Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Greece to Sell F-16s and Mirage-2000s: A Strategic Shift in Air Force Modernization

 







Greece, having previously announced its intention to train Ukrainian fighter pilots on F-16s, has now revealed plans to decommission and sell its outdated F-16 and Mirage 2000 fighter jets. Despite the training program, Greece won't be sending any of these aircraft to Ukraine.

The Greek Defense Minister, Nikos Dendias, disclosed the decision to overhaul the Hellenic Air Force, emphasizing the need to streamline its aircraft types due to maintenance costs. The plan involves retiring F-4s, selling Mirage 2000-5s and Block 30 F-16s, and upgrading remaining F-16s to Viper level, alongside acquiring F-35s and strengthening the fleet of Rafales.

While the modernization aims to enhance uniformity and interoperability, Greece has opted not to offer its older jets to Ukraine, unlike other NATO allies. The US has authorized an $8.6 billion sale of F-35s to Greece, and Greece has agreements with France to purchase Rafales, indicating a strategic shift in its air force capabilities.

The specific aircraft slated for disposal include the F-16s, including the last 34 single-seat F-16C and six two-seat F-16D Block 30 aircraft. Despite Ukraine's pleas for fighter jets, Greece hasn't committed to transferring any, unlike other NATO allies. Greece's aircraft could still be beneficial for Ukraine, although they lack commonality with European F-16 operators.

Greece could potentially aid Ukraine with military equipment like the S-300 air defense systems, as hinted at by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. However, there's no mention of transferring Greek combat aircraft to Ukraine, despite ongoing requests from the Ukrainian side.

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Turkey's Fighter Jet Dilemma: Could JF-17 Block 3 be the Solution

 In the ever-evolving landscape of geopolitical tensions and defense strategies, Turkey finds itself at a crossroads in its pursuit of advanced fighter jets. Facing denials of F-16s from the United States and Eurofighter Typhoons from Germany, Turkey is now rumored to be considering the China-Pakistan co-developed JF-17 Block 3 as a potential alternative. This shift coincides with recent fighter jet acquisitions by its regional rival, Greece, further intensifying the complex dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey's quest for F-16s from the United States and Eurofighter Typhoons from Germany has encountered diplomatic hurdles, contributing to the nation's exploration of alternative options. Germany's reluctance to fulfill Turkey's request and the United States' denial of F-16s have left Ankara seeking other partners to meet its defense needs.

On the other side of the Aegean, Greece has been actively fortifying its air force capabilities. Recent acquisitions of F-16V Viper fighter jets from the United States and Dassault Rafale jets from France underscore Greece's commitment to modernizing its air fleet. The addition of these advanced aircraft enhances Greece's military posture and introduces cutting-edge technology to its arsenal.

Turkey, in response to Greece's strategic advancements, is exploring alternatives beyond traditional Western alliances. The potential consideration of the JF-17 Block 3 represents a departure from the established norms, signaling a willingness to diversify defense partnerships and explore options beyond the denied acquisitions.

The JF-17 Block 3, a collaborative effort between China and Pakistan, presents a cost-effective solution for Turkey, equipped with advanced avionics and weaponry. While not directly comparable to Western counterparts, the Block 3 variant is gaining attention for its capabilities, particularly in the context of Turkey's denied acquisitions and Greece's bolstered air force.

Turkey's potential shift towards the JF-17 Block 3 adds a layer of complexity to the geopolitical dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean. As Turkey seeks alternative defense partners, the move may impact regional power balances and influence diplomatic relationships.

In addition to the JF-17 Block 3, Turkey has other noteworthy alternatives on its radar. The Russian-made Su-57 and Su-35, along with the Chinese J-10C, emerge as potential choices for Ankara. This consideration adds an intriguing dimension to the geopolitical landscape, as operating Russian or Chinese jets would mark a departure for a NATO member. It is worth noting that Turkey already operates the Russian S-400 Air Defense System, a move that led to its expulsion from the F-35 program.


Friday, January 13, 2012

19 EU Countries OK Defense Product Transfers Law


BRUSSELS - Nineteen European Union member states have so far told the European Commission that they have adopted the EU'S Directive 2009/43/EC, which aims to simplify the terms and conditions of transfers of defense-related products in the EU.
That was one of the main points set out in a Dec. 9 meeting summary record of a committee set up to track the directive's implementation progress. The meeting was attended by all EU member states except Greece and Slovenia.
According to the summary record, "the majority of the member states that have not yet transposed the Directive explained that the work for transposition is well under way" and added that "this should allow them to meet the implementation deadline of 30 June 2012."
During the meeting, the commission demonstrated a new central register of certified defense undertakings. This will be made up of a restricted site and a public part on the EU's Europa website.
The public site is due to launch in the first quarter of 2012.
"The central register is for all EU defense companies that have been certified [nationally] so that they can benefit as receivers of general licenses [for defense product transfers]," a commission official said.
The summary also refers to a commission task force whose job is "to ensure, inter alia, a smooth transposition and effective implementation of the 2009 Defence Package encompassing the public procurement and transfer directives."
The task force is chaired by Directorate General (DG) Internal Market and DG Enterprise and includes DG Competition, DG Trade, DG Research, DG Home, DG Move and the Joint Research Centre.
"The idea is to build the directives and ensure coherent policy in all the commission DGs and to see what else the commission can do to support the deepening of the European defense market," a commission source said.
Despite rumors of a second defense package, the source said that "this was not on the agenda" but that a work program was being prepared.
The next official meeting of the task force is in early March, when the work program will be discussed in more detail.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Greece, Israel Pledge to Boost Defense Ties


ATHENS - Greece and Israel pledged to boost defense cooperation with a view to improving regional stability, their defense ministers told reporters Jan. 10.
GREEK DEFENCE MINISTER Dimitris Avramopoulos, right, and his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak review a military honour guard during a welcoming ceremony in Athens on Jan. 10. (Aris Messinis / AFP)
"We are committed to work together to deepen our relations in defense and security," said Israel's Ehud Barak. "We have to be prepared for many kinds of developments. ... We must think ahead of time and work together."
Traditionally pro-Arab Greece, which did not officially recognize Israel until 1991, has stepped up efforts to attract investment and expertise to shore up its debt-struck economy.
The two countries are trying to "make up for lost time", Greek Defence Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos said, asserting Greece's "commitment to deepening the alliance with Israel ... in the name of friendship, peace and stability for all the peoples of the region".
Barak's two-day visit is the fourth by a senior Israeli official in 17 months. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited in August 2010, followed by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in January 2011 and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon in November, when Israel hosted a joint exercise with the Greek air force.
He said their cooperation was "honest and sincere (and) not directed against anyone", in a reference to Turkey, formerly a staunch ally of Israel but now on deteriorating terms with the Jewish state.
"To the contrary, this cooperation can create new sources of wealth for the entire region," Avramopoulos said at a time when Greece, lumbered with a severe debt crisis, hopes for economic benefits from closer ties with Israel.
Athens is keenly interested in Israel's economic rapprochement with traditional Greek ally Cyprus to develop undersea gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean.
Pro-Palestinian Greek activists meanwhile have denounced Barak's visit, with a rights group calling him a "war criminal", and were set to stage a protest in central Athens later in the day.
Last July, Greece banned a flotilla of ships headed for Gaza from leaving its ports on a mission to break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory.
An Israeli raid last year on another Gaza-bound aid flotilla left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead, all of them Turks or of Turkish origin, and precipitated a diplomatic crisis with Greece's regional rival Turkey.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Cypriot Protesters Demand British Forces Leave


NICOSIA - Protesters demanding that British forces withdraw from Cyprus clashed with police at a military base, leaving around a dozen people hurt, police said Jan. 2.
Among the injured at the British military base of Akrotiri were demonstrators, police officers and a journalist. State television said at least three people were arrested.
Around 120 people had turned up at the Akrotiri compound near the southern coastal city of Limassol, and the protest got off to a peaceful start before quickly deteriorating.
Demonstrators threw stones, sticks and bottles at the base's police force outside the compound.
Shops and cars were also damaged in the skirmishes with the police, who are mostly Greek Cypriot.
A helicopter was dispatched and loud explosions could also be heard, although police on state television attributed them to firecrackers.
The protest was orchestrated by a new group calling themselves the National Anti-Colonial Platform, with their demands being the immediate withdrawal of British forces from the Mediterranean island.
The group's website vowed to return to a British base to continue their demonstrations.
Britain has retained two sovereign military bases on Cyprus - at Akrotiri in the southwest and Dhekelia in the southeast - since the island gained independence from British rule in 1960.
Last month, Britain confirmed it would retain both, with Defence Secretary Philip Hammond saying they "are in a region of geopolitical importance and high priority for the United Kingdom's long-term national security interests."
The bases, home to some 9,000 personnel and their families, are seen as strategically imperative and have been used by British forces in offenses against Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Greece Considers Free Tank Offer


ATHENS - Cash-strapped Greece is considering an offer of hundreds of redundant M1A1 Abrams tanks extended by the United States government, the Greek army said on Wednesday.
"This is a free offer," army spokesman Yiannis Sifakis told AFP.
"A delegation of officers has travelled to the United States to examine tanks in storage; we are departing on the premise of picking 400 of them," he said.
"The only cost will be that of transport, which is estimated in the region of eight million euros ($11 million)," the spokesman said.
Ta Nea daily reported that the tanks, stored in Nevada, saw action in the 1990-1991 Gulf War and were first offered by the United States a year ago. The state council on foreign policy and defence will have the final say on whether the offer is taken up, Sifakis said.
Greece is in the grip of a debt crisis that has forced the government to freeze procurement orders for tanks, frigates and fighter jets.
The country has traditionally been one of the world's heaviest defence spenders per capita owing to decades of rivalry with neighboring Turkey.
Greece has in the past bought tanks from Germany, and there have been reports that Berlin has recently tried to sell updated versions of its Leopard model.
Next year, Athens has allocated more money to military equipment orders - 1 billion euros compared to 600 million euros a year earlier - but the defence ministry will cut its running budget by 1.4 percent.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Turkey Signs Deal To Buy Six CH-47 Copters


ANKARA - Turkey has signed a government-to-government deal with the United States to buy six CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift transport helicopters, worth up to $400 million, a senior procurement official said.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the Pentagon body that coordinates weapon sales, notified Congress of a potential sale of 14 CH-47F heavy-lift helicopters for $1.2 billion in December 2009, and Congress gave permission later that month.
But because of financial constraints, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), Turkey's arms procurement agency, later decided to buy only six CH-47Fs, five for the Army and one for the Special Forces Command, postponing a decision on the remaining eight aircraft. Contract negotiations among the SSM, the U.S. government and Chinook maker Boeing were launched last year.
"The contract was signed in late July," the procurement official said. "It was worth around $400 million. After the helicopters begin to arrive, we plan to make some modifications on them according to our needs."
The six CH-47F Chinooks will be the first heavy-lift helicopters in the Turkish Army's inventory. Their deliveries are expected to begin in 2013 and end in 2014.
"These helicopters have incredible capabilities. Three or four of them can transport a company-sized unit and its equipment to long distances only in a few hours," the procurement official said. The maximum speed of the CH-47F is about 312 kilometers an hour.
Developed in the 1960s, the Chinooks have been exported to many countries, including Australia, Britain, Canada, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Japan, Morocco, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
The Chinook has been successfully operated in combat in several wars and armed conflicts.
The Chinook is a twin-engine, twin-rotor helicopter. The counter-rotating rotors eliminate the need for an anti-torque vertical rotor, allowing all power to be used for lift and thrust.
The CH-47F is the upgraded version of the CH-47D, and is the latest model in this helicopter family. It can carry up to 60 troops and personnel.
A CH-47 Chinook was shot down by Taliban forces southwest of Kabul in Afghanistan in earlier this month, killing 30 U.S. troops, including 23 Navy SEALs, and eight Afghans.
"These are not unsafe devices. On the contrary, these helicopters had mission flights of thousands of hours in Afghanistan only this year, and this was the first such incident," the procurement official said.
Turkey usually manufactures its own defense equipment, or jointly produces it with foreign partners. But since the number of heavy-lift helicopters being ordered is rather small, SSM decided on direct procurement from a single source, i.e. Boeing. The heavy-lift helicopter program is expected to be among Turkey's last direct foreign procurement projects.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Norway pulls Falcons back

HELSINKI - Norway has withdrawn its F-16 fighter squadron from NATO's Operation Unified Protector (OUP). The return of the F-16s ends Norway's direct involvement in the operation and the enforcement of NATO's no-fly zone over Libya.
Danish F-16 fighters are seen at the Italian military airport of Sigonella in March. Norway has withdrawn its F-16 fighters from NATO's Libya operation, but Denmark's fighter jets have continued bombing missions. (Mario LaPorta / AFP via Getty Images)
The Norwegian Air Force's squadron, comprising six F-16s, flew 596 missions, almost 10 percent of the total by NATO-aligned aircraft, since March. The aircraft dropped 542 bombs and logged about 2,000 hours of flight time over the four-month period, according to Norwegian Ministry of Defense figures.
The number of missions flown by the aircraft declined in June when two F-16s were recalled to Norway from Souda Airbase in Crete. Britain compensated for the partial withdrawal, sending an extra four Panavia Tornado GR.4 ground-attack jets to replace the F-16s.
By contrast, Denmark's F-16 fighter squadron, which joined the operation in early April, dropped some 705 bombs, including seven precision bombs, on Libya, according to the latest data from the Danish Ministry of Defense.
In recent weeks, six Danish Air Force F-16s have been engaged in bombing missions on targets located between Zlitan and the Libyan capital Tripoli. Targets have included military depots and support facilities.
The Libyan mission cost the Danes up to $16 million a month, a figure that excludes capital outlay to replace precision missiles, bombs and other munitions. The Danes' core arsenal includes GBU-49 type 500-pound bombs and 1-ton bunker killer BLU-109 warheads.
The Zlitan area, which lies 160 kilometers east of Tripoli, has seen increased fighting between rebel groups and forces loyal to the Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi, in recent weeks.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Turkish Army Scraps Major Drills

ANKARA,Turkey - The Turkish army said May 24 it had canceled two major military exercises in the Aegean Sea region in the west, where tensions with neighboring Greece are high.
The annual Efes exercises, involving land, air and naval drills, and the Denizkurdu (Sea Wolf) maneuvers, held at sea every two years, have been canceled, said a brief statement on the army's website without elaborating. The general staff had organized a press tour for the maneuvers, scheduled to start on May 25.
Despite notable improvements in their ties over the past decade, NATO partners Turkey and Greece remain at loggerheads over territorial rights in the Aegean Sea.
In 2006, a Greek pilot was killed when his plane collided with a Turkish jet during a mock dogfight over the Aegean.
Diplomats from the two countries have been holding so-called "exploratory talks" behind closed doors since 2002 in a bid to resolve the dispute. A 51st round of meetings was held at Turkey's Aegean resort of Cesme last week.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Norway Army Faced Cyber Attack After Libya Bombing

OSLO - The Norwegian military said May 19 that it had been the victim of a serious cyber attack at the end of March, a day after Norwegian F-16 fighter jets for the first time carried out bombings in Libya.
"The army is regularly the target of cyber and virus attacks, but not as extensive as this," Hilde Lindboe, a spokeswoman for Norwegian Defence Information Infrastructure (INI), told AFP.
On March 25, a day after Norwegian F-16s first took part in the NATO-led bombing in Libya, around 100 military employees, some of them high-ranking, received an email in Norwegian with an attachment that, once opened, let loose a virus made to extract information from the host computer.
"From what we have seen, no sensitive information has been obtained," Lindboe said.
According to INI, only one computer containing non-classified information was contaminated.
The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) has opened an investigation to determine who launched the attack, but authorities say it is too soon to say whether there was a link to the Libya bombings.
Norway has six F-16s stationed on the Greek island of Crete as part of the NATO campaign against leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces, authorized by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 to protect the Libyan population.
The Scandinavian country has however said it plans to curb its military role in Libya if the campaign lasts longer than June 24.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Building the Shield

Efforts to establish a NATO-led European missile shield have ricocheted off national political challenges, regional rivalries and commercial interests, with a scheduled June meeting of allied and Russian defense ministers pivotal to charting the way forward.
Russian officials have directly linked participation in European missile defense to the U.S.-Russian New START, which took force Feb. 5. Two days after the strategic arms treaty went into effect, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told journalists that Russia would consider withdrawing from the New START if Washington aggressively pushed for the missile shield.
"If the U.S. bolsters the qualitative and quantitative potential of its missile defense, a question will arise whether Russia should further stick to the treaty or would be forced to take measures to respond to the situation, including military and technical measures," the diplomat said at a Feb. 7 news conference.
At the NATO-Russia November summit in Lisbon, Moscow and the alliance agreed to jointly develop a European missile defense. However, Russian officials lately have expressed concerns that two separate missile defense systems will be built in Europe: one by the U.S. and NATO without Russian participation, and the second by NATO together with Russia.
On Feb. 11, President Dmitry Medvedev appointed Russia's special envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, to the newly created post of special presidential representative on anti-missile defense and ordered creation of an interagency task force to cooperate with NATO. The group is expected to begin its work by March 31 and will be responsible for coordinating the negotiating process with NATO.
"This issue will really become either critically important for mutual understanding and further rapprochement between Russia and the West in military policies, or it will throw back our relations for several years and maybe even decades," Rogozin said in Brussels on March 1, the official RIA Novosti agency reported.
Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said at the Feb. 7 news conference that missile defense is "a kind of litmus test that will allow us to see whether NATO members and the United States are ready for open, equal, honest and parity-based cooperation."
NATO and Russian defense ministers are to convene in June to discuss the results of a missile threat assessment by the group of experts who are also to report about the feasibility of building a joint missile defense system.
The initial assessment cites missile threats to Europe from the south, Rogozin said, but he questions why some plans are oriented toward northern Europe.
"Buildup of the strategic anti-missile defense in Northern Europe, where not a single expert identified a possible threat, is an unpleasant signal for us," he said, apparently referring to the U.S. plans to install elements of the missile defense system in Poland. Poland Poland has been at the center of European missile defense efforts and conflicts. Under plans proposed by U.S. President George W. Bush, Poland would have hosted interceptors. President Barack Obama scrapped that plan for an Aegis-ship based system, but still would install interceptors in Poland, as announced during the March 3 visit to Washington of Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski.
Meanwhile, Poland also is pursuing a national missile defense effort that could include a combination of Patriots from Germany and development of a new system, although some question whether these efforts conflict.
Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich and Germany's former defense minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, discussed a possible sale of up to 12 Patriot missile batteries during Guttenberg's Feb. 15 visit to Warsaw. "We are in the middle of talks on acquiring a number of Patriot missile batteries from Germany," Klich said at a press briefing after that meeting.
"We are linked by common proposals, goals and priorities," Guttenberg said at the briefing. "Poland is our partner. During the next few weeks, we will be holding talks on this issue."
Meanwhile, according to earlier reports by the local media, the Polish Ministry of Defense planned to launch a tender for an air defense system by the end of this year. The deal was reported to be worth about $5 billion.
In early 2010, five bidders responded to a request for technical specifications. These included proposals submitted by Raytheon and Norway's Kongsberg; MBDA and Poland's Bumar Group; Raytheon and Israel's Rafael; Germany's Diehl BGT Defense; and Israel Aerospace Industries. "We have designed a project of an air defense system, dubbed the Shield for Poland," said Edward Nowak, chief executive of Bumar Group. "It currently is our most significant project."
According to Nowak, the joint pitch of the local defense industry and MBDA has been wrongly seen as directly competing with plans to deploy elements of a U.S. missile shield on Polish soil, and the two projects would complement each other.
State-owned Bumar, which is Poland's largest defense group, said it hopes that joining forces with European manufacturer MBDA, which is offering the Aster 30 and VL Mica missiles, will improve its chances of securing the multibillion-dollar contract.
"The lack of developed missile products has been the biggest shortcoming of Poland's defense industry. While we have the necessary know-how and technology in radio location and C4ISR systems, we lack the technology in missile production," said Tomasz Badowski, chief defense analyst at the Euro-Atlantic Association, a think tank in Warsaw. "Cooperation with MBDA could permit [the Polish industry] to bridge the tech gap."
As Germany's bid could jeopardize the launch of the air defense tender, Bumar has intensified its research efforts and hopes to get government funding to quickly push ahead with a proposal and win the bid in its consortium with MBDA.
Poland's troubled relations with Russia play a key role in Warsaw's drive to acquire a new air defense system, analysts say. Medvedev visited the Polish capital Dec. 6, a trip that marked the first official visit by a Russian head of state to Poland in more than eight years, but the two countries have maintained frosty relations until recently.
The deployment of U.S. Patriot missiles on a training rotation at the Polish military base of Morag, in the country's northeast, was blasted by Moscow. Poland responded to Russia's objections in October, when the missiles were moved from Morag, where they have been stationed since last May, to the base in Torun, away from the Russian border.
Badowski said Poland's current air defense system is outdated and, despite Army modernization efforts, its cornerstone is based on Soviet technology.
"The missile defense systems used by anti-aircraft units of the Air Force are simply not capable of eliminating potential threats from the air," he said.
Norway In Norway, politicians skillfully linked support for the NATO missile shield with its own strategic High North defense plan. Norway had initially shown clear reluctance to row in behind the NATO plan, but warmed to the project after persuading NATO to deepen its commitment to High North and Arctic defenses.
The substantive concern among Norwegian legislators and military was that the shield would offer protection only to some NATO members; Norway was adamant it protect all NATO states. The transition from being an opponent to a supporter of the plan was rapid. Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, Norway's former defense minister, was the only representative to publicly voice opposition to the plan at a NATO meeting in Vilnius in February 2008.
Strøm-Erichsen told the NATO meeting in the Lithuanian capital that Norway questioned the "need for a missile defense system," warning such a move could trigger "an arms race."
Extending the system's geo-graphic range was proposed during discussions between Benson Whitney, the then-U.S. ambassador to Norway, and Norway's state secretary for foreign affairs, Raymond Johansen.
Whitney noted that Norway was likely to abandon its opposition if the protective umbrella was broadened to include all NATO-aligned states in Europe, and if NATO was open to signing bilateral agreements on missile defense with Poland and the Czech Republic.
Norway regarded the widening of the protective range as pivotal to its objective of strengthening its own anti-missile capability, primarily directed at Russia's long- and medium-range missile arsenal on its doorstep on the Kola Peninsula.
However, this strategic view changed as Norway became more proactive in building a so-called "bridge of cooperation" between NATO and Russia on the missile shield issue, in the hope that a joint NATO-Russian solution would better serve the country's security interests in the High North Norway's initial lukewarm reception to the missile defense system was also influenced by its wish to see NATO cooperate with Russia on a broader missile defense program. The Norwegian view is that the dividend in NATO-Russian cooperation in this arena is reduced tension in the High North and Arctic regions.
To this extent, Norway got its wish when the Obama administration decided to scrap the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic in favor of expanding the shield program to include all NATO countries in Europe and North America.
NATO-Russian missile shield cooperation has long been regarded by Norway as the best means of accelerating the end to the last remnants of the Cold War. Norway lobbied strongly for NATO to invite Russia to the negotiating table ahead of the organization's summit meeting in Lisbon last November. "By reaching out and inviting Russia to cooperate with us, I believe we also have a real chance to build a security roof for the entire Euro-Atlantic area," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Lisbon. The U.S. and NATO have a special interest in maintaining a trouble-free relationship with Norway, which has increased its funding toward surveillance of Russian forces on Kola and provided intelligence data on changing missile capabilities and progress on new missile assets and tests by Russia in the region.
This intelligence transfer will cover the planned test-firing of Bulava missiles by the Severodvinsk-based Yuri Dolgoruky Borey-class submarines, the newest strategic subs in Russia's fleet, in June or July. Turkey In Turkey, a decision about acquiring a national long-range air defense system will likely wait for several months after June legislative elections. Meanwhile, Turkey's participation in the NATO missile shield has involved some politically touchy issues.Turkey's proposed national air defense system is being designed to counter both aircraft and ballistic missiles, and will be independent from the NATO missile shield. But since both systems are, by nature, anti-ballistic missile schemes and both are supposed to protect Turkish soil, they will have to be integrated in some way.
But the U.S. and some of its Western partners are staunchly opposed to the integration of any Russian or Chinese system into the NATO missile shield.
"American officials already have said that non-NATO elements would cause serious interoperability problems," one Turkish diplomat said.
The defense analyst said Western worries are related to both defense and commercial concerns.
"They [the Westerners] simply don't want Turkey to select Russian or Chinese options, and part of their concern is commercial," the diplomat said.
In the event Turkey effectively drops Russia and China from the list of contenders, the competition will be left to a rivalry between U.S. and Italian-French companies.
At the Lisbon summit, Turkey managed to persuade its NATO partners not to mention any countries as specific threats, although French President Nicolas Sarkozy explicitly said the ballistic missile threat was coming from Iran. At Turkey's request, the need to protect all NATO territory was also included in the decision text, as Turkey has close and developing ties with Iran.
"In any case, Turkish and NATO officials will have tough talks, with Turkey wanting a lot in return for the deployment of X-band radars on its territory," the defense analyst said. "Again, the next Turkish Cabinet will make the final decision on that."
Nabi Abdullaev in Moscow, Jaroslaw Adamowski in Warsaw, Burak Ege Bekdil and Umit Enginsoy in Ankara, and Gerard O'Dwyer in Helsinki contributed.

Monday, March 14, 2011

India World's Biggest Arms Importer: SIPRI Report

STOCKHOLM - India has been the world's biggest weapons importer over the past five years, Swedish think-tank SIPRI reported March 14, naming four Asian countries among the top five arms importers.
The report also highlighted how the world's major arms supplying countries had in recent years competed for trade in Libya, and in other Arab countries gripped by the recent wave of pro-democracy uprisings.
"India is the world's largest arms importer," the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said as it released its latest report on trends in the international arms trade.
"India received 9 percent of the volume of international arms transfers during 2006-10, with Russian deliveries accounting for 82 percent of Indian arms imports," it said.
Its arms imports jumped 21 percent from the previous five-year period, with 71 percent of its orders being for aircraft.
India's arms purchases were driven by several factors, said Siemon Wezeman of SIPRI'S Arms Transfers Program.
"The most often cited relate to rivalries with Pakistan and China as well as internal security challenges," he wrote.
China and South Korea held joint second place on the list of global arms import, each with 6 percent, followed by Pakistan, on 5 percent.
Aircraft accounted for 45 percent of Pakistan's arms imports, which had bought warplanes from both China and the United States. Pakistan's arms imports were up 128 percent on the previous five-year period, SIPRI noted.
Greece rounded off the top-five list arms importers, with 4 percent of global imports.
Since the lifting of a U.N. arms embargo on Libya in September 2003, Britain, France, Italy and Russia had all competed to win orders from Moammar Gadhafi's regime, said the report.
Gadhafi's forces are currently using tanks, artillery and warplanes to reclaim territory held by the opposition forces.
Egypt had received 60 percent of its major arms imports from the United States between 2006 and 2010, said the SIPRI report.
They included "M-1A1 tanks and M-113 armored vehicles of the type present during demonstrations in the country in January 2011," it added.
A pro-democracy uprising forced Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to step down on Feb. 11, after nearly three decades of autocratic rule, after pro-democracy uprising.
But the conflict left at least 384 dead and more than 6,000 injured.
Russia, Montenegro, the Netherlands and China had also supplied weapons to the Mubarak regime, said the SIPRI report.
The United States remained the world's largest military equipment exporter, accounting for 30 percent of global arms exports in 2006-10, 44 percent of which went to Asia and Oceania, SIPRI said.
The rest of the top five arms suppliers were: Russia, with 23 percent of the total market; Germany (11 percent); France (7 percent); and Britain (4 percent).
"There is intense competition between suppliers for big-ticket deals in Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America," said Dr Paul Holtom, head of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Program.
He cited the efforts of the Eurofighter consortium to sell their plane across the world against rival warplanes, with competition particularly fierce for the markets in Brazil and India.
Britain, France, Germany and Italy were also competing for orders for naval equipment from Algeria, noted SIPRI.
The think tank, which specializes in research on conflicts, weapons, arms control and disarmament, was created in 1966 and is 50 percent financed by the Swedish state.