Turkey Signs $23B Deal for Advanced F-16 Jets to Modernize Air Force and Boost NATO Ties

 

Turkey has officially signed an agreement to purchase new F-16 fighters from the United States, a major step in its efforts to modernize its air force. The deal, confirmed on June 13 by Turkey's defense ministry and the U.S. State Department, marks a significant development in the bilateral defense relationship.

In October 2021, Turkey requested to buy 40 F-16 Block 70/72 fighters to replace its aging F-4E Phantoms. This request also included 79 modernization kits to upgrade older F-16s to similar standards. Although the sale faced initial resistance in Washington, Turkey's support for Sweden's NATO membership and its strong stance against Russia have eased opposition. U.S. Ambassador to Ankara, Jeffrey Flake, called the deal "beneficial for U.S. national security, Turkish national security, and NATO interoperability."

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel highlighted in January that both President Biden and Secretary Blinken have consistently supported the modernization of Turkey’s F-16 fleet, viewing it as a critical investment in NATO interoperability. Currently, Turkey is the largest foreign operator of the F-16, a fighter jet first introduced in 1974. However, Turkey’s F-16 variants are outdated, relying on mechanically scanned array radars with limited electronic warfare and situational awareness capabilities.

Turkey has initiated avionics modernization for 35 of its F-16 Block 30 jets, but NATO’s Turkish fleet still lags behind the more advanced air forces in the region. Countries like the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have more sophisticated F-16 variants, while Egypt and Syria use enhanced MiG-29s with phased array radars, and Iran is set to deploy advanced Su-35s.

Enhancing Turkey’s aerial capabilities is crucial for NATO’s broader strategic interests, especially as regional challenges to U.S. influence intensify. Turkey’s military actions against Syria and other Iranian-aligned entities, along with support for jihadist affiliates, have complicated the regional military landscape, impacting the efforts of groups like Hezbollah and factions in Syria from focusing on Israel and the United States.

The F-16 Block 70/72 is a ‘4+ generation’ fighter with advanced avionics comparable to those in the latest F-35 stealth fighters. This variant features the APG-83 active electronically scanned array radar, making it a formidable platform for electronic warfare and providing superior situational awareness. The new F-16 variant’s advanced sensors and weapons systems significantly surpass those of older models, which were equipped with less sophisticated technology from the Cold War era and early 2000s.

Initially designed as a cost-effective, lightweight alternative to the F-15, the F-16 continues to play a vital role in U.S. and allied air forces. Turkey’s $23 billion order for the new F-16s will significantly boost the program, particularly as global demand for the aging fighter jet has waned.

Turkey's Hürjet and Anka-III Unmanned Aircraft Conduct Joint Flight, Showcasing Growing Military Prowess

 

In a remarkable display of Turkey's advancing military capabilities, two indigenously developed aircraft—the Hürjet trainer jet and the Anka-III unmanned combat aircraft—recently completed a joint flight.

Local media reports revealed that the ANKA-3 Flying Wing Unmanned Combat Aircraft and the HÜRJET, Turkey's first domestically built supersonic jet, flew together. During the test, the aircraft reached an altitude of 7,000 feet, flew at 165 knots, and remained airborne for 50 minutes.

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) announced on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that this joint flight marked the ANKA III's eighth sortie and the HÜRJET's 66th. This joint operation could signify the beginning of future collaborations, considering the Hürjet's role as a trainer aircraft and the Anka-III's as an unmanned jet. Analysts note this is significant as TAI plans to integrate manned-unmanned teaming in its next-generation stealth aircraft, 'KAAN', utilizing a data link for coordination.

The Anka-III made its maiden flight last year, following its development initiation in 2022. This medium-altitude UAV, designed for long-endurance surveillance, boasts a 30-hour endurance and can operate at 30,000 feet, covering 250 kilometers. The stealth UCAV, weighing 6.5 tonnes with a payload capacity of 750 kilograms, first flew on December 28, 2023.

The Anka-III is capable of various missions, including electronic warfare, ISR operations, and precision strikes, often overseen by ground stations. Its stealth design aims to withstand combat missions, such as electronic warfare and the suppression of enemy air defenses.

TAI is enhancing Anka-III's capabilities, with plans for a supersonic version featuring two engines, as confirmed by TAI CEO Temel Kotil.

The Hürjet, an advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft, made its maiden flight on April 23, as announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on April 25. The aircraft, which has completed 66 sorties in over a year, gained attention after TAI won a contract to supply light combat aircraft to the Royal Malaysian Air Force, although it lost the tender to South Korea's FA-50.

Despite this setback, Turkey continues its efforts to export the Hürjet, recently entering Spain's tender to replace its F-5 trainer aircraft. Some analysts view the Hürjet as a competitor to Boeing's T-7 Red Hawk, which has faced delays. TAI hopes to market the Hürjet internationally before the T-7.

Hürjet is part of TAI's ambitious projects, including the Anka-III and KAAN fighter jets. The trainer is scheduled for its first overseas flight in Egypt this year, aiming to attract international customers. This recent flight underscores the rapid progress the aircraft has made in just a year.

Iraq and Egypt talk to boost military cooperation

CAIRO — Egypt’s military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi on Jan. 18 held talks with Iraqi Defence Minister Saadun al-Dulaimi on ways of boosting military ties between the two nations, officials said.

Talks centered on “training Iraqi officers and exchanging military expertise,” as well as regional and international efforts to support stability in Iraq, one source said.

The meeting was attended by armed forces chief of staff Lt. Gen. Sami Annan and several members of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces which took over after president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster last year.

More than 200 people have been killed in Iraq since U.S. forces completed their withdrawal last month from the country.

Since then the country has been in the throes of a festering dispute between the Shiite-led government and ministers from the Sunni-backed Iraqi bloc with analysts warning violence could rise if the row is not contained.

Israel's Livni Urges U.S. to Step Up Iran Sanctions

JERU.S.ALEM - Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni urged U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to ratchet up sanctions against Iran" without delay," a statement from her Kadima party said on Dec. 3.

It said that the two met in Washington on Dec. 2.

Israeli media said that the meeting took place before Panetta delivered a speech urging Israel to break out of growing regional "isolation" by repairing diplomatic ties with Egypt and Turkey, and renewing peace efforts with the Palestinians.

"The world needs to stop Iran," the Kadima statement quoted Livni as telling Panetta.

"Stronger, tougher sanctions are required without delay."

Israel and much of the international community fear that Iran's nuclear program masks a drive for a weapons capability. Tehran denies any such ambition and says the program is for peaceful civilian energy and medical purposes only.

In his comments on Friday to the Brookings Institution's Saban Centre for the Middle East, a Washington think-tank, Panetta vowed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying the Obama administration had not ruled out possible military action.

But he warned of the potential downside of any strike, which he said could actually strengthen the Tehran regime while not necessarily destroying all targets.

The Pentagon chief said he understood Israel's anxieties over turmoil in the Middle East but said the Arab Spring offered an opportunity for the country to forge a more secure place in the region.

It was crucial for Israel to reach out and "mend fences" with countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Jordan that share an interest in regional stability, said Panetta, who issued similar appeals in a visit to the region in October.

Israel also needed "to lean forward on efforts to achieve peace with the Palestinians," Panetta said.

Livni said that neutralizing Iran and making peace with the Palestinians were both factors for Middle East stability.

"The struggle against a nuclear Iran, and renewed movement in negotiations with the Palestinians will strengthen the pragmatic camp in the region," she told Panetta.

New Missile Craft for Egypt Delivered

The first of four new fast missile craft for Egypt was dedicated Oct. 25 at a shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., and the ship's name was announced.
The S. Ezzat is named after Soliman Ezzat, the admiral who founded and led the modern Egyptian Navy from 1953 to 1967, shipbuilder VT Halter Marine said in a press release.

Construction of the ship began in a newly built fabrication facility at VT Halter in November 2009 under a U.S. Navy Foreign Military Sales program managed by the U.S. Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command.
The original contract for the program was awarded to VT Halter in November 2005. Since then, the U.S. has awarded the shipbuilder more than $800 million for the ships.
Also known as the Ambassador III class, the stealthy, 550-ton ships are 207 feet long. They are powered by three MTU diesels and designed for a top speed of 41 knots. The ships are armed with eight Harpoon surface-to-surface missiles and an OTO Melara 3-inch gun, with self-defense provided by a Rolling Airframe Missile launcher and a Close-In Weapon System Block 1B. They are designed to operate at sea for up to eight days.
The Egyptian Navy operates several classes of fast missile ships, built in the Soviet Union, Germany and Britain, but the last was delivered in 1982.
The Ezzat is expected to leave Mississippi for Egypt during 2012.
Construction continues on the other three ships: F. Zekry, M. Fahmy and A. Gad. The last ship is contracted for delivery in December 2013.

Israel, Gaza Trade Strikes After Attacks

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories - Gazan rockets hit southern Israel on Aug. 19 after a long night of air strikes as Israel sought to smash the militants behind desert attacks that killed eight Israelis.
As the air force pounded targets across the Gaza Strip, militants there lobbed 12 rockets at south Israel early on Aug. 19, injuring two - one seriously and one moderately - in the city of Ashdod, police said.

Several hours earlier, one Gazan was killed and 17 injured as Israel pounded targets across the strip following a day of violence in which gunmen unleashed bloody mayhem on a desert road near the Red Sea resort town of Eilat.
Six Israeli civilians, a soldier and a police officer were killed in several hours of attacks on a desert road some 12 miles north of Eilat.
Israeli warplanes responded immediately, attacking targets in southern Gaza which killed six people, including five militants from the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) - the group it said was behind the violence.
The PRC vowed bitter revenge for the attack, which killed its leader and three other top cadres, and on Friday claimed responsibility for firing at least seven rockets and mortars into Israel.
Overnight, the Israeli air force hit seven targets in Gaza, including two training camps for Hamas militants, a weapons factory, two smuggling tunnels and a "terror tunnel."
Palestinian sources reported two more raids on Aug. 19, lightly injuring one person.
"The Israeli Defense Forces will not tolerate any malicious attempt to harm Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers and will not hesitate to respond with strength and determination to any element that uses terror against the State of Israel and until calm is restored," a statement said.
In Egypt, state television said two "unidentified Egyptians" had been killed by Israeli gunfire on Aug. 18 in an area near the site of the attacks; overnight security officials said three Egyptian policemen were also killed in the same area when an Israeli Apache fired a rocket at militants.
Israel officials were quick to point the finger at Gaza, although the territory's Hamas rulers denied any connection to the attacks.
But the Israeli military said it held the Islamist group ultimately responsible for violence coming from the territory it controls.
"If Hamas wants an escalation, it will pay a high price," Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai told public radio on Aug. 19, saying some form of ground operation in Gaza was not out of the question.
"All options are open, including a pin-point (ground) operation," he said.
Both sides were burying their dead on Aug. 19, with funerals in Jerusalem for the soldier and the police officer and a burial procession due to take place in southern Gaza for the five militants and the toddler.
As Israeli police went on high alert across Israel, the country's main newspapers painted a much clearer picture of how events unfolded on Aug. 18 involving an estimated 15 to 20 gunmen, some wearing Egyptian army fatigues.
The first attack saw three gunmen open fire on a packed bus heading to Eilat, injuring seven people. Shortly afterwards, they opened fire on a civilian car in the same area, killing four people.
Then one of the militants detonated an explosives-packed belt he was wearing as an empty bus drove past, blowing himself up and killing the driver.
Further gunfire was directed at another car, killing one man. The soldier and the police officer were killed in two separate gun battles with the attackers which lasted into the evening, the papers said.
Six of the attackers were killed by Israeli troops and special police forces, while the seventh blew himself up; others are believed to have fled across the Egyptian border.
Egypt's state television on Aug. 18 showed footage of rifles, grenades and army uniforms seized during an ongoing security operation in northern Sinai, while in a separate development, security officials said they had uncovered a workshop capable of producing suicide belts.

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.

U.S. Lawmaker Opposes Further Tank Sales to Egypt

Freshman U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., is opposing the latest proposed sale of M1 Abrams tanks to Egypt, a deal with an estimated cost of $1.3 billion.
On July 1, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the potential sale.

If it goes through, the sale would include 125 M1A1 Abrams tank kits for co-production and associated weapons, equipment, parts, training and logistical support, according to the DSCA notice.
In a July 18 letter, West, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Tea Party Caucus, said he opposes any military sales to Egypt as long as the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist party, "remains active in the political process" there.
West sent the letter to Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Fla., the House Armed Services Committee chairman. Copies of the letter also were provided to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other House leaders.
Last month, the U.S. said it would resume direct contact with the Muslim Brotherhood, which has become an influential political force in Egypt since former President Hosni Mubarak was forced out of office earlier this year.
"We believe, given the changing political landscape in Egypt, that it is in the interests of the United States to engage with all parties that are peaceful and committed to nonviolence that intend to compete for the parliament and the presidency," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said June 30 on a trip to Budapest.
Since Mubarak's departure, the Egyptian military has formed an interim government, which recognized the Brotherhood's political party in June. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for this fall, and a presidential election could take place by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, West says the proposed tank sale to Egypt could "seriously jeopardize" Israel's security.
"We must exercise caution with regards to military sales and support to the Egyptian Government until a government is formed absent of the radical elements of the Muslim Brotherhood that will maintain active peace with Israel," West writes.
Founded in 1928, the Brotherhood has never been classified a terrorist organization by the U.S. While the group renounces violence, it has verbally supported Hamas, which has carried out attacks against Israel.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the U.S.-Egyptian co-production of the M1A1 Abrams tank, which began in 1988, is "one of the cornerstones of U.S. military assistance to Egypt."
Egypt plans to acquire a total of 1,200 tanks. Some of the tank's components are manufactured at an Egyptian facility, while the remaining parts are produced in the U.S. and then shipped to Egypt for final assembly. The prime contractor is General Dynamics, located in Michigan.
"The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region," the DSCA notice says.
By law, the government is required to notify Congress of any foreign military sale over a certain value. Depending on the country and the sale, Congress has between 15 and 30 days to block the sale by a joint resolution of disapproval.
To date, no sale has ever been blocked by this method, although Congress came very close during the 1980s with an arms sale to Saudi Arabia.
Congress can also pass legislation to stop or modify sales at any time up to the point of delivery.

Powers Unlock $1 Billion For Libya Rebels

TRIPOLI, Libya - Key powers have vowed to unlock a billion dollars for hard-pressed Libyan rebels in talks to map out a "post-Gadhafi Libya" as a fresh volley of NATO air strikes rocked the capital on June 10.
Mikhail Margelov, the special envoy of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, meanwhile said he was preparing to visit Tripoli to find a solution to the Libya conflict after meeting the opposition in their Benghazi stronghold.

Libya's former foreign minister, Abdurrahman Shalgam, said the rebel National Transitional Council needed at least $3 billion over the next four months to pay its expenses as it battles to oust Moammar Gadhafi.
In a boost to the opposition, the United States joined Australia and Spain in recognizing the NTC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people, with pressure mounting on the veteran leader to step down.
"Gadhafi's days are numbered. We are working with our international partners through the UN to plan for the inevitable: a post-Gadhafi Libya," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told talks in Abu Dhabi on June 9.
"Time is on our side," the chief U.S. diplomat said, adding international military, economic and political pressure was mounting on the Libyan colonel to abandon his four decades in power at the helm of the north African nation.
Clinton was meeting counterparts from NATO and other countries participating in the air strikes against Gadhafi's forces for a third round of Libya talks.
The chief U.S. diplomat said later that "people close to Gadhafi" have been making continuous contacts with many different interlocutors about the "potential for a transition" to a new regime.
"There is not a clear way forward yet," she told a news conference, also referring to the NTC as "the legitimate interlocutor" of the Libyan people.
Clinton offered no direct U.S. financial contribution to the rebels, pledging instead another "$26.5 million to help all the victims of this conflict, including Libyan refugees."
Such money will likely be distributed through relief agencies.
But Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Rome would provide the rebel council with loans and fuel products worth 300 to 400 million euros ($438 million to $584 million). And his French counterpart, Alain Juppe, said Paris would release 290 million euros ($420.9 million) of frozen Libyan funds for the NTC.
In a sign of the continued pressure on the Gadhafi regime, a fresh wave of NATO air strikes hit the Libyan capital very early June 10, with three strong explosions shaking central Tripoli at around midnight. Other more distant explosions followed.
In the past two days, Tripoli has been targeted by the most intense NATO air raids since the international military campaign began on March 19.
The nominee to be the next U.S. defense secretary, Leon Panetta, said the sustained economic, diplomatic and military pressure would likely lead Gadhafi to step down.
"I think there are some signs that - if we continue the pressure, if we stick with it - that ultimately Gadhafi will step down," Panetta told U.S. lawmakers.
"Frankly, I think there are gains that have been made. We have seen the regime weakened significantly. We have seen the opposition make gains, both in the east and the west."
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade urged Gadhafi to step down as he became the first head of state to visit the rebels' bastion of Benghazi in eastern Libya.
"I look at you in the eyes... the sooner you go, the better," Wade said.
A member of the NTC said on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi meeting that an international fund aimed at helping Libya's rebels had "become operational" from Thursday.
A State Department official later told reporters "we have got commitments of something about $300 million that came out of today's meeting," including $180 million from Kuwait and $100 million from Qatar.
In Moscow, envoy Margelov called on Gadhafi to step down, saying the Libyan leader needs to take a "responsible, courageous decision about his future."
"I am now involved in preparations for a Tripoli trip," he told reporters after returning from his visit to rebel-held eastern Libya and Egypt.
Margelov said Medvedev had not ordered him to meet Gadhafi and instead planned to hold talks with the Libyan prime minister and foreign minister. He did not give any details on when the trip would take place but said the Russian side was waiting for NATO to arrange a transport corridor so that the visit could go ahead in full security.

Underground Weapon

ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER - The Israeli Army has developed a new tool in its seemingly Sisyphean struggle against the hundreds of underground tunnels used for smuggling weapons from Sinai into Gaza, or as subterranean staging grounds for cross-border strikes into Israel.
A collaborative effort between the Army's special technology division and EMI, a local explosive materials manufacturer, the system - known here as Emulsion - injects into the ground a blend of commercial-grade liquid explosives, each of which remains nonsensitive to mishandling or even improvised bomb attack until blended and deployed.
"It's all automatic, carries minimal risk to troops and creates maximum, irreparable damage to the tunnels," said Maj. Isam Abu Tarif, director of the special technology division of Israel's Ground Forces Command.
Abu Tarif said the recently completed prototype is actually a second-generation system, following less efficient versions deployed in Gaza in the last seven or eight years. The newest Emulsion-2 prototype is self-navigating and programmed for precision deployment of explosive materials and optimum penetration of the destructive mixture.
"Earlier versions didn't provide optimum destruction, allowing the enemy to dig around the destroyed section," Abu Tarif said. "With this second-generation system, they're better off digging a new tunnel."
First reported in the latest editions of B'yabasha (On the Ground), the official Hebrew-language journal of Israel's Ground Forces Command, the latest Emulsion prototype is mounted on eight-wheeled armored trucks. Future versions will be smaller, tailored for more challenging operational conditions and designed to be towed into high-threat areas by tank.
Deployment of the latest prototype has allowed the Army to amend its doctrine for more effective, force-protective anti-tunnel combat, Abu Tarif said.
"Under our old doctrine, our forces had to endanger themselves while transporting the explosive materials to the target," he said. "Then they had to physically get into the tunnel to perform the mission. ... And there were cases where soldiers died en route or inside the tunnels.
"But now, the two substances are housed separately and are impervious to accidental or enemy-initiated detonation," he said. "Emulsion-2 is designed to withstand [a rocket-propelled grenade] attack. And once we neutralize the threat on approach, automation takes over with the injection of materials for optimum effect."
Finally, Abu Tarif said the Emulsion-2 carries "a huge quantity" of two-component explosive material, allowing specialty units to destroy multiple tunnels in a single deployment to high-threat areas.
"Before, we were limited to the amount of explosives carried in an [armored personnel carrier], but now the carrying capacity is safe and unlimited ... and the effect of the liquid explosive blend creates a chain reaction that extends well beyond the target penetration area," he said.

Overwhelming Threat

Security sources here estimate a network of many hundreds of tunnels of varying levels of sophistication have been built between Gaza and Egypt. While most tunnels are built to sustain Egypt's thriving smuggling industry for appliances, vehicles, livestock and other commercial goods into Gaza, an alarming number are used to deliver primarily Iranian-supplied missiles, anti-tank rockets, other weaponry and even military instructors into the strip via Sinai.
Another category of tunnels - some nearly a kilometer in length - are built for commando strikes and kidnapping attempts on Israel's side of the Gaza border. Security sources here peg the number of so-called terror tunnels built to support subterranean combat operations against Israel in the dozens.
In Israel's Cast Lead incursion into Gaza in late December 2008, the Air Force destroyed 40 smuggling tunnels in the first two days of the 22-day campaign. Since then, the Israeli military claims to have destroyed or heavily damaged 190 tunnels, 150 of them smuggling routes along the Gaza-Egyptian corridor.
Military sources here said another 40 tunnels destroyed in recent years were built to support infiltration operations similar to Hamas' successful June 2006 attack on an Israeli tank. Two Israeli soldiers were killed in that strategically important strike, while one - Pvt. Gilad Shalit - remains in captivity. Shalit's plight has traumatized the Israeli public and taunted a string of successive political and military leaders who have failed to secure his release.
"Combating terror tunnels is a top priority," said Capt. Barak Raz, an Israeli military spokesman. "The orders are maximum readiness to defend our citizens and soldiers from kidnapping attempts and deny the enemy any opportunity for another strategic achievement."
Avi Dichter, an Israeli lawmaker and former director of the Shin Bet security service, said Egypt's decision to open its Rafah border crossing with Gaza will not erode the need for persistent and coordinated military and intelligence anti-tunnel operations.
The late May opening of Egypt's border crossing with Gaza and its 1.5 million residents is a reversal of deposed President Hosni Mubarak's policy of isolating and neutralizing the militant, Islamist Hamas authority in the Strip. And while Israel must remain watchful of those exiting and re-entering Gaza via Egypt, Dichter said more than 90 percent of illicit smuggling will continue to be conducted via underground tunnels.
"As much as we lament the passing of the Mubarak era, we have to admit that he could have done a hell of a lot more to blunt the arms smuggling industry," Dichter told a seminar of Israeli military officers May 26.
"For that matter, when we had control of Philadelphi [the corridor linking Sinai to the southern part of Gaza], we, too, missed a lot of activity," he said. "Bottom line, the tunnel threat is an eternal mission requiring very close cooperation between security forces and all branches of the Israel Defense Forces."

Dempsey: U.S. Military Must Adapt to 'Viral' Events

LONDON - The man named by President Barack Obama to be the top U.S. military officer said June 1 that American forces must adapt to an uncertain world after the Arab Spring and the death of Osama bin Laden.
In his first public comments since Obama unveiled him as his formal pick for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey also admitted that progress at a national level in Afghanistan was proving difficult.

"The killing of Osama bin Laden was a great moment in terms of taking the leadership of al-Qaida and creating difficulties for that organization," Dempsey told the Royal United Services Institute defense think-tank in London.
But Dempsey underscored the idea that al-Qaida was in some ways a "leaderless" organization that might regenerate in unexpected ways after U.S. commandos killed bin Laden in Pakistan a month ago.
"I don't know that we have yet come to understand what his particular demise might mean for the future," he said.
Dempsey told an audience of defense chiefs from countries including Britain, the United States, China and Brazil that the U.S. military needs to adapt better to "viral" events like this year's revolutions in the Middle East.
"Here I think our imaginations are just beginning to touch the edges of what it might mean," he said, adding that so far "maybe we have not used our imaginations to the extent that we might use them."
He added: "What brought down Mubarak was Facebook and social networking, a leaderless organization that rose up and we call the Arab Spring. So things can happen much more quickly than in the past.
"So in the context of a viral world we are trying to build an army that meets requirements."
Dempsey said that in Iraq there had been "vindication" for U.S. efforts to hand over security to local forces, but in Afghanistan the "challenge has been and continues to be different."
"There has been enormous progress made at the tactical level but the progress has been harder to link together with progress at the national level" in Afghanistan, he said.
U.S. forces are due to begin pulling out of Afghanistan next month with a full handover from NATO to Afghan forces due at the end of 2014.
Dempsey, 59, who is the current chief of staff for the Army, will replace Adm. Mike Mullen if he is confirmed by a Senate hearing.

U.S. Rethinks Mideast Arms Sales

Due to the recent political upheaval in the region, the U.S. State Department and the Department of Defense are reviewing its defense trade relationships with countries in the Middle East and even putting some of them on hold.
The United States has put "on pause" some of its planned transactions with countries in the region, James Miller, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, told the House Committee on Foreign Affairs during a May 12 hearing.

Longer term, the administration is looking at the implications for defense trade on a country-by-country basis, as well as assessing the region as a whole, he said.
"Historic change of this magnitude will inevitably prompt us, as well as our colleagues throughout government, to reassess current policy approaches to ensure they still fit with the changing landscape," Andrew Shapiro, the assistant secretary at the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, said during a May 3 speech.
"While the impact on our defense relations and the defense trade is uncertain, changes in the region may lead to changes in policy and therefore changes in how we do business," he said.
The majority of U.S. military aid to the region goes to Israel. The United States also provides military financing to Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen.
In Bahrain, where the United States maintains a naval headquarters, the Shiite majority continues to demonstrate against the distribution of power and its lack of inclusion in the government. Early on in the protests, which erupted in February, the government used force against the demonstrators. In March, it invited foreign forces into the country to help manage the unrest.
The United States has financed the Bahrain Defense Force and the country is eligible to receive "excess defense articles," which in the past have included an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate, according to the Congressional Research Service. Recent foreign military financing has gone toward improving the country's air defenses, upgrading the avionics of its F-16 fleet and improving its counter-terrorism capabilities.
The government in Yemen is also using force to crack down on civilian protesters.
According to a Congressional Research Service report, the Obama administration requested $106 million in U.S. economic and military assistance for Yemen in 2011. For 2012, it has requested $116 million in State Department and USAID-administered economic and military aid.
Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee expressed concern that arms sales to certain countries may no longer advance U.S. foreign policy interests.
Committee Chair Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., wanted assurance that all sales to the region comply with the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy.
Each sale goes through review before any deal is made, responded Ellen Tauscher, undersecretary for arms control and international security at the State Department.
During his speech to the Defense Trade Advisory Group at the State Department, Shapiro emphasized that arms transfers are used as tools to advance U.S. foreign policy goals.
"And therefore, when U.S. foreign policy interests, goals and objectives shift, evolve and transform over time, so will our arms transfer policy," he said.
Along these lines, Shapiro's office is re-examining the Conventional Arms Transfer policy.
"This policy has suited the United States well since it was enacted just after the end of the Cold War, but it is time to dust off its pages and make sure that it reflects the reality of today," he said. "We don't know yet what specific changes, if any, are needed. But in light of sweeping transformation it is essential that we, as well as our colleagues in other government agencies, assess current processes and procedures toward the region."

Arab League To Ask U.N. for No-Fly Zone in Gaza: Chief

CAIRO - Arab League chief Amr Mussa said April 10 the organization will ask the U.N. Security Council to impose a no-fly zone over Gaza, which Israel has pounded with air strikes in response to rocket fire.
Mussa told an emergency meeting of Arab League ambassadors that "the Arab bloc in the United Nations has been directed to ask for the convention of the Security Council to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza and impose a no-fly zone."

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Israeli and Palestinian officials were floating a ceasefire on April 10 to end fighting in the coastal strip where Israeli air strikes have killed at least 18 people since April 7.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of an even stronger response if more rockets are fired from the Palestinian territory controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas.
The flare-up came after an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza hit an Israeli school bus on April 7, wounding two people, one of them critically.
Even if Arab representatives at the United Nations succeed in convening a Security Council meeting, the United States, a close ally of Israel, is likely to veto it.
The Arab League request for a no-fly zone over Gaza may have been inspired by a U.N.-sanctioned aerial blockade for Libya to halt forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi harming civilians.
Arab League backing for that no-fly zone was seen as crucially important by the United States when it pressed for a U.N. resolution that authorized it and other countries to keep Libyan planes grounded.

China Regrets Multinational Air Strikes in Libya

BEIJING - China expressed regret on March 20 over the multinational air strikes in Libya, saying in a foreign ministry statement that it opposed the use of force in international relations.
"China has noted the latest developments in Libya and expresses regret over the military attacks on Libya," the statement said.

Russia also issued a similarly worded statement in which it called for a ceasefire as soon as possible.
China's statement made no mention of a ceasefire and stressed that China respected the North African country's "sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity".
"We hope Libya can restore stability as soon as possible and avoid further civilian casualties due to an escalation of armed conflict," it added.
Multinational forces led by France and Britain began bombarding Libya with missiles from air and sea on March 19 to enforce a United Nations-mandated no-fly zone and protection of rebels from Moammar Gadhafi's forces.
China and Russia were the most prominent voices in opposition to military action in Libya within the 15-member United Nations Security Council.
However, neither blocked the U.N. resolution authorizing the operation, abstaining in the Security Council vote on the issue rather than using their veto power.
France and Britain had led the demands for a no-fly zone, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote to the heads of state or government of all the other council members seeking urgent backing for the measure.
China said earlier it abstained after having taken into account "the concerns and positions of Arab countries and the African Union, as well as the current special circumstances in Libya", without elaborating further.
China, which faces frequent foreign criticism over its own human rights record and treatment of restive minority groups, consistently opposes moves deemed as interfering in the affairs of other countries.
"China has always opposed the use of force in international relations," Sunday's statement said, adding that Beijing supported the spirit and principles of the U.N. Charter, without elaborating.
China's leaders have watched with concern as a mix of issues ranging from the economy to corruption - and a lack of democracy - sparked popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and elsewhere in the Arab world.
Premier Wen Jiabao last week rejected any comparison to the situation in the Middle East and North Africa with China.
Nonetheless, leading web censors have blocked results for "Egypt" and other terms that could be related to the uprisings, for instance on the popular web portal sina.com.
It has also poured security forces into the streets in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities across the country in response to anonymous calls for weekly Sunday "strolling" rallies in major Chinese cities.
The calls have largely fizzled under the smothering police response, and no obvious protest actions have been reported.

Israel Navy Snags Another Smuggling Ship

tel aviv - The Israel Navy's seizure last week of Iranian C704 anti-ship missiles and other munitions marked the latest in the escalating, yet still indirect, tit-for-tat confrontations between Jerusalem and Tehran.
The nonviolent intercept of the Liberian-flagged Victoria container ship, and its estimated 50-ton concealed arms cache, occurred some 380 kilometers off Israel's southern coast. The incident again demonstrated the long arm of Israeli intelligence and Israel's readiness for maritime operations following the bloody, botched takeover of a Gaza-bound Turkish ship last May.

The successful seizure of Iranian weaponry - Israel's fourth in a decade - also was a sweet reward for security officials here, who stood by in frustration as the Iranian Navy tested the post-Mubarak Egyptian waters with its first Suez Canal passage in more than 30 years.
Israeli officials said the ship carrying Iranian-produced, Chinese-designed C704 missiles, 120mm mortars and other munitions was headed for the Egyptian port city of Alexandria. From there, the cache was to have been transported through the Sinai and into Gaza via underground tunnels along the Gaza-Egyptian border.
Israeli intelligence said the cargo was loaded at the Syrian port city of Latakia, sailed to Cyprus, then Beirut and then to a port in southern Turkey before Israel Navy commandos intercepted it en route to Alexandria.
"Iranian arms flowing into Gaza are not coming in drip by drip but wave by wave," Danny Ayalon, Israeli deputy foreign minister, told diplomats invited to Israel's Ashdod port to view the confiscated contraband.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel's battle against the axis of Iran, Syria and Lebanon-based Hezbollah - each working to support terror groups in the Gaza Strip - would continue "by air, sea and land in every place and from every direction, both near and far."
The C704s would have introduced a new capability into the Gaza theater of operations that would have required the Israeli military to modify its operating and protective procedures, given the missile's 35-kilometer range.

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.

New Egyptian Government Sworn In

CAIRO - Ministers of Egypt's new government were sworn in on March 7 by the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, at a ceremony in the capital Cairo.

Prime Minister Essam Sharaf's government includes six new ministers including Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi, Oil Minister Abdullah Ghorab and those of interior, culture, justice and labour.

Sharaf, appointed on March 3 after protests against the presence of associates of Hosni Mubarak in the caretaker government running affairs since the former president's departure, has vowed to work for a democratic system.
Arabi, a former ambassador to the United Nations, was named as foreign minister on March 6. The 75-year-old replaced Ahmed Abul Gheit, who had been in the job since 2004.
New premier Sharaf addressed thousands of protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday and was received with raucous cheers of support.
Sharaf was appointed after the unexpected resignation of Ahmed Shafiq, sparking celebrations from protesters demanding a purge of the remnants of Mubarak's regime.
Strongman Mubarak appointed Shafiq in the dying days of his rule in a bid to quell the protests, and Shafiq stayed on as head of the caretaker government.
The activists had put forward Sharaf's name during talks with the military eight days ago during which they also called for rapid, profound changes towards democracy.
A popular referendum on constitutional changes in Egypt has been set for March 19, an army source told AFP on March 4.
After Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces formed a committee to pilot constitutional changes, headed by respected scholar Tarek al-Bishri, which proposed to limit presidential terms to two and reduce them to four years.
Under the suspended constitution, a president can serve an unlimited number of six-year terms.

U.S. Under Pressure to Arm Libya Rebels

WASHINGTON - The administration of President Barack Obama has come under mounting pressure to arm Libyan rebels facing an emboldened and regrouping military, amid charges Washington missed recent chances to oust the country's strongman.

Obama has insisted that all options, including military action, remain on the table with respect to Libya, where Moammar Gadhafi's forces have unleashed deadly airstrikes on rebels and civilians in efforts to crush an uprising in which thousands are feared dead.

But with the administration cautioning that a decision on a no-fly zone was still far off, opinion among U.S. lawmakers and former officials appeared to coalesce around the likelihood that supplying weapons to the outgunned rebels was a way forward.
"I assume that a lot of weapons are going to find their way there (to rebels in Libya) from one means or another over the course of the next weeks," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, from Obama's Democratic Party, told CBS's "Face the Nation" March 6.
Ex-governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, also said it was time to "covertly arm the rebels" and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.
And Stephen Hadley, national security adviser to Obama's predecessor George W. Bush, said Washington should look at the potential for funneling arms to Gadhafi's opponents.
"Obviously, if there is a way to get weapons into the hands of the rebels, if we can get anti-aircraft systems so that they can enforce a no-fly zone over their own territory, that would be helpful," Hadley told CNN.
Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan declined to confirm any potential plans to send weapons to opposition forces, simply telling AFP that "all options are being considered."
According to The New York Times, these options could include use of signal-jamming aircraft in international airspace to muddle Libyan government communications with military units.
Another tactic would be to air-drop weapons and supplies to Libyan rebels, the report said. Other options under consideration also included inserting small special operations teams to assist the rebels, as was done in Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, the paper noted.
Kerry said a no-fly zone should be set up in conjunction with allies, but warned that direct military action would be "trickier."
"The last thing we want to think about is any kind of military intervention, and I don't consider the fly zone stepping over that line," Kerry said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned that imposing a no-fly zone begins with direct military action, as it would require bombing raids to eradicate Libya's air defenses, thus potentially dragging the United States into a third major war front after Iraq and Afghanistan.
But both Kerry and Republican Sen. John McCain - two of the most renowned combat veterans in the U.S. Senate - downplayed the risk and complexity of such a move.
"That's actually not the only option for what one could do," said Kerry.
"One could crater the airports and the runways and leave them incapable of using them for a period of time."
There were other ways of displaying U.S. might to Tripoli, including the use of military transport planes to fly Egyptian refugees out of Tunisia, and the recent arrival in the Mediterranean of two U.S. warships with Marines on board.
"We have made the presence of American military felt for that purpose," Kerry said.
A former Tripoli regime member complained that Washington has missed a key opportunity to end Gadhafi's four-decade grip on power.
"We asked for help when he was on the ropes," said Libya's ex-minister of immigration Ali Errishi, who resigned shortly after the uprising began nearly three weeks ago, along with several key Gadhafi loyalists and military figures.
"They were dragging their feet, I don't know why."
Rebels have taken control of much of Libya's eastern half, but Gadhafi's well-armed forces have gone on the counter-attack against rag-tag groups of rebels who are often armed only with AK-47 assault rifles.
McCain, Obama's 2008 rival for the presidency, said a no-fly zone would "send a signal to Gadhafi" that Obama was serious in his call for the Libyan leader to step down.
"It would be encouraging to the resistance, who are certainly outgunned from the air," he told ABC's "This Week."
He backed off from direct military engagement but noted Washington could also provide technical assistance and intelligence capabilities.

Iranian Warships Headed Home Via Suez

TEHRAN - Two Iranian warships that entered the Mediterranean last month, sparking an outcry from Israel, have passed through the Suez Canal back into the Red Sea, naval commander Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayari said March 5.
"The flotilla ... has completed its mission successfully in the Mediterranean Sea and has returned to the Red Sea transiting through the Suez Canal," the official news agency IRNA quoted Sayari as saying.

It was the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution that Iranian warships had entered the Mediterranean, and Israel described the move as a "political provocation."
The frigate Alvand and supply ship Kharg passed through the Suez Canal on Feb. 22 and docked two days later at the Syrian port of Latakia.
Sayari did not say when the warships began their return journey, but said it took them "10-12 hours to transit" the canal. He said the flotilla conveyed a message of "peace and friendship to friendly countries."
Israel, which considers Iran its biggest threat after repeated predictions by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of its demise, put its navy on alert during the flotilla's mission.
Analysts say the deployment was an attempt by Iran to project its clout in the region at a time when anti-government protests sweeping the Arab world from Casablanca to Cairo are shifting the regional balance of power.
The Suez Canal Authority said last month that ships of any nationality can pass through "as long as the country is not in a state of war with Egypt."

Top US Officer In Gulf To Reassure Allies

MUSCAT - The United States' top military officer on Monday made a discreet visit to Oman which guards the Strait of Hormuz opposite Iran's coast as Pentagon strategists monitor the strategic and vital waterway.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, also visited Bahrain, home to Washington's Fifth Fleet, as anti-regime protests gathered steam in the kingdom.

The key U.S. ally has been rocked by anti-regime protests since Feb. 14 as thousands of mainly Shiite protesters demand an end to the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty, which has ruled Bahrain, a majority Shiite country, for over 200 years.
Mullen has been touring the Gulf since Sunday to reassure U.S. regional allies after mass revolts in the Arab world that have toppled two of Washington's allies, Tunisia's Zine El Abdine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.
Mullen has said his visits were aimed at "reaffirming, reassuring and also trying to understand where the leaderships of these countries are going, and in particular in Bahrain."
After having arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh earlier this week, Mullen then visited Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
He will also head to Kuwait to participate in ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the country's liberation in 1991 from Iraqi occupation.
In Oman, Mullen and Gen. James Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, in charge of the wars in Iraq and and Afghanistan, met officials whose identities were not disclosed.
The Hormuz Strait through which 40 percent of the world's oil supply passes is less than 31 miles wide, with Oman to the south and Iran to the north, and Mullen's visit underlines U.S. determination to keep it open.
Iranian commanders have repeatedly threatened to block navigation through the strait, which links the Gulf to the Indian Ocean, if the Islamic republic comes under attack.
Western powers led by the United States suspect Iran is masking a weapons drive under the guise of a civilian atomic program, a charge strongly denied by Iran.
"We've been concerned about Iranian capabilities to impede the flow of oil through the Hormuz straight for a long time," a military official traveling with Mullen told AFP.
The Iranians "certainly would have an initial impact but we do not believe they can close it down for a lengthy period of time."
t"We have very robust naval capabilities in the region, these are international waterways that they don't own and we're very committed to protect them," said the official.
In Bahrain, Mullen will visit the forces stationed in the Fifth Fleet, the major U. S. Navy base that has been in the kingdom for 63 years.
The Gulf archipelago state has been hit by protests calling on the government, headed by King Hamad's uncle Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman who is widely despised by Shiites there, to step down.
Seven people have been killed in a police crackdown on the protesters.
However, the United States has praised the monarchy for taking "positive steps" to reach out to protesters.
The U. S. Navy has also said that the demonstrations have not disrupted American operations in the kingdom.
"As far as Fifth Fleet operations, no, the demonstrations have not had any impact here - we're continuing to conduct our regular business out here," a spokesman for the Fifth Fleet told AFP on Monday.