attack levels," Major General James Buchanan, the top US military spokesman in Iraq, told The Journal. "But they are not going to deter us from doing everything we can to help the Iraqi security forces."

Violence killed more Iraqis last month than at any time since September, figures showed on Friday after the US reported deaths that also made June the deadliest month for its troops in Iraq for three years.

The Baghdad government blames Al-Qaeda for most of the 271 deaths of its citizens last month, while the US military accuses Iranian-backed Shiite insurgent groups for the attacks that killed 14 Americans.

Data compiled by the health, interior and defence ministries showed that 155 civilians, 77 policemen and 39 soldiers died in attacks last month, 34 percent more than the 177 killed in May.

The majority of American troops killed in June died in rocket attacks against military bases, or by roadside bombs that targeted their convoys.

Last month's toll was the highest since June 2008, when 23 American soldiers were killed, at a time when US forces were directly involved in fighting insurgents.

Jul 3, 2011 MYA/HGH/MMN - presstv.ir

Iranian commander Brigadier General Ali Razmjou says the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has deployed short and medium range missiles in the Persian Gulf.

“A considerable number of speed vessels, and vessels that can carry different kinds of missile and torpedo launchers have joined the IRGC's Navy,” Razmjou said on Sunday.

He said supplying the IRGC forces with advanced equipment was aimed at increasing “Iran's defensive and deterrence power” in order to “maintain the stable security of the strategic area of the Persian Gulf.”

“The powerful presence of the IRGC in the Persian Gulf, including its speed vessels and missile stations on the isles and shores has caused the foreign naval fleets to change their routes and travel towards the south of the Persian Gulf,” IRNA quoted the Iranian commander as saying.

Referring to the IRGC policy of holding military drills in the Persian Gulf with the aim of ensuring that the forces are always ready as well as to establish stable security in the region, Razmjou said a “new maneuver would be staged in the [coastal] waters of Bushehr Province in the future.”

IRGC started the 10-day Great Prophet 6 drills on Monday and unveiled underground silos meant to protect the country's missiles and fired Fateh (Conqueror)-110 medium-range ballistic missiles, which have been fitted with improved precision targeting.

On the second day, the military successfully launched 14 surface-to-surface missiles.

On the third day of the exercises the Armed Forces were equipped with the Ghadir radar system, which can monitor a radius of 1,100 and a height of 300 kilometers.

A German-made Leopard battle tank

Jul 3, 2011 - presstv.ir

Germany plans to sell 200 Leopard tanks to Saudi Arabia after lifting a decades-long ban on selling heavy weaponry to the Persian Gulf kingdom.

The German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported the decision on Saturday, saying the Federal Security Council approved the multi-billion-dollar sale last week.

Saudi officials held talks with the Spanish subsidiary of the US military-industrial complex corporation General Dynamics about buying their version of the Leopard tank, but a larger portion of the order will go to German companies Kraus-Maffei and Rheinmetall, the report said.

Under the deals announced by the German government, Saudi Arabia will receive 200 of the last generation of Leopard 2A7+ tanks -- the upgraded version of the German battle tank first presented in 2010.

Germany imposed a ban on the sale of advanced Leopard 2 tanks to Saudi Arabia in the 1980s, citing fears that they might be used against Israel.

The Saudis are also in talks with US companies to buy nearly 60 billion dollars worth of arms, including 84 new F-15 fighter jets and 178 combat helicopters.

The sales come at a time when Riyadh is being roundly censured for its military interventions in neighboring Bahrain and Yemen.

The Saudi army launched an all-out military offensive against Houthi fighters in Yemen's northern province of Sa'ada in 2010. In March 2011, the Saudis deployed troops to Bahrain to help the regime's forces crack down on nationwide protests.

MRS/HGL

2 Jul 2011 DefenseNews AFP

KUWAIT CITY - Kuwaiti naval forces on July 2 ended a mission to secure Bahrain's maritime border they began in March amid a crackdown on Shiite protesters, the official KUNA news agency reported.

"The Kuwaiti naval task force in the Kingdom of Bahrain ended today (July 1) its mission to contribute to the protection of the maritime border of Bahrain and securing it in cooperation with the Bahraini navy, which began in March," KUNA said.

The announcement came the same day that Bahrain opened a national dialogue said to be aimed at relaunching political reforms.

Saudi Arabia deployed about a thousand troops to Bahrain in March while the United Arab Emirates sent some 500 police - deployments that freed up Bahraini security forces to crush a month-long Shiite-led protest movement calling for reforms in the Sunni-ruled, Shiite-majority kingdom.

A Saudi official said on June 28 that the Peninsula Shield force of Gulf troops sent to Bahrain were to be "redeployed" but will not withdraw completely.

Kuwaiti Sunni Islamist MPs had announced before the naval deployment that they would move to question the prime minister in parliament for not sending troops to Bahrain.

source aerocontact.com

02.07.2011 par Dominique Bourra, CEO of NanoJV

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)  et la branche militaire d’Airbus sortent conjointement le nec plus ultra de la guerre info-centrée. On connaissait les Awacs pour Airborne Warning and Control System. Voici désormais les « AEWACS » plus avancés technologiquement.

June 30th, 2011 MDAA SOURCE: Yahoo News

Iran has carried out secret tests of ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload in breach of UN resolutions, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Wednesday.

Hague’s comments came a day after Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said they had fired 14 missiles in an exercise, one of them a medium-range weapon capable of striking Israel or US targets in the Gulf.

In a statement to lawmakers, Hague said: “Iran has also been carrying out covert ballistic missile tests and rocket launches, including testing missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload in contravention of UN resolution 1929.”

He said Iran had also announced plans to triple its capacity to produce 20 percent enriched uranium, adding: “These are enrichment levels far greater than is needed for peaceful nuclear energy.

“We will maintain and continue to increase pressure on Iran to negotiate an agreement on their nuclear programme,” including sanctions, he said.

There was no immediate reaction from Tehran, which denies Western claims that it is pursuing nuclear weapons under the guise of its civil atomic programme.

On Tuesday Iranian state media said the Revolutionary Guards fired nine Zelzal missiles, two Shahab-1s, two Shahab-2s and a single medium-range Ghadr on the second day of their Great Prophet-6 exercise.

On the first day of the exercise on Monday, the Guards unveiled an “underground missile silo” which they said was designed for launching their medium-range missiles, state television reported.

The Guards’ aerospace commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh insisted Iran’s missile programme posed no threat to European nations but was intended to provide defence against “US targets in the region and the Zionist regime.”

Iran has said that its latest exercise is not aimed at any country but carries “a message of peace and friendship.”

On Tuesday US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Iran was “bragging” about its assets, but did not specify whether Washington thought the tested missiles were nuclear-capable.

Iran’s missile programme, which is under the control of the powerful Guards along with its space projects, has been a mounting source of concern in the West.

Western governments fear Tehran is seeking to develop a ballistic capability to enable it to launch atomic warheads under cover of its civil nuclear programme.

Hague meanwhile reiterated accusations that Iran was backing the violent suppression of pro-democracy protests in neighbouring Syria.

Earlier this month the British envoy in Tehran was summoned to the foreign ministry over the claims.

“Iran continues to connive in the suppression of legitimate protest in Syria and to suppress protests at home,” Hague said.

Jun 30, 2011 ASDNews Source : Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA)

Washington - The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress today of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Iraq for follow-on support and maintenance of multiple aircraft systems and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $675 million.

The Government of Iraq has requested a possible sale of follow-on support and maintenance of multiple aircraft systems that include TC-208s, Cessna 172s, AC-208s, T-6As, and King Air 350s. Included are ground stations, repair and return, spare and repair parts, support equipment, publications and technical data, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, logistics, and technical support services, and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated cost is $675 million.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country. This proposed sale directly supports the Iraq government and serves the interests of the Iraqi people and the U.S.

The proposed sale will help the Iraqi government to maintain indigenous Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance, training, and counter insurgency/counter-terrorism capabilities. As the drawdown of coalition forces continues, the Iraqi Air Force continues to develop a force capable of assuming the lead in providing for the security of the Iraqi people. The follow-on support will ensure the operational capability of the Iraqi Air Force and will allow it to sustain itself in its efforts to establish stability in Iraq.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

Jun 29, 2011 Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI)

Israel's growing missile defenses will reportedly be integrated into the United States' planned regional defense network -- and could end up shielding Arab states that, in theory at least, are considered adversaries of the Jewish state.

Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, head of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, told Defense News, a Washington weekly, that the multi-tiered Israeli system would strengthen the U.S. military's ability to protect its forces in the Middle East.

Israel is the only state with operational systems capable of intercepting rockets and missiles of different calibers and range.

Merging the two networks has actually been under way for some time.

Israel and U.S. forces have conducted several biennial Juniper Cobra joint exercises between the Israeli armed forces and the U.S. European Command to develop the interoperability of their air-defense systems.

In September 2008, Eurocom deployed a powerful Raytheon AN/TPY-2 X-band radar system to the Nevatim air base in the Negev Desert of southern Israel to bolster the Jewish state's air-defense capabilities.

The long-range X-band allows Israel's Arrow-2 anti-ballistic missile interceptor system, two batteries of which are currently operational, to engage Iranian Shehab-3b missiles about halfway through their 11-minute flight.

That's about six times faster than the Green Pine radar system used by Arrow.

Israeli commentators have argued that the U.S. effort to bolster Israel's air defenses is designed to discourage the country's political leadership from launching pre-emptive strikes against Iran's nuclear infrastructure to delay development of nuclear weapons.

If that is indeed the case, O'Reilly's disclosure of the integration of the two militaries' air-defense systems coincides with reports that Iran has accelerated its efforts to develop long-range missiles capable of hitting Israel and beyond.

Those reports were given added weight by Foreign Secretary William Hague of Britain Wednesday. He told Parliament in London that Tehran had conducted secret tests of ballistic missiles recently.

His gave no timeframe. But British sources claim Iran has carried out at least three tests with medium-range ballistic weapons since October amid other reports that it's also accelerating efforts to produce nuclear warheads.

Iranian forces are currently engaged in a 10-day program of maneuvers, codenamed Great Prophet 6, during which commanders claim they have test-fired liquid-fueled Shehabs.

They made no mention of the advanced and more accurate solid-fuel Sejjil-2 missile, which is the weapon that causes the most consternation in the West.

Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' strategic missiles forces, said Iran can produce intercontinental ballistic missiles but doesn't need to since it already has weapons that can reach Israel and U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf.

These have ranges of up to 1,250 miles, enough to reach Israel and parts of southeastern Europe.

Western and Israeli intelligence services say Iran wants to produce intercontinental missiles with a range of up to 3,750 miles.

The Revolutionary Guards also unveiled what were identified as missile silos, facilities not seen in Iran before.

With regard to the planned integration of U.S. and Israeli missile defense systems, O'Reilly acknowledged this could mean Israeli batteries would be used to protect Arab states that are allies of the United States but which do not have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

Egypt and Jordan both have peace treaties with Israel, so it was not clear to which Arab states O'Reilly was referring. But it was mostly likely Saudi Arabia and its partners in the Persian Gulf, which at present are vulnerable to Iranian missile attack. Several host U.S. military bases that are within range of Iranian missiles.

Israel's multi-layered missile shield is still partly under development, although the high-altitude Arrow-2 system, jointly funded by the United States, has been in place since 2000.

A more powerful Arrow-3 variant capable of intercepting Iranian missiles outside Earth's atmosphere is being developed. It would be deployed alongside the Arrow-2s.

In March, the Iron Dome interceptor system, designed to counter short-range rockets and missiles, successfully made its combat debut in shooting down eight out of nine Grad-type rockets unleashed on southern Israel.

The fourth system, David's Sling, is still being developed and isn't likely to be operational before 2013. It's designed to counter medium-range missiles.

Israel's Defense Ministry says it plans to integrate all four systems, plus U.S.-supplied Patriots, into a national command center.