Swedish Parliament OKs 8 Jets for Libya Operation

STOCKHOLM - The Swedish parliament on April 1 voted in favor of sending eight Swedish fighter jets to contribute to the international mission to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.
The vote clears the way for the Swedish air force's first international deployment in 48 years.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said March 29 he would put to parliament the proposal of sending eight Swedish-built fighter jets, a transport plane and a reconnaissance plane to Libya, stressing Swedish jets would not be involved in ground strikes.
Sweden's participation in the mission had received broad political support and the proposal was widely expected to pass.
The Nordic country is not a member of NATO, although it has been in NATO's Partnership for Peace program since 1994 and participates in the alliance's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) force in Afghanistan with some 500 troops.
The country's air force has not been involved in action since 1963, in a U.N.-mandated operation in the former Belgian Congo.

South Africa Launches Combat Helicopter Program

JOHANNESBURG - South African defense firm Denel handed its new Rooivalk armed helicopter over to the military April 1, a project 27 years in the making touted as a boost to national pride.
The Rooivalk program, which cost an estimated 613 billion rand ($91 billion, 64 billion euros) from its launch in 1984 under the apartheid regime, had often been derided as a waste of money in a country whose military mission had changed radically during that time.

But air force leaders and defense contractors said April 1 the handover of five combat-ready helicopters was a proud day for South Africa and a sign of the country's robust industry.
"It proves that South Africa has the capacity for design, engineering and manufacturing to compete effectively in the global environment," said Antonie Visser, chief of defense materiel for the South African defense department.
"It is giving a certain image to South Africa, that we are capable of producing such equipment. That's exactly the reason why there are many aviation companies that make use of South Africa to help them manufacture certain components," he told AFP.
The Rooivalk, which can be armed with anti-tank missiles and is equipped for night combat, was conceived during the apartheid era when South Africa was under a United Nations arms embargo and needed air support for troops fighting a war against the post-independence government in Angola.
But the country's history and military mission changed dramatically with the fall of white-minority rule, throwing the helicopter into an uncertain future.
Plans to export the helicopter foundered as the project dragged on. To date the only customer is the South African government, which plans to buy a modest total of 11 Rooivalks - the remaining six to be delivered by year's end.

NATO Now in Full Control of Libya Mission

BRUSSELS - NATO on March 31 warned Libyan forces they would be "ill-advised" to kill civilians as the alliance took sole command of air strikes that were under U.S. leadership.

Libyan rebels drive toward the city of Brega on March 31, en route to a battle with forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. (Mahmud Hams / Agence France-Presse)

An armada of ships and warplanes from the United States, France, Britain, Canada and other coalition nations came under NATO control after the 28-nation military organization overcame internal divisions to take over the mission.

U.S., British, French, Canadian, Danish and Belgian jets have attacked Moammar Gadhafi's ground forces since March 19 under a U.N. mandate to use "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.
Canadian Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, commander of Operation Unified Protector, said NATO aircraft had flown 90 missions since the alliance took charge at 0600 GMT March 31.
"Those who are acting against the civilian population and civilian centers, you would be ill-advised to continue such activities, I recommend that you cease these activities," Bouchard told reporters via video link from his headquarters in Naples, Italy, stressing that NATO would remain "impartial."
The United States, already stretched after a decade of combat in Afghanistan and a fragile situation in Iraq, had been eager to hand over control of the operations to someone else.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance will be able to declare "mission accomplished" when "the civilian population in Libya is not under threat any longer."
But he acknowledged it was impossible to know when this would happen, and he stressed that a political solution, not just military means, was needed to resolve the conflict.
"I urge all parties to seek a political decision sooner rather than later and ensure a political transition to democracy. But I'm not able to lay out a timetable," he said at a conference in Stockholm.
The alliance stressed it would stick to the U.N. mandate to shield civilians, as Rasmussen reiterated his opposition to arming the rebels.
The head of NATO's military committee, Italian Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola, said there was no discussion about deploying troops. He also denied that NATO was coordinating its operations with the rebels.
Asked about reports that the CIA was on the ground in Libya, Di Paola said NATO does not question the source of intelligence it receives from allies.
Di Paola said he expected some 20 NATO allies to provide assets for one or all three operations under alliance control - the strikes on ground forces threatening civilians, a no-fly zone, and an arms embargo.
But key NATO members have voiced unease about the bombing missions.
Bouchard vowed that NATO pilots would conduct their missions "with care and precision" in order to "avoid harming the people of Libya."
The general launched a probe into allegations made by a Tripoli-based Italian bishop that dozens of civilians were killed during coalition bombings.
No date was given for the incident, which could not be independently verified.
Turkey, NATO's sole Muslim member, criticized the scope of the coalition strikes and has made clear its planes would not take part in any airstrikes.
Another major NATO member, Germany, refused to vote for the U.N. Security Council resolution that authorized the use of force and will stay out of the offensive operations.
The Netherlands has contributed planes but they will only participate in maintaining a no-fly zone to prevent hostile jets from flying, not the strikes against other targets.
NATO wants to bring outside partners into the mission, especially Arab nations. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are the only Middle Eastern nations to have provided jets.
Sweden, a NATO partner but not member, offered fighter jets but said it would not conduct ground strikes.

Pakistan Extends Tenure of Military Intelligence Chief

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan said April 1 it had given the chief of the country's powerful military spy agency an extra year in the job after he had been set to retire.
Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who was appointed chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) - involved in combating al-Qaida and the Taliban - in 2008, had been due to retire from service last month.

"A one year extension has been given" to the ISI chief, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on the phone-in program "Prime Minister Online" on state-run Pakistan Television, adding it was granted to ensure continuity.
"He (Pasha) is an intelligent person," he said. This is the second one-year extension the ISI head has received.
In July last year, Gilani extended the tenure of army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani by three years.
Pasha is considered close to the relatively reformist Kayani, who previously ran the ISI until October 2007 before assuming command of the army from former President Pervez Musharraf a month later. Musharraf stepped down amid international pressure to end his eight years of military rule.
In theory, the ISI works under the control of the prime minister, but in practice its functions are mainly run by Pakistan's pervasive security establishment.
ISI has been at the centre of concerns among western allies that it is either turning a blind eye to militants in Pakistan's troubled tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, or even actively sponsoring the rebels.
The shadowy spy agency is feared at home for playing a central, although covert political role. Pakistan has spent more than half its 62-year history under military rule.

Fire-Detection Radar Sale to Iraq Proposed

The Pentagon has told Congress that it wants to sell up to $300 million worth of fire-detection radars to Iraq, according to a Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notice.
If approved by lawmakers, the sale would include six AN/TPQ-36(V)10 Firefinder radars, 18 AN-TPQ-48 Lightweight Counter-Mortar radars, parts, training and logistical support, according to the DSCA notice. DSCA is the arm of the Pentagon that notifies lawmakers of proposed foreign military sales.

The Firefinder, built by Northrop Grumman and Thales Raytheon Systems, is a ground-based radar that detects medium-range mortars, artillery and rocket launchers, according to a Raytheon fact sheet. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps use the system.
The Lightweight Counter-Mortar radar, built by Syracuse, N.Y.-based SRCTec, detects and locates mortar firing positions by tracking the mortar shell to the weapon it was fired from, according to a company fact sheet.
"The proposed sale of the Firefinder radars will advance Iraq's efforts to develop an integrated ground defense capability and to develop a strong and dedicated military force," the DSCA notice states. "The Firefinder radars will enable Iraq to assume some of the missions currently accomplished by U.S. and coalition forces and to sustain itself in its efforts to establish stability to Iraq."
Smith-Detection Technologies in Edgewood, Md., ITT Corp. and L-3 Communications would also supply equipment should the contract be approved.

French DM: Libyan Air Campaign May Allow Settlement

Paris - The coalition air campaign against Libya is fulfilling the U.N. Security Council resolution that seeks to protect civilians from the Tripoli government, French Defense Minister Gérard Longuet said March 31.
"The implementation of this resolution is working," Longuet told journalists here, "and it is working well."

"Use of massive military weapons against the civilian population is no longer being seen," he said. Therefore, Longuet said, work on a political settlement is possible.
The allied intervention prevented a government assault on Benghazi, center of Libya's pro-democracy resistance, which had carried the threat of attacks on the civilian population, he said.
Implementation of the U.N. resolution continued following the transfer of command and control to NATO from the previous ad hoc coalition, he said. The NATO structure, which acts under the political control of a "contact group," had supported 191 air missions, which included 84 ground attack or close air support missions on the previous day, Longuet said.
French Air Force and Navy aircraft have accumulated 1,600 flight hours in some 250 sorties since the Libyan intervention began March 19, Air Force Gen. Jean-Jacques Borel, head of planning and logistics at the military's center for planning and operations, said March 31. That represents about 20 percent to 25 percent of the coalition's effort, making France the second-largest contributor after the U.S. military, Borel said.
That is a "dense" level of activity Borel said, declining to say how many hours French pilots fly in a normal year. No details were given on the number of GBU-12 and armament air sol modulaire (AASM) smart munitions that have been used in Libya.
Longuet said military and political events are changing fast on the ground, and fighting is taking place mainly between light troops in close combat, making it difficult for the air campaign to identify and distinguish the adversaries.
As part of the air campaign, French Air Force and Navy Rafale and Super Etendard fighter jets were among the allied warplanes that struck a surface-to-air missile site on the night of March 29, about 100 kilometers south of Tripoli, a Joint Staff spokesman, Army Col. Thierry Burkhard, told journalists.
The strike destroyed Scud missiles and transport vehicles for missiles and tanks, a French defense official said.
The French aircraft also struck a number of armored vehicles, and on March 28, they destroyed an ammunition depot, Burkhard said.
Much of the Libyan fixed air defense sites had been destroyed, but there are many light, short-range, mobile anti-aircraft batteries and shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles that will never be eliminated, Burkhard said.
Six Mirage 2000-5 fighters sent by Qatar are flying joint air defense patrols from an air base in Crete with four French Mirages of the same type as part of the coalition effort, Burkhard said.
There were no operational details on the six Mirage 2000-9 and six F-16 Block 60 warplanes, based in Sardinia, that were sent by the United Arab Emirates.
As of March 30, of the 191 missions mounted by the coalition, U.S. forces had flown 100, or 52 percent; France flew 40, or 21 percent; and Britain flew 23, or 8 percent. Other allies who flew missions were the Netherlands, Denmark and Qatar, the French defense official said.

Pakistani army start exercise with Turkey and Afghanistan

Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan armies have begun a week-long trilateral joint military exercise at Tuzla, Turkey.

The countries decided to execute joint exercises at the conclusion of the 5th Trlateral Summit in December 2010, according to a statement from the Pakistan army’s Inter-Services Public Relations.

The joint exercises involve MOUT (Military operations in urban terrain) against terrorists.
Basic and battle order training, combat order, fighting in built-up, handmade explosives training and training controls are included in the event also.

Special teams of the three countries comprising sniper and anti-tank detachments undertook this exercise. According to the statement, the purpose of this training session is to share military knowledge and to strengthen the military coordination between the three countries.