Iran Warships Enter Mediterranean

JERUSALEM - Israel put its navy on high alert and said it would respond immediately to any "provocation" as two Iranian warships sailed through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Feb. 22.
The Iranian vessels entered the southeastern Mediterranean after going up the canal for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, reportedly en route for Syria, in a move taking them past Israeli territorial waters.

Suez Canal officials confirmed the patrol frigate Alvand and support ship Kharg had completed the crossing after entering the narrow waterway at dawn.
A senior Israeli security source told AFP that Israel would "not initiate any action" against the Iranian vessels, but if the Iranians deviated in any way that could be considered "a provocation," there would be an "immediate Israeli response."
The Israeli navy immediately went on high alert and the troops were briefed on how to respond in such an event, he said.
The 1,500-ton Alvand is normally armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, while the larger 33,000-ton Kharg has a crew of 250 and facilities for up to three helicopters, Iran's official Fars news agency has said.
Both ships were built in Britain during the 1970s for Iran, which ordered them before the Islamic revolution.
Neither ship is carrying chemical or nuclear material, Egypt's state-run MENA news agency has reported.
Their passage into the eastern Mediterranean comes as the Arab world and the Middle East grapples with a vast wave of unrest and protests that is radically changing the political landscape, and leaving Israel increasingly concerned about its security.
"We are talking about an unprecedented Iranian military presence in the Mediterranean, and that is a provocation to which the international community must react firmly," foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP earlier Feb. 22.
On Feb. 20, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the ships' arrival in the region as an Iranian power play, just days after his Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, branded their voyage "a provocation."
"Today we are witnessing the instability of the region in which we live and in which Iran is trying to profit by extending its influence by dispatching two warships to cross the Suez Canal," he said.
"Israel views with gravity this Iranian initiative," his office quoted him as saying.
Animosity between Iran and Israel has grown under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly spoken of the Jewish state's demise.
Israel also accuses Tehran of arming and funding Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Israel, which has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear program.
Tehran denies that charge and has in turn accused Israel of trying to sabotage its nuclear program and kill its nuclear scientists.
Israel has backed a U.S. policy of tougher U.N. sanctions against Iran while remaining open to dialogue.
But it has refused to rule out a resort to military action to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapons capability.

IDEX: F-16 Upgrades, Leclerc Support Top UAE Deals

ABU DHABI - Reconnaissance pods for F-16 fighters, technical support for Leclerc main battle tanks and a command-and-control system were among the latest batch of contracts announced by the United Arab Emirates military at the IDEX defense show Feb 22.
Selection of Goodrich ISR Systems reconnaissance pods for UAE F-16 jets was the first of more than a dozen deals valued at about 2.5 billion UAE dirhams ($681 million) outlined by IDEX spokesman Maj. Gen. Obaid Al Ketbi.

Goodrich had beaten BAE Systems to the 297 million UAE dirham deal, the spokesman said.
A spokeswoman for Goodrich in the U.K. said the company has received a contract to provide its DB-110 airborne reconnaissance system for the Block 60 F-16s.
"The Direct Commercial Sale contract calls for Goodrich to provide six DB-110 reconnaissance pods and three ground-based, image exploitation systems. Work will be performed by the company's ISR Systems facilities in the U.S. and the U.K.," she said.
The DB-110 digital, real-time, tactical reconnaissance system captures images day and night using electro-optical/infrared sensor technology. Images can then be transmitted instantaneously to analysts on the ground.
Today's list of contract announcements followed 4 billion UAE dirhams worth of deals, the pick of which was a contract with Sikorsky to turn 27 UH-60 Black Hawks into air assault helicopters.
Some of the contracts announced here have been in place for several months and news of their selection was delayed for the IDEX show.
Notable contracts in the Feb 22 list include a 423 million UAE dirham technical support contract between Nexter of France and Al Taif Technical Services, its local partner, to provide maintenance for the UAE's Leclerc tanks and armored recovery vehicles. Al Taif is part of the state-owned Mubadala holding group.
French industry also landed a small contract to undertake a 112 million UAE dirham upgrade to the weapon systems of the UAE's Mirage 2000 fighters.
Emirates Systems was one of a number of local companies that secured contracts. It is providing a command-and-control system in the biggest domestic win of the day in a deal priced at 550 million UAE dirhams.

IDEX: France's Nexter Deals With Mideast Firms

Abu Dhabi - Nexter has signed a number of deals for munitions and local industrial cooperation aimed at boosting its business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Middle East region, an executive of the French land systems company said at the IDEX show here.
Among recent contract wins:

■ The supply of 30mm ammunition for the Dassault Mirage 2000-9 fighters of the UAE Air Force, a deal signed with the International Golden Group, based here, in early 2011.
■ Supply of a "very significant number" of Bonus 155mm, 52-caliber anti-tank artillery rounds for an undisclosed Middle East country, signed toward the end of 2010.
Nexter has sold its Caesar truck-mounted artillery to Saudi Arabia and Thailand, as well as the French Army.
■ A deal with the International Golden Group to supply the Azur up-armor kit for the UAE Army's Leclerc battle tank. The kit includes extra protection for combat in urban zones.
Nexter executives are looking to that recent sale of Bonus rounds to provide a sales platform for the UAE Army.
As part of its renewed sales effort in the region, Nexter signed Feb. 21 an agreement with the Burkan industrial group, based here, aimed at transferring to its local partner production of tens of thousands of the 120mm shell for the Leclerc tank fleet.
Burkan is a joint venture of German company Rheinmetall, the state-owned Mubadala holding group and the Al Jaber company.
Nexter also signed Feb. 21 a memorandum of understanding with Al Taif Technical Services for its local partner to provide maintenance for the UAE's Leclerc tanks and armored recovery vehicles. Al Taif is part of Mubadala.
Nexter is pitching its Véhicule Blindé Combat d'Infantrie (VBCI) in the UAE's competition for a fleet of armored personnel carriers estimated at 600, which includes a number of fighting vehicles.
A transfer of technology that allows local munitions production and a higher level of local tank and armored vehicle maintenance are intended to meet the UAE's drive to develop its defense industrial base, Nexter executive Bruno Burgon said.
Nexter is keen to be retained in any future modernization of the Leclerc, which was designed as a complete system. It fears third-party work might reduce the internal cohesion.
The signing of the "gentlemen's agreement" on local munitions production opens the way for talks to begin in April on work shares. The first batch of shells to be locally produced would be practice rounds before moving on to making combat munitions, which are expected to include new-generation high explosive and armor-piercing shells.
Nexter is also hoping to sell its Narwhal 20mm naval gun to the UAE Navy for mounting on fast patrol boats and the Baynunah missile corvette built by the Abu Dhabi-owned CMN shipyard in Cherbourg, northern France.
Nexter has signed up to the UAE's new offset agreement, which underpins the government's bid to strengthen its industrial base.

EDA Eyes Broader Pooling of Member Capabilities

BRUSSELS - The European Defence Agency (EDA) is keen to discuss the Franco-British Defence Cooperation Treaty with France and to see how Germany could contribute, an EDA official said.
"In some areas of capabilities in the treaty [signed in November], there is a possibility that other member states could be involved," the official said.

One example she gave was maritime mine countermeasures, which the EDA is looking into. The official added that the subject[of the Franco-British Treaty] "would not be on the agenda of the next EDA steering board meeting of national defense ministries unless France and the U.K. want it to be".
The official said she expected the pooling and sharing of EU member state defense capabilities would be "a key part of discussions" at an informal meeting of EU defense ministers later this week. Two other agency priorities are to communicate better what it does and to develop civil-military synergies.
In connection with civil-military synergies, the official described the EDA as the "ideal place to feed dialogue between member states vis à vis policies managed by the European Commission." She pointed to maritime security, research and technology, and radio frequencies as areas where dialogue with the commission "needs to be developed."
Asked if the EDA had any priorities among the 80 or more projects it is looking into, the official said is "up to the member states to give priorities based on their sovereign interests."
However, later she said that unmanned aerial systems (UASs) are a priority and talks here are taking place with the commission.
"Commission colleagues need to be convinced that they can respond to defense and civilian needs," she said. The EDA is looking into how to integrate UASs into civilian airspace.
The official also referred to a German-Swedish "food-for-thought" paper, which suggests areas, such as strategic and tactical airlift and logistics capabilities, that could be pooled.
"If a country were to accept that a capability would be built by another country or other countries, it would need the quasi-certainty that the capability would be available when they needed to use it," she said.

IDEX: DCI Crowd-Control Specialists Work With Bahrain Army

ABU DHABI - Defense Conseil International (DCI), a French state-owed training company, has three crowd-control specialists acting as advisers to the Bahrain Army, chief executive Jean-Louis Rotrubin said at the IDEX trade show.
The advisers, drawn from the French Gendarmerie Nationale and elite GIGN special forces unit, are part of a program to train Bahrain special Zforces in non-lethal crowd control and the avoidance of the use of deadly force, he said. The program is just beginning.

The program aims "to develop a new approach to how manage crowds in cities," Rotrubin said.
Security forces used deadly force against protesters in recent street demonstrations in Bahrain, leaving six dead and hundreds wounded. An inquiry into the deaths of demonstrators was one of the conditions opposition groups demanded before opening talks with the Bahrain monarchy.
DCI also has sent French personnel to Libya to train pilots and maintenance crews, aimed at bringing the Libyan Air Force's Mirage F1 fighters back into active service. Up until three years ago, an embargo prevented the delivery of spare parts, which meant Libya was unable to fly the Mirage F1, Rotrubin said.
In the Gulf region, DCI is in the early stages of developing military training and general education programs for the Qatar Air Force and Navy, he said.
As part of an agreement with the Qatar Navy announced at the Imdex trade show in March last year, the French company is setting up a naval school for petty officers and officer cadets.
DCI is also helping the Qatar Air Force to create an aeronautical academy, he said. One of the aims is to train up Qatari personnel to be more self reliant in aircraft maintenance rather than rely on third party sources.
"It's very important for them to master the technology and the know how in their new defense approach," he said.
DCI is helping organize BA and MA degree courses for the armed forces personnel so they receive a broad university education, in addition to the military training. DCI is working with North Atlantic University of Canada for the degree courses.
As part of the region's drive to foster education, the UAE agreed with the Paris Sorbonne University to open an annex here, while Qatar is host to a branch of the French HEC business school.
The Arabian Gulf region accounts for around two thirds of DCI's annual sales, with Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE generating significant revenue. Some 20 years ago, DCI was only present in Saudi Arabia, which requested crew training for the Sawari frigate program, based on the stealthy La Fayette warship. DCI also provided training for UAE crews for the Leclerc battle tank, and helicopters for the Kuwait armed forces.

U.S. Marines Seek Ideas for New Vehicles

The U.S. Marine Corps wants a new family of vehicles to carry out the business of amphibious warfare, and has issued a series of requests for information (RFIs) seeking industry input.

The U.S. Marines want to upgrade about half the existing fleet of amphibious assault vehicles while a new amphibious combat vehicle is developed. Here, an AAV comes ashore Feb. 6 during an exercise in Thailand. (Staff Sgt. Leo A. Salinas / U.S. Marine Corps)

The Corps needs a replacement for the canceled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), a complex, high-speed amphibious vehicle that had grown too expensive to buy and operate and no longer fit the tactical bill for the way amphibious assaults will be carried out.

In lieu of buying EFVs, the Marines are seeking industry proposals to upgrade the service's existing AAV7A1 amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs), and to create an amphibious combat vehicle (ACV) able to perform across a full range of military operations.
Additionally, the Marines issued an RFI for a new Marine personnel carrier (MPC) that would complement the AAV in land operations.
The RFIs were published Feb. 18 on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website at www.fbo.gov.
The moves were expected after Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced his decision Jan. 6 to cancel the EFV and develop a lower-cost alternative. A number of requirements for the ACV were set out in the RFI, including:
* The ability to autonomously deliver a Marine infantry squad from an amphibious ship to shore a minimum distance of 12 nautical miles, at "a speed to enable the element of surprise in the buildup ashore." The notice acknowledges that a high rate of speed "may prove to be unaffordable."
* Protection against direct and indirect fire, mines and improvised explosive devices. The protection can be modular, "applied incrementally as the situation dictates."
* Employ open architecture principles to rapidly integrate new technologies, and be reconfigurable to carry out alternative roles, including operation of heavy mortars or rockets, and logistic or medical evacuation missions.
* Be powerful enough to engage and destroy similar vehicles, provide direct fire support to dismounted infantry and maneuver with M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks.
The Marines want the vehicle to be configured in several variants, including as a squad maneuver/fighting vehicle, a command-and-control vehicle, and for recovery and maintenance.
The AAV sustainment and survivability upgrade effort seeks to modernize about half the Corps' 1,057 existing AAV7s. The new request builds on a previous RFI issued Aug. 18, and adds new requirements to improve the vehicles' lethality, propulsion system, command-and-control facilities and water mobility.
The accelerated MPC development effort is being made in conjunction with the Army, which issued the RFI on behalf of both services. The Marines intend to carry out "an aggressive, competitive acquisition approach with the intent to field an MPC fleet as rapidly as possible," and the notice directs competitors to assume a start date of Oct. 1, 2011. The wheeled vehicle is intended as a replacement for the existing Light Armored Vehicles operated by the Marines.
The Marines are seeking responses to the AAV RFI by March 4, and those to the ACV and MPC on April 22.

Philippines, Communists Aim For Peace in 18 Months

MANILA - The Philippine government and communist rebels waging one of the world's longest insurgencies are aiming to sign a peace pact within 18 months, the two sides said after holding landmark talks.
The parties released a joint statement late Feb. 21 following the end of a week of negotiations in Norway in which they committed to try and sign a "comprehensive agreement" to end hostilities by June of next year.

"The two panels expressed satisfaction over the achievements of the first round of formal talks," the statement said.
The negotiations in Oslo were the first between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) sides since 2004.
The communists have been waging a rebellion since 1969 and still have about 5,000 New People's Army guerrillas based in the mainly poor, rural areas of the Philippines.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, including dozens of rebels, civilians and security forces over the past few months.
Analysts said before the talks began in Norway that there was little chance of a quick end to the rebellion, with the communists determined to overhaul the country's economic model and railing against corruption by the nation's elite.
In his own statement released late Feb. 21, chief government negotiator Alex Padilla said even he had begun the talks with a "sense of dread" that they would be the "beginning of a dead end".
"But we have taken the first step," Padilla said.
"We have agreed on a timeframe of 18 months to produce the substantive agreements - on socio-economic reforms, on political and constitutional reforms, and on the end of hostilities and disposition of forces, leading to a final political settlement."
Nevertheless, Padilla expressed deep caution over the many hurdles still facing the peace negotiators.
"It will be hard, harder, perhaps, than anything else we have done in our lives to stay the course, which, in the first place, asks us to keep faith in the process. Are we up to this?" The next steps will include a range of lower-level working group meetings over the next few months to cover issues such as social and economic reforms.
Political and economic reforms will be discussed in another working group.
The government said it would also "work on appropriate measures to effect the expeditious release" of 14 detained communist rebel leaders that the NDF has long demanded be freed.
The government said it would also consider releasing four other communists the NDF had recently added to the list.
However, it made no firm commitment on releasing any of them.
In a reciprocal "confidence-building" measure, the communists said it would take steps towards releasing an unspecified number of people it was holding as prisoners.
One of the key reasons the previous round of peace talks broke down six years ago was a demand by the communists that the government have them removed from international terrorist lists.
However, there was no mention of the terrorism issue in the joint statement.
Another reason the talks fell apart in 2004 was the communists' distrust of then-president Gloria Arroyo, who vowed to crush the rebellion by the end of her term.
Her time in power ended in June last year with her military quest to extinguish the rebellion unfulfilled.
Her successor, President Benigno Aquino, immediately said he wanted to pursue peace talks with the communists.
He placed former human rights lawyers and other people deemed favorable by the communists on his peace negotiating panel.