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India: DRDO focused on developing surveillance drones for intelligence gathering

2012-02-24T19:13:00.000+05:00

Press Trust of India

BANGALORE: In contrast to the US which is "doing a lot of work" in developing and manufacturing Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), India is more focused on developing UAVs as it considers intelligence gathering more challenging in future wars, Defence Research and Development Organisation said today.

"We have no mandate to develop UCAVs as of today. If the government gives us the mandate we will take up the project," Chief Controller R&D (Aeronautics), A Subhananda Rao, told reporters on the sidelines of the International Conference on Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles (ICAUV) 2012 here.

As future wars would be fought on the basis of intelligence gathering, the government is more focused on developing UAVs that would help intelligence gathering, Rao said.

"Future warfare is going to be on the basis of intelligence gathering. That is where we are concentrating on gathering intelligence and able to give it back to the military base in real time," he said.

Combat portion of developing UAVs would come in the next stage, he added.

DRDO's present mandate was to develop Unmanned Aerial Vehicles which would give a performance of 300 km range and an endurance of 24 hours, Rao said.

Soon the organisation would take up twin projects of solar-powered UAVs and Unmanned Helicopter, he said, adding the that defence forces had shown an interest on micro- vehicles.

The defence forces had also shown keen interest on UAVs being developed by DRDO, Rao said. All the three defence wings have also shown keen interest on UAVs like Lakshya, Nishant and Rustom 1, he said.

Earlier addressing an ICAUV gathering, Rao said India has launched several technology development programmes to achieve the level 4 'onboard flight path replan'.

DRDO is working on aerostats and airships and also plans to develop large size aerostats of approximately 17,000 cum and airships, Rao said.

Top secret papers about British deal to develop drones with France stolen in Paris train station

2012-02-23T23:48:00.000+05:00

Paul Allen | Daily Mail UK

Top secret documents concerning Britain’s multi-million pound deal to develop state-of-the-art drones have been stolen in Paris, it emerged tonight.

In what had all the hallmarks of a covert operation by spies, two men are believed to have stolen a briefcase at the Gare du Nord station in Paris.

A high-level executive working for French company Dassault Aviation was on his way to London on the Eurostar train on February 2 when the theft took place.

The unnamed man briefly left his case unattended when his female colleague was ‘hassled’ by a stranger, a Paris Judicial Police source said.

Documents in the case were marked ‘Defence - Confidential’ and contained details of the Franco-British drone project, a legal source close to the case told Le Parisien newspaper.

The source said that the theft happened at around 5pm, when the station was packed with cross-Channel travellers.

When the Dassault executive returned to a self-service ticket machine after helping his colleague ‘his briefcase had disappeared’.

The source said: ‘His attention had been purposefully diverted. It was not a random theft. We have to determine whether the thieves were targeting confidential documents on the drone project or other valuables in the briefcase.’

The person who hassled the woman disappeared almost immediately, and has not been seen since. He is described as being in his 30s. Whoever took the briefcase was not seen at all.

While the police insisted that a highly-sophisticated operation by a spy agency could not be ruled out, Dassault said it was ‘probably a random theft’.

The company tonight confirmed that a briefcase belonging to an employee was taken, but insisted that it did not contain any ‘sensitive documents'.

The Dassault spokesman added: ‘It was basically a petty theft, like so many others at the station’, adding that the incident was captured on security cameras.

Last Friday, David Cameron arrived in Paris to attend a bilateral defence agreement in which he discussed the research and development project involving Dassault and BAE Systems with President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In what was described as a ‘highly-sensitive tie-up’ by diplomatic sources, it was revealed that the companies would be working on a medium-altitude long-endurance drone for reconnaissance.

It would be available for flights from 2020, while a combat version complete with weapons would be ready by 2030, said a French defence ministry spokesman.

France and Britain's plan to develop a new generation of fighter drones is their biggest collaboration since they agreed to closer military cooperation last year.

Switzerland-based intel firm Arcanum Global hires former Mossad Chief Meir Dagan as Advisor

2012-02-23T23:08:00.001+05:00

Lyssandra Sears | TheLocal.ch

Intelligence consulting firm, Arcanum Global, has announced that it is has taken on Meir Dagan, Mossad’s longest serving chief, as an advisor, newspaper Tages Anzeiger reported.

"Arcanum is honoured to have such a deeply qualified and well respected intelligence expert on its team," Ron Wahid, CEO of Arcanum parent, RJI Capital Company, said in a statement.

"Meir Dagan has been called for in certain cases because his experiences as a general in the defence arena are very valuable," company spokesman Thomas Landgraf said.

Dagan will not have his own office in Zurich, but will provide services on a consultancy basis.

Since Dagan’s retirement from Mossad last year, he has become increasingly vocal about the dangers of Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.

During his time at Mossad, he is credited with using a variety of ruthless methods to hinder Iran’s nuclear programme, Tages Anzeiger reported.

Dagan has maintained that Iran cannot be stopped by military intervention. On leaving Mossad he told the press that he was against the use of bombs in Tehran, and instead supported any tactic that would delay the nuclear programme without causing an all-out war, online news website Der Spiegal reported last August.

China, India and Japan to cooperate on international naval escort activities

2012-02-23T23:02:00.000+05:00

Geng Yansheng, Spokesperson for the Defense Ministry speaks during a news briefing on 23rd Feb, 2012.

[Photo Credit: People.com.cn]

China Radio International

A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman confirmed that China, India and Japan will step up their coordination and cooperation on international naval escort activities.

"The integrated escort schedule will be arranged on a quarterly basis," spokesman Geng Yansheng told a regular news briefing, noting that the strengthened coordination and cooperation could increase the efficiency of escort operations and better safeguard international navigation safety.

The schedule-making process will be led by the reference country quarterly, Geng said. He explained that, as the first reference country, China has already proposed its schedule, and the other countries involved in the operation will formulate their own schedules according to China's.

Geng noted that China has been playing an active role in promoting international naval escort operations and has boosted its exchange of intelligence, mutual visits among commanders, and joint naval escorts and drills with relevant countries and organizations.

According to Geng, 10 Chinese navy flotillas, including 25 warships, 22 helicopters and over 8,400 officers and soldiers, have been deployed to the Gulf of Aden for escort missions since December 2008.

Moreover, an international symposium focused on international escort missions convened Thursday in Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, Geng added.

Australian think tank: China's radar can easily capture the F-35 fighter

2012-02-23T22:55:00.001+05:00

Han Shasha | People's Daily Online

According to news report from Taiwan, Peter Kwan, founder of an Australian independent defense think tank, said that the Australian Air Force had set too much expectation about the performance of the F-35 stealth fighter and the combat capability of the fighter has also been exaggerated.

He stressed that the F-35 stealth fighters are vulnerable to advanced radar systems. After China and Russia acquire brand-new radars, they could easily detect the jet fighters.

The F-35 stealth fighters, developed by the Lockheed Martin, is taken by many countries as the lead fighter. Australia plans to replace its aging strike jets with up to 100 American F-35s.

However, in recent years there has been speculation that ongoing advances in radar detection and tracking will, in the near future, obviate the ability of all-aspect, low-observable aircraft such as the F-35 stealth fighter.

Lebanon's Army Chief Gen. Jean Kahwagi urges officers to remain prepared for Israeli aggression

2012-02-23T22:48:00.000+05:00

The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Lebanese Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi urged officers Thursday to remain prepared for possible aggression by Israel while President Michel Sleiman slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on statement against Lebanon.

Kahwagi hailed the work of Lebanese troops along the border with Israel, stressing the “need to remain on high alert to confront the historical enemy,” said a statement on the Lebanese Army website.

He cited the almost daily Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty, telling officers the Jewish state wants to steal Lebanon’s land and water.

Kahwagi’s remarks came during a meeting with senior officers at his office at the Defense Ministry in suburban Yarze.

The Army commander also underlined the “need for cohesion with the southerners and for strengthening ties with the United Nations forces in line with resolution 1701 and for the sake of national interest.”

Turning to the north, Kahwagi also praised troops for restoring law and order in Tripoli following last week’s armed clashes between Sunnis and Alawites.

Kahwagi vowed to crack down on sectarianism “anywhere.”

India and the US to hold Malabar naval war games in April

2012-02-23T20:02:00.000+05:00

Times of India

NEW DELHI: Cocking a snook at China, India and the US will hold the next edition of their Malabar naval war games in the Bay of Bengal in April. Since 1992, India has largely restricted the annual Malabar exercise to the western seaboard in Arabian Sea, except for the 2007 edition that was held in the Bay of Bengal.

The Malabar held on the eastern seaboard in 2007 had riled China, especially since it was also expanded to include Australian, Japanese and Singaporean navies as well. Beijing had lodged a strong protest against this "axis of democracy" emerging in the Asia-Pacific region with the eventual aim to "contain" it.

Promptly, an ultra-defensive India had ensured that for the next two-three years the Malabar was restricted to a bilateral exercise, even though both the Indian and American navies wanted it to be a regular multilateral engagement.

While the planning process for this year's Malabar is still underway, defence ministry sources say the exercise is going to be a major one, with the entire spectrum of naval manoeuvres being conducted.

Though India has refrained from inking "foundational" military agreements with the US like the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA), the two nations have set a scorching pace in undertaking joint combat exercises.

Indian and American armed forces have held as many as 60 exercises over the last seven-eight years. Malabar, which has often witnessed participation of aircraft carriers from the two sides, represents the high-end of this expanding military-to-military engagement.

Japan was to take part in the Malabar exercise last year also, but opted out after the horrific devastation wreaked by the massive earthquake-cum-tsunami in the country.

India will also be undertaking the Simbex exercise with Singaporean navy in March.

Indian RAW's 'Kao Plan' unleashed in Balochistan

2012-02-23T13:43:00.000+05:00

Makhdoom Babar | Daily Mail News

When Indira Gandhi took over as Prime Minister of India in the late 60s, among her basic priorities was to undo the division of India that created a new State, Pakistan which was highly irritating the Indian leaders since its birth.

In that particular era, India’s all intelligence related matters, both internally and externally were managed by only one intelligence agency of the country that was the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

The Daily Mail’s research indicates that when Mrs. Gandhi assumed the charge of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) at New Delhi, she ordered the IB to prepare comprehensive plans to destabilize Pakistan and to transform into a failed State and to negate the 2-Nation Theory which was the foundation of the creation of Pakistan.

The Daily Mail’s research indicates that in 1968, the then head of IB’s External Division Wing and the founder of Directorate General of Security, commonly known as DG(S) in India, Rameshwar Nath Kao, a confidante of Indira Gandhi and her late father as he was cleared of falling to any honey trap because of being a gay, presented a very comprehensive plan to fulfill Indira Gandhi’s wishes regarding Pakistan.

This, around 240-page plan, which is still known as The Kao Plan in India’s clandestine community had three different operations to destabilize Pakistan.

The Kao Plan, which is described as a three-pronged strategy by the Indian officials, had three different operations to eliminate Pakistan. The first, known as Kao’s Bangla Plan(KBP) was chalked out to start an insurgency movement in East Pakistan and transform the Eastern part of Pakistan into a new State. The 2 nd plan, known as Kao’s Balochistan Plan (KBP-II) was architected to create a similar scenario in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, while the 3 rd one was relating to organize a separation movement in the then North Western Frontier Province(NWFP) and now Khyber Pakhtun Khowah to establish an independent State there and this one is known as the Kao’s Pakhtoonistan Plan (KPP).

Indira Gandhi, the research indicates, went through Rameshwar Nath Kao’s plans with all the comprehensions .she, however, held a detailed meeting with Kao and discussed his plans in deep details. After the meeting, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi reached to the conclusion that Kao plans were very comprehensive and were having all the potential of earning far reaching results but she was very much aware of the limited capacities and abilities of country top intelligence agency the IB. after detailed deliberations with Kao and her other, very close associates, Mrs. Discovered the IB was not at all capable of executing the Kao plans. According to some Indian media persons, who were close to the developments at the PMO in late 60s, Indira Gandhi finally decided that since IB had not enough capabilities to run the foreign missions, prominently the Kao plans, there was an immense need for India to have a separate, more powerful and more resourceful intelligence operates to execute extremely high profile projects like the Kao Plans. According to these journalists, Indira, while contemplating upon forming a brand new intelligence mechanism, apart from Kao plans regarding Pakistan, was also eyeing on China.

The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that after all the discussions and deliberations, it was decided to a new secret agency but to keep its profile as a research body and not as spy agency for the outer world, an agency, with the title of Research and Analysis Wing, commonly know as RAW these days, was finally formed on 21 st September, 1968 under the Cabinet Division and no one else was made the first Chief of Raw but Mr. Rameshwar Nath Kao. The Prime minister approved all the Kao plans regarding Pakistan but directed Kao to go step by step instead of executing all at once as it would add more creditability to the operations and advised him start with East Pakistan plan (KBP) and to execute the remaining ones in the light of the outcomes of the 1 st plan in this direction.

The research reveals that soon after the formation of RAW, Rameshwar Nath Kao’s first priority was to form a team of professionals at the top level of agency. For this purpose, he brought in many ‘like-minded officers from the Intelligence Bureau and from the Indian Police Service (IPS) cadre. According to certain media reports, the top wing of RAW in it its early days was comprising all the well trusted guys of Koa as majority of them was known as gays and thus were very commonly called the Kaoboys of RAW, not within the agency but also in the media across India and those officials who were not inducted in RAW by Kao, despite being falling on merit were the main sources of such leaks to the media and also to the young RAW officers.

These Kaoboys were initially given the task of enhancing the capabilities of the agency to the maximum for running the covert operations while a special wing was formed to launch the KBP in East Pakistan. The details of Kao’s Bengla Plan would be discussed at another stage though; the research reveals that RAW launched the Bengla plan soon after its inception. It is worth mentioning here that soon after the inception of RAW, Kao also formed a high profile Monitoring Division, comprising the retired and serving officers from the Indian army’s corps of Signals.

The basic features of Kao plan were to launch a Psychological Warfare operation in East Pakistan; to communicate with East Pakistani politicians, mainly those belonging to Awami League; to get on board all the East Pakistani civil servants working in East and West Pakistan and also in Pakistani embassies across the worl; to launch extensive media campaign against Pakistan army’s actions in East Pakistan and to project a highly exaggerated plight of the people of East Pakistan in the world media and to organize moots and conferences across the world to highlight the sham miseries of the people of Pakistan; to establish a sense of deprivation amongst the general public in East Pakistan; to create a feeling of hatred amongst the people of East Pakistan and West Pakistan through social circles etc. While the training of militants of Mukti Bahni goons at training camps inside Indian territory, at West Bengal, Assam and Tripura and to arm them for an ultimate civil war was decided to be organized with the help and assistance of Indian army, headed by General Manekshaw and Indian Border Security Force(BSF), headed by K.F. Rustomji while the IB was also kept engaged for other covert operations. According to a veteran journalist Qutubuddine Aziz , who was stationed in former East Pakistan during the execution of India Kao plan for creating Bangladesh and the gentlemen who wrote the famous book Blood and Tears, India trained Mukti Bahini militants massacred at least one million non-Bengalis in former East Pakistan. He says "The sheaves of eye-witness accounts, prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the massacre of West Pakistanis, Biharis and other non-Bengalis in East Pakistan had begun long before the Pakistan Army took punitive action against the rebels late in the night of March 25, 1971. It is also crystal clear that the Awami League’s terror machine was the initiator and executor of the genocide against the non-Bengalis which exterminated at least a million of them in less than two months of horror and trauma. Many witnesses have opined that the federal Government acted a bit too late against the insurgents. The initial success of the federal military action is proved by the fact that in barely 30 days, the Pakistan Army, with a combat strength of 38,717 officers and men in East Pakistan, had squelched the Awami League’s March-April, 1971, rebellion all over the province. They were all trained and armed by Indian army and were given details of non-Bengalis by a new spy agency of India, the Research and analysis Wing".

The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that before launching the 1st phase of the Kao plan, the RAW leadership decided to dominate the Indian diplomatic Missions across the world to ensure the availability of strongest possible platforms to run RAW operations, specially the operations relating to the Psychological Warfare. Though the PMO had approved the placement of RAW officials in Indian diplomatic Missions under diplomatic covers, yet RAW decided to dig out and secure personal or official scandals of the as many as possible Indian diplomats across the world after it was found at the agency’s Headquarters that in many cases, the diplomatic staff at different stations did not cooperate with RAW under cover officials in commissioning of certain undiplomatic practices in different parts of the world. It was this exercise of RAW that helped it immensely in launching aggressive media campaigns against Pakistan army and in mobilizing the world opinion in favor of east Pakistanis to have a separate State and to justify India’s open interference in the East Pakistan’s affairs, from the platforms of Indian diplomatic Missions across the world and it was started with blackmailing the Indian ambassador in Burma (Myanmar) in the late 60s while the practice is still going on very effectively for RAW. In the beginning of the launching the Kao plan in East Pakistan, RAW also attempted to use certain British parliamentarians and journalists for organizing moots and conferences in favor of separation of East Pakistan from the rest of Pakistan.

After the RAW got immense success in East Pakistan and due to the lack of abilities on part of Pakistani leadership to handle the crises in Eastern part of the country, a new country was created with name of Bangladesh in 1971, just within some 30 months of the inception of RAW, Rameshwar Nath Kao sought Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s permission to launch KBP-II for the separation of Balochistan from Pakistan.

The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that though Kao and the ‘Kaoboys’ of RAW were feeling over excited with their success in breaking Pakistan into two and wanted an immediate go-ahead from the PMO for the implementation of the 2 nd phase of the Kao plan (KBP-II), the Indian Prime Minister was being extraordinary cautious in taking any further step in this direction as she got the information that the American CIA and the Chinese intelligence, both were monitoring the RAW moves very closely and both the Chinese and the US government had in a way conveyed to the government of India that any repeat of East Pakistan like mischief by India in West Pakistan would not be allowed and tolerated at all.

These finding further indicate that at that particular stage, Indian government was very eagerly looking forward to the Shah of Iran for 2 soft loans amounting to the tune of not less than $ 25 millions. Indira Gandhi also knew that any Indian move in Balochistan, at that particular stage, could have easily annoyed the Shah of Iran as he was a very close friend of Pakistan, resulting into the refusal of the 25 million dollars loan from Shah. India was already persuading the sister of Shah of Iran, Madame Ashraf Pehlawi for pursuing Shah to approve loan. According to the records, Shah’s sister was given a kickback of $ 6 million for the sanctioning of the loan.

The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that keeping all these reservations, Indira Gandhi asked the RAW Chief Kao to hold his horses and shelve the Balochistan plan until the circumstances get changed and especially until the loan from Iran was transferred into Indian government’s accounts. These findings further indicate that this reply from Prime Minister came as a great dejection for both Kao and his ‘Boys’ at the RAW headquarters, though Indira Gandhi allocated huge funds to RAW for its expansion worldwide after getting the Iranian loans, yet many officials of RAW still belief that it was just a bid to appease RAW after ordering it to keep the Balochistan operation on hold while the RAW officials were very much excited about launching it as soon as possible, without letting the Pakistani counterparts to get out of the shock of Kao’s Bengla plan.

According to some senior International journalists as well as certain security experts and former intelligence official, the RAW and specially its Kaoboys were never actually waiting for a formal nod from PMO and they in fact had already starting working on Kao Balochistan Plan (KBP-II). RAW had already started contacting Baloch leaders through social activities in foreign countries and a PSYWAR was launched amongst the Baluchistani people with a crystal clear reference to what happened in East Pakistan and how India helped East Pakistanis to have a spate, independent country. In the meantime RAW also sought agency-to-agency help from its counterpart in former Soviet Union and KGB replied in a positive manner to help RAW implement its Kao plan for Balochistan.

Soon after entering into the Balochistan game, Kao and his team realized that the things in Balochistan were never as easy as those were in East Pakistan. They discovered that they had no advantage of having a road link in Balochistan that they had in East Pakistan and secondly the disadvantage was that Pakistani army had total control and very strong road link to any part of Balochistan, something that it lacked in case of East Pakistan. The only encouraging point for RAW while starting the Balochistan game was that here they did not had to launch and fund the movement at the grassroots level like in case of the East Pakistan but in fact in Balochistan, they just needed to lure a handful of Baloch tribal leaders, specially young ones who were very much attracted towards fun life of West, and rest was to be done by these tribal leaders. After making this assessment, RAW decided to go-ahead with the KPB-II. However it got a shocker from KGB when KGB expressed its inability to provide any strategic or tactical help for Balochistan plan due to KGB’s lack of resources to carry out any deep sea covert operation in the hot waters of Indian Ocean and the Arabian sea however it promised every help and support for the cause in any other shape, at a later stage. Some experts say that KGB’s abrupt nod for joining RAW in Balochistan game could also be seen in the backdrop of cold war era rivalry between CIA and KGB as KGB was constantly looking to hit CIA hard anywhere in the world at first available opportunity during that era and since KGB knew that CIA would feel deeply hurt by its any joint operation with RAW in Balochistan and thus it straight away offered all its help and support, even without approval from the highest level of the Soviet government. It remains another fact that over the years, things got drastically changed and today CIA itself is fully embedded with RAW in the Balochistan game.

The Daily Mail’s findings indicate that the top boy amongst Kao’s ‘like-minded’ Kaoboys was an IPS officer B. Raman and was known as ‘Kao’s Special Boy.’

Raman served in RAW and earlier in the IB for about 27 years and got retired from RAW in August 1994. When RAW was making an assessment to enter into Balochistan game, the agency’s head Rameshwar Nath Kao decided to explore a new avenue to begin the game, without waiting for PMO’s word in this direction. After the careful assessment of all the options, Kao decided approach the French Intelligence. The French external Intelligence, then known as SDECE and is these days know as DGSE. In French language SDECE means Service for External Documentation and Counter-Espionage while DGSE stands for Directorate general of External Security.

Research indicates that the then SDECE was headed by Le Comte Alexandre de Marenches, an ex army officer of France. As mentioned above as how RAW manipulates Indian diplomats across the world, RAW opted in this case to use the services of the then Ambassador of India to France who himself was an ex-army officer of India and was married to a French speaking lady from Luxemburg that had enabled him to become a close friend of the then French Interior Minister Michel Poniatowski. Kao used the Indian ambassador to have a meeting of top RAW officials with their French counterparts through Michel.

The ambassador ‘obliged’ the RAW chief and a meeting was fixed between French and Indian spy masters at Paris. During the meeting, the RAW side, headed by Kao, proposed for a liaison between French and Indian intelligence agencies for the collection and sharing of intelligence with regards to the movement of US and Soviet as well as the Chinese Navies in the water regions of Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. An agreement in this regard was finalized straight away and France agreed to establish a liaison office at Paris in this regard and showed its complete willingness to the project, without knowing that RAW had some Balochistan related motives behind this move as it no interest at all in the movement of the Naval fleets of soviets or Americans or even the Chinese. The research indicates that RAW wanted to use the project for transporting arms and heavy weapons to Balochistan through this project as it had already been able to lure certain Baloch leaders to launch an insurgency movement. The French and Indian intelligence agencies agreed to establish at least four Technical Intelligence (TECHINT) stations in India’s spotted water regions in Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. Though the Indians claim that the project was soon abandoned, yet it remains a fact that these stations still exist and are operational under Indian control. However France pulled out of the project after quite some time. Some intelligence experts believe that France developed some serious doubts about RAW’s movement under the garb of the said Technical Intelligence Stations after the French intelligence managed to retrieve volumes and volumes of highly classified documents relating to the covert operations of RAW from the Indian Prime Minister’s Office. There are some stories in this direction out which one says that it was the job of some French under cover secret agents who developed some special relations under the disguise of gays with RAW’s liaison officer in France for the said project B. Raman and they managed to get some way to access to the classified document in Indira Gandhi’s office.

Research indicates that after French and Indian intelligence agencies agreed upon establishing a liaison office at Paris, B Raman maneuvered a lot to motivate the RAW Chief Kao to post him to Paris as the liaison officer as at that time, France was known as the Paradise of the gays. Kao who did not want to send Raman out of sight for a longer period due to his ‘special feelings’ for Raman, finally agreed upon sending Raman to France on deputation. In this direction first RAW tried to send him Raman to France in the disguise of media representative from India, a practice that RAW is still exercising across the world with a great success, and all arrangements were made with the collaboration of an Indian newspaper The Hindu, yet at the eleventh hour the plan was changed and Raman was sent to Paris under the diplomatic cover, the other major practice of RAW that is still very much in fashion.

At Paris, Raman’s duties to the knowledge of the French intelligence were to perform liaison officer for the TECHINT project while the host government knew him as diplomat t he Indian embassy. However, RAW had assigned him some other responsibilities. He was sent to Paris to communicate with Baloch tribal youngsters living and studying in England and France and to lure them to join the Kao plan for Balochistan. In the process, Raman met with a young Iranian gay at Paris. In one of his latest books, Raman admits that he met the Iranian boy in Paris and he lured him and developed special relations with him. Raman writes, one night his Iranian friend, suddenly developed some serious medical problems and he, despite being an Indian diplomat, rushed the Iranian boy to the hospital in the emergency and got him treated there and also paid all the bills at the Paris hospital. Though Raman refrains from explaining his relations with the Iranian gay guy in details, he however writes that the same Iranian guy, proved very helpful to him for his covert operations during his stay in Paris. According to certain media and intelligence reports, during his stay in Paris, Raman used the Iranian boy to the maximum to establish special ties with certain Balochistani youngsters, mostly the sons of Baloch tribal leaders and he remained successful in luring them to get embedded with RAW for the successful implementation of the Kao Plan for Balochistan.

Back home at New Delhi, when RAW had finalized the aggressive implementation of the Kao plan in Baluchistan, Prime Minister Indira Gnadhi got into some internal political turmoil and she finally declared the state of emergency in the country, a move that prevented RAW from pursuing the Kao plan at that very moment.

Research indicates that during the state of emergency, Indira Gandhi misused RAW to the maximum to fix her political opponents. However, she finally went to the polls and met with the defeat in the General Elections. This resulted into the bringing of Moraji Desai as the new Prime minister of India. Desai did not have any respect for RAW has he knew that Indira Gandhi had used RAW against him as well. However he did not touch the affairs of RAW much. In the meantime, when RAW moved the file of Kao Plan for Balochistan, he got furious and asked RAW to focus on country’s security instead of remaining busy in hatching conspiracies against other countries. He however kept the Kao plan file in his office. Some close associates of Desai attribute this development to Desai’s hateful feelings towards RAW and he thought that Kao plan was a baby of his first degree opponent and thus he should stay away from it. Some others think that Desai snubbed RAW over the Kao plan owing to his peace initiatives with Pakistan and because of his very cordial relations with then military ruler of Pakistan, late General Zia-Ul-Haque. It is said that during his visits to England and France, Desai asked the RAW officers posted those countries to give him details of their responsibilities in those countries in writing. Both the officers refused to give any explanation to Desai in back and white.

RAW did not succeed in getting a formal green light for the Kao plan for Balochistan during Desai’s era and the agency decided to suffice on wait and see policy. In the process, new elections were held in India and as result of these polls; Indira Gandhi again came into power as the Prime Minister of India. Once again, at a suitable stage, RAW moved the Kao plan file to the PMO. People associated to the Indian Prime Minister’s office say that upon receiving the file, Mrs. Gandhi summoned the RAW Chief and directed him that the agency should first address the new menace that had hit the country. This was the growing Sikh separatist movement in Indian Punjab. Indira asked to deal with the issue as top priority of the agency and to use all resources for the purpose. RAW got engaged in the new top priority assignment and the Kao operation was again put on the back burner. However, reports suggest that RAW, on the parallel, continued its unauthorized interference in Balochistan and kept the Kao plan alive and in the meantime, it managed to shift maximum weaponry into Balochistan through the France-blessed TECHINT sea stations. It also got the immense support from KGB and its extension in Afghanistan after the former USSR invaded Afghans. The reports suggest that KGB played the major role in training the Baloch militants, given to RAW by certain Baloch tribal leaders, to use the arms and weapons shipped by RAW through sea routes to Balochistan over the years.

The reports also indicate that it was not possible for RAW to successfully form the militant outfits in Balochistan without the strong help and assistance of KGB as both RAW and KGB managed to install militant forces like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) etc. there were comprehensive training facilities for these militants by KGB in adjoining Afghanistan and loads of money for their mentors by RAW.

Back in India, RAW remained busy in tackling the Sikh movement. The details of the Sikhs’ movement in India would be discussed at a later stage but it is to be worth mentioning that RAW’s inability to handle the genuine movements like the Khalistan movement by Indian Sikhs was exposed to everyone across the world and particularly amongst the global clandestine community. RAW made many goof-ups in implicating Pakistan and its top security agency, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) into the Khalistan movement. It remains a fact that the ISI did get some security benefits out of the Khalistan movement but the volume of the ISI role in the movement, portrayed by RAW was no where near the ground realities.

Just one incident out of dozens, is enough to prove that how panicked and furious the RAW got to implicate ISI and Pakistan into the Khalistan freedom movement and that how unable the RAW was to create even fake cases against ISI to convince the global community. In one incident, some alleged members of the Sikh freedom movement, hijacked an Indian passenger aircraft and took to Lahore. Pakistan refused to hold talks with the hijackers and the plane was then taken to the UAE. From UAE, somehow RAW managed to take the custody of the hijackers and took them to India. After a few days, Indian government came out with the claims that hijackers had confessed that they hijacked the said aircraft from India with a toy pistol but later, during their brief stay at Lahore airport, some ISI officers gave them the real pistol which was retrieved from the UAE authorities later and after contacting a French arms company in the backdrop of the make and serial number of the said pistol, it was revealed that the said pistol was officially imported by Pakistan army and the episode proves that ISI was behind the hijacking and the entire movement of Khalistan. This outrageous episode earned India merely a big, loud laughter across the world and very badly damaged the credibility of RAW and Indian government’s allegations against Pakistan which is still haunting New Delhi as well as RAW.

The research reveals that as RAW completely failed in countering the Khalistan movement, it finally advised Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to go all out for a comprehensive military operations against the Sikhs and presented a high profile report that the only way out to tackle the Khalistan movement was to storm the most prestigious and religiously motivated Sikh Temple, the Golden Tample in Indian Punjab as all the top Sikh separatists were hiding and operating from there. This prompted Indira Gandhi to ordered the most infamous military operation by Indian army, code-named Operation Blue Star in which thousands of innocent Sikhs were butchered by Indian army troops.

Just when Indira Gandhi was about to order full-fledged launching of the Kao plan for Balochistan to divert the national and international criticism from operation Blue Star, she was assassinated by some religiously motivate Sikh Guards of her own security detail.

Indira Gandhi’s assassination brought in her elder son Rajiv Gandhi to the scene and he took over as Indian Prime Minister. Rajiv always had serious doubts that her mother lost her life due to completely misleading reports and advices of RAW and thus had special anger and hatred for RAW and its top policy makers.

In the process, when his attention was drawn towards the Kao plan for Balochistan, he really lashed out at top RAW officials and snubbed them for misguiding his mother and thus getting her killed. Poor Rajiv, who remained away from country’s political and intelligence affairs as Indira was training her younger son Sanjay Gandhi to replace her in politics but he was unfortunately killed in an air crash, forgot that by that time, RAW had already become an uncontrollable monster and had emerged as a government within the government.

Rajiv decided to revamp RAW and curtail its powers and funds to a considerable volume and to make its every action known to the government and to make the agency accountable to the government. In the process, he kept changing the heads of RAW and kicked out many of agency official and ordered drastic reforms in RAW. The RAW moles at the PMO, informed RAW as to what was cooking for them in the minds of Rajiv Gandhi. It is said that it was this decision of Rajiv Gandhi that costed him his life and RAW finally managed to get rid of him through a suicide attack by a Tamil woman as RAW was drastically training Tamil people for suicide bombing and other militancy tactics for fighting in Sri Lanka in the ranks of LTTE.

Research indicates that two things happened after Rajiv’s assassination; one, no Indian PM ever dared to introduce any sort of reforms in RAW and 2 nd was that no one from RAW ever moved the Kao plan file to any successive Prime Minister, though it continued with keeping the Kao plan alive in Balochistan.

The research indicates that it was only after the 9/11 tragedy that RAW started getting very positive response from America’s CIA to make life miserable for Pakistan and its ISI. The research shows clearly that as the CIA, RAW ties started deepening owing to common interest of both the agencies; the things in Balochistan started getting worst, day by day. The RAW-CIA honeymoon prompted RAW once again to get a formal approval of launching the Kao plan in Balochistan after the Congress government came into power in 2004. This time, the case was not discussed by RAW Chief with the Prime Minister but it was found more appropriate to get a final nod from the party chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Given the circumstance and assurances from CIA, RAW succeeded in getting Sonia nod for the Kao plan in 2004-2005 as it was found out to be the best time to launch the Kao plan as Pakistan was already surrounded with multiple dangers and conspiracies and for the first time it did not have a friendly government in adjoining Afghanistan. Sonia gave the final approval for formal launching of the Kao plan in Balochistan.

The Kao plan was initiated in Balochistan formally in 2004-2005 and within one year of its formal launching things got drastically changed across the province.

The Kao plan made veteran Baloch leader Akbar Bugti and his like minded tribal leaders of the province defiant towards the federal government and they bent upon initiating an insurgency movement in the province and even brought a name for the new Independent country as Islamic Emirates of Balochistan.

Kao plan for Balochistan had just a few amendments if compared with the Kao plan for East Pakistan. The basics remained the same. What was that? Launch a psychological war amongst the general public of the area; generate a feeling of deprivation and hatred amongst the local against the rest of the people of the country; fund and arm the tribal leaders; launch motivated media campaigns and seminars across the world to highlight a sham plight of the locals; generate feeling of hatred against the country’s army and Armed Forces; motivate locals to assault the Armed forces and portray security forces as some occupying troops amongst the locals as well to the global audience; create fake as well real clashes between country’s security Forces and the paid militants; train and arm the militants; organize seminars and conferences at major Capitals of the world and motivate a global opinion in favor of the militants by portraying them as freedom fighters and oppressed nation; do the media buying in the local country as well in the international market; create caucuses at different parliamentary forums across the world to plead and support the view point of the fighting militants etc; equate Baluchistan issue with the freedom movement in Indian Occupied Kashmir etc.

This plan is very clearly unleashed in Balochistan at the moment and this plan is titled “RAW’s Kao Plan for Balochistan” in the clandestine community of India and the West. The study indicates that the game is just the same that it was in 1971 in East Pakistan, just the players and the rules of the game have changed a bit.

The Daily Mail’s findings indicate that the latest move in the US Congress to support the cause of Balochistan’s militants and to call for right of self determination for the people of Balochistan is nothing new. RAW has been organizing similar move at many occasions in the past as well by getting the paid services of certain politicians and so called intellectuals as well as NGOs across the world. They have done it in England, in India and at many other places across the world while the Capitol Hill is the latest venue for the purpose.

Russia to launch 100 military satellites in 10 years to detect enemy missiles

2012-02-23T13:24:00.000+05:00

RTT News

Russia plans to launch at least 100 military satellites in the next ten years to boost its reconnaissance and missile detection capabilities, according to Russian Space Agency 'Roscosmos' chief Vladimir Popovkin.

"The new 100 satellites will provide us with better quality intelligence, faster and more reliable communications," Popovkin told Russia's Vesti-24 TV channel in an interview on Wednesday.

He said the new satellites would also enable Russia "to detect the launches and track not only ballistic, but also cruise missiles, theater and tactical missiles."

Expansion of the military satellite cluster will also boost global positioning and mapping capabilities of the Russian military, which is necessary to guide advanced high-precision weapons being developed in the country.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier said that the deployment of high-precision weaponry would be part of Russia's response to the U.S.-based European missile shield, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Moscow continues to oppose the planned deployment of U.S. missile defense systems near its borders, claiming that they would be a security threat. NATO and the United States insist that the shield would defend NATO members against missiles from North Korea and Iran.

Pakistani authorities tell US CENTCOM Chief to put off planned visit

2012-02-23T13:13:00.000+05:00

Shaiq Hussain | Pakistan Today

ISLAMABAD: After Special US envoy Marc Grossman, General James N Mattis, the chief of US Army’s Central Command (CENTCOM), who was supposed to visit Pakistan a few days ago, has also been advised by the Pakistani authorities to put off his trip until the completion of parliamentary review of Islamabad’s relations with Washington in the future.

General Mattis was expected to visit Islamabad in the middle of this month to meet army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and other senior military officials, but he was asked by Pakistani authorities to postpone his trip until the parliamentary review of Islamabad-Washington ties was over.

“The parliamentary review of relations between Pakistan and US will end with the joint session of both Houses of parliament, but it too is facing delay due to current political crisis in Islamabad, Senate polls and now the latest row between Islamabad and Washington over a resolution introduced in US Congress asking for a sovereign country for Baloch people,” said a Pakistani diplomat, seeking anonymity. “The session, which was expected to be held in the first week of February, will now be held in March, most likely in the middle of the month,” said the Pakistani diplomat.

“The delay in the parliamentary session means that the important trips of ambassador Grossman and General Mattis to Pakistan will be delayed further,” he said. He said the US was not happy over the delay in the completion of parliamentary review and that had been conveyed to Islamabad as well, but the government had no other choice but to wait for joint session of parliament.

However, he hastened to add that in order to take care of important issues of coordination and anti-terrorism cooperation between the Pakistani and US armies, the two sides could also agree on scheduling the General Mattis’ visit to Islamabad before the parliamentary session. The relations between Pakistan and US have been marred by tensions since the killing of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a covert US raid on May 2 last year. These tensions exacerbated further after NATO airstrikes on two Pakistani border posts in November killed 24 soldiers.

Nonetheless, the resolution introduced last Friday by a member of US House of Representatives, Dana Rohrabacher (Republican from California), which said the people of Balochistan should have the right to self-determination and to their own sovereign country, led to furor in Pakistan and took the prevailing tensions to new heights. It is part of reconciliatory efforts that Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will meet US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on the sidelines of a conference in London today (Thursday).

CIA carving out a new role in Balochistan

2012-02-23T13:07:00.000+05:00

Farrukh Saleem | The News

ISLAMABAD: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), led by David Petraeus the former Commander, US Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A), has a strategic, multidimensional interest in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province. In March 2011, The Peninsula, Qatar’s leading English language daily, revealed that the “CIA is indulging in heavy recruitment of local people as agents (each being paid $500 a month) in Balochistan to locate members of the Quetta Shura, a term used by the Americans for Mullah Omar-led Taliban commanders.”

Over the long term, the CIA has an interest in keeping the strategically important Port of Gwadar out of China’s influence. Over the short to medium term, the CIA also has an interest in supporting Jundallah, also known as People’s Resistance Movement of Iran (PRMI), a violent organization that claims to be “fighting for the rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran.”

David Petraeus is now bent upon carving out an additional role for the CIA-one that of becoming a mediator between the Baloch Ajoee Lashkar, the Baloch Liberation Front, the Baloch Awami Azadi Mahaiz, the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) and the Balochistan Liberation United Front all on one side and the Pakistan Army on the other. If the CIA is successful in capturing the mediator’s role in the Balochistan conflict, the CIA will gain additional leverage over the ISI and thus an upper hand in the Afghan endgame.

As things stand right now Baloch belligerents are not even willing to sit across the table and negotiate a ceasefire. What the CIA has going in its favor is the massive and growing-trust deficit between Baloch militants and the generals of the Pakistan Army. The eventual settlement would have to be negotiated on the negotiating table but the CIA is hopping that they will have a role to play as a mediator-cum-guarantor.

Disintegration of a state is a rare phenomenon. Disintegration of Pakistan is neither in the interest of international powers nor are they really capable of affecting a split at this stage. Bangladesh isn’t a parallel because Balochistan is a contagious province and Balochistan on its own will not be an economically feasible entity. Time, however, is of essence. India is playing spoiler and things are getting from bad to worse.

Iran unveils two new radars 'Khashef' and 'Matlaul-Fajr' at the 'Sarallah' air defence exercise

2012-02-22T20:27:00.001+05:00

S.Isayev, T. Jafarov | Trend.Az

Iran has unveiled two new radars, "Khashef" and "Matlaul-Fajr", at the Sarallah military maneuvers that began in Southern Iran on Monday, IRNA reported.

The "Sarallah" air defense maneuvers meant to enhance the country's integrated network of air defense with a focus on modern defensive tactics. The maneuvers also tend to increase Iran's readiness before the enemy threats, in particular, possible attacks on densely populated areas, sensitive and vulnerable centers, and nuclear facilities.

The exercises are also aimed at increasing the mobility of rapid response forces to engage in asymmetric warfare and improving coordination between air defense units of various forces in order to provide the country with wide air defense coverage.

During the four-day maneuvers, domestically manufactured advanced missile systems, air defense artillery systems, various radar systems, and Air Force surveillance aircraft will be used and tested.

It has also been reported that all radar systems from the Khatam-ol-Anbiya Air Defense Base have been tested at the maneuvers.

Air defense units of the Armed Forces and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and the lookouts of the National Police and the Basij volunteer forces carry out the exercises under the command of the Khatam-ol-Anbiya Air Defense Base.

Iran has recently increased military exercises as international tensions grow over its alleged nuclear weapons programme, with Israel saying it has not ruled out the possibility of military strikes.

India: DRDO scientists to develop advanced seekers for tactical missiles

2012-02-22T20:22:00.000+05:00

A model of Nag on display at Exposition Hall in Research Centre Imarat in Hyderabad on Sunday.

[Photo: G. Krishnaswamy]

Y. Mallikarjun | The Hindu

Imagine a war scenario in which miniaturised missiles equipped with Precision-Guided Munitions (PGMs) are unleashed from a mother missile to take out select enemy targets like an ammunition depot while avoiding collateral damage.

A mother missile acts as a “force multiplier” and to achieve the desired result, each miniaturised missile will have a seeker to ensure its independent motion, irrespective of the mother missile's motion.

Seekers, which are of two types — radio-frequency and infra-red, enable a missile to acquire, track and home in on to the target. They are required for all tactical missiles (less than 300 km range).

Scientists at the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), a key laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) missile complex here, have embarked on developing such seekers to eventually equip mother missiles with smaller missiles packed with PGMs.

The mandate of the RCI is to deliver avionic systems for all missiles, including anti-ballistic systems and anti-aircraft missiles.

In a bid to conduct trials without using the mother missile, a Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV) has been imported to be used as a Technology Demonstrator for the project. A flight trial was conducted at the Integrated Test Range using the RPV along with a recoverable tow body by providing the vehicle the same velocity of a mother missile.

Good results were obtained from that exercise, RCI Director S.K. Chaudhuri told The Hindu on Sunday. More such trials would be carried out in stages to check the guidance, control and inertial navigation systems.

By the end of 2013, a crucial trial of the RPV with missile-launched PGMs to hit a target with both IIR (Imaging infrared) and mmW (millimteric Wave) seekers was being planned. Later, a flight test with a mother missile would be conducted, he said.

Another frontier technology area in which scientists have begun work is to design and develop ‘Low Probability of Intercept Radar Seeker' to equip anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles.

This seeker will enable the missile to escape detection and jamming by enemy radars. Currently, Russia and the U.S. have such seekers, a senior RCI scientist said.

A few months ago, a major success was achieved when anti-tank Nag missile was flight-tested with an indigenously-developed mmW seeker.

Israel's military purchases new 'LAW A-9' missiles for urban warfare

2012-02-22T20:15:00.000+05:00

Lior Tziror | Defence.Professionals

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have signed a deal to purchase new “LAW A-9” missiles, which possess new urban warfare capabilities. The new LAW missile is expected to enter service with combat forces in 2013.

The LAW missiles currently in service with the IDF (LAW A-7), is designed to strike vehicles, tanks and APCs. The new missiles have the ability to be used in urban terrain, targeting concrete fortifications. The new missiles weigh four and a half pounds, the same as the previous missiles, and are effective at short range (125 meters). They appear like the LAW A-7, with slight differences in color and appearance.

The LAW A-9 will be used against structures and is three times cheaper than the current anti-structure missile in service with the IDF, the MATADOR.

“You don’t always need to use the MATADOR, it’s a very strong missile. You don’t need to kill a fly with a cannon,” explained Head of Missiles in Army R&D, Maj. Yehuda Perlmutter. “We want to create a situation where the commander will have a variety of capabilities. If he is confronted with a concrete wall or a car, he will be able to act accordingly, without being restricted to one device”.

In addition to procuring the new devices, the IDF will be testing new markers that will add the capability to fire at night. The markers will also be compatible with older LAW missiles and the MATADOR system, giving the entire array night-fire capabilities. “We want to add a capability that is not currently available on any shoulder-mounted rocket launcher,” added Maj. Perlmutter.

Terrorist gang captured in Azerbaijan linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards

2012-02-21T21:31:00.001+05:00

Natl. Security Ministry, Baku

News.Az

"Individuals, acting in an organized group, who handled firearms and explosives in order to commit terrorist attacks against foreign nationals, have been arrested in Azerbaijan," state-run AzTV reported on Tuesday, quoting the Ministry of National Security.

The group was created by someone by the name of Hamid from Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps and Haji Abbas, a leader of the Moqavemat intelligence brigade of the armed wing of Lebanese group Hezbollah, AzTV continued, according to Trend news agency.

Responsibilities had been divided between members of the gang in order to carry out the terror attack, the TV said.

The report from the National Security Ministry did not say where the arrests had been made.

In the last few days, 20 people from the settlement of Nardaran on the Absheron Peninsula, some 30 km from Baku, have been arrested in a joint operation by the ministries of national security and internal affairs, according to a member of the Nardaran Council of Elders, Natig Karimov.

They have been charged with establishing an armed group, illegal possession of weapons, treason and drug trafficking, APA reported.

It is likely that the arrests are of one and the same alleged gang, but this has not yet been confirmed by the National Security Ministry.

One of the Nardaran detainees, Ramil Dadashov, a driver for Iran's Seher TV, is the nephew of Balagardash Dadashov, who is wanted by the National Security Ministry. In January the ministry named Dadashov as the leader of a gang which was planning to assassinate foreigners in Baku and said that he had been collaborating with the Iranian secret services on the plot, charges which seem very similar to those just announced.

Nardaran elder Natig Karimov said that most of the 20 people arrested are related. His brother Niyazi Karimov, chairman of of the public union For National and Moral Values, is one of the detainees. Mehdi Mammadov, Abulfaz Bunyadov, an author of religious articles, and Anar Bayramli, who says he is a reporter for Iran’s Fars news agency, are amongst the other detainees.

Natig Karimov said they did not accept the accusations against the detainees.

Lawyer Anar Gasimov, who represents Anar Bayramli, said that his client was in custody for two months of pre-trial detention and said he was innocent of the accusations against him.

Bayramli was detained by Binagadi District fourth police department. He was summoned to the department, where he was arrested for being in possession of drugs.

Nardaran is known as a strongly Shia village with sympathies for Iran.

All the arrests come at a time of mutual accusations of spying and assistance in terror attacks by Baku and Tehran.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said today that it had dismissed in a written note Iranian accusations that it helped Israeli secret services kill an Iranian nuclear scientist.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry had made the accusations in a note of protest to the Azerbaijani ambassador.

That note followed an earlier protest from Azerbaijan about links between Iran's security services and the gang led by Balagardash Dadashov which was plotting to kill foreigners in Baku.

Iranian warships leave Syria through Suez Canal

2012-02-21T21:27:00.000+05:00

Iran Independent News Service

Two Iranian warships have left the Syrian coastal town of Tartous and headed back to Iran through Egypt's Suez Canal, a source at the strategic waterway said on Tuesday.

Syrian opposition "activists" based in Lebanon said the warships, which arrived in Tartous at the weekend, delivered "sophisticated weapons and tapping equipment to the Syrian authorities to help them trace activists and opposition figures."

Russia to receive new attack aircraft by 2020

2012-02-21T21:18:00.000+05:00

Brahmand News Service

MOSCOW (BNS): The Russian Air Force will receive new attack aircraft by 2020, Air Force spokesman Col. Vladimir Drik said.

According to a news report by RIA Novosti, the new aircraft will gradually replace the Su- 25SM Frogfoot attack fighters.

"The new aircraft will meet the demands of modern warfare and feature elements of stealth technology, the whole range of tactical weaponry, modern radar and navigation equipment," Drik was quoted as saying in the news report.

The Russian Air Force operates the largest number of Su-25s, and has plans to upgrade older aircraft to the Su-25SM variant.

The Air Force at present has over 30 Su-25SM aircraft in service and plans to modernise about 80 Su-25s by 2020, Drik added.

Indian military plans to develop next-generation electronic warfare systems

2012-02-21T21:10:00.000+05:00

Manorama Online

Bangalore: India plans to develop new-generation Electronic Warfare (EW) systems to be fitted on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, aircraft and satellites that would help it see "deep inside enemy territories", a key defence research and development official said here.

Chief Controller, Research and Development (Electronics and Computer Sciences), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), R. Sreehari Rao, said the present EW system, especially ground-based ones fitted on Naval platforms have got "limited range" (10-20 km) and "can't intercept beyond the line of sight". He noted that EW systems (to be) fitted on higher platforms like UAVs, aircraft and satellites would give "very long range".

The ones on UAVs and aircraft would give the country a 400-500 kms range capability and those on satellites "much longer range".

"We can see deep inside enemy territories.We have plans to go in for higher platforms", Rao told reporters in response to questions ahead of the second international conference on electronic warfare, which will be formally inaugurated here Wednesday. He also said a prototype of synthetic aperture radar, development of which is being pursued by DRDO constituent lab, Electronics and Radar Development Establishment would be flight-tested on a Dornier aircraft this year.

Director (R&D) of Bharat Electronics Limited, I.V. Sarma said the Navratna Defence Electronics Company expects India's armed forces -- Army, Airforce and Navy -- to buy EW systems to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore in the next eight to 10 years.

Army and Air Force are anticipated to induct such products valued at Rs 10,000 crore each and the Navy Rs 5,000-Rs 7,000 crore during the time-frame, he said, pointing to upgrade programmes of MiG-29 and Sukhoi and new EW suites for Light Combat Aircraft and light attack helicopter, as also the Navy.

Sarma said BEL would instal 10 coastal surveillance stations, mostly on the western border, by next month-end. As many as 36 more such stations in other "critical and sensitive" places all along the coast would be in place by December this year.

Bangalore-headquartered BEL has bagged a Rs 600 crore order in this context, he said. "They (surveillance stations) provide surveillance on any vessels coming to territorial waters up to 20 kms.... anything entering with 20 km range", Sarma said, adding, one would be able to visually see as to what happens within the 20 kms range with the help of electro-optic surveillance system.

Regional centres would come up to monitor the coast,while there would be a control centre in Delhi,from where things can be monitored on what's happening within 20 km of territorial water from coastal regions, he said.

Chief of US Special Operations Forces: Relationship with CIA to strengthen

2012-02-21T21:02:00.001+05:00

Steven Aftergood | Secrecy News

“I will tell you the relationship between CIA and Special Operations Forces is as good as I have ever seen it,” said Adm. William H. McRaven, Commander of Special Operations Command, in congressional testimony last year. “Both under [CIA] Director Panetta, and now, of course, under Director Petraeus, I think we are going to see that relationship continue to strengthen and blossom.”

The conduct of DoD special operations, including coordination between DoD clandestine operations and CIA covert operations, was the subject of an informative hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee in September. The record of that hearing has just been published.

“USSOCOM [U.S. Special Operations Command] and the CIA currently coordinate, share, exchange liaison officers and operate side by side in the conduct of DOD overt and clandestine operations and CIA’s covert operations”, said Michael D. Lumpkin, acting assistant secretary of defense.

“Our activities are mutually supportive based on each organization’s strengths and weaknesses and overall capabilities. Whichever organization has primary authority to conduct the operation leads; whichever organization has the superior planning and expertise plans it; both organizations share information about intelligence, plans, and ongoing operations fully and completely. Whether one or both organizations participate in the execution depends on the scope of the plan and the effect that needs to be achieved. Currently all USSOCOM and CIA operations are coordinated and deconflicted at all levels.”

“USSOCOM reports all of its clandestine activities quarterly through DOD to Congress for appropriate oversight,” Mr. Lumpkin said.

See “The Future of U.S. Special Operations Forces: Ten Years After 9/11 and Twenty-Five Years After Goldwater-Nichols,” hearing before a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, September 22, 2011.

And see, relatedly, “Budget Requests from the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command,” hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, March 3, 2011.

Hydro-Terrorism by India to overawe Pakistan

2012-02-21T20:54:00.001+05:00

Brigadier (R) Asif Haroon Raja | PakTribune

The majestic and ravishing landscape of the Kashmir Valley is so enchanting that whosoever happens to visit it gets spell-bounded and overawed by its natural beauty and longs to revisit it. The fairy land is rich in gem stones, timber and is laden with juicy fruits of all kinds; the men are fair colored, handsome, hardworking and skilled in handicrafts; and the women are beautiful and charming. The valley is rightly called the paradise on earth.

It is, however, irony of fate that its beauty, fruits and freshness of air have only been enjoyed by foreign invaders and by tourists and not by the inhabitants of Kashmir. All the conquerors treated the people of Kashmir like slaves. This serene and enthralling valley has been converted into virtual hell for the Kashmiris. Except for 1-2% affluent Kashmiris, it is difficult for the rest to keep body and soul together.

Notwithstanding the cruel rules of earlier rulers, Kashmir was subjected to worst excesses in 1846 AD, when she passed into the hands of Dogra chieftain Maharaja Gulab Singh for a paltry sum of seven and a half million rupees through infamous Sale Deed of Amritsar, executed by the British conquerors of Sikh territory. The Dogra Hindu rule extending over more than a hundred years from 1846 till 1947 was one of the blackest periods in the history of Kashmir. Gulab Singh (1846-56) sucked the very life blood of the people. The last of the autocratic Dogra rulers was Hari Singh who had to abdicate power on 26 October 1947 in the face of freedom movement launched by Azad forces of Kashmir and tribal lashkar. The latter had come to the rescue of Kashmiri Muslims on 24 October 1947 after learning that they were being brutally butchered by Dogra Army and Hindu terrorist gangs.

By that time Pakistan had come on the world map but was only two months old. 80% of Muslim subjects of Kashmir under the leadership of Ghulam Abbas, chairing Muslim Conference had aspired to join up with Pakistan and had moved a resolution to that effect. But for the wily role of pro-Indian National Conference leader Sheikh Abdullah who was duped by Nehru, machinations of Congress leaders and Mount Batten would have failed.

Despite the mismatch, Pakistan forces put up a valiant fight and succeeded in keeping Kashmir a disputed territory requiring resolution through a fair and free plebiscite under the supervision of the UN so as to allow right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir. One-third of Kashmir which is known as Azad Kashmir was retained by Pakistan, which acts as the operational base for the freedom struggle in two-third Indian occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan had laid claims on Kashmir on the basis of ideological, religious, political and geographical linkages. Pakistan shared with Kashmir three of its rivers namely Indus, Chenab and Jhelum which originate from Himalayan part of Kashmir and form the backbone of its agriculture and literally the aqua vital.

The other three rivers flowing into West Pakistan were Ravi, Sutlej and Beas had its origins in Indian Territory. Pakistan being a lower riparian was placed at a distinct disadvantage at the very outset particularly when viewed in context with India's bellicosity and expansionist designs and its failure to reconcile with existence of Pakistan. Hindu leaders had agreed to the creation of Pakistan under the illusion that it would live as a satellite under the gigantic shadow of Indian military, or would beg for re-integration into Indian Union within six months of its birth.

The 15-month 1948 war ended in January 1949 as a result of UNSC arranged ceasefire which was requested by India. Nehru agreed to stop the war after he assessed that major part of Kashmir including the enchanting vale, Jammu and origins of three rivers had been annexed, and that Pakistan being a lower riparian would be perpetually at its mercy. Liaquat Ali Khan accepted the ceasefire since at that time fledgling Pakistan was too deeply immersed in host of intractable problems. Prolongation of war would have been at the cost of survival of Pakistan. He was sure that the pledges given by Nehru and UNSC to hold a free and fair plebiscite under the auspices of the UN would be honored.

Nehru however made a u-turn on his promises and not only disregarded the UN resolutions but also started integrating Kashmir into Indian Union through deception, fraud and use of brute force. India's negative attitude and flagrant disregard of UN resolutions on Kashmir thwarted all attempts to settle the dispute by peaceful means. Instead of reaching an amicable settlement with Pakistan, it all along tried to pressurize Pakistan into giving up its demand for a just and fair settlement of the issue. Its obduracy and bellicosity led to 1965 Indo-Pak war and even the 1971 war was a result of unsettled Kashmir dispute. The two sides came close to war in 1990-91 and clashed with each other in Dras-Kargil sectors in the summer of 1999 due to Kashmir. Decision of the two countries to go nuclear in 1998 was also motivated by Kashmir, India wanting to retain its illegal hold over it and Pakistan wanting a just solution.

Laws framed by the US on terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11 suited India and Israel the most. Encouraged by the US, the two terrorist and expansionist states involved in massive human rights against Palestinians and Kashmiris respectively for decades became more barbaric. Pakistan by agreeing to become a front line state at the behest of USA to combat global terrorism got completely distracted from Kashmir and got deeply immersed in fighting its own people. Indo-Pak peace treaty signed between Gen Musharraf and Vajpayee in January 2004 gave new hopes of resolution of Kashmir dispute and other core issues. However, tall promises made by India proved elusive since it wasted time in futile CBMs and kept the core issues on the sidelines. India availed the elusive peace along the LoC to its advantage by intensifying its atrocities against marooned Kashmiri Mujahideen, devoid of support from Jihadi groups based in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan.

When India could no more drag its feet and situation in Occupied Kashmir became explosive following dispute over Shri Amarnath land, India's RAW in connivance with Mossad and CIA engineered Mumbai attacks drama on 26 November 2008, blamed Pakistan, stalled composite dialogue and reverted to its old hostile posture. Whole-hearted support of the US, western world and Israel as well as of Afghanistan together with easy induction of sophisticated weaponry from advanced world made the Indian leaders highly belligerent and uncompromising. Its military leaders openly talked of resorting to Cold Start doctrine to overrun Pakistan.

Pakistan tardily realized that it had been deceived by India under the garb of peace treaty and its real motive was to proceed with its covert war from Afghanistan and cultural war from its own soil so as to encircle Pakistan in a three-directional pincer and make it powerless. FATA and Balochistan were made volatile to play the Balochistan and Pashtunistan cards and to force Pakistan to give up Kashmir. Water war was operationalized by building dams over the three rivers flowing into Pakistan from Occupied Kashmir to choke Pakistan.

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had rightly termed Kashmir as the jugular vein of Pakistan since cutting of the jugular vein causes instant death to a person, and if it is pressed hard, it renders the person half-dead. Sensing the wicked designs of the Hindu leaders, Jinnah could foresee that if the jugular vein gets severed in the process of partition of India, it would cause death to Pakistan, and if it is choked it would make Pakistan comatose. An enemy grip on the hill courses of these three rivers could starve West Pakistan.

Furthermore, it could enable India to either flood Pakistanis living in low lying West Punjab, or choke water flow and cause drought and kill them, or flood or dry up canals suiting its military design during war.

He had rightly decided to stand up to the Indian aggression in 1948 irrespective of the fact that in that timeframe newly born Pakistan was engulfed in multi-dimensional problems. Had the two ill-equipped infantry brigades together with Azad forces and tribesmen not resisted Indian military's Summer Offensive launched in April 1948, whole of Kashmir would have been annexed by India. And had we not agreed to ceasefire as desperately demanded by India and continued fighting, our forces could have pushed out the thoroughly demoralized and exhausted Indian forces from Kashmir.

His apprehensions have come true and India is doing exactly what he had visualized in 1947. Despite signing Indus Basin Treaty in 1960, which gave exclusive water rights of Western Rivers Jhelum, Chenab and Indus flowing down from Occupied Kashmir to Pakistan, India in blatant violation of the said treaty has not only usurped the full quota of the three eastern rivers namely Beas, Sutlej and Ravi, but taking full advantage of the jugular vein which is in its iron grip is pressing it from many points by building dozens of dams to suffocate Pakistan to death or to make it gasp for life and thus forget about Kashmir.

India has ventured upon an ambitious plan worth $120 billion to divert waters of Rivers Jhelum, Chenab and Indus flowing from north to south and turn fertile lands of Pakistan into a desert. So far, it has built 65 dams and headworks, but has plans to build a total of 300 small and big size dams so as to gain total control over the three rivers. It is constructing a 3800 km long canal in order to divert water from River Indus to River Sutlej. This project will be completed by 2014. In addition, construction of series of canals measuring 14000 km is also in the pipeline, which will help connect 14 rivers of India. From 2008 onwards, West Punjab's standing crops are getting severely damaged due to water shortage caused by Baghliar dam.

Violation of Indus Basin Treaty is in line with India's national policy of backtracking from its pledges and breaking international agreements and defying the UN. India intends to complete its water denial plan to Pakistan by 2016 after which Pakistan will get deprived of its share of water. Pakistan's condition will become worse than Somalia and Ethiopia, the two drought ridden countries. If India opens the gates of these illegal dams, it can sink Pakistan within 48 hours.

With no end to its malevolence, India has now managed to coax its strategic partner Afghanistan to build dams over River Kabul and has offered its full assistance. This would further worsen water problem of Pakistan. India has full backing of USA, UK and Israel as well as the western world as a whole since none has ever taken notice of this most pitiless form of terrorism against humanity. Among host of coercive tactics applied by the gang of six based in Kabul, water terrorism is one of the cruelest forms to overawe Pakistan and break its will to resist. I wonder what the preachers of Aman-ki-Asha who are spending their entire energies to present the soft image of India have to say about the excessive human rights violations of Indian security forces against the Kashmiris including teenagers and water terrorism against Pakistan, which will suck the very life blood of the people of Pakistan. Brahman Hindus are far crueler than Hindu Dogras in Kashmir.

Unlike India which starts howling like a spanked child on slightest suspicion, or procurement of a weapon by Pakistan, or a terrorist attack and makes a mountain out of a mole, and the US led western world rush forward to extend their wholehearted support to anguished India lamenting over cooked up grievances, our leaders on the other hand for unexplained reasons remain tightlipped even when the very survival of Pakistan is at stake. Our lackadaisical approach encouraged India to build dams in contravention to the treaty. India managed to build so many dams illegally since we didn't make noise and failed to take up the case with international bodies in time. Jamaat Ali Shah, deputed to protect Pakistan's water interests remained in a laid-back position thereby allowing India to complete construction of Baghliar dam and now the Kishinganaga dam. He has gone in exile.

Pakistan should immediately take up this grave matter in the UNSC and International Court of Justice and under the UN deputed unbiased Commission carryout on spot inspection of all the spots on Rivers Chenab, Jhelum and Indus where dams have been/are being built and put an end to India's madness.

The writer is a retired Brigadier of the Pakistan Army and a freelance defence analyst/columnist. He commanded the heaviest infantry brigade in Lipa-Pandu-Pir Kanthi sectors in Azaad Kashmir during the Indo-Pak military standoff between 1990-91.

Shahbaz Airbase, America and Pakistan

2012-02-21T20:49:00.000+05:00

Air Commodore (R) Khalid Iqbal

Last week, Air and Army chiefs spent a busy day at PAF Base Shahbaz, located in Jacobabad. The two chiefs flew in a single formation of 02 Block-52 F-16 aircraft. At this occasion, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman declared, “Jacobabad Airbase is under the control of the PAF.”

Americans had vacated this base alongside Pasni in 2004; however the public perception had ever since been to the contrary. This event marked the induction of Block-52 F-16 aircraft in the PAF fleet. American embassy was not represented on the occasion. Probably, the embassy was busy in a damage control exercise in the aftermath of an uncalled for congressional hearing on Baluchistan. Though the state department had prudently distanced itself from the absurd hearing, Ambassador with his viceregal mindset was erratic enough to axe his own feet by at least tacitly endorsing the hearing through his unacceptable remarks about Human rights situation in Baluchistan. Indeed he worked really hard to earn a Demarche’.

Timely delivery of the new F-16s indicate that despite the public facade of rupture in Pak-US relations since the Raymond Davis saga, the military to military interactions have been going on smoothly. Replying to a media query the army chief said Islamabad and Washington are cooperating on defence operations, “Pakistani officials are taken into confidence whenever Afghan bordering areas are to be attacked. Despite strained relations, “the US always takes Pakistan into confidence when it comes to conducting operations against militants on bordering areas of Afghanistan.” General Kayani hinted at improved coordination with the United States to conduct operations at the Afghan border.

This depicts maturity in bilateral relations; while at the same time, it exposes two faces that the national leadership displays about the Pak-US relation, one the public face of rhetoric and second the private countenance of statecraft and cold business as usual approach. Closure of land route while allowing NATO/ISAF logistics through air amply shows the games that national leadership is playing with its own people. This betrayal would have remained unnoticed but thanks to disclosure by Ambassador Munter.

Army chief acknowledged that Pakistan Air Force is contributing significantly in the fight against terror. General Kayani told the media that the induction of the latest version of F-16 aircraft would strengthen the defence of the country.

“These are the most sophisticated aircraft and will certainly strengthen the country’s defence,” he said. While observing that the newly inducted aircraft were a huge asset for the country, he said the army would try not to use them in the tribal areas in anti-terrorists operations; adding that minimum force was being used in the war on terror inside the country to ensure that the collateral damage is kept minimum. Air Chief said that there was nothing installed in the US F-16s that could stop the air force from using these jets against American warplanes; however he wished that such a situation should not arise.

Answering a question he said, “We will try not to use these jets against insurgents in tribal areas; air power had been used at the minimum possible level in the war on terror”. He said the addition of new F-16s have strengthened the defence capability. He assured that the eastern and western borders were safe and the PAF has developed its plan of action to generate effective response to the Indian war strategy based on cold start doctrine.

PAF had acquired earlier version of F-16 (Block-15) planes in the early 80s; these are in the process of mid-life up gradation (MLU) to bring their avionics, radar and night operations capability at par with the Block-52 aircraft. Two of the upgraded planes have recently been received while three more are due this month, remaining 30 planes would be delivered by 2014. This upgrade is taking place in Turkey. In addition to 18 new F-16 Block-52 planes, Pakistan also got 14 used F16s, ‘almost free of cost’. Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman said, “Pakistan is manufacturing its own unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra and we will soon be able to prepare UAVs equipped with missile technology.” About killer drones, he said: “We will work on it”. Pakistan has the capability to bring down drones being operated by the US in the tribal areas, but the policy and decision rests with the parliament, he stated.

The army chief dispelled the impression that a major chunk of the budget was eaten up by the military. He said that only 18 percent of the budget was being spent on the armed forces and reports of more than 50% budgetary expenditure were baseless. He pointed out that due to inflation and depreciation of rupee against the dollar, the defence budget has gone down in terms of purchase power. He further pointed out that the defence budget is presented in the parliament for scrutiny and approval. Talking about the Coalition Support Fund, he said: “Pakistan is yet to receive $1.5 billion from the US.”

The COAS emphasized that army was not involved in any operation in Baluchistan and only FC, which is under the control of Interior Ministry, was conducting routine operations. He stressed on more jobs for the Baluch youth.

General Kayani said the government’s policy was clear and that all matters, including the terms of engagement with the US and NATO alongside the question of restoring NATO supplies would be decided by Parliament.

Army Chief referred to Prime Minister’s statement about Pak-US relationship which had sent a strong message that the political and military leadership were on the same page on the issue of national security. Appearance of the two chiefs, together at Jacobabad, would go a long way in improving the inter-services coordination. Abbottabad and Salalah attacks as well as Mehran base incident are our points of national shame. In all three events, national embarrassment could have mitigated, to a large extent, had there been requisite inter-services coordination to put up timely joint response.

The writer is Consultant Policy and Strategic Response, IPRI Islamabad. He is a former assistant chief of air staff of Pakistan Air Force.

In Pakistan, Apple gets new iPad rival in form of military's 'PACPAD'

2012-02-21T20:42:00.000+05:00

Chris Brummitt | The Associated Press

KAMRA, Pakistan: Inside a high-security air force complex that builds jet fighters and weapons systems, Pakistan's military is working on the latest addition to its sprawling commercial empire: a homegrown version of the iPad.

It's a venture that bundles together Pakistani engineering and Chinese hardware, and shines a light on the military's controversial foothold in the consumer market. Supporters say it will boost the economy as well as a troubled nation's self-esteem.

It all comes together at an air force base in Kamra in northern Pakistan, where avionics engineers — when they're not working on defense projects — assemble the PACPAD 1.

“The original is the iPad, the copy is the PACPAD,” said Mohammad Imran, who stocks the product at his small computer and cell phone shop in a mall in Rawalpindi, a city not far from Kamra and the home of the Pakistani army.

The device runs on Android 2.3, an operating system made by Google and given away for free. At around US$200, it's less than half the price of Apple or Samsung devices and cheaper than other low-end Chinese tablets on the market, with the bonus of a local, one-year guarantee. Last year, an Indian company produced the “Aakash” tablet, priced at US$50, and sold largely to schoolchildren and students.

The PAC in the name stands for the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, where it is made. The PAC also makes an e-reader and small laptop.

Such endeavors are still at the pilot stage and represent just a sliver of the military's business portfolio, which encompasses massive land holdings, flour and sugar mills, hotels, travel agents, even a brand of breakfast cereal.

The military is powerful, its businesses are rarely subject to civilian scrutiny, and it has staged three coups since Pakistan became a state in 1947. Many Pakistanis find its economic activities corrupting and say it should focus on entirely on defense.

“I just can't figure it out,” said Jehan Ara, head of Pakistan's Software Houses Association, said of the PACPAD. “Even if they could sell a billion units, I can't see the point. The air force is supposed to be protecting the air space and borders of the country.”

Boost to National Pride

Supporters say the foray into information technology is a boost to national pride for a country vastly overshadowed by archrival India in the high-tech field. Tech websites in the country have shown curiosity or cautious enthusiasm, but say it's too early to predict how the device will perform.

Skeptics claim it's a vanity project that will never see mass production.

Only a few hundred of each products has been made so far, though a new batch will be completed in the next three months.

“The defense industry is trying to justify its presence by doing more than just produce weapons,” said Ayesha Siddiqa, author of Military Inc., a critical study of military businesses. “Some smart aleck must have thought we can make some money here.”

PAC's website says the goal is “strengthening the national economy through commercialization” and lauds the collaboration with China — something that likely resonates among nationalists.

China is regarded as a firm ally by Pakistan's security establishment, whereas the U.S., despite pouring billions of U.S. dollars in aid into the country, is seen as fickle and increasingly as an enemy.

PAC officials suggested the program that produces the PACPAD was modeled in part on the Chinese military's entry into commercial industry, which lasted two decades until it was ordered to cut back lest it become corrupted and lose sight of its core mission.

The tablet and other devices are made in a low-slung facility, daubed in camouflage paint, near, a factory that produces JF-17 Thunder fighter jets with Chinese help.

“It's about using spare capacity. There are 24 hours in a day, do we waste them or use them to make something?” said Sohail Kalim, PAC's sales director. “The profits go to the welfare of the people here. There are lots of auditors. They don't let us do any hanky-panky here.”

Chinese Participation

PAC builds the PACPAD with a company called Innavtek in a Hong Kong-registered partnership that also builds high-tech parts for the warplanes.
But basic questions go unanswered. Maqsood Arshad, a retired air force officer who is one of the directors, couldn't say how much money had been invested, how many units the venture hoped to sell and what the profit from each sale was likely to be.

Arshad said a second-generation PACPAD would be launched in the next three months, able to connect to the Internet via cell phone networks and other improved features. He said the Kamra facility could produce up to 1,000 devices a day.

During a brief test, The tablet with its 7-inch screen appeared to run well and the screen responsiveness was sharp.

“It seems good, but operation-wise I have to look into it,” said Mohammad Akmal, who had come to the store in Rawalpindi to check the product out.

“Within a month or so, we will know.”

Interview with Adm. Asif Sandila, Pakistan's Chief of Naval Staff

2012-02-21T20:33:00.000+05:00

Usman Ansari | Defense News

ISLAMABAD: Bordering Afghanistan and near the Arabian Sea, Pakistan has become a frontline state in global anti-terrorism endeavors since 2001. Maritime counterterrorism and anti-piracy efforts have increasingly drawn the Pakistan Navy (PN) into international operations such as Coalition Task Force 150 and counterpiracy Coalition Task Force 151.

The Navy, led since October by Adm. Asif Sandila, must maintain its peacetime fleet plus deterrent credibility in the face of archrival India’s military expansion, which includes a modernization and expansion program for the Indian Navy. The Pakistan Navy’s own modernization plans have been complicated by the nation’s poor financial position, which has made Pakistan more reliant on China for new military equipment.

Q. You have only just taken up office. What are the most pressing issues you face at present?

A. We are faced with a phenomenal naval buildup in our immediate neighborhood, which has the potential to disturb the balance of naval power in the region. We need to ensure that this balance is redressed and naval power is not concentrated in any one center in [the Indian Ocean region]. We are taking steps to achieve that, but at the same time we, being located astride a global energy highway, are also required to play a pivotal role in ensuring maritime security and stability of the northwest part of the region. Pakistan is thus torn between redressing an unprecedented naval buildup, as well as ensuring maritime security. To cope with these dual yet tremendously challenging propositions on either flanks of Pakistan at a time when we are passing through difficult financial times is the most pressing issue I face today.

Q. With Pakistan’s troubled economy, how is the Navy continuing to finance its operations and acquisitions? It no longer seems that Pakistan will be looking to acquire surplus warships, like additional Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates.

A. It’s true that our economy is not in a healthy state at the moment, but considering the precarious security environment in our region and its impact on Pakistan, the government has not carried out cuts in any field of defense, including the Navy. I therefore don’t think that our future acquisition programs will suffer due to budgetary constraints. With regards to the Oliver Hazard Perry acquisition, the program is not being financed through our national funding. Rather, it falls under the U.S.-sponsored Foreign Military Financing Program, and it remains on course. As of now, we have visibility of four more Oliver Hazard Perry ships to be supplied to the Navy in 2013 and 2014 in batches of two each.

Q. A strategic threat from India has been cited in plans for the Navy’s expansion, but if this also means a manpower increase, as well as the number of hulls in the water, how will you meet these costs? Would the incremental replacement of existing manpower-intensive systems allow this to happen, or will you have to seek a budget increase?

A. I have alluded to the massive Indian naval buildup, but let me clarify that we can neither afford nor do we plan to match it in terms of numerical strength, be it the number of PN personnel or PN platforms. We have our own employment strategy, and we are developing our strength and hardware to enable successful manifestation of this strategy. It is not exclusively Indo-centric. It is essentially based on achieving certain capabilities that we hope will help us deliver in the hour of need.

Q. One of the most high-profile acquisition programs of your predecessor’s tenure was the next-generation submarine. Can you expand on reports of a Chinese submarine design being selected, and comment on whether the HDW Type-214 may still see service with Pakistan as a replacement for the Agosta-70s?

A. Submarines all along have been our main strength and at the heart of our naval strategy of offensive sea denial. Over the years, the strength of our submarines has dwindled due to aging. Our primary consideration is to acquire modern and potent submarines. All options, including submarines of the West, as well as China, are under deliberation, though no decision has been taken as yet.

Q. Long-standing plans include the expansion of the shipbuilding industry but also to diversify construction locations away from Karachi to places like Gwadar and Ormara. Where do these plans stand?

A. Our long-term plan is to have two major shipbuilding and repair yards at Port Bin Qasim in the east and Gwadar in the west. In addition, we have a strategic plan to develop this rich but hitherto untapped segment of our maritime sector. To realize the same, we have a high-level shipbuilding task force formed under the aegis of [the Ministry of Defence Production].

Q. How do you plan to replace the P-3C Orions destroyed by terrorists last year? And what else can we expect from the Navy’s maritime patrol aircraft procurement efforts? Have you examined any Chinese options, such as the H-6K or Y-8Q? And is any thought being given to replacing your elderly Westland Sea King helicopters yet?

A. Despite the loss of two P-3Cs during the unfortunate attack on [Pakistan Naval Station] Mehran last year, our maritime surveillance capability remains intact and we can well manage our operational requirements. Nevertheless, we have initiated the process for the replacement of the destroyed aircraft from the U.S. and remain hopeful of a positive outcome. You must appreciate that the P-3C is designed for long-range surveillance. Deploying this aircraft continuously for routine surveillance in peacetime is not only uneconomical, it actually amounts to its underutilization. We are thus maintaining smaller and cheaper maritime patrol aircraft — i.e., FK-27S —which fulfills our day-to-day operational needs. Apart from that, we are considering a range of other surveillance aircraft, including Chinese options.

With regard to our Sea King helos, we have signed the Mid Life Upgrade Program, under which a new and modern avionics suite and sensors will be fitted onboard, making them a more potent and capable aerial platform.

Q. The effectiveness of the small number of Exocet-equipped anti-ship strike Mirage-5 aircraft is now surely questionable. What do you intend to replace them with? And is there a case for having these Pakistan Air Force aircraft under naval control?

A. PAF Mirage aircraft equipped with missiles are effective [anti-shipping strike] platforms. The PN and PAF have put in place an efficient mechanism for their optimum deployment, which is why we don’t feel the need to place them under PN control. There are plans to replace the systems which become obsolete or are no longer operationally effective.

Q. Later this decade, you will face an Indian nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed ballistic submarine that threatens the current strategic balance in South Asia. How do you intend to respond?

A. The strategic dimension of India’s naval buildup is a cause of concern not only for us but for the entire Indian Ocean region. I feel nuclearization of the Indian Ocean does not augur well for peace and stability in the region. We are mindful of this development and taking necessary measures to restore the strategic balance.

Q. Your predecessors have spoken about further new-build warships. Can we expect more orders for the F-22P frigate, or perhaps the heavier Type-054A Jiankai-II? What about your Turkish-designed corvette program. Has that been abandoned?

A. Contemporary maritime warfare has increased and diversified the roles of surface ships manifold, thus making them indispensable for any navy. The Pakistan Navy, being incessantly engaged in maritime security, counterterrorism and anti-piracy operations, is still short of surface ships to meet the growing requirements. We feel that despite addition of four F-22P frigates and planned induction of U.S. OHP-class frigates, our force structure in terms of surface ships would still be deficient. We are thus evaluating various options, including corvette-sized ships to meet the shortfall.

Q. There have been long-standing plans to increase security in the coastal/littoral environments. What are your current and future plans for Pakistan Navy Marines and the Maritime Safety Agency?

A. Coastal and port security remains a high-priority area for the Pakistan Navy, and we are making concerted efforts in this direction. PN is actively pursuing the formation of a Joint Maritime Information Organization. In Pakistan, a whole host of agencies working under different ministries are in one way or the other concerned with maritime security. This, at times, leads to information blockage and duplication of efforts, resulting in uncoordinated response to challenges in the maritime arena. We are pursuing this interministerial and interagency body, which will bring more synergy in our efforts and become an assured guarantor of our port and coastal security.

PN Marines have a wide variety of roles to perform, but most importantly, they are entrusted with the defense of the Creeks area [which is part of the disputed Indo-Pakistani maritime border]. For this purpose, we have equipped them with special craft and assault boats to add to their mobility and firepower in support of their operational plans.

MPs: Meddling in Bahrain's internal affairs a blatant violation

2012-02-19T22:05:00.000+05:00

Bahrain News Agency

Manama, Feb. 19 (BNA): Members of the House of Representatives and parliamentarians criticized blatant interference by some countries and political organizations in the Kingdom of Bahrain's internal affairs.

They rejected such interference and disrespect of our national sovereignty and independence which could further aggravates the political situation in the region.

MPs also revealed that such objectionable actions fully contradict with international conventions, disregard the rights, independence and preserving identities of neighborly countries as well as to threaten cooperation and amicable relations between neighborly countries.

MPs issued a statement and delivered a vehemently-worded message to all concerned sides, in order to refrain from such absolutely objectionable stark violations. MPs reiterated that if such sides are keen on consolidating brotherly relations on the basis of mutual respect and constructive cooperation, they must abstain from interference in the internal affairs of any country.

MPs accentuated that the Kingdom of Bahrain and its leadership are never vassals to anyone and demanded the government to stop such sides from distorting the Kingdom of Bahrain's noble reputation and bright image regionally and internationally, and to prevent such violations that threaten safety and stability in the region.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait intensify cooperation on issues of civil defence

2012-02-19T21:31:00.001+05:00

Kuwait News Agency

RIYADH, Feb 18 (KUNA): Saudi Arabia and Kuwait continue to cooperate closely on civil defense issues, said chief of civil defense operations in Kuwait Colonel Muhammad al-Qathfan, in a speech he delivered here today.

Heading a delegation of experts in civil defense, and meeting here with Saudi counterparts, Col. al-Qathfan emphasized in his speech to Saudi and Kuwaiti civil defense personnel keenness of Kuwaiti civil defense officials to learn and apply Saudi tactics in dealing with civil defense issues, including training programs, and utilization of appropriate hardware at times of crisis.

He noted that Kuwaiti officials could also benefit from Saudi expertise in deploying civil defense plans at the Hajj season, or during flash floods, or other natural disasters, where crowd control and safety would be of paramount priority.

Moreover, he pointed out that the Kuwaiti officials sought, by closely replicating some of the Saudi civil defense tactics and strategies, to unify standards of dealing with civil defense emergencies among all GCC countries, as often espoused by their leaders.

Having visited the Saudi civil defense command and control headquarters here in Riyadh, Col. al-Qathfan and the delegation with him toured the facility, acquainting themselves with the hardware and training exercises employed at times of civil emergencies. The delegation's host, director general of Saudi civil defense Lt.General Saad al-Twaijri, expressed in a speech to his Kuwaiti guests total cooperation with Kuwaiti civil defense officials, especially in exchanging expertise in dealing with hazardous situations, where public safety might be jeopardized.