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Showing posts with label Weaponry / Armament. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weaponry / Armament. Show all posts
Israeli and foreign fighter jets fly in formation through cloudy skies over the Negev desert during the ‘Blue Flag’ exercise at Ovda Airfield near Eilat on October 27, 2015. (Israeli Air Force)
Air forces from around the world have gathered deep in the Arava desert in the south of Israel for the past week and a half to take part in the largest aerial exercise in the history of the Israeli Air Force.
The “Blue Flag” exercise, which is continuing through November 3, pits the Israeli Air Force, the United States Air Force, Greece’s Hellenic Air Force and the Polish Air Force against a fictional enemy state, the captain in charge of all IAF exercises told The Times of Israel Thursday night.
A number of other countries, including Germany, also sent pilots and officers to observe the exercise, but did not take part.
This joint drill is the second “Blue Flag” exercise; the first took place in 2013 and was the largest multi-lateral exercise the IAF had ever hosted.
The various air forces collaborated closely through every step of the current exercise, the IAF captain said, from planning to execution and finally to debriefing.
Though the exercise began on October 18, planning for it started nearly eight months ago, the Israeli official said, with an IAF representative contacting each participating country and initially asking, “What do you want to train for?”
Those requests came together to form the plan for “Blue Flag,” which sent Israeli and American F-15 squadrons, along with Israeli, Hellenic and Polish F-16 squadrons, flying through nearly all of Israel’s air space, firing simulated weapons against fictional enemy missile launchers, convoys and aircraft, he said.
Israel hosts largest-ever intl air force drill, pitting troops against fictional enemy
Israel is hosting its largest-ever international air force exercise. The two-week 'Blue Flag' drill features Israeli, American, Greek and Polish troops in a battle against a fictional enemy state.
The Blue Flag drill consists of Israeli and American F-15 squadrons, as well as Israeli, Hellenic, and Polish F-16 squadrons flying through Israeli airspace while firing simulated weapons against fictional enemy missile launchers, convoys, and aircraft, the Israeli Air Force captain in charge of the exercise told the Times of Israel.
However, the captain said the exercise is designed to test the capabilities of the troops involved, rather than the military equipment itself.
“We wanted it to be challenging for the airmen, rather than for the machines,” said the IAF captain, who could not be named due to security reasons.
However,
the Egyptian government has rubbished that the plane was shot down by
missile. The Russian concluded that the Russian Airbus A321 that crashed
in the Sinai broke up in mid-air at 36,000-feet. The
plane had been heading from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to the
Russian city of St Petersburg before the crash.
Saudi air raids kill dozens of Yemeni civilians amid humanitarian crisis
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The
latest Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen have left dozens of civilians dead
and nearly 160 injured at a time that sees medical facilities
struggling to provide even the most basic services. The country is
suffering from a shortage of vital supplies due to the ongoing blockade.
The
coalition air raids against Houthi forces in Sanaa overnight on Friday
killed at least 40 civilians and injured at least another 130 people,
Yemen News Agency (SABA) reported.
One
strike leveled an apartment building in the center of the city killing a
family of nine, while another strike killed a man who had been
searching for his family in the rubble, AP reported. The coalition has
even managed to attack Yemen’s interior ministry in the capital,
launching about 10 strikes at the building as well as at a police camp
and a military building close to it.
The airstrikes also hit the residence of Oman’s ambassador in Sanaa.
The
particular cluster munition systems HRW said were used are CBU-105
Sensor Fuzed Weapons, which are guided bombs intended to take out tanks
and other armored vehicles with a flurry of explosions spread out over
an area.
If the cluster bombs fail to
detect their target, they are designed to self-destruct in the air, or
if that fails, to deactivate themselves after a short time. But
sometimes those mechanisms don't work, posing a lethal danger for those
who later encounter them.
UN condemns ‘virtual silence’ on civilian casualties in Yemeni conflict
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UN
officials have openly criticized the “the virtual silence” with regards
to civilian suffering in the Yemeni conflict from the world community,
warning that unless violence on the ground is stopped via political
compromise more people will suffer.
Adama
Dieng, the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Jennifer
Welsh, the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, “expressed
concern at the ever increasing impact on civilians of the ongoing
conflict in Yemen, and the virtual silence of the international
community about the threat to populations.”
The supervisor of a suspect in the dry ice bombs is charged with possession of a destructive device.
An unexploded dry ice bomb
was found near the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Police have made a
second arrest.
(Associated Press / October 15, 2013)
By Richard Winton
October 18, 2013, 9:07 p.m.
A second ground service employee was arrested Friday in connection with dry ice bombs at Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles police said.
Miguel Angel Iniguez, 41,
a ground services supervisor, was arrested while working at LAX. The
Inglewood resident was being held Friday on $500,000 bail on suspicion
of possessing a destructive device linked to the dry ice bombing
incidents, said Cmdr. Andrew Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Police offered no motive for Iniguez's suspected involvement.
Iniguez works for Servisair
and was the supervisor of Dicarlo Bennett, 28, who was arrested earlier
this week and charged in connection with two dry ice bombs that exploded
in an employees bathroom in Terminal 2 and in a tarmac area at the Tom
Bradley International Terminal.
Bennett has pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Ben Wasserman, said
Bennett had removed the dry ice from a cargo bay to protect a dog that
was being transported in the area from potentially lethal fumes.
By TAMI ABDOLLAH and JUSTIN PRITCHARD Associated Press
A baggage handler arrested after dry ice bombs exploded at Los Angeles
International Airport planted the devices as a prank, police said
Wednesday.
The motive was disclosed a day after the arrest of Dicarlo Bennett, a
28-year-old employee for the ground handling company Servisair.
"I think we can safely say he is not a terrorist or an organized crime
boss. He did this for his own amusement," said Los Angeles police Deputy
Chief Michael Downing, who heads the department's counter-terrorism and
special operations bureau.
No one was hurt on Sunday when two plastic bottles packed with dry ice
exploded in an employee bathroom and on the airport's tarmac. An
unexploded device was found Monday night.
As a result of the incident, airport officials plan to meet with law
enforcement authorities to examine potential security enhancements at
one of the nation's busiest airports.
The meeting also will explore the handling and transport of dry ice and
other hazardous materials and possible improvements to those procedures.
Arif Alikhan, deputy executive director for Homeland Security and Law
Enforcement at Los Angeles World Airports, said such meetings are
routine after problems.
"We'll look at all layers of security existing at the airport, including
technology, physical infrastructure, the partnership of tenants,
awareness of employees to potential hazardous items like dry ice,"
Alikhan said.
Workers at the airport must pass a criminal background check before they
can get a security badge for access to restricted areas, LAX
spokeswoman Nancy Castles said.
On Tuesday, police arrested Bennett, who was booked for possession of a
destructive device near an aircraft and held on $1 million bail.
Despite
protests elsewhere, many locals in the township of Soweto have been
looking forward to the arrival of Barack Obama, who was due to visit the
nearby University of Johannesburg on Saturday to meet with South
African students and entrepreneurs.
The
noise is deafening, the smell of burnt food overpowering. It is 10 am
on Saturday, June 29, and already Bara, Soweto township’s largest
market, is in full swing.
Just a few hundred metres away lies the Soweto campus of the University of Johannesburg, where US President Barack Obama is expected to make an appearance later in the day as part of his first ever visit to South Africa.
The voice of James Blunt rings out from an old CD player sitting on the pavement and resonates around the market stalls.
"An American singer for the arrival of an American," says the CD player’s owner, Edward, though Blunt is actually British.
"I
know that the US president comes to us today, I'm happy," he says as he
sits cross-legged in front of a pile of clothes which he sells for 20
rand (1.50 euros) apiece. ‘He is an African’
Edward is just one of many locals looking forward to Obama’s arrival and the economic rewards it could bring for the region.
"If
you see him, tell him to come here with even more business," says
Stanley, a 78-year-old South African wearing a black cap to shield
himself from the sun as the day begins to warm up.
Standing next to him, his friend Eva is also looking forward to the President’s visit.
"We need jobs, and that’s something he can provide," she says with a laugh.
There is also a sense of pride among some South Africans at welcoming the first ever black US president to their country.
"He
is an African" says Petruce enthusiastically, speaking in Zulu while
handing out flyers for his stall where he sells DVDs at 10 rand (75
cents) each.
"I think he treats people well, he is a man of peace
like Mandela. Economics is fine, but respect for human beings is
better," he adds. Mandela has spent the past three weeks in a Pretoria hospital
where his health is said to be in a critical condition. But for both
Petruce and Eva, there is no sense that the timing of Obama’s visit is
in any way disrespectful.
"Life must go on," says Eva, "I do not
think Mandela would have wanted us not to give him a warm welcome, he
wouldn’t have liked that.”
Barack
Obama, then a rising Democrat senator, meets Desmond Tutu during a
visit to South Africa in 2006. Photograph: Obed Zilwa/AP
Symbolism will hang heavy this weekend when Barack Obama visits Soweto, the cradle of South Africa's black liberation struggle, and Robben Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela, who remained in critical condition in hospital last night, languished for years, plotting his nation's rebirth.
Obama
should not expect red-carpet treatment from all South Africans, despite
the historic affinity between the civil rights and anti-apartheid
movements. Workers, students and Muslim groups are among those
determined to give Obama a bumpy landing when he descends on Africa's biggest economy.
"NObama"
is the cry from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and
the South African Communist party, which have called for "all workers"
to join mass protests including a march on the US embassy in Pretoria on Friday.
Academics and students have vowed to boycott the University of Johannesburg's award of an honorary law doctorate to Obama. The Muslim Lawyers' Association has called for the president to be arrested as a war criminal.
While these may appear fringe group stunts that US presidents face all over the world, South Africa
is an unusual case. Cosatu and the Communist party form a "tripartite
alliance" with the governing African National Congress (ANC) and expect
to be heard. Cosatu in particular, with 2.2 million members, is central
to the ANC's election machinery and well rehearsed in mobilising
demonstrations that have been known to turn violent. The secretary general of the Communist party, Blade Nzimande, doubles as the country's higher education minister and the ANC has plenty of self-professed communists and Marxists with a flair for anti-western rhetoric.
Obama
is a target for those who prefer to blame South Africa's malaise of
inequality and joblessness on global capitalism rather than the ruling
ANC.
Bongani Masuku, Cosatu's international relations secretary,
said: "Obama is perpetuating American foreign policy. The US is an
empire run on behalf of multinational companies and the ruling class of
America. US foreign policy is militarising international relations to sponsor and make their own weapons."
Many
in Africa had impossibly high hopes for Obama, the son of a Kenyan. But
Masuku added: "I'm not disappointed because I didn't expect anything.
It's not about the individual; it's not about the race he came from.
It's about the class he represents. It's like he's the gatekeeper for
white monopoly capital. He promised things we knew he wouldn't be able
to do."
Guantánamo
That view is not confined to militant union organisers but extends to some members of the revered struggle generation. Denis Goldberg, who
stood trial with Mandela in 1963-64 and was sentenced to life in prison
by the apartheid regime, said: "I don't like the idea of Guantánamo
Bay; I think this is reprehensible.
"The unending assumption of
depending on Chinese credits to finance your wars elsewhere – I think
it's outrageous what's going on. I don't have final answers but we need
to ask questions of the big powers – all of them."
Such is
Cosatu's influence on the ANC that its attacks on the US – from
Palestine and Guantánamo Bay to the "ruthless and savage looting of our
natural resources" – have sparked warnings of a diplomatic rift.
Ian Davidson, shadow international relations minister for the opposition Democratic Alliance, said:
"This is President Obama's first state visit to South Africa and is a
significant event for the country to further our relations with the United States. It should not be blighted by Cosatu's cheap political-point scoring. This move by Cosatu is an embarrassment to South Africa."
On
the surface, US-South African relations are cordial and have improved
since the presidencies of George Bush and Thabo Mbeki, though
Washington's intervention in Libya alienated many here. But while many
young South Africans were caught up in "Obama-mania" five years ago, those with longer memories bitterly recall Ronald Reagan's failure to oppose apartheid. Tom Wheeler,
a former South African diplomat who began work in Washington just
before the Kennedy assassination 50 years ago, said: "There's a gut
anti-Americanism and anti-westernism that lurks in some of the
communities. It may be a hangover from the days when a lot of ANC people
travelled to the Soviet Union, and America was regarded as the great
colonialist."
A demonstration is planned for the University of
Johannesburg's Soweto campus on Saturday, where the president will meet
young African leaders in a "town hall" event.
With first lady
Michelle and their daughters, he will then travel to Cape Town to visit
Robben Island and meet retired archbishop Desmond Tutu, never shy of speaking his mind on western warmongering.
Mandela
Perhaps the only living South African more famous than Tutu is Mandela. Obama has met him once, in a Washington hotel in 2005.
The prospect of the first black US and South African presidents coming
face to face is a spin doctor's dream, but could backfire if the ailing
Mandela is seen to be exploited.
Goldberg, 80, said: "I think it
would be such an intrusion on an old man who's ill. We exploit Nelson
Mandela and I object to that. We need to respect this great man's
privacy because people go to see Nelson Mandela not to support Nelson but to gain support for themselves, and this is exploitation."
Speaking from Washington, Ben Rhodes, the White House deputy national security adviser
for strategic communications, said: "While we're in South Africa, we
are going to be very deferential to the Mandela family in terms of any
interaction that the president may have with the Mandela family or with
Nelson Mandela.
"Ultimately, we want whatever is in the best
interest of his health and the peace of mind of the Mandela family. And
so we'll be driven by their own determinations in that regard.
Anti-Obama protests dispersed by South Africa police
Anti-American demonstrators march through the streets while
protesting against the official visit of U.S. President Barack Obama
June 28, 2013 in Pretoria, South Africa. Organized by the Congress of
South African Trade Unions, about 800 people marched through Pretoria to
voice their opposition to Obama and U.S. policy in South Africa and
around the world. / Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Anti-American demonstrators march through the streets while
protesting against the official visit of President Barack Obama June 28,
2013 in Pretoria, South Africa. / Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
JOHANNESBURG — Police fired rubber bullets and a
stun grenade into a crowd of hundreds of protesters waiting for
President Obama to arrive at the University of Johannesburg on Saturday.
The crowd quickly scattered as police officers walked up the street pushing protesters away with shot guns.
“I
feel my rights are being infringed,” said 24-year-old Bilaal Qibr, who
was at the protest. “We can’t protest anymore. Personally, I feel like
this is an extension of the U.S.”
Protests have been planned at
the university over Obama’s visit and the news that he is expected to
receive an honorary doctorate when he speaks later Saturday.
“They
don’t believe Obama deserves that award. The U.S. position and its
relationship with Israel has created a problem,” said Levy Masete,
president of the Student Representative Council. “The students say,
‘Stop the oppression in Palestine,’ and you want to honor this man who
is making this oppression possible.”
“He’s here for our African
resources,” said Nomagugu Hloma, 19, a student at what she called the
“sell out” university. “Hands off our gold, oil, diamonds and land,” she
said.
South Africa’s biggest trade union, the Congress of South
African Trade Unions (COSATU) also said they would be protesting, while
the Muslim Lawyers Association called for the president’s arrest for war
crimes.
“I’m disappointed with President Obama,” said Putase
Tseki, the COSATU chairman of Gauteng province in Johannesburg. “He
promised he would (change) his foreign policy, he was going to resolve
Palestine and close Guantanamo. I would say I was positive four years
ago, but now I don’t know.”
The “feeling of being let down” helped
stem the protests, says William Beinart, an African studies professor
at Britain’s University of Oxford.
Anti-American demonstrators dance and sing before marching through
the streets to protest against the official visit of U.S. President
Barack Obama June 28, 2013 in Pretoria, South Africa. Organized by the
Congress of South African Trade Unions, about 800 people marched through
Pretoria to voice their opposition to Obama and U.S. policy in South
Africa and around the world. / Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
