China Lands new fighter jet on Chinese carrier

This will cause problems for our navy, Our carrier striking force has served our interest and kept the peace for many years, now we have a resurgent China and they would love for us to leave the Pacific and let them spread their influence, threaten Taiwan, the Philippines, we have spilled blood together with them, and other nations up to and including Australia.

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  A carrier-borne J-15 fighter jet …
  
  

  

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has carried out its first successful landing of a fighter jet on its first aircraft carrier, state media said on Sunday, a symbolically significant development as Asian neighbors fret about the world's most populous country's military ambitions.

The home-built J-15 fighter jet took off from and landed on the Liaoning, a reconditioned Soviet-era vessel from Ukraine which only came into service in September this year.

China ushered in a new generation of leaders this month at the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, with outgoing President Hu Jintao making a pointed reference to strengthening China's naval forces, protecting maritime interests and the need to "win local war".

China is embroiled in disputes with the Philippines and Vietnam over South China Sea islands believed to be surrounded by waters rich in natural gas. It has a similar dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea.

It has also warned the United States, with President Barack Obama's "pivot" to Asia, not to get involved.

"We should make active planning for the use of military forces in peacetime, expand and intensify military preparedness, and enhance the capability to accomplish a wide range of military tasks, the most important of which is to win local war in an information age," Hu said.

China has advertised its long-term military ambitions with shows of new hardware, including its first test flight of a stealth fighter jet in early 2011, an elite helicopter unit and the launch of the aircraft carrier.

China is boosting military spending by 11.2 percent this year, bringing official outlays on the People's Liberation Army to 670.3 billion yuan ($100 billion) for 2012, after a 12.7 percent increase last year and a near-unbroken string of double-digit rises across two decades.

Beijing's public budget is widely thought by foreign experts to undercount its real spending on military modernization, which has drawn repeated calls from the United States for China to share more about its intentions.

China's state-run Xinhua news portal said the J-15 - which can carry multi-type anti-ship, air-to-air, and air-to-ground missiles - is comparable to the Russian Su-33 jet and the U.S. F-18. It did not say when the landing on the carrier took place.

(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Nick Macfie)

China Rejects blame for Indian Aircraft Carrier mishaps

the article is compliments of international news sources and the pictures are compliments of various internet sources, the insertions are compliments of me and Wiki;)


RIA Novosti
13:49 28/09/2012
BEIJING, September 28 (RIA Novosti) - China has denied Russian claims that Chinese firebricks were to blame for boiler failures in the Russian-refitted Indian Navy aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, which suffered propulsion problems during sea trials in the Barents Sea last month, local daily Beitsin Chenbao reported, quoting Defense Minister Yan Yujun.
"We checked this, and found that Chinese enterprises which make such firebricks for naval propulsion systems have never exported such products to Russia," Yan said.
Earlier this month, Russian media reports, quoting Andrei Dyachkov, President of United Russian Shipbuilding corporation which refitted the carrier, claimed the ship's boilers had been damaged due to failures in the brick insulation separating them from the ship's structure. The shipyard used "sub-standard Chinese firebricks," Dyachkov said.
Another official involved in preparing the Vikramaditya for sea trials, claimed the reason for the boilers’ failure was India refused to use asbestos to protect the structure around the boilers from heat, fearing that the material was dangerous for the crew. He said the boilers’ designer had to use firebrick, which proved not sufficiently heatproof.
The Vikramaditya was to have been handed over to India on December 4 after the sea trials following a much-delayed refit that has gone massively over-budget. The deadline has now been postponed again until October 2013, and the cost of the new repairs to the boilers has not been revealed.
The boiler problem is the latest in a string of hold-ups in the refit of the ship, in a defense deal that has turned into a shipwreck of its own, going way over budget and being repeatedly delayed.
India and Russia signed a $947 million dollar deal in 2005 for the purchase of the carrier, formerly the Russian Navy's Admiral Gorshkov, but delivery has already been delayed twice, pushing up the cost of refurbishing the carrier to $2.3 billion.
Sevmash shipyard director Vladimir Pastukhov was fired in 2007 over his poor management of the project.
The Vikramaditya was originally built as the Soviet Project 1143.4 class aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. The Project 1143.4 carriers and a class of destroyers with the same engines suffered a history of boiler failures during their lives.
The ship was laid down in 1978 at the Nikolayev South shipyard in Ukraine, launched in 1982, and commissioned with the Soviet Navy in 1987.
It was renamed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1994, the Gorshkov sat in dock for a year for repairs after a boiler room explosion. In 1995, it briefly returned to service but was finally withdrawn and put up for sale in 1996.
The ship has a displacement of 45,000 tons, a maximum speed of 32 knots and an endurance of 13,500 nautical miles (25,000 km) at a cruising speed of 18 knots

Pakistan opens the land route to A'Stan

I wonder how much money we had to pay off Pakistan to allow our stuff to Afghanistan.  This will be handy we we pull our stuff out from downrange.  Pakistan is a place that played both sides against each other.

Panetta Welcomes Opening of Pakistan Supply Lines

By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

In-Depth Coverage

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2012 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta today welcomed Pakistan’s decision to open ground lines of communication on the border with Afghanistan that have been closed since November.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the decision after a telephone call this morning with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
“As I have made clear,” Panetta said, “we remain committed to improving our partnership with Pakistan and to working closely together as our two nations confront common security challenges in the region."
On the call with Khar, Clinton said, “I once again reiterated our deepest regrets for the tragic incident in Salala last November. I offered our sincere condolences to the families of the Pakistani soldiers who lost their lives.”
Clinton and Khar acknowledged the mistakes that resulted in the loss of Pakistani military lives, she added.
“We are sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military,” she added. “We are committed to working closely with Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again.”
In reopening the ground lines of communication, Pakistan will not charge transit fees in the larger interest of peace and security in Afghanistan and the region, Clinton said.
“This is a tangible demonstration of Pakistan’s support for a secure, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan and our shared objectives in the region,” she said, adding that the move will help the United States and the International Security Assistance Force conduct the planned drawdown at a much lower cost.
“This is critically important to the men and women who are fighting terrorism and extremism in Afghanistan,” Clinton said.
Khar said no lethal equipment will transit Pakistan into Afghanistan unless it is meant to equip the Afghan national security force.
During the call, Khar and Clinton discussed the importance of taking coordinated action against terrorists who threaten Pakistan, the United States and the region, she said.
Clinton said she and Khar also discussed supporting Afghanistan’s security, stability and efforts towards reconciliation, and continuing to work together to advance the two nations’ many other shared interests, from increasing trade and investment to strengthening our people-to-people ties.
“Our countries should have a relationship that is enduring, strategic and carefully defined, and that enhances the security and prosperity of both our nations and the region,” the secretary said.
U.S. and Pakistani troops are in a fight against a common enemy, she said, and have enhanced counterterrorism cooperation against terrorists that threaten both countries, with the goal of defeating al-Qaida in the region.
As the call ended, Clinton said, “I reiterated our deep appreciation to the government and the people of Pakistan for their many sacrifices and their critical contribution to the ongoing fight against terrorism and extremism.”

India's Aircraft readies for sea trials..

India's Russian-built Aircraft Carrier Starts Sea Trials

 

RIA Novosti
10:30 08/06/2012 SEVERODVINSK, June 8 (RIA Novosti) - The Indian Navy's Russian-built aircraft carrier Vikramaditya (formerly Admiral Gorshkov) began sea trials early on Friday morning in the White Sea - four years after it was originally due to take to sea again.
The ship was refitted at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia. It was originally scheduled to begin sea trials, which will last 120 days, on May 25.
A mixed Russian-Indian crew is on board the vessel, with the Indian sailors learning how to operate the vessel. After initial sea trials in the White Sea the ship will sail to the Barents Sea for exercises with military aircraft.
India and Russia signed a $947 million dollar deal in 2005 for the purchase of the carrier, but delivery has already been delayed twice, pushing up the cost of refurbishing the carrier to $2.3 billion.
Sevmash shipyard director Vladimir Pastukhov, was fired in 2007 over his poor management of the project.
The Vikramaditya was originally built as the Soviet Project 1143.4 class aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.
The ship was laid down in 1978 at the Nikolayev South shipyard in Ukraine, launched in 1982, and commissioned with the Soviet Navy in 1987.
It was renamed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1994, the Admiral Gorshkov sat in dock for a year for repairs after a boiler room explosion. In 1995, it briefly returned to service but was was finally withdrawn and put up for sale in 1996.
The ship has a displacement of 45,000 tons, a maximum speed of 32 knots and an endurance of 13,500 nautical miles (25,000 km) at a cruising speed of 18 knots.
India has already started taking delivery of MiG-29K naval fighter aircraft for the Vikramaditya, as they were ready before the refit was completed. The MiG-29Ks will operate in STOBAR (short take-off but assisted recovery via arresting wires) mode.
The MiG-29K was reportedly selected over the larger and more-capable Su-33 naval fighter because India also hopes to operate them from its smaller, indigenous “Project-71 Air Defense Ship” carriers, according to defenseindustrydaily.com.

R.O.C Wants to purchase F-35's

   With Obungler and his administration fearing to upset the Red Chinese because of the massive debt that we owe the Chinese, they are stalling on selling the Taiwanese more advanced weapons to preclude a Chinese attack on what they call their breakaway province  an internal matter is what Obungler will justify the United States not coming to their aid as called by treaty obligations.  The Red Chinese have stealth fighters in their inventory, I remember the Chinese running all over Bosnia buying up the pieces of that F117 stealth fighter that was shot down in the late 90's.  Why we didn't drop a cluster bomb on the wreckage to vaporize it I don't know...but wait, we had a democratic president in charge back then.  This demonstrates the international problems of the massive debts that we have accrued, this debt hampers the ability of the United States on the international stage, it also doesn't help that we have a vacillating president on the stage representing us.  The Taiwanese government believes that the F-35 will achieve parity with the Chinese J-20 that is believed to be parity to the United States F-22 Raptor

    

F-35 fighters best suit Taiwan's air defense needs: official

ROC Central News Agency
2012/05/29 15:23:29
Taipei, May 29 (CNA) F-35 stealth fighters are the new-generation combat aircraft that best serve Taiwan's air defense needs, a military official said Tuesday, the latest hint that the government may not be as keen to acquire advanced F-16 C/D fighters as once thought.
The F-35s, with their short takeoff capability, would bolster the country's defense capabilities, as airports are likely to be destroyed by enemy forces in the event of war, the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The official's remarks came after the U.S. House of Representatives voted earlier this month in favor of the U.S. government selling 66 F-16 C/Ds to Taiwan to help the island close its military gap with China.
Taiwan has long lobbied Washington to sell it the advanced fighters, but the Obama administration decided last year to offer Taiwan a retrofit package for its aging F-16 A/B fleet rather than new F-16 C/Ds.
Since then, the U.S. Congress has pushed the government to also sell Taiwan the more advanced fighters, and following the House vote, the Ministry of National Defense issued a statement thanking it for its support.
But it also noted that Taiwan was reassessing its need for more advanced jet fighters because some of the functions of the upgraded F-16 A/Bs were better than those of the F-16 C/Ds, and it said that Taiwan, like Japan and Australia, would pursue the purchase of new-generation combat aircraft.
Because Japan and Australia have announced plans to buy F-35s, the statement triggered speculation that Taiwan's interest in the F-16 C/D fighters had cooled.
Asked about the issue, the official said the ministry will make an overall assessment of foreign purchases of military aircraft and make sure the defense budget is well spent.
"There are many options on the table," the official said. "These include cutting the number of F-16 C/Ds we have requested."
In an interview with CNA, ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Luo Shou-he reiterated Taiwan's gratitude for U.S. support and urged Washington to continue selling Taiwan defensive weapons based on the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).
The TRA, enacted in 1979 when Washington and Taipei severed ties, obliges the U.S. to help Taiwan defend itself.
In September 2011, the U.S. approved the sale of a retrofit package for F-16 A/B fighters and related training at an estimated cost of US$5.85 billion.
(By Elaine Hou)
ENDITEM/ls

Iran sends forces to aid Syria

It looks like Iran is trying to become a major player in the region, with Iraq neutralized by infighting Iran is capitalizing on its relation with Syria.  The same Iran that sent revolutionary guards to kill American G.I in Iraq is sending troops to prop up the Syrian president in the fighting that is going on in his country.  This will basically tie Syria closer to Iran especially if Israel have to bomb the Iranian nuclear ambitions, this almost would force Syria to attack Israel to support its treaty obligations along with Syria wanting the Golan Heights back.  With Egypt on the cusp of electing a muslim brotherhood as its president this will force a two front war with Israel and the tepid relations between Israel and its most important ally the United States, with Obungler overt support of the Muslim Brotherhood this makes Israel alone in the middle east, a very dangerous position to be in.
 

Tehran Sent Troops to Syria - Iranian Officer

RIA Novosti
13:35 29/05/2012
MOSCOW, May 29 (RIA Novosti) - A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander has admitted that Iran has sent its troops to help the regime of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fight opposition forces.
“Before our presence in Syria, too many people were killed by the opposition but with the physical and non-physical presence of the Islamic republic, big massacres in Syria were prevented,” Ismail Gha’ani, the deputy head of Iran’s Quds force, a shadowy branch of the Revolutionary Guards in charge of overseas operations, said in an interview with the semi-official Iranian Student’s News Agency (ISNA), according to a report by the Persian-language GozaraNews website.
ISNA published the interview on Sunday night, but subsequently removed it from its website “under pressure,” the report said.
Syria is Iran’s most important regional ally, and Tehran has long used its neighbor’s territory as a base for operations to maintain a lifeline to militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas, Iran’s proxies in southern Lebanon and Gaza.
Rumors that Iran has provided military support to Assad, to assist his crackdown on the popular uprising that has challenged his family’s 40-year grip on power, have circulated since the outbreak of protests in Syria in March 2011.
The Gha’ani remarks followed the weekend massacre of more than 100 civilians, including dozens of children, in the Houla township in western Syria, which has triggered an international outcry, including a Sunday statement by the UN Security Council describing the massacre as an “outrageous use of force against civilian population.”
Syrian opposition activists have blamed the killings on pro-government fighters, an accusation categorically denied by the Syrian authorities, who said the tragedy was a terrorist plot aimed at undermining the regime.
UN observers working in Syria have confirmed that tanks and artillery were used in the weekend attacks on Houla, as well as that many of those killed were stabbed or shot at point-blank range, raising questions among observers about who could benefit from the tragedy.

Gadhafi"s Ex-soldiers spreading Chaos throughout Africa

That hope and change just spread more Chaos throughout Africa.

      I remember a quote from a book I had read a long time that explained the situation in Africa.  "it is 5 minutes to high noon somewhere in Africa."

      Due to the boundaries cutting across tribal boundaries, that is where the genocide that crops across there from time to time.

• Gadhafi's Mercenaries Spread Guns …

When Libya's dictator for more than four decades fell victim to the Arab Spring, Col. Moammar Gadhafi's influence didn't end.  It is now contributing to increased attacks by rebel groups, the arming of terrorists and a hunger crisis in other parts of Africa. "This is a setback for the international community which has invested so much money in the past decade in democracy, peace, and security in Africa," said Dr. Mehari Taddele Maru at the Institute for Security Studies based in Pretoria, South Africa.
After Gadhafi's fall, thousands of his soldiers left the country with stockpiles of weapons, including machine guns, ammunition, and shoulder-fired missiles.  Maru says at least 2,000 of them were mercenaries who returned to their native countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Mali, Niger, Mauritania, and Nigeria. .  Many have already returned to fighting.

In the West African country of Mali, when ethnic Taureg fighters returned from Libya well armed, it encouraged Taureg separatists to launch a new rebellion against the government in January.  While Gadhafi's weapons were no match for the NATO forces that came to the rescue of Libyan revolutionaries, they were far superior to the weapons of the impoverished Malian army.  A mutiny by Mali's out-gunned and frustrated soldiers turned into a coup d'etat when they stormed the Presidential Palace in March, erasing more than two decades of democratic rule.

In the chaos that has ensued after the coup, Taureg separatists in Mali have had more success than ever before.  On Sunday they seized the last government holdout in the north, the legendary town of Timbuktu.  There is now concern a Taureg victory in Mali could inspire another rebellion in neighboring Niger.

"The Tauregs in Niger got funding from Gadhafi.  The government of Niger has been able to negotiate with them for peace, but for how long? That is questionable," said Maru.

Gadhafi's fighters and weapons also streamed into other nearby countries in the Sahel region bordering the Sahara desert.  It is an area where a major Al-Qaeda affiliate has announced it acquired thousands of Gadhafi's weapons.

"We have been one of the main beneficiaries of the revolutions in the Arab world," Mokhtar Belmokhar, a leader of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) told Mauritanian news agency ANI last November.

The proliferation of weapons in the Sahel comes at an especially bad time.  After another year of drought in parts of Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, and Burkina Faso, aid agencies say millions of people need urgent food assistance, but violence in the region makes it hard- in some places impossible- to help.

"Under these security conditions, we are not able to access the displaced who are living in extremely difficult conditions," said UNHCR spokeswoman Fatouma Lejeune-Kabu about trying to help those forced to flee their homes in northern Mali.

The U.N. estimates about 130,000 people in Mali have been displaced by the fighting between Taureg rebels and the government army.

Maru believes Gadhafi's weapons will spread farther in Africa.  Gadhafi supported insurgencies in several African countries including Chad and Sudan.  He also voiced support for Islamic separatists in northern Nigeria, and some analysts suspect he had been supporting Boko Haram Islamic militants.

"Those arms can circulate and come into the hands of anyone who can pay for them," Maru said.

The impact of Gadhafi's trained mercenaries and arsenal of weapons will likely be felt on the continent for years.

"Until such time as the root causes of rebel uprisings are addressed, such as marginalization by governments and socio-economic struggle, the demand for arms and rebel movements will continue," said Maru.

Russian Troops in Syria

This is a game changer.  As we used to say when I was in the service  "the Russians are coming"   This stuff would scare the crap out of any analyst.  This has got to be making israel nervous, the Russians have a military presence in Syria, the iranians are rattling their nuclear sabre, Putin is getting frisky and their number 1 ally is the United States and obungler is in charge.
     Remember the 3:00 AM video that Hillery released when she was going for president?   Well the phone is ringing and Obungler has the answering machine to say "present" to reflect his record in the senate.

     Elections have consequences......

Enlarge Photo

• Russian Anti-Terror Troops Arrive in Syria (ABC Ne …

A Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, according to Russian news reports, a development that a United Nations Security Council source told ABC News was "a bomb" certain to have serious repercussions.

Russia, one of President Bashar al-Assad's strongest allies despite international condemnation of the government's violent crackdown on the country's uprising, has repeatedly blocked the United Nations Security Council's attempts to halt the violence, accusing the U.S. and its allies of trying to start another war.

Now the Russian Black Sea fleet's Iman tanker has arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea with an anti-terror squad from the Russian Marines aboard according to the Interfax news agency. The Assad government has insisted it is fighting a terrorist insurgency.

The Iman replaced another Russian ship "which had been sent to Syria for demonstrating (sic) the Russian presence in the turbulent region and possible evaluation of Russian citizens," the Black Sea Fleet told Interfax.

RIA Novosti, a news outlet with strong ties to the Kremlin, trumpeted the news in a banner headline that appeared only on its Arabic language website. The Russian embassy to the US and to the UN had no comment, saying they have "no particular information on" the arrival of a Russian anti-terrorism squad to Syria.

Moscow has long enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Assad regime, to which it sells billions of dollars of weapons. In return Russia has maintained a Navy base at Tartus, which gives it access to the Mediterranean.

Last week Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had no plans to send troops to Syria.

"As for the question whether I consider it necessary to confront the United States in Syria and ensure our military presence there… in order to take part in military actions -- no. I believe this would be against Russia's national interests," Lavrov told lawmakers, according to RIA Novosti.

Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov denied reports that Russian special forces were operating inside Syria. He did say, however, that there are Russian military and technical advisors in the country.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the U.S. government had not heard of the reports of Russian troops in Syria and declined to comment

North Korea attack South Korea if Iran is attacked?

The hermit kingdom is strange anyway and with the new gargoyle trying to make a name for himself and solidify his powerbase with the elite of the north from the generals and other government officials.  With Iran and North korea both having exchanged information and I am sure that the North has been "assisting" Iran with their nuclear ambitions.  

     I got this from here

Will N. Korea Attack S. Korea if US Attacks Iran?

A so-called unthinkable question: Will North Korea attack South Korea--and U.S. troops in the South--if the United States attacks Iran over its nuclear program? (Really, this is a matter of when, not if, as decades of Western appeasement of Iran seem to have made war inevitable.)

The answer is probably not. But the possibility of North Korea seeking to exploit an opportunity to defeat the South should be addressed given the following: North Korea's intense hatred of South Korea; the North's dire economic straits, long history of engaging in criminal activities for money, and unique partnership in nuclear and missile crimes with oil-rich Iran, which is believed to have subsidized the North's nuclear and missile tests, and is also believed to be prepared to pay handsomely for strategic North Korean assistance in the event of an Iranian showdown with the West; a conviction on the part of the North Korean military that it could actually win a new Korean war; a related perception on the part of both North Korea and Iran that the U.S., which is still bogged down in Afghanistan, clearly lacks the resources and the political will to fight three wars, or two wars with heavy losses, even for a short period of time, or, perhaps, even, one protracted conflict involving large-scale casualties, following the Vietnam and Iraq debacles; and, last but not least, the North's lips-and-teeth relationship with China, which is strongly opposed to U.S. military action against Iran and infuriated by the Obama administration's declared new geo-strategic focus on the Asia-Pacific region--a U.S. policy shift that Beijing regards as inherently menacing.

That doesn't mean that China would-- or could--order North Korea to come to Iran's aid by attacking South Korea and the approximately 28,000 U.S. troops stationed there. However, there may be hardline elements in Beijing who would very much like to see the U.S. dealt a severe blow--some of these figures actually applauded the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, DC--and, with that aim in mind, might be willing to back North Korea up militarily if it plunges into an all-out conflict with Seoul and its superpower ally, provided the North refrains from attacking the South and its (sitting duck?) defenders with chemical and nuclear weapons, the use of which could trigger a U.S. nuclear response with consequences too terrible for even the hardest line and most nationalistic and anti-American--but presumably still sane--Chinese generals to contemplate.

Considering all of the above and the fact that Russia has warned Washington in no uncertain terms against attacking Iran, making clear that Moscow would view an armed intervention in its neighbor as a threat to Russian interests, and that U.S.-Russia relations are at an all-time, post-Cold War low point; that Iran has vowed to destroy Israel if it attacks Iran, and to attack the U.S. if it or Israel attacks or appears to be close to attacking Iran; that Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, are bristling with ballistic missiles capable of leveling Israel's civilian population centers--and that Israel is believed to possess one of the world's most formidable nuclear arsenals--the potential for war in the Greater Middle East widening into a global conflict, though thankfully still remote, cannot be dismissed as mere fantasy or pointless speculation.

Time and again, history has shown that the unthinkable can happen.

I get this from STRATFOR.  They send out free emails...worth looking at.  As a former intel weenie I still like to keep up to date on events that can affect us and try to plot or predict the next event.  

   I posted the older article last week

Detection Points in the Terrorist Attack Cycle

---

By Scott Stewart
Last week's Security Weekly discussed the fact that terrorism is a tactic used by many different classes of actors and that, while the perpetrators and tactics of terrorism may change in response to shifts in larger geopolitical cycles, these changes will never result in the end of terrorism. Since that analysis was written, there have been jihadist-related attacks in Afghanistan, Nigeria, Yemen and Pakistan, an assassination attempt against the president of Abkhazia, and a failed timed-incendiary attack against the Athens subway. (The latter incident, which militant anarchists claimed, reinforces that jihadists are not the only ones who practice terrorism.)
But while terrorism is a continuing concern, it can be understood, and measures can be taken to thwart terrorist plots and mitigate the effects of attacks. Perhaps the most important and fundamental point to understand about terrorism is that attacks do not appear out of nowhere. Individuals planning a terrorist attack follow a discernible cycle -- and that cycle and the behaviors associated with it can be observed if they are being looked for. We refer to these points where terrorism-related behavior can be most readily observed as vulnerabilities in the terrorist attack cycle.

The Attack Cycle

Many different actors can commit terrorist attacks, including sophisticated transnational terrorist groups like al Qaeda; regional militant groups like India's Maoist Naxalites; small, independent cells like the anarchists in Greece; and lone wolves like Oslo attacker Anders Breivik. There can be great variance in attack motives and in the time and process required to radicalize these different actors to the point that they decide to conduct a terrorist attack. But once any of these actors decides to launch an attack, there is remarkable similarity in the planning process.
First, there is the process of selecting or identifying a target. Often an actor will come up with a list of potential targets and then select one to focus on. In some cases, the actor has preselected a method of attack, such as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, and wants to find a target that would be vulnerable to that specific type of attack. In other cases, the actor will pick a target and then devise a method of attack based on that target's characteristics and vulnerabilities. Simply put, the execution of these steps can be somewhat fluid; some degree of planning or preparation can come before target selection, and sometimes target selection will be altered during the planning process. The time required to execute these steps can also vary considerably. Some attacks can be planned and executed within hours or days, while more complex plans, such as those used in the 9/11 or Mumbai attacks, may take months or even years to complete.
Frequently, those planning an attack will conduct detailed surveillance of potential targets to determine what security measures are in place around the target and to gauge whether they have the ability to successfully attack it. If the target is too difficult to attack -- commonly known as a hard target -- the attack planners will typically move on to their next target, which may prove easier to attack. (When they do continue with attacks against targets whose security measures exceed the attackers' capabilities, those attacks fail.) We refer to this stage as preoperational surveillance, which means surveillance that is conducted before the operation is fully planned.

        Read the rest here

Air Force Shelves Global Hawk Drones.

I remember this drone vs U-2 debate a while back.  I was already critical for the decision to retire the SR-71 spy plane and use satellites.  My comment was "suppose that somebody like China or Russia figured how to take out our reconnaissance satellites since they are in a tracked orbit and take out our eyes in the sky..then what?"  I made similar comments about somebody seizing control of the drones which has happened with Iran which was used to embarrass the United States and I honestly believe that China is over there checkbook in hand to buy it from the Iranians.  They say that it is " off the shelf technology and that it is no threat to our other defensive capabilities."  I disagree, unraveling that technology will expose an entire tier of to exploitation.  Our defensive capability is interlinked, this puts a chink in our armor and the air force is making light about it.  I remember in the 90's when a F117 spy plane crashed during operations in kosovo.  Why was the foreign power showing pieces of it to the media and later china had people over there buying every piece of it up from the souvenir collectors.  Why didn't they drop a MK 82 on it immediately destroying any attempt to glean technology off of it.
     There is a severe disconnect somewhere up there in the puzzle palace

Air Force Shelves $3B Worth of Brand New Drones

By LEE FERRAN | ABC News – 19 hrs ago

• Enlarge PhotoAir Force Shelves $3B Worth of Brand New Drones (ABC News)

Far from spying on terrorists, more than a dozen high-tech surveillance drones, which together cost the U.S. government more than $3 billion, could soon be sitting in a storage facility gathering dust after top Air Force officials admitted this week the birds still are not as good as the half-century-old spy planes they were designed to replace.

Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz appeared with Air Force Secretary Michael Donley before a Senate committee Tuesday where the two defended the service's decision to stop acquisition of the Global Hawk Block 30 drones and to shelve the 18 Block 30 unmanned drones the Air Force already has, claiming it will save the Pentagon $2.5 billion. In joint written testimony, Schwartz and Donley said the Block 30s cost too much and would require expensive upgrades to match the current version of the Cold War era U-2 spy plane's technical capabilities.

"This was a choice [where] we had an asset that can do the mission as it's currently specified and could do it overall at much less cost," Schwartz said told lawmakers during the hearing. "Sustaining the U-2 was a better bet."

The Block 30 Global Hawks, developed by defense contracting giant Northrop Grumman, are designed for capturing images and detecting electronic signals over extremely long distances. Other variations of the Global Hawk, including the Block 20 that specializes in communications technology and the Block 40 that sports a long-range radar system for advanced target detection, will continue to be used by the Air Force, Schwartz said. Each bird, regardless of type, is estimated to cost around $176 million.

The entire program has suffered from a series of costly delays and the program price tag has risen so steadily -- from an estimated $5.3 billion in 2001 to $13.6 billion in 2010 -- that as of March last year, the Department of Defense had been required to notify Congress three times about the ballooning cost.

      Pentagon in 2011: Drones 'Not Operationally Suitable'

The Block 30s in particular were the subject of a scathing internal Defense Department report last May which claimed that in operational testing in 2010, the drones failed to provide adequate coverage of a target area more than half of the time they were in the air. The report said then that the drone was "not operationally suitable." A representative for Northrop Grumman later told ABC News the company was aware of the issues brought up in the report and said the company had worked with the Air Force to solve most of them.

DOWNLOAD: Global Hawk Block 30 Operational Test and Evaluation (PDF, From Aviation Week)

Despite the internal report, an Air Force spokesperson told ABC News in June 2011 that some Block 30s had already been used in real-world operations where they "did not immediately perform at [their] full capacity."

Around the same time as that admission, Pentagon acquisitions chief Ashton Carter wrote a letter to Congress describing the program's faults, but essentially saying the U.S. military was stuck with it.

"The continuation of the program is essential to national security... [and] there are no alternatives to the program which will provide acceptable capability to meet the joint military requirement at less cost," the letter said.

Schwartz, who was read a portion of the letter by lawmakers during the Senate hearing this week, said that conditions had changed since Carter's letter and budget constraints made the U-2 a better choice.

The U-2 spy plane is one of the nation's longest-running weapons programs, the first plane having taken off back in 1955 and made its name by providing crucial intelligence about the Soviet missile build-up in Cuba for the CIA during the Cold War. The planes have been regularly upgraded since.

Drones to Stand By in Storage for Change in Circumstance

Winslow Wheeler, an acquisitions watchdog at the Washington, D.C., thinktank Center for Defense Information, said the costly Block 30s sitting on the sidelines are a waste of billions that could've been easily avoided.

"They could've

Representatives for Northrop Grumman declined to comment to ABC News for this report, except to point to a statement posted on the company's website that notes the company's "disappointment" in the Air Force's decision to drop the Block 30s.

"Global Hawk is the modern solution to providing surveillance. It provides long duration persistent surveillance, and collects information using multiple sensors on the platform," the statement says. "In contrast, the aging U-2 program, first introduced in the 1950s, places pilots in danger, has limited flight duration, and provides limited sensor capacity. Extending the U-2's service life also represents additional investment requirements for that program."

Wheeler said that Northrop Grumman is likely to push hard to get the Block 30s back in the military's arsenal, something Schwartz left plenty of room for in his testimony.

"We will put the platforms into recoverable storage," he said. "We're not talking about breaking the birds up. We want to be able to have access to them and as circumstances change, perhaps there will be a time when they come out of storage."

In the meantime, Schwartz said he was confident the military will continue to use the other variations of the Global Hawk to the best of their ability.

"We're not giving up on the Global Hawk by any means," he said.

Russia has new fighter the SU-30 vectored Thrust

I am continuing to post stuff on the resurgent Red Army Russian Army.  We are drawing down and Russia after being embroiled in internal conflicts since the fall of the Soviet Union..seems to be making a comback.  We also have China sabre rattling.   Interesting and ominous times are afoot and Obungler is cutting the U.S. Military but entitlements are untouched.  If I didn't know better I would think he wants us to be defeated and  knocked off our perch as the lone superpower.

Rather Interesting

This is ominous!

The red smoke coming from the wingtips is only there to demonstrate

to spectators on the ground the direction the plane is actually moving

through the air. Normally the smoke wouldn't be there. When the

smoke is streaming behind, the airplane is moving fast forward etc.

When the airplane is engulfed in smoke, it means the airplane is almost

stopped in mid-air. The maneuverability of this plane is incredible.

This plane would be nearly impossible to defeat in a dogfight.

READ BEFORE VIEWING

Russia now has #1 fighter plane in the world... SU-30-Vectored Thrust

with Canards.

As you watch this airplane, look at the canards moving along side of, and

just below the canopy rail. The "canards" are the small wings forward of

the main wings? The smoke and contrails provide a sense of the actual

flight path, sometimes in reverse direction.

This video is of an in-flight demonstration flown by the Russian's-30MK

fighter aircraft. You will not believe what you are about to see.

The fighter can stall from high speed, stopping forward motion in seconds.

(full stall). Then it demonstrates an ability to descend tail first without

causing a compressor stall.

It can also recover from a flat spin in less than a minute. These maneuver

capabilities don't exist in any other aircraft in the world today.

We don't know which nations will soon be flying the SU-30MK, hopefully

China isn't one of them.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Note: Friends worked with advanced aircraft flight control systems and

concepts for many years as an extension of stability control and means of

control...

Canards and vectored thrust were among many concepts examined to extend

our fighter aircraft performance. Neither our current or next generation aircraft

now poised for funding & production can in any way match the performance of

this Russian aircraft NOW FLYING in any near combat situation.

Somehow the bankrupt Russian aircraft industry has out produced our

complex politically tainted aerospace industry with this technology marvel.

Scratch any ideas of close in air-to-air combat with this aircraft in the

future.

Take a look at the video with the sound up. This aircraft is of concern to

U.S and NATO planners. Maximize your screen for best viewing.

 

 

Russia to modernize the AK-47

I have fired the AK-47 as have many GI's, I have also owned a civilian copy of the weapon, I think mine was norinco.  Traded it for some rifle parts( should have kept it but money was real tight)  It was really simple to break down and clean, compared to the AR-15 that I have.   I was more comfortable with the AR because of my military background and I like the accuracy.   That being said I have heard that the AK was the "god of war"  It would work in conditions that would kill any other weapon.  That says a lot for the design from that tank sergeant
    I also remember a line in the movie "heartbreak ridge"

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow announced plans on Tuesday to modernize the Kalashnikov, giving a new lease of life to the Soviet-era assault rifle that is the mainstay of the Russian army and weapon of choice for paramilitaries and gangsters around the world.

Part of a 20 trillion-rouble ($690 billion) modernization of Russia's armed forces that includes the addition of new armaments, submarines and aircraft by 2020, the new-look Kalashnikov will get a detachable sight and light, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told parliament.

"We are planning deep modernization of the Kalashnikov assault rifle," said Rogozin, who oversees the defense industry. "This will be a weapon with detachable equipment, such as an optical sight and a lamp."

The Russian army said last September it had abandoned new purchases of the AK-74 assault rifle, the updated version of the AK-47 designed in the 1940s by Mikhail Kalashnikov. Rogozin said negotiations with the Defense Ministry on future acquisitions of the modernized weapon were ongoing.

The easy-to-use and much copied rifle has been described as the world's most dangerous weapon based on the number of deaths it has caused in wars and insurgencies, but industry critics say it no longer fully meets the requirements of modern warfare.

"With demands for precision and engagement range on the rise, a new weapon must replace the Kalashnikov in the very near future," Ruslan Pukhov, director of CAST, a Moscow-based defense think tank, told Reuters.

Rogozin said the army would also receive a new pistol by the end of the year to replace the semi-automatic Makarov, another weapon from the 1940s and now a Cold War relic.

Izhmash, Russia's top firearms producer, last week presented the prototype of an updated Kalashnikov, the AK-12, which some industry analysts lampooned, saying it offered only a cosmetic update. ($1 = 29.0450 Russian roubles)

(Reporting By Alexei Anishchuk; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

The Russian firearms manufacturer Izhmash unveils new Kalashnikov assault rifle AK-12.

Russia's largest firearms manufacturer, Izhmash, has unveiled a prototype of its new Kalashnikov assault rifle with improved ergonomics and tactical flexibility. The new assault rifle, dubbed AK-12, is being designed as a basic platform for the development of nearly 20 different modifications of the weapon. It could be adapted for cartridges varying from 5.45x39 mm to 7.62x51 NATO.

The state tests of the rifle may begin at the end of 2012 despite the fact that the Russian Defense Ministry has not shown interest so far in the new weapon citing the financial difficulties of the Izhmash company and a huge surplus of AK-74 assault rifles (about 17 million) in the Armed Forces. Izhmash said on Wednesday that the testing of the AK-12 will continue and the company will offer the rifle to foreign customers and Russian police. Russia's Interior Ministry has reportedly ordered about a hundred AK-12s for testing by its personnel. According to Izhmash designers, they “adapted the weapon to modern combat requirements, having preserved Kalashnikov's unique qualities - simplicity, reliability and relatively low production cost.” The rifle features three firing modes: single shot, three-shot burst and automatic fire. The muzzle of the AK-12 has been designed to shoot foreign-standard barrel-mounted grenades. The weapon is also equipped with Picatinny rails to mount optical, and night sights, grenade launchers, target indicators and other special equipment. The AK-12 has a folding stock, and a height-adjustable heelpiece. The weapon can be used by both left-handed and right-handed people, and can be easily handled with one hand. The development of the new family of sophisticated and effective assault rifles is a priority for the future of the company, which has been experiencing severe financial difficulties and even filed for bankruptcy.

Jihad in the United States

   I saw this article on some of my " foreign newspapers" that I read because the LSM will not print anything bad about the Chicago Messiah and the protected religion knows as islam.
      I will add a point to this article, Remember Lebanon ? , it was the Paris of the middle east.  It was very secular, but the arabs when they were encouraged to flee the protectorate of Palestine that was governed by the British in advance of the UN mandate that created the state of Israel.  The arabs settled in Jordan and Lebanon.  By their numbers they started to influence the elections in Lebanon, a small vocal minority  pushed the moderate arabs to a more radical position and the Christians that were there used to enjoy protection under the secular laws of that country, found their legal status changed and they became a persecuted minority in their own country.  This started the civil war that still rages.  This is what happens when a vocal minority pushes to get its way.

Jihad is Alive and Well in the US

The Council for American Islamic Relations is waging a fight against laws in two different states that in one way or another prevent Islamic or Sharia law from being practiced in those states.
In Missouri, a law (HB 15120 introduced by State Representative Paul Curtman that is to ban the practice of Sharia law in that state. You can find out more about this law here.
In Pennsylvania, a law (House Bill 2029) intended to limit the practice of foreign law in Pennsylvania courts is in the works. You can find out more about this law here.
Seeing that the FBI is purging its files of anything related to Islam, and that CAIR seems to have added steam in its legal pursuits of instituting Sharia and islamic law in the United States, we can now come to understand that Jihad is alive and well in the US.
American citizens, wake up! Look through the articles on PI and see where all of this will lead. As soon as the islamists feel they have enough power, they will gladly seize it in their goal of a world caliphate!