Russia Building Up Air Defense Shield All Over Syria?

November 29, 2015 By administrator

Russia is actually building an all-over air defense zone in Syria, according to Russian Zvezda TV channel. The Hmeymim air base, Russian jets and also pilots will be protected by the most advanced Russian weapons.

After a Turkish jet shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber over Syria, the Russian Defense Minister reported to President Vladimir Putin that the air defense system around the base needed to be enhanced.

The president said approved the move and 24 hours later an S-400 missile defense system was deployed to the Hmeymim base.

The S-400, an upgrade of the S-300 Growler family, is a new-generation anti-aircraft defense system operated solely by the Russian military. It knows no equals in the world, including the US-made Patriot system.

The S-400 ensures air defense using long- and medium-range missiles that can hit aerial targets at ranges of up to 400 kilometers. It is also can hit ground and sea targets.

The system is not only versatile but also very mobile. It has a mobile deployment time of 15 minutes, and a stand-by deployment time of only 15 seconds.

Meanwhile, the Russian Air Force task unit continues to carry out airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIL) positions in Syria. Russian jets are conducting up to 80 sorties a day.

Russia plans to build up its anti-ISIL offensive in Syria. New Su-27 and Su-30 jets are expected to be deployed to the Hmeymim base in the near future. Russian pilots will also be equipped with advanced electronic warfare devices.

Armenia, Serbia to expand defense cooperation

November 19, 2015 By administrator

At its session today the Armenian government approved the signing of an agreement between Armenia and Serbia on defense cooperation. According to Deputy Defense Minister of Armenia Ara Nazaryan, the purpose of the agreement is to determine the main principles and agenda of cooperation.

The sides will cooperate based on the principles of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit in the defense and security policy, military economic and military legal spheres, and peacekeeping missions.

Ambassador: Japan is ready for defense cooperation with Armenia

October 6, 2015 By administrator

YEREVAN. – The Japanese side stands ready to collaborate with Armenia in the defense sector.

Japanese Ambassador Eiji Taguchi stated the aforementioned at his talk with Seyran Ohanyan, the Minister of Defense of Armenia.

Ohanyan on Tuesday received Ambassador Taguchi as well as Japan’s Military Attaché, Colonel Kazuya Ono—whose diplomatic residence is in Moscow—, on his accreditation to Armenia.

Seyran Ohanyan congratulated Colonel Ono on his accreditation. The minister also wished him productive work, and expressed the hope that new prospects will be opened for the development of Armenian-Japanese defense cooperation.

Eiji Taguchi, in turn, noted that Japan is ready to collaborate, and expressed the hope that respective progress will be achieved in the near future.

The interlocutors also conferred on regional security issues.

Source: news.am

While Turkey successful pre-occupying the west with ISIS, Iran, Russia: Erdogan turning Turkey into major defense industry power

May 27, 2015 By administrator

ANKARA | By Jonny Hogg and Can Sezer

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during an opening ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey, May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

For years Turkey has boasted NATO’s largest army, bar only the United States, and now President Tayyip Erdogan wants a defense industry to match.

Erdogan’s dream that Turkey will make all its own military equipment within a few years reflects his ambition to play a greater role in a turbulent region and achieve independence from long-time allies in the West. report Reuters

Trying to drum up nationalist support as the ruling AK Party heads into tough parliamentary elections next month, Erdogan has also called repeatedly for the country to become a major exporter of everything from rifles to fighter jets.

This chimes with his declared aim of returning Turkey to the glories of the Ottoman empire – Erdogan has already built a 1,000-room presidential palace, drawing accusations from opponents that he is behaving like a modern-day sultan.

“As long as there are assailants in the world, we will always be required to be ready for defense,” he told a defense industry conference in Istanbul this month.

Erdogan’s sights are set on the centenary of the modern Turkish republic’s foundation. “Our goal is to completely rid our defense industry of foreign dependency by 2023,” he said.

Ankara spends around $18 billion a year on defense with just over half of its equipment made domestically. Defense exports rose 18 percent last year to $1.65 billion, and a tank and infantry rifle are nearly ready for mass production.

Warship and fighter jet projects are in the early design phase but Erdogan hopes they will go into production by 2023, when he wants defense exports to total $25 billion.

“Turkey’s rulers firmly believe that Turkey cannot be the regional power they wish it to become without a really deterrent military force,” said Burak Bekdil, a defense analyst and columnist with the Hurriyet newspaper.

“PAINFUL EXPERIENCE”

Ankara had to ask NATO to deploy Patriot missiles in 2014 to bolster security along its frontier with Syria. This kind of dependency has long grated on Turks.

Last month Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu remarked on Turkey’s “painful experience” in World War One when it was forced to buy arms from abroad.

“A nation without its own defense industry cannot fight the cause of liberation,” he said at the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli, adding that by 2023 a locally-made combat plane will “fly the Turkish skies”.

Turkey’s desire for self-reliance is understandable as it shares a 1,200 km (750-mile) border with Syria and Iraq, where Islamic State has carved out a self-declared caliphate.

A U.S. arms embargo imposed after Turkish forces invaded northern Cyprus in 1974 left Ankara under-equipped and served as a wake-up call, according to Atilla Sandikli, a retired naval officer and head of the Bilgesam security think-tank.

The embargo was lifted a few years later. Small projects to develop everything from radios to aircraft tyres were followed by production under license of F-16 jets in the 1980s, coupled with joint modernization projects with Egypt and others.

FROM TANKS TO SATELLITES

Now Turkey is home to two of the world’s 100 largest defense companies, Aselsan and TUSAS. But if the sector wants to compete with Western defense giants, it must diversify its exports away from Europe – where defense budgets are being cut – to Asia, the Middle East and Africa, where expenditure is rising.

“We’re making products better than most in the West. We’re cheaper … We’re ready to share technology. The Turkish defense industry can be a valid alternative to the West,” Faik Eken, General Director of Aselsan, Turkey’s biggest defense firm, told Reuters.

The transfer of technology has been the latest sticking point between Turkey and its NATO allies. Ankara chose China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp in 2013 as the preferred bidder for a $3.4 billion long-range missile system, saying that acquisition of new technology was a priority.

This has raised concerns about security in the West, as the Chinese firm has been previously hit by U.S. sanctions over alleged violations of the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act.

Turkey’s Western allies are also worried about the compatibility of the Chinese technology with NATO systems.

While still young, the Turkish defense industry is gaining the ability to tackle big projects, said Muharrem Dortkasli, the chief executive of TUSAS. Now it wants a place alongside its biggest NATO allies, the United States, France and Britain, as well as Russia and China.

“We are talking about a country that will have its own national tank, national ship, national helicopter, satellite and war plane,” he said. “We are aiming to have everything the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have.”

(Additional reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara, and Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul; Editing by David Dolan and David Stamp)

Azerbaijani military experts expose Defense Ministry’s fraud about allegedly ‘‘attacking helicopter’’

November 15, 2014 By administrator

Military commentator Rashad Suleymanov published a status on his Facebook page in which he expressed dissatisfaction with the demonstration of video footage that proves that the NKR Air Force helicopter was shot down in the Armenian territory and it did not even try to attack the Azerbaijani positions; this contradicts the version of the events presented by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

“If tomorrow war starts, there will be no need to send journalists to the front line. There’s our military armed with Ipad-s and phones,” outrages the military commentator and notes that the grandparents too sitting by the road with their iPhones in their hands will work as journalists.

In another status a Suleymanov outrages with the inaction of the official structures of Azerbaijan in connection with the distribution of the footage. “I bring to the attention of Alaftun [Amashev] that the video footage of the downed helicopter published by our media contradicts with the official information of the Defense Ministry. I say this as a person familiar with military affairs and the line of contact,” Suleymanov writes.

He also notes that Azerbaijan cannot carry out war with a press, where work deserters who “escape” from the army and do not understand anything in military life.

It is noteworthy that one of the participants of the discussion – a user named Ruslan Rahimov draws attention to the fact that the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan itself extended the screenshots of this very video. Another participant of the discussion – military expert Uzeir Jafarov confesses that he is the author of this video, and notes that the Defense Ministry would spread a video footage with better quality, if it was available.

“Rashad, I understand your concern, but no need to worry. Perhaps you are concerned with the fact that the military servicemen tell the commander “hit” and that the second helicopter moves off. PERMISSION was granted officially. The soldiers were simply a bit in a hurry. Ilkin just clicked on the “button”, Jafarov says.

Another panellist – user named Hagani Safaroglu notes that the official statement of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry about the attacking helicopter and the video footage published in the Azerbaijani media apparently contradict each other. “What this amateurishness means? Defense Ministry is obliged to give an explanation,” the user writes.

After this discussion, Aflatun Amashov, the chairman of the Press Council of Azerbaijan, issued a statement condemning the media for dissemination of the video. “No journalist could have taken the moment when the helicopter was shot down. In this case, question arises – how could the media get this footage. I think that this should be seriously investigated,” Amashev stated.

As NKR Defense Ministry press service reported earlier, on November 12, at around 1:45 pm, Nagorno Karabakh Air Forces’ Mi-24 helicopter was shot by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces during military training flight in the airspace in the eastern section of Karabakh – Azerbaijan Line of Contact. The land, on which the incident occurred, is in close proximity to the line of contact. Opponent after the incident continued intense bombardment scene from weapons of different caliber. The place where the helicopter was shot is close to the Line of Contact. The enemy continued to fire shots from weapons of different calibers after the incident.

Meanwhile, the press secretary of Armenian Defense Minister Artsrun Hovhannisyan wrote on his Facebook page that Azerbaijani Armed Forces have carried out an unprecedented provocation on the border with the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh; this has also led to escalation of the situation. In the same time the fabrications of the Azerbaijani side, as if the Armenian helicopters had attacked their positions and they allegedly had merely responded to this step, are senseless. “The study of the wreckage of the helicopter will confirm that he was not armed. The escalation of the Azerbaijani side has continued even after the helicopter fall down. Moreover, the Azerbaijani side continued shelling, not allowing even to get closer to the pilots. The consequences of this unprecedented escalation will be very harmful for the Azerbaijani side and will remain as a stain on the conscience of the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan. Captain of the helicopter was Major Sergei Sahakyan. Information about the fate of the crew will be given later,” Artsrun Hovhannisyan stated.

Inauguration of Armenian-Polish joint venture defense in Armenia

October 17, 2014 By administrator

Marking a new impetus to the Armenian-Polish military cooperation, the Armenian Defense Ministry and Polish defense company inaugurated Thursday a joint venture in Armenia for manufacturing protective equipment for the armed forces.

The company Lubawa Armenia was officially launched in Charentsavan, a small town 40 kilometers north of Yerevan, attended by Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanian, the former Polish counterpart Bogdan Klich and industry executives from Senior Defence of the two states.

The company will use the technology and expertise of the group Lubawa SA in Poland to produce a range of protective equipment such as helmets, flak jackets, inflatable tents, camouflage nets and lures. Ohanian noted that these elements will be provided to the armed forces not only Armenia, but also other nations, possibly including members of the Eurasian Economic Union led by Russia.

Lubawa Armenia was established in March 2013 and began operating shortly after the premises of a factory in the defense of Charentsavan mainly belonging to the Armenian Defense Ministry. According Razm.info, a press service of Yerevan-based defense, the ministry signed a contract last December to $ 1 million to provide the Armenian army camouflage netting. The Armenian government approved in July this contribution of $ 1 million to Polish society of Armenian descent, who took the form of immovable property situated next to the Charentsavan factory. Ohanian was clear at the time that Lubawa, which holds 51% stake in the company, will make $ 10 million capital investment.

In a speech at the opening quoted by his press service ceremony, Ohanian spoke of “a new page in the history of Armenian-Polish cooperation in the defense industry.” He discussed this cooperation at a meeting with Bogdan Klich Tuesday. He had been defense minister of Poland from 2007 to 2011 and is now a Polish senator.

The official launch of the facility Charentsavan, while significant, does not seem to be the most tangible consequence of military ties with NATO Armenia which Poland is a member. According to Russian news sources, another Polish company had last year begun to modernize 84 Armenian tanks for a contract of $ 100 million in 2013 signed with Yerevan The Armenian Defense Ministry did not deny this information.

Tanks T-72 Russian-made tanks of the Armenian army would have a stronger and more dynamic armor and equipped with more powerful engines, new guns, surveillance cameras and communication systems at the forefront of the technology. Some defense analysts believe that these improvements will make them similar to the more advanced T-90 tanks currently manufactured by Russia.

Russia, which is allied to Armenia, has continue to perform early next year delivery of 100 T-90 tanks to Azerbaijan as part of defense contracts signed in large-scale 2010 Armed tightly integrated Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are not supposed to have these tanks in their arsenal.

Armenian The defense minister promises more effective weapon

September 15, 2014 By administrator

The Armenian army will be equipped with missile longer range and more accurate, said Friday the Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanian.

“Every year, the armed forces of Armenia receive modern weapons and military equipment,” Has he told students and teachers at a university in Yerevan. “Not only tanks, artillery and anti-aircraft systems. In recent years we have also signed agreements to implement a rearmament process faster, with greater range and accuracy “of the systems.

“These are not just words. We will have long range systems very soon, “said Ohanian in his speech.

Asked by the Armenian service of RFE / RL (Azatutyun.am) after this speech, Ohanian gave no further details: “Day after day, we expand military-technical cooperation, especially with our Russian strategic partner and new agreements are signed to constantly update ourselves and increase our modern weapons. “

Serge Sargsyan said in the same way last December that Armenia will purchase more powerful weapons in the years to come. “One or two more years, and you’ll be able to proudly say that the Armenian army has weapons that other states of 20, 30 or 40 times our size do not have,” said he said soldiers from a military base in the province of Tavush north.

Bloodshed in Iraq, Syria, Libya, while Turkish defense exports surge amid regional conflicts

August 30, 2014 By administrator

Turkey’s defense exports enjoyed 76 percent year-on-year surge in July while domestic conflicts ravage some of the country’s neighbors, data from the Defense Industry Exporters Union (SSİ) revealed on Friday.

The extraordinary hike in sales prompted skepticism in markets with analysts speculating over arms sales to such conflict zones as Syria, Iraq and Libya.

In reply to a question on whether arms and defense equipment were sold to Iraq and Syria, Aliş said Turkey has so far denied selling arms to countries located in and around war zones.

Sources familiar with the issue, on the other hand, told Today’s Zaman that Turkey has sold armored vehicles, night vision sub-systems and the Kirpi armored vehicles to some war zones such as Iraq and Libya in the past. Furthermore, Turkish gendarmes reportedly discovered weapons and ammunition after pursuing a truck bound for Syria in the southern province of Adana in January of this year.

Though government officials claimed that the trucks were carrying aid to Turkmens along the Syrian border affected by the tensions in Syria, what the trucks were loaded with has not been shared with the media since.