03/09/2014 Par Arnaud de La Grange, rédacteur en chef international au Figaro

FIGAROVOX/ANALYSE - Le rédacteur en chef international du Figaro, Arnaud de la Grange, analyse le rayonnement du Califat islamique à travers le monde. Il s'inquiète de sa popularité croissante au sein des populations.

L'État islamique (EI) a un territoire, une armée, et il s'est installé si vite dans le paysage moyen-oriental que l'on se demande s'il ne va pas bientôt battre monnaie. En quelques mois, le mouvement djihadiste a réussi ce qu'Al-Qaida n'a jamais réellement accompli en une décennie. En proclamant un califat à cheval sur l'Irak et la Syrie, il a bousculé des frontières vieilles d'un siècle et s'est taillé un sanglant royaume d'où il entend bien rayonner. L'État islamique n'a pas seulement un discours mobilisateur, il a la force d'attraction des vainqueurs.

Suite de l’analyse

Armement "Notre priorité commune c'est la paix et la sécurité et notamment au Moyen Orient. Cette exigence est plus que jamais nécessaire maintenant que la crise syrienne a débordé en Irak et qu'un mouvement terroriste (L'Etat islamique) prétend devenir un Etat", a souligné François Hollande.

02/09/2014 latribune.fr 

L'Élysée a annoncé un contrat franco-saoudien de 3 milliards de dollars d'armement pour le Liban en cours de finalisation. L'objectif est de renforcer la coopération au Moyen-Orient, très instable entre le conflit en Syrie et la progression de l'État islamique.

29 août 2014 Belgian Defense

29 août 2014 45e Nord.ca

2 sept. 2014 defenceheadquarters

19/08/2014 Sources : EMA

Le 12 août 2014, la frégate de type La Fayette (FLF) Courbet, actuellement engagée dans l’opération EnduringFreedom(OEF) au sein de la TaskForce150, a effectué une visite de contrôle sur un bâtiment de commerce.

Lors d’un vol de surveillance maritime, l’hélicoptère embarqué Panther avait repéré, au large des côtes yéménites, un boutre suspecté de trafic illicite. Après avoir suivi sa piste durant la nuit, le Courbet a initié une approche au matin en demandant au bâtiment de s’identifier. Celui tardant à hisser son pavillon, et donnant des éléments incohérents, l’équipage de la frégate a donc décidé d’effectuer une visite à bord du boutre, sous la protection de l’hélicoptère.

Après avoir sécurisé le bâtiment, l’équipe de visite a contrôlé les documents d’identification du navire, et des quatorze membres d’équipage, conformément au mandant de leur mission au sein de l’OEF. La nationalité du bâtiment ne pouvant être établie avec certitude, il a été décidé d’inspecter sommairement la cargaison, et de contrôler les outils de navigation et de communication.

Les recherches ayant prouvé qu’il n’y avait rien d’illicite, la visite a pris fin dans l’après-midi. Le Courbet a ensuite repris sa patrouille vers le golfe d’Oman.

Engagé depuis le 4 août dans l’opération Enduring Freedom, le Courbet assure la permanence de la France dans la mission de lutte contre les trafics maritimes liés au terrorisme dans la mer Rouge, le golfe d’Aden et le golfe Persique.

14/08/2014 Par Marc de Boni – LeFigaro.fr

LE SCAN POLITIQUE - Le député explique que la France va livrer aux Kurdes des munitions d'artillerie, du matériel de visée nocturne ou encore des armes antichar.

L'insistance du journaliste n'y a rien fait. Invité du journal de 20h de TF1 mercredi soir, Laurent Fabius a observé une discrétion totalement inflexible au sujet des livraisons d'armes consenties par la France aux forces Kurdes, qui luttent actuellement contre les djihadistes en Irak. «Je ne vais pas vous donner le détail des armes car on ne livre pas le plan de bataille de ses amis à ses adversaires», a expliqué le patron de la diplomatie française. Avant d'ajouter: «Je ne veux pas être plus précis sur la nature des livraisons (…) ce sont des armes sophistiquées». Pas un mot de plus du coté de Laurent Fabius donc, secret stratégique oblige. Peine perdue pour le ministre. Invité de Sud Radio jeudi matin, le député Eduardo Rihan-Cypel n'a pas hésité, lui, à délivrer un avis plus détaillé sur le contenu des livraisons d'armes.

Suite de l’article

Aug 12, 2014 ASDNews Source : Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA)

The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Turkey for AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $320 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on August 11, 2014.

The Government of Turkey has requested a possible sale of 145 AIM-120C-7 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), 10 missile guidance sections, and 40 LAU-129 launchers, containers, support equipment, spare and repair parts, integration activities, publications and technical documentation, test equipment, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor logistics, engineering and technical support, and other related elements or logistics and program support. The estimated cost is $320 million.

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Le général de coprs d'armée Nguyen Chi Vinh, vice-ministre vietnamien de la Défense. (Source : VNA)

13/08/2014 Vietnam +

Israël attache toujours une grande importance à sa coopération avec le Vietnam, notamment dans la défense, et sur la base du respect mutuel, de la compréhension et de la confiance, a déclaré Dan Camen, conseiller chargé de la défense de l’ambassade d’Israël en Thaïlande et au Vietnam.

Dan Camen, qui a été reçu mardi à Hanoi par le général de coprs d'armée Nguyen Chi Vinh, vice-ministre vietnamien de la Défense, a promis que durant son mandat, il fera tout son possible pour promouvoir la coopération dans la défense entre Israël et le Vietnam afin de la porter à la hauteur des potentiels et des atouts de chacun.

Nguyen Chi Vinh, pour sa part, a souhaité que le Vietnam et Israël doivent mener des discussions en vue de la signature rapide d’un mémorandum sur la coopération bilatérale dans la défense et un mémorandum supplémentaire sur le cadre de la coopération dans l’industrie de la défense.

Selon le vice-ministre vietnamien, depuis l’établissement des relations diplomatiques entre le Vietnam et Israël en 1993, les deux pays échangent régulièrement des visites de divers échelons et les relations de coopération dans divers secteurs, dont la défense, ne cessent de s’épanouir.

Les deux pays devront mettre en place un groupe de travail mixte sur la coopération dans la défense pour approfondir leur coopération dans ce secteur, a remarqué le vice-ministre Nguyen Chi Vinh en exprimant également l'espoir qu’Israël aura un attaché de défense au Vietnam dans les temps à venir

August 13, 2014: Strategy Page

In northern Iraq the threat posed by ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) has led to over 2,000 Kurdish women volunteering for combat duty. Another 5,000 had volunteered for support work in the combat zone. This is nothing new for the Kurds, or many other peoples around the globe.

Throughout history women have often served in irregular combat organizations. In modern times, with the arrival of lightweight firearms, more women became capable of handling direct combat. This is because before modern firearms were developed in the 19th century lots of combat was dependent on muscle, which men have a lot more of.

Despite this inability to compete with men in the muscle department women often served as archers, using the small, shorter range short bow that did not require the big muscle of longer range bows. These women became accurate archers because in many cultures women used short bows to hunt small game near their camp or village. Men used more powerful bows for big game. But the short bow could kill a man, especially if he were not wearing a lot of armor. A skilled female archer could regularly get face shots, as they were accustomed to hitting small targets like rabbits and birds.

Despite being Sunni Moslem, the Kurds do not have a lot of restrictions on women. In fact, a lot of the clothing and behavior restrictions associated with Moslem women are, as many Islamic scholars will point out, based on cultural customs not religious scripture. In the Middle East for example, women in many ethnic groups, and of all faiths (including Christians) have ancient customs about women being well covered when in public and generally staying at home. The Kurds have little of that cultural baggage and they do have a tradition of women going to war, especially in self-defense militias. This was the case in Israel during the 1948 war and their Arab opponents were enraged (and humiliated) when they found that the “soldiers” who had just defeated in one encounter or another were female. ISIL will be similarly unamused when they get the same treatment from Kurdish women.

Russia, and other countries, discovered during World War II that women, in general, made better snipers. But that was something any student of archery through the ages could have told you. Since World War II warfare has come to depend more on brains more than muscle. This has made women competitive at more jobs in regular armies.

August 13, 2014: Strategy Page

Hamas hoped for a big popularity boost by taking on Israel again. Didn’t work out that way. While there is a lot of sympathy for the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Hamas is getting no love. It’s gotten so bad that even when Israel bombed mosques that Hamas has been using to store rockets or fire rockets from there were no protests even in Moslem countries. Hamas appears to be suffering from the Al Qaeda Disease. This happens when an Islamic terrorist group gets a lot of Moslems killed and seems to have no realistic agenda to justify the lives it so enthusiastically snuffs out. Hamas should have seen this coming as what is happening to them is just another case of Islamic terrorist groups suffering a big drop in popularity even among Moslems. This was also seen happening with Iraqi Islamic terrorists (ISIL or Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) who, for the second time since 2007, suffered a major dip in approval ratings because of their seemingly pointless brutality.

Back in 2007 it was the "Al Qaeda In Iraq" leadership that was out of control. Back then opinion polls in Moslem countries showed approval and support of al Qaeda plunging, in some cases into single digits. Thus after the 2003 invasion of Iraq al Qaeda managed to take itself from hero to zero in less than four years. Since that low point al Qaeda recovered somewhat but that kinder and gentler approach did not last and by 2013 the Iraqi al Qaeda (now rebranded as ISIL) was again losing popular support. That was quite visible in 2014 when ISIL seized control of parts of Iraq and promptly slaughtered captured Iraqi soldiers and police, mainly because these men were Shia. ISIL put videos of these mass killings on the Internet.

Then ISIL declared the parts of Syria and Iraq it controlled were the new Moslem caliphate. Naturally the ISIL leaders are running this new caliphate and are calling on all Moslems to follow them. Most Moslems have responded, according to recent opinion polls, by expressing greater fear rather than more admiration for Islamic terrorist groups, especially ISIL. In the meantime (earlier in 2014) al Qaeda leadership condemned ISIL as completely out of control and not to be trusted or supported.

In the last year opinion polls show Moslems becoming more hostile to Islamic terrorists, seeing them as a cause for concern not as defenders of Islam. The same thing happened back in 2007 and now, when Hamas began getting more aggressive towards Israel in June of 2014 they found that there Hama was now considered as pointless, and dangerous to Moslems, as ISIL

When al Qaeda showed up in the 1990s as a post-Afghanistan international Islamic terrorist organization they were popular to Moslems in proportion to how far away the al Qaeda violence was. Once al Qaeda began killing people nearby Moslems tended to change their minds and disliked the Islamic terrorists. In 2013 37 percent of Turks were concerned about Islamic terrorism while now it is 50 percent thanks to increased ISIL violence on the Syrian border and some inside Turkey itself. In 2013 54 percent of the people in Jordan were concerned versus 62 percent for the same reason. In Lebanon, where the Syrian violence spilled over quickly after 2011 last year 81 percent were concerned about Islamic terrorism versus 92 percent today.

The hostility towards al Qaeda in the region has tainted all forms of Islamic radicalism, including the Shia ones (especially Hezbollah in Lebanon). Yet once Islamic terrorism disappears again (as it does regularly) many Moslems will get nostalgic for those legendary warriors seeking to defend Islam. This is a cycle many Moslems would like to break, but so far the cycle of violence persists.

The IDF's Skylark mini-UAV is used broadly in support of ground forces in the latest Gaza operation. (Israel Defense Forces)

Aug. 12, 2014 - By BARBARA OPALL-ROME – Defense News

IAF Debuts Hermes 900; IDF Deploys 2 Skylarks With Each Brigade

KASTINA ARMY BASE, ISRAEL — Israeli military commanders are crediting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by Elbit Systems for delivering added operational value in recent combat in Gaza.

From the one-ton Hermes 900 debuted by the Israel Air Force (IAF) to the soldier-launched Skylarks supporting ground-force brigades, officers here say assets acquired from the Haifa, Israel-based firm boosted combat effectiveness of Operation Protective Edge.

While the Skylark mini-UAV has been operational here since 2008, Protective Edge marked the first time it was used in quantities for high-tempo support of ground forces, said Brig. Gen. Roy Riftin, IDF chief artillery officer.

“This was the first time we deployed it broadly,” Riftin said of the system, known here as SkyRider, operated by the Artillery Corps.

“Every brigade — even the reserves — got at least two air vehicles and flew them nonstop; at the same time,” he said.

In an Aug. 12 interview at a base in southern Israel, Riftin said some 18 systems flew hundreds of hours, generating intelligence and streaming target-acquisition data to myriad shooters on the ground.

“It was phenomenal; a real asset,” Riftin said.

“We stretched these systems to the edge of their capability,” he said of the 7.5 Skylark and its 1.1 kilogram payload.

“They created intel; helped close the loop with other shooters ... and served up targets of opportunity for Tammuz,” the officer said of the electro-optic, precision strike system built by Rafael and operated by IDF gunners.

At the opposite end of Elbit’s unmanned portfolio is Hermes 900, which the IAF fielded for the first time during the operation that began July 8 and has not yet officially concluded due to unresolved ceasefire negotiations.

Known here as Kochav (Star), Hermes 900 is the newest system to be integrated into the IAF’s unmanned force. With a maximum takeoff weight of 1.1 tons and payload capacity of some 300 kilograms, it’s double the size of Elbit’s Hermes 450S. The 900 model also carries nearly twice the weight and flies some 12 hours longer than its predecessor.

“The Kochav was introduced during the operation for unique missions that it could perform in a much better way than Hermes 450,” Capt. Grisha, an officer who managed the operational integration of Hermes 900.

In an account published on the IDF’s website, the officer said the Hermes 900 was still undergoing test flights and wasn’t planned for operational deployment until later next year.

“In addition to the aircraft itself, the cockpit and flight systems are much more advanced, which enables greater operational flexibility,” said the officer, whose surname was withheld from publication.

The IDF officer said that following conclusion of the still ongoing operation, Hermes 900 would resume operational integration and flight testing. “There’s still some significant milestones that need to be met,” he said.

Dalia Rosen, a spokeswoman for Elbit, declined comment on company systems deployed in the Protective Edge operation.

“It’s always preferable to hear what the customer has to say,” she said.

A Royal Saudi Air Force AWACS takes off. The US has approved upgrades to five Saudi AWACS aircraft. (Jim Anderson / Boeing)

Aug. 12, 2014 - By AARON MEHTA – Defense News

WASHINGTON — The US cleared two major potential sales to Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced Tuesday.

The Saudi government has requested $2 billion in upgrades for its E-3A airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft. The Saudi military operates five of the command-and-control planes, produced by Boeing.

Upgrades include “Block 40/45 Mission Computing Upgrade systems, 20 Next Generation Identification Friend or Foe (NG IFF) AN/UPX-40, communication equipment, provisioning, spare and repair parts, support equipment, Mission Planning System, repair and return, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment.”

The sale would help “improve the security of a friendly country that has been and continues to be an important force for political stability in the Middle East,” DSCA said in its notice.

Boeing will be the principal contractor on the proposed deal. On Aug. 6, the company announced a $250 million agreement to upgrade NATO’s AWACS fleet.

The agency also cleared a possible sale to Turkey for 145 AIM-120C-7 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles missiles and associated equipment. That sale would be worth an estimated $320 million.

Those missiles will be used on the Turkish Air Force’s fleet of F-16 fighters, although the DSCA notice adds that they could also be used on the country’s eventual F-35 fleet.

The weapons will help “maintain the TAF’s air-to-air capability to defend its extensive coastline and borders against future threat,” according to DSCA. Raytheon would produce the equipment in its Tucson, Arizona, facility.

While both sales have now been cleared by the State Department, they are subject to congressional approval and further negotiations with the potential customers.