Two Ballistic Missiles launched toward Riyadh

Anti-government forces in Yemen have so far not said anything about the attack, but it is believed to be in retaliation for Saudi Arabia's ongoing military intervention in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia protested strongly and there is concern that there could be a chain of retaliation. Sources including Saudi Arabian state-run television said the two ballistic missiles were launched from Yemen toward Riyadh late Saturday 28th. The Saudi military shot down the missiles, but two people were injured by falling debris.

The United Nations is calling on government and anti-government forces to prepare for a possible Coronavirus outbreak in Yemen, where the medical system is already in a state of collapse due to the civil war. But fighting has not subsided.

Lockheed secures $3.3b deal to deliver PAC-3 to Saudi Arabia

PAC-3 missiles are high-velocity interceptors against incoming threats, including tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircrafts.

Thirteen nations –Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sweden, Romania, Taiwan, UAE and United States– have chosen PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE (Missile Segment Enhancement) to provide missile defense capabilities.

The upgraded PAC-3 MSE expands the lethal battlespace with a dual-pulse solid rocket motor, providing increased performance in altitude and range. PAC-3 MSE is a high-velocity interceptor against incoming threats, including tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircrafts.

The missile uses Hit-to-Kill technology, which engages threats through kinetic energy via body-to-body contact. In words of Jay Pitman, vice president of PAC-3 programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, "PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE give our customers unmatched, combat-proven hit-to-kill technology to address growing and evolving threats. PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE are proven, trusted and reliable interceptors that employ hit-to-kill accuracy, lethality and enhanced safety to address dangers around the world."

(Read more)

India Is Developing Its Own Missile-Defense Shield

A decade later, New Delhi has finally begun setting up a two-layer ballistic missile defense shield that initially will protect New Delhi and Mumbai. The Prithvi Air Defense (PAD) system will provide long-range high-altitude ballistic missile interception during an incoming missile’s midcourse phase, while the Advanced Air Defense system offers short-range, low-altitude defense against missiles in the terminal phase of their trajectory. Reportedly the first batteries have begun installation in two villages in Rajasthan.

At first glance, the Prithvi Air Defense missile seems quite capable, with a range of 1,250 miles and a maximum altitude of 260,000 feet, making it an exospheric interceptor. The missile is programmed prior to launch by the BMD command center on an intercept trajectory, which it maintains using an inertial navigation system. It receives midcourse updates to its trajectory using data from the Swordfish radar, and then in the terminal approach phase switches to its own active radar seeker and destroys the target with a proximity-fused warhead.

For defense at low-altitudes, the solid-fuel Advanced Air Defense system, or Ashwar, uses an endospheric (within the Earth’s atmosphere) interceptor that knocks out ballistic missiles at a maximum altitude of 60,000 to 100,000 feet, and across a range between 90 and 125 miles for local defense. The AAD has performed successfully in most tests against targets at altitudes of 50,000 feet, though an improved model failed a test in April 2015 before succeeding in subsequent attempts. It is claimed the Mach 4.5 missile might also have application against cruise missiles and aircraft.

However, a major limitation of the PAD is that the second phase of the two-stage rocket uses liquid fuel. As liquid rocket fuel corrodes fuel tanks when stored for long, the PAD could not be on standby 24/7. Instead, it would need to be gassed up during a period of crisis in anticipation of trouble. This is less than ideal for a weapon intended to defend against an attack which might come at any moment.

US to supply FGM-148 Javelin to Estonia

Approved by the US State Department, the sale of 350 Javelin guided missiles, along with 120 command launch units with integrated day / thermal sight, 102 battery coolant units, 16 enhanced performance basic skills trainers and 102 missile simulation rounds, for an estimated amount of $55M, is expected to improve Estonia's capability to address existing and future threats, and also provide greater security for its critical infrastructure.

Equipped with an automatic self-guidance system, the FGM-148 Javelin is a portable, shoulder-fired anti-tank guided missile, suitable for operations against existing and future threats from armoured combat vehicles, in all environments. Fired from the shoulder or from a vehicle-mounted lightweight multiple launcher, the missile can also engage helicopters in direct-attack mode in theatre, and is armed with a top attack-dual warhead capability that can defeat all known enemy armour systems.

Pentagon to sell bunker busters, cruise missiles to Gulf monarchies

The Pentagon plans to sell $10.8 billion worth of advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The hardware includes bunker buster bombs and cruise missiles.

The planned deal includes shipping 1,000 GBU-39/B bombs to Saudi Arabia and 5,000 to the UAE, AFP reports. They have air-deployed wings, which allow them to strike targets as far away as 110km. Their warheads can penetrate up to a meter of reinforced concrete.

The planned sale also includes 650 sophisticated Standoff Land Attack Extended Range (SLAM-ER) and 973 Joint Standoff Weapons (JSOW) cruise missiles. The planned deal will be the first time the US delivers the sophisticated gliding bombs and missiles to the region.

Iran's nuclear ambition creating arms race in Middle East?

Watch more:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/2548895993001/irans-nuclear-ambition-creating-arms-race-in-middle-east/

Arabia Saudí apunta sus misiles hacia Iran e Israel

 

 

Arabia Saudí parece haber construído plataformas de apoyo para lanzaderas de misiles balísticos que apuntarían a Iran e Israel, según se desprende de un análisis de ciertas fotos captadas por satélite sobre la base de Al Watah, publicado en las últimas horas. Los analistas del IHS han identificado sendas plataformas de cemento muy similares a las empleadas para la ubicación de lanzaderas móviles de misiles Dong Feng, que podrían estar dirigidas a Tel Aviv y Teheran, respectivamente, a juzgar por la observación de ciertas marcas en el suelo. "Una parece estar alineada en torno a 301 grados y sugiere un blanco potencialmente israelí, mientras que la otra está orientada a 10 grados, ostensiblemente situada para hacer blanco en Iran. Desde luego no podemos estar seguros de que los misiles están apuntando especificamente a Tel Aviv y Teheran, pero si tuvieran que ser lanzados, lo más razonable es pensar que estén dirigidos hacia las capitales."

 

 

Las imagenes publicadas están tomadas por satélite sobre la base de Al Watah, situada a 200 kilometros de la capital. (Para quienes quieran verlo por Google Maps, basta introducir en el campo de búsqueda estas coordenadas: 24.211909,44.701765) En cuanto a los misiles y sus correspondientes ojivas, los expertos creen que podrían almacenarse bajo tierra en el interior de una masa rocosa próxima.

 

En palabras de la analista senior del IHS Allison Puccioni, "La base incluye instalaciones de mando y control así como entradas a bunkers subterraneos que probablemente estén sirviendo para  ocultar misiles y lanzaderas. Cuánto sean de profundos es algo que no podemos precisar, pero podemos afirmar que sus entradas son lo suficientemente anchas y altas como para permitir la entrada de una lanzadera móvil." Como se dijo anteriormente, las plataformas de cemento se parecen a las utilizadas para ubicar lanzaderas móviles de misiles Dong Feng, los cuales no están guiados por control remoto y por tanto tienen que ser apuntados en la dirección de su objetivo.

 

De acuerdo con los expertos, no es descartable que los misiles y sus lanzaderas estén preparados desde hace tiempo al objeto de ser utilizados en cualquier momento. Para Michael Rubin, analista del American Enterprise Institute, "El descubrimiento es una señal de que Arabia Saudí se ha preparado ante la posibilidad de que Iran se convierta en una potencia nuclear, y de que la tregua que desde hace décadas mantiene con Israel es tan sólo eso, y no un tratado de paz. Desde luego, el mayor temor es Iran y los saudíes han mostrado que van en serio." Rubin hace hiscapie en que ni la actual alianza existente con los Estados Unidos ni la tregua con Israel deberían ser tomados como garantía de paz ya que la monarquía saudí es inestable en los momentos actuales: La sucesión al trono se produce entre hermanos, y muchos de ellos son ya octogenarios. "Cada rey podría durar un año o incluso menos. Y entre los 3.000 principes aspirantes al trono los hay que son moderados pro occidentales y otro que detestan a los Estados Unidos. Cualquiera que analice la situación debe reconocer que lo que hoy parece seguro y estable puede convertirse en una seria amenaza." Para Robert Munks, analista del IHS, "Arabia Saudi podría haber comenzado a ampliar su stock de misiles con nuevos IRBM más modernos y precisos". En cualquier caso, los analistas del IHS concluyen que a diferencia de las conocidas bases de Al Sulayyil y Al Jufayr, la base de Al Watah "potencialmente sirve como complejo de almacenamiento y entrenamiento con capacidad para llevar a cabo lanzamientos de misiles llegado el caso"

 

Sidewinder Sustains Its Market Superiority

Saudi Arabia and South Korea recently ordered over 150 AIM-9X Block 2 air-to-air heat seeking missiles. The AIM-9X Block 2 is the latest version of the Sidewinder, a missile that has come a long way since it first appeared in the 1950s. In the last 25 years these short-range heat-seeking missiles have accounted for some 90 percent of losses in air-to-air combat. Sidewinder still dominates the market despite lots of competition from the likes of IRIS-T, ASRAAM, Magic, Python, Molinya and several Chinese clones of foreign designs. (Read more)

The Gulf Union: defense first

 

In 2011, when Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah announced the intention to create the Gulf Union, one facet of the initiative stood out immediately—that of defense. The idea of the Gulf Union is to unify many aspects of the GCC under a new mantle, across a number of fields from economics to social issues to defense. We must not forget that defense is the one aspect of the GCC states that is unbreakable and a necessary component in a changing and evolving regional security environment. (Read more)