Mediterraneo: Maniobras conjuntas Rusia-China

Hace unas horas, las fragatas de misiles chinas Lin-Yi y Wei-Fang, acompañadas por un buque de apoyo, han entrado en la base naval rusa de Novorossiysk (Mar Negro) para participar en las celebraciones del Día de la Victoria, según ha declarado el Ministerio de Defensa de Rusia.

Los barcos se dirigirán posteriormente hacia el Mediterráneo para llevar a cabo ejercicios conjuntos con las fuerzas rusas: "Está previsto que los buques de guerra de la Armada de Liberación del Ejército del Pueblo dejarán Novorossiysk el 12 de mayo para trasladarse a la zona designada del Mar Mediterráneo", ha dicho el Ministerio de Defensa de Rusia en un comunicado.

El ejercicio se llevará a cabo del 11 a 21 mayo, y será el primer ejercicio de este tipo que se lleva a cabo en el Mediterráneo.

Second test of Arrow-3 ABM

The missile defense agencies of Israel and the United States carried out yesterday a second test of the advanced Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile system over the Mediterranean Sea, Israel’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The test fire, held at 8 a.m. at a launch facility in central Israel, was headed by the Administration for the Development of Weapons and the Technological Industry at the Defense Ministry, in collaboration with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. According to a Defense Ministry statement, Arrow 3 is equipped with a revolutionary interceptor system that will enable Israel to effectively counter future security threats.

The Defense Ministry noted that the successful test fire "serves as an important milestone in the State of Israel's operational ability to defend itself against the foreseen threats in the regional theater." The Arrow 3 is an anti-ballistic missile, jointly funded and developed by Israel and the United States. The innovative Arrow 3 Interceptor is designed to intercept and destroy the newest, longer-range threats, especially those carrying weapons of mass destruction.

The missile shield in Central Eastern Europe became a reality

On 28 October, work started at the former airbase at Deveselu in southern Romania on installing elements of the US missile defence system, specifically an Aegis system with SM-3 interceptors.

This means that the missile defence project is being implemented on schedule. From the Russian perspective, the start of work on the missile shield in Central Europe represents a failure of its policy of preventing the deployment of strategic US military facilities within the former Soviet sphere of influence.

However, it is unlikely that Moscow will soften its position and become more flexible with regard to the planned location of anti-missile launchers in Poland. 

The Shield in Central Europe

After a pause in implementing the original plan for the missile defence system during the presidency of George W Bush in 2009, which assumed the construction of a global system capable of capturing and neutralising all categories of ballistic missiles, the Obama administration has put forward a new plan for a shield for the region.

This provides for the suspension (at least until 2020) of the so-called fourth phase of the system, involving the deployment of missiles in Europe which could neutralise intercontinental ballistic missiles, while implementing the so-called third phase, based on installing Aegis anti-missile launchers in Poland and Romania, and on activating a radar station in Turkey (radar stations in the Czech Republic were also a proposed element of the Bush plan).

Negotiations are in progress on constructing a future missile defence system for NATO based on elements of the American shield in Europe, a plan which was approved at the NATO summit in Chicago in 2012.

Romania: ¿An aircraft carrier for the US?

The Deveselu base represents the second stage of the project to create a regional anti-missile shield (the first included the launch of the radar system in Turkey, and the deployment in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea of US Navy ships with Aegis systems).

The anti-missile launchers (3 SM-3 batteries, with a total of 24 missiles) is expected to be operational by the end of 2015. The third stage involves installing the same system in Poland by the end of 2018.

¿Failure of Russian security policy?

Russia has always contested the deployment of elements of a missile defence system within the former Soviet sphere of influence.

It has stated that the anti-missile programme poses a threat to its national security, although to a substantial degree its opposition actually derives from geopolitical causes. Russia made its cooperation with the United States and NATO on the missile defence system conditional on having the right of joint decision over what form the system takes (either by a joint decision-making process, or by imposing technical parameters that limit the system’s activity), as well as international legal guarantees that the system will not undermine Russia’s nuclear potential.

Russia has also put forward its own initiatives, including so-called sectoral missile defence, in which the Russian army would take responsibility for the defence of NATO’s eastern region. So far, Russia’s policy to prevent the deployment of the missile shield in Central Europe has been limited to diplomatic activity and periodic threats to take military measures (mainly by deploying Iskander missiles, which can destroy anti-missile installations, in the Kaliningrad region).  The military projects Russia has initiated over the last few months (such as the activation of the radar station in the Kaliningrad region, the deployment of Russian combat aircraft in Belarus, and the delivery of more S-300 missiles) are part of the accepted trend of modernising its armed forces, and have no direct connection with the American system.

Retaliatory measures by Russia (such as the deployment of Iskanders in the Kaliningrad region, possibly in Belarus, or least likely of all in Transnistria) will be postponed, and will ultimately depend on whether the US anti-missile systems are deployed in Poland. It must be regarded as doubtful that Moscow would treat the installation of the SM-3 rocket system in Romania as a signal to moderate its position (as NATO expects), or to show greater flexibility regarding NATO’s deployment of shield elements in Poland, especially as it regards a US military presence on its borders as one of the main threats to its security. An agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program, as was hoped for after the election of that country’s new president, would undoubtedly serve as an argument against the US deploying its anti-missile units in Poland.

(Read more)

US planning missile strikes for 3 days on Syria

If President Barack Obama orders the strike on Syria that Congress is considering, the U.S. Navy will be at the forefront of an attack that has the unusual objective of degrading Syria’s chemical weapons capabilities without striking at the heart of the program. However, Pentagon planners are now considering to unleash a heavy barrage of missile strikes to be followed swiftly by using Air Force bombers, as well as several US missile destroyers currently patrolling the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to launch cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles from far out of range of Syrian air defenses.

The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group with one cruiser and three destroyers positioned in the Red Sea can also fire cruise missiles at Syria. The weapon of choice is the Tomahawk cruise missile aboard four Navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean. An operation in that range would likely be limited to the cost of launching missiles from U.S. destroyers cruising within range of Syria, according to budget analysts. The Tomahawk missiles aboard the ships, which generally carry dozens of them, cost about $1,1 ... 1,5 million each.  The mission is among the most complex the U.S. military has launched in recent history because Syria will have had weeks to shield its most vulnerable targets from a widely anticipated volley of Tomahawk missiles.

As lawmakers continue to discuss the scope and risks of a strike, military planners are fine-tuning a plan to blast dozens of targets that include air defense infrastructure, long-range missiles, rocket depots and airfields, according to defense officials and military analysts. The six air bases the Syrian government is currently using to carry out the bulk of its military operations and its roughly two dozen stationary radars are likely targets of cruise missile strikes, according to military analysts who have studied Syria’s armed forces. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers last week that the strikes would likely hit Syrian long-range missile and rocket depots because the weapons can be used to protect – and deliver – chemical weapons. The Navy has kept four Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers stationed within firing range of the Syrian coast for several days.

The ships – the USS Ramage, USS Barry, USS Gravely and USS Stout – are loaded with the latest generation of Tomahawk missiles. Tomahawks, which made their debut during the Gulf War in 1991, have been used in several military campaigns, often as the first salvos of protracted engagements. Raytheon, the defense giant that manufactures the missiles, has marketed them as an alternative to drones, which have become the weapon of choice in U.S. stealth counterterrorism attacks. “Unmanned aircraft seem to get all the headlines these days,” the company’s promotional website for Tomahawks says. “But the ship and submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missile – an unmanned aircraft that goes on a one-way trip – is quietly upping its game.”

Unlike earlier versions, today’s Tomahawks, which cost roughly $1,1 ... 1,5 million a piece, can be programmed quickly using GPS technology to strike targets and may be redirected midflight. The missile, which has a 1,000-mile range, can be airborne for up to four hours and deliver a 1,000 pound bomb or a package of 166 “bomblets.” The first would be ideal for a crushing blow to a critical building, while the latter would be effective against a wider area, such as a parking lots with military vehicles or a warehouse that contains weapons.

Syria: Tomahawk missiles lined up

The Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile, fired safely from a warship or submarine far away from the target, seems to be the best option to reduce the risk of “collateral damage”.

All the signs are that Chuck Hagel, US Defence Secretary, has put the Tomahawk at the top of his list of options for Mr. Obama. He has lined up four guided-missile destroyers, armed with Tomahawks, in the Mediterranean, with instructions to the warship commanders to be on the alert for an order from the White House.

Britain will have a Trafalgar class nuclear-powered submarine, also equipped with Tomahawks, to support such an operation. Each of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers has at least 90 Tomahawks on board, giving a total of almost 400 missiles ready to launch if Mr Obama decided to go down the military route but restrict the mission to a single aim - to prevent or deter President Assad from using chemical weapons again.

The Tomahawk is guided by GPS to provide navigation precision, but the warhead contains only 454 kg of high explosives, a payload designed to damage, not destroy, its target. A full-scale air campaign, as in Kosovo, would necessitate taking out Syria's air defences - a challenge that General Dempsey appears keen to avoid. So the Tomahawk option rises to the fore. Targets could include chemical weapons storage and production sites, although there would be a risk of chemicals entering the atmosphere.

Obama set to launch missile strikes on Syria 'in days'

• United States is set to launch missile strikes against the Syrian regime in retaliation for its barbaric chemical attack on civilians.
• It is believed that a "one-off barrage of strikes" using cruise missiles launched from warships in the Mediterranean is the leading option under consideration.
• United Kingdom would be pressing to launch the missile strike in the next few days.
• The cruise missile blitz is likely to be short and sharp and will not signal an intention to get involved in the bloody civil war in Syria.
• The intervention is likely to involve missile strikes rather than an airborne bombing campaign, in order to avoid the dangers posed by the sophisticated air defenses supplied to Syria by Russia. The U.S. Navy had sent a fourth warship armed with ballistic missiles into the eastern Mediterranean Sea but without immediate orders for any missile launch into Syria.
• It is not revealed if Moscow has delivered advanced S-300 missile systems to the Syrian regime, a development which would vastly improve its defence capabilities and make any attempt to seize control Syrian air space considerably more difficult.

Syria: US prepares for potential missile strike

An additional warship (equipped with ballistic missiles) was dispatched to the region late Friday, joining the three other Sixth Fleet's ships currently there to prepare a possible long-range missile strike against the Syrian government.

All four ships are capable of launching cruise subsonic missiles BGM-109 Tomahawk to reach land targets. Commanders of the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean ordered warships to move closer to Israel, so they would be in better striking range to hit forces in Syria. The maximum range for Tomahawk Cruise Missiles is about 1,500 Km, enough to reach Syrian government targets.

Possible targets include command bunkers and missile sites that could be used to launch chemical-tipped missiles. On Saturday, humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders said approximately 3,600 patients were treated with "neurotoxic symptoms" at three hospitals outside Damascus early Wednesday, following a series of missile strikes. 

Israel under fire: 4 Katyusha launched fron Lebanon

Four Katyusha missiles were launched today on northeastern Israel around 16:30.

Two of the missiles landed in the Galilee, one was intercepted by the Iron Dome system, and the fourth rocket overshot its target and landed in the Mediterranean Sea.

Residents in the coastal city of Nahariya and in the Western Galilee ran for shelters as sirens blared, warning of the incoming rockets. Bomb shelters in Acre, immediately south of Nahariya, were opened. The Hezbollah-run Al Manar network in Lebanon said that the rockets were launched by Hezbollah terrorists from Tyre.

The army said it was looking into the incident and called on northern residents to remain close to bomb shelters, though they could otherwise go back to their normal routines. Israel last week deployed a sixth Iron Dome battery north of Tel Aviv, with an eye to the missile threat from the north. The anti-missile Iron Dome system is a keystone of Israel’s air defense array and successfully intercepted hundreds of short- and medium-range missiles shot at Israeli cities during the conflagration in Gaza in November.

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Russia activates new early warning radar systems

The Voronezh-DM early warning radar in Kaliningrad is set to be put on combat duty in late 2014.
The station itself monitors North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea as far as the Atlantic Ocean, which includes the areas patrolled by American, Ohio-class submarines with strategic missiles.
It covers a radius of 3,728 miles over the Earth’s surface and 4,970 miles into space.

Russia has similar stations in Armavir (to be put on combat duty in June of this year), Lehtusi near St. Petersburg (already operational) and in Siberia, near Irkutsk (the first radar is operational, while the second is still under construction). There are also early warning radar systems in the Kola Peninsula (Dnestr-M and Daryal radars), the Komi Republic (Daryal radar), Belarus (Volga radar) and Kazakhstan (Dnepr and Dnestr radars). (Read more)