Israel's Syria Strike Wipes Out Russian Weapons Designed To Prevent US 'No Fly' Zone

The Israeli Air Force conducted a decisive raid over the weekend on Syrian arms stocks warehoused near Damascus and at an airfield in the Dimas area, northwest of the Syrian capital and near the Lebanese border.

The arms targeted were newly-arrived Russian anti-air weaponry, radar and hardware, including advanced, Russian-made S-300 missiles.

Israel's main strategic interest was the planned delivery of these item to Hezbollah in Lebanon, but it also affected an interesting back and forth between Russia and the Obama Administration.

Israel had a tacit agreement with Russia's Vladimir Putin that he would avoid introducing this kind of weaponry into the region, and Israel would avoid strikes on Assad's forces. That fell apart just as the last one did because of the actions of the Obama Administration.


The Obama Administration has decided to establish a 'no fly' zone in Syria to aid the Islamist rebels in their war against Bashir Assad.

Contrary to what's in the linked article, the deal has already been drafted with Turkey according to my sources. The draft agreement allows American warplanes to take off from the U.S. leased Turkish airbase of Incirlik for operations against Syrian planes, assault helicopters or drones entering the no-fly zone. Formerly, only non-combat recon aircraft like unarmed drones were allowed to use Incirlik to fly over Syria. The Turks originally wanted the no-fly zone extended to Aleppo, where the Syrian Army is on the verge of defeating the rebels. Instead, the U.S. insisted on a much narrower area, between one half and three quarters of a mile.That makes little strategic sense unless the primary object is to provide a safe haven for the Islamist rebels close to the Turkish border to train,rearm and regroup.

The Russians have repeatedly told the Obama Administration that any attempt to establish a no-fly zone would be regarded as a direct intervention against their ally Assad and would lead to use of the Russian military to defend the Assad regime in response.When Putin found out about the draft agreement between Turkey and the U.S., he told Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman that all bets were off and responded immediately with a huge Russian shipment of anti-air missiles, radar systems and computer hardware.

The Israelis were left with no choice but to take them out...which also leaves Putin little choice but to bring in the Russian military directly when and if U.S. planes start intervening on behalf of Syria's Islamist rebels.

Russia reacted promptly to the Israeli raid with a formal protest to the UN demanding “that such attacks should not happen again… Moscow is deeply worried by this dangerous development, the circumstances of which demand an explanation.”

Stay tuned.

Made In Israel: The Israli Navy's New Combat Vessel

This looks to be a pretty impressive piece of gear. Made by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the Katana, named after a type of Samurai sword is designed to run manned or unmanned and to transition between the two in minutes. According to IAI, the Katana got its name because they wanted to emphasize the system's speed, reliability and lethal force.

Basically, it's designed to be an ultra reliable patrol vessel specially designed for coast patrol and to protect and conduct surveillance missions for offshore installations like oil oil rigs and fuel or gas pipelines.

The 39 footer is f-a-s-t, with two special diesel engines to move it at a top speed 60 knots (over 110 kilometers (68 miles) per hour). They would give it the ability to run down and catch pretty much any surface craft it wants to. And it carries a multitude of SOTA weapons systems, communications and optical systems, command systems and navigation systems.


 Given that the U.S. Navy is developing underwater drones, it only makes sense that Israel would come up with something like this. And I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them come up with their own underwater drones soon.

Kol Tov, IAI!

N. Korea Warns Foreigners To Leave South, Escape "Thermo-Nuclear War"

North Korea issued a new threat today, read out on North Korea's state television in a bulletin that interrupted normal programming.

The message, reported by the KCNA news agency, said that once war broke out "it will be an all-out war, a merciless, sacred, retaliatory war to be waged by (North Korea):

"It does not want to see foreigners in South Korea fall victim to the war," the agency quoted the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee as saying.

"The committee informs all foreign institutions and enterprises and foreigners, including tourists...that they are requested to take measures for shelter and evacuation in advance for their safety."

In a separate announcement, North Korea said that it would "launch a missile tomorrow" likely a test firing of some kind. That's been the usual pattern..bellicose rhetoric followed by an act of aggression like a missile test...although the Norks have been increasing their aggression each time, combining nuclear tests with activities like sinking a South Korean naval vessel and shelling a South Korean island.

Right now, there are still about 28,000 U.S. military in South Korea, mainly stationed along the DMZ.So far, for all the talk of war, North Korea appears - and underline that word - to have not mobilized it's conventional forces, which far outnumber the combined U.S. and South Korean forces.

The South Korean capital of Seoul is within easy reach of North Korean artillery let alone missiles, but so far no diplomats have left and the bustling city appears to be engaging in business as usual, although I'm certain their military is on alert.

The same goes for Japan, where 3 Patriot Missile batteries co-developed by the U.S. and Israel have been deployed the protect the Kanto Plain, where most of Japan's big cites including Tokyo are and where most of its population lives.



Another unit has been stationed in Okinawa, site of U.S. bases as well as a place where Japan's south can be protected.

"The government is making utmost efforts to protect our people's lives and ensure their safety. As North Korea keeps making provocative comments, Japan, cooperating with relevant countries, will do what we have to do. For the moment, the most important thing is to implement sanctions under the UN Security Council resolutions," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters.

North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung's birthday is on April 15th, which could be the trigger for another North Korean 'demonstration.'

Stay tuned....

The F-35 - Too Heavy, Too Slow, And A Trillion Dollars In The Hole

 

This is just...sorry.

As you might remember, back in 2009 after President Obama threatened a veto, the US Senate  voted 58-40 to remove funding and pull the plug on the F-22 Raptor, a perfectly good and serviceable stealth fighter and then the most advanced fighter jet in the world..

After the vote, President Obama lauded the Senate’s decision, saying that any money spent on the fighter was an “inexcusable waste.” As compared to, say, ObamaCare, which the president felt was a more appropriate use of U.S. tax dollars. An oh yes, all those shovel ready projects.


Aside from breaking promises to U.S. Allies Japan and Israel (who had both contributed money for development and were promised deliveries of the F-22), it also cost  a mere 95,000 American jobs.

Ah, but now we have the new and improved Lockheed Martin F-35, right?

Well, after huge cost overruns, delays, and over a trillion dollars in development costs, the F-35 is ready. Except it's so slow and heavy that it's more vulnerable to enemy attack then the F-22 it replaced...so the Pentagon actually had to lower its specifications and standards to make the F-35 acceptable:


At this point, the Pentagon is literally rewriting its rulebook so that the dumbed-down super jet will pass muster.

The Defense Department's annual weapons testing report reveals that the military actually adjusted the performance specifications for the consistently-underperforming line of F-35 fighter jets. In other words, they couldn't get the jets to do what they were supposed to do, so they just changed what they were supposed to do.

"The program announced an intention to change performance specifications for the F-35A, reducing turn performance from 5.3 to 4.6 sustained g’s and extending the time for acceleration from 0.8 Mach to 1.2 Mach by eight seconds," reads the report drafted under J. Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation. (The F-35A is the standard model, so to speak, that the Air Force will use. The line also includes the F-35B, the Harrier-like vertical landing version built for the Marines, and the F-35C, a Navy version that's optimized for aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings.)

To put it bluntly, the Pentagon's new trillion-dollar fighter jet doesn't go a fast as it should, doesn't turn as sharp as it should and doesn't handle as nimbly as it should. This is bad news, explains Wired's David Axe. For the pilots who will eventually take the F-35 into combat, the JSF’s reduced performance means they might not be able to outfly and outfight the latest Russian- and Chinese-made fighters," writes Axe. "Even before the downgrades, some analysts questioned the F-35′s ability to defeat newer Sukhoi and Shenyang jets." That all sounds like bad news, doesn't it? If our expensive new jets can't beat the Russians or the Chinese, who can we fight? I'm pretty sure al Qaeda doesn't have an air force.

IDF Takes Out Syrian Arms Convoy En Route To Hezbollah

 

Well, here's some good news to start the morning off with.

The IDF went into action and its pilots destroyed an arms convey en route from Syria to Hezbollah's bases in Lebanon. No one's certain whether the shipment contained any of Assad's chemical weapons, but it apparently did contain a number of sophisticated anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles like the Russian-made SA-17s.

The SA-17s are not the kind of toys Israel would want Hezbollah getting its paws on. The self propelled anti-aircraft missiles are very portable and fairly good in trained hands at hitting something like an F-16 flying at a low altitude. And because the SA-17 and its launching system are easily moved, they're harder to trace and could constitute a surprise for jets flying within its range and not suspecting their deployment at a given target.

Thanks to the IDF, the SA-17s and the other goodies Assad was shipping to Hezbollah are about as dangerous now as last year's burned out Fourth of July fireworks.

Kol Hakavod! Nice shootin'....

You'll recall that I speculated here based on info from Iranian defector and ex-Revolutionary Guards commander Reza Khalili that in retaliation for what the Iranians believe is Israel's complicity in the massive explosion at the Fordow nuclear weapons facility, the Ayatollah's had ordered Hezbollah to launch a missile strike at Israel. That, of course, would launch another war between Israel and Lebanon.

As I also mentioned, the Iranians recently doubled down on Syria, sending in troops and armor to support his regime. Part of the price for that was almost certainly the transfer of some of Assad's arsenal to Hezbollah, and it looks like this was the first installment.

The Israelis certainly seem to think something is in the works. Record numbers of them are updating their gas masks, fixing up their safe rooms and getting prepared for what might be coming.

Stay tuned....

Iran Ups The Ante, Test -Fires Long Range Missiles Able to Hit Israel, US Bases

Iran has decided to send a definite message to the US and to Israel regarding its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Yesterday, the Iranians revealed for the first time that they have underground missile silos as part of the 10 days of war games that began on Monday under the name of “Great Prophet 6.”

The video above shows a couple of Revolutionary Guard officers touring a missile site containing a Shahab 3 ballistic missile with a range of 1,243 miles ( 2,000 kilometers), which puts both Israel and US bases in the Persian Gulf in range..which is exactly the message Iran intended to send.

"The range of our missiles has been designed based on American bases in the region as well as the Zionist regime," Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh told Iran's Fars news agency. "The Americans have reduced our labors," Hajizadeh told Fars. "Their military bases in the region are in a range of 130, 250 and maximum 700 km in Afghanistan which we can hit with these missiles."

Without a trace of irony he added that the 'Great Prophet 6' war games are a "message of peace and friendship to countries of the region." As part of that message, Iran's Revolutionary Guards fired 14 missiles, nine Zelzal missiles, two Shahab-1s, two Shahab-2s and one upgraded Shahab-3 missile.

Iran also has a solid fuel missile, the Sajjil, which has a longer range and canhit Europe.

It's uncertain exactly how many underground silos Iran has, but if they're substantial, it's a sign that the Iranians have deliberately dispersed their launching sites in order to limit any damage from a potential attack and to be able to inflict maximum damage.

As I've said before, we're going to pay dearly for continuing to allow this to continue as long as it has.

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Pakistanis Allow China To Inspect Downed US Chopper - May Turn It Over To Them

Our 'allies' Pakistan have already allowed the Chinese to inspect that downed US Blackhawk helicopter with top secret stealth technology used in the raid to get Osama bin-Laden.

The FOX correspondent interviewed here says that there's not a chance the Pakistanis will comply with US demands to turn the wreckage back over to them, and the Chinese are bidding high tohave the Pakistanis turn it over to them.

Based on the value of that technology which is now almost certainly compromised, it certainly puts a hefty price tag on killing Osama bin-Laden.

(h/t, The Noisy Room)

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Hamas Attack On Israeli School Bus A Game Changer

The always perceptive Commander J.D. Dyer(ret.) has a great piece in Hot Air on the recent Hamas attack on an Israeli school bus by a laser guided Russian-design Kornet antitank missile, and why Hamas using this weapon makes it a whole new ballgame:

The account of the attack indicates that the bus was stopped (and had just offloaded most of its 50 schoolchildren, which was why more of them weren’t injured). So Hamas wasn’t attempting to hit a moving target. But the ability to accurately target a bus from a distance of two miles, with an effective modern weapon, is a game-changer in the Hamas campaign to target civilians.

With older weapons and planted-bomb tactics, the effects Hamas could produce were more random and less predictable. Lobbing rockets indiscriminately into southern Israel is certainly evidence of evil intentions, but the probability of achieving specific or catastrophic damage with any individual round was low. Mortars can be delivered with useful accuracy, but they are not missiles capable of guided flight toward a target, which amplifies the destructive effect that can be achieved for the same amount of explosive. Bomb planting requires extensive advance planning and is not a pursuit tactic; it doesn’t adapt to changing conditions, but rather is tied to a place, and a tactical objective that is at least hours old when the bomb detonates, and usually something more like weeks old.

The difference the Kornet antitank guided missile (ATGM) makes, particularly with the laser guidance package, is that it puts accuracy, effectiveness, tactical adaptability, and standoff distance behind the vicious intentions which perennially characterize Hamas.

As Commander Dyer points out, Israel's Iron Dome system,which was successfully used to destroy Hamas Grad missiles launched at Israel is designed to combat weapons with a higher trajectory and is thus useless against the Kornet. It's also prohibitive for Israel to continue to use it - each Iron Dome missile costs $50,000 and some of the lower grade Hamas rockets can cost as little as $200.

Even more problematic, the Arab League is currently lobbying the UN to establish a 'no fly zone' over Gaza, something I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the EU and the Obama Administration get behind. The idea is create a UN shield for Hamas to hide behind as it fires its weapons at Israeli civilians.

You'll recall what I told you about the implications of Libya and the new 'Responsibility to protect ( R2P) doctrine, and how it was essentially a precedent aimed at future use against Israel.

As always, Jewish blood is far cheaper than crude oil.

There's only one solution to Gaza, and it will involve a complete military assault on Gaza, the use of ground troops and wiping Hamas out once and for all. And the sooner, the better.

Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni bear a great deal of the responsibility for the current situation - had they not been so anxious to accept a cease fire, IDF would have dealt with Hamas once and for all during Operation Cast Lead.

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Israel's Iron Dome Intercepts First Missile

Israel's newly deployed Iron Dome missile defense system has intercepted it's first missile, a Grad rocket fired towards the Israeli city of Ashkelon from the Gaza Strip.

Moshe Ben Hemo, a resident of Ashkelon, said, "I was in the street and I heard a strange sound, like someone pushing the gas pedal of a car. Then I saw the rocket fly through the air and explode. Immediately I realized that it was Iron Dome, that's what has been said here."

"The rocket was apparently supposed to explode in Ashkelon. In any case I'm glad the system works," he said.

Well, it worked this time. The ultimate deterrent, of course, is in offense, not defense.

Hamas has become emboldened thanks to the fall of the Mubarak regime, the Obama Administration's hostility towards Israel and the ascendency of their Muslim Brotherhood allies in Egypt.

When they were convinced to retreat from Gaza, the Israelis were formally guaranteed by the EU, the US, the Egyptians and the 'Palestinians' that Gaza would never be allowed to become a security concern or an avenue of attack on Israel again.

Those guarantees proved to be worthless.

The Israelis will only know peace on their Southern border after they destroy Hamas, repatriate the Arab population of Gaza to either Egypt or the 'Palestinian' occupied areas in the West Bank, and annex the Gaza Strip as part of Israel.

The sooner, the better.

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The XM-25 Grenade Launcher Proves Itself As A Major Game Changer

You might recall that last December I wrote an article about the premiere of XM-25,a new weapon that has the potential to change the entire nature of combat.

Guess what? It's more than lived up to its advance billing.

Since its first contact Dec. 3, the XM25 has been in nine engagements with two units at different locations, according to the Army Times. Units armed with it have disrupted two jihadi attacks on observation posts, taken out two PKM machine gun positions and destroyed four ambush sites.

In one engagement, an enemy machine gunner was “so badly wounded or so freaking scared that he dropped [his] weapon” and ran, said Lt. Col. Christopher Lehner, Program Manager Individual Weapons.

Not only that, but the units carrying the XM-25 took no casualties in those nine engagements.

“No longer can the enemy shoot at American forces, then hide behind something,” said Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller of Program Executive Office Soldier. “This is a revolutionary weapon. This is a game-changer.”

How does this bad boy work? Essentially, it's a hand held Smart Bomb.

In combat, cover is critical both for offense and defense. Aside from acting as a shield from enemy fire, it allows a warrior to make more effective use of fire power by taking better aimed shots.

The XM-25 turns that entire concept on its head. It incorporates a sophisticated laser range finder that allows a soldier to lock in a range and then dial in a + or - according to how much he wants the grenade to explode just before that distance or just after.

So if Mohammed and his jihad buddies are hiding behind a wall, one of our warriors armed with an XM-25 aims just past or just over the wall, locks in the range, programs the grenade to explode as it passes by and then fires.

The grenade detonates just as it passes the corner of the wall or flies over the top of it, turning Mohammed and his buddies into nice halal KIA stats.

Not only that, but XM-25 has an effective range of 2,300 feet,( almost half a mile, just over 7 1/2 football fields) far more than an AK47 or your typical assault rifle.In practical terms, that means you can ruin the enemy's whole day before you're even in range of their weapons.

It's no wonder those ambushes ended up as killing grounds for the jihadis.

The XM-25 is not only effective, it's light and portable at 12 pounds and 29 inches, and was designed by Minnesota's Alliant Techsystems to be easy to use.

There are only two major drawbacks to the X-25.

First, each one weighs in at a hefty $35,000 apiece. And that doesn't include the projectiles, which contain a computer chip to tell them when and where to explode.

And second, the units testing out the X-25 were so happy with it that the Army is reportedly having trouble getting the test units back!

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Surprise! The Lifeline For Iran's Missile Program Runs Through..Turkey

Sanctions? What sanctions?

The Iranian missile program has been nurtured and kept alive through a sophisticated network of Turkish companies owned by Iranians exporting prohibited materials to Iran....with the Islamist Turkish government likely turning a blind eye.

According to the indictment unsealed by our Justice Department, the organizer of the network was 36-year-old Milad Jafari, who is at large and believed to be in Iran.

The way Jafari defeated the sanctions was to run businesses in Istanbul and Tehran that would buy metals like steel and aluminum alloy from U.S. companies and export them through Turkey to hide their true destination, since exports to Iran are prohibited without authorization from the Treasury Department. The Treasury Department estimates that Jafari's network is responsible for more than $7 million in transactions involving Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization.

"The Jafari network has established itself as a lifeline for Iran's missile program by providing essential materials and support for AIO," said Stuart Levey, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Jafari had a number of high level Turkish partners, and according to the U.S. Treasury Department, Turkish companies Macpar Makina, or Macpar, and Step A.Ş. are cooperating with them in investigating exactly what was shipped and who shipped it.

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Army Unveils The XM-25 Grenade Launcher...A Major Game Changer

At least that's how they're selling it, and they could be right.

In combat, cover is critical. Not only can it save a soldier's life but it allows him or her to take better-aimed shots and be more effective on offense or defense.

The XM-25 is designed to defeat the advantage of cover and make it obsolete. It's essentially the equivalent of a hand fired smart bomb.

Here's how it works. The XM-25 is a highly sophisticated tool with a laser rangefinder. The soldier using it aims it at his target, pushes a button to register the range and then dials in a + or - according to how much he wants the grenade to explode just before that distance or just after.

The range is a nice 2,300 feet,( almost half a mile, just over 7 1/2 football fields) far more than an AK47 or your typical assault rifle.

So if Mohammed and his pals are hiding behind the corner of a wall, one of our warriors armed with an XM-25 aims just past or just over the wall, registers the range, programs the grenade to explode as it passes by and fires.

The grenade detonates just as it passes the corner or flies over the top of the wall, making Mohammed and his buddies into nice halal KIA stats.

Lt. Col. Christopher Lehner, project manager for the semi-automatic, shoulder-fired weapon system for the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office Soldier, said that the XM25's capability alone is such a "game-changer" that it'll lead to new ways of fighting on the battlefield, beginning this month in Afghanistan.

"With this weapon system, we take away cover from [enemy targets] forever," Lehner said. "Tactics are going to have to be rewritten. The only thing we can see [enemies] being able to do is run away."

According to Lt. Col. Lehner, the first XM-25s were distributed to combat units in Afghanistan this month.

The XM-25 is fairly light and portable at 12 pounds and 29 inches, and was designed by Minnesota's Alliant Techsystems. It's advertised as easy to use, with the average soldier becoming proficient in minutes.

It's also a fairly pricey weapon, costing up to $35,000 per, and I'm sure the projectiles, which contain a computer chip to tell them when and where to explode aren't cheap either.

Contrary to what Lt. Col Lehner says, I don't see it making our enemies run away, although it will definitely be a game changer as far as the tactics they can use go.

It will make any offensive attacks on patrols or bases equipped with the XM-25 almost impossible unless the enemy is in force and thinks it can quickly overwhelm and wipe out our forces in the first few minutes. Otherwise, attacking a patrol or a base is essentially suicidal.

Snipers will still exist, but they are only going to be able to get one or two shots off before skedaddling if they want to live, which will cut down on their effectiveness.

The jihadis will generally have to rely a lot more on IEDs and attacks on civilians. But we're getting a lot better at dealing with IEDs and roadside bombs, and attacks on civilians become counterproductive after a while and turn the population against the jihadis, as they did in Iraq.

If the XM-25 works as advertised,it could have a s big an effect on warfare as the crossbow or the first reliable firearms did.

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