Search results

KAF Apache support deal for DynCorp BAE Systems in Eurofighter Typhoon talks with Oman. Qatar-India defence co-operation

Street violence flared in Bahrain during late September and October, leading to another major security hunt for a group of Shia protestors who were allegedly involved in a serious assault on three men. The crowd threw a Molotov cocktail at a car that contained three Bahraini Shia male civilians who escaped with light injuries. Bahraini security insiders told GSN the attackers believed the vehicle carried a Bahraini Secret Intelligence Service (BSIS) surveillance team. Whatever the truth - no completely independent witnesses are yet available - the incident should be seen against the background of growing tension in Bahrain, as the authorities maintain a firm line which leading opposition figures fear will only deepen disenchantment among young Shiite men.

The UAE is traditionally a critical partner for the French defence aerospace industry. In a noteworthy step, the French Armée de l’Air (ALA – air force) deployed three of Dassault Aviation’s Mirage 2000-5F combat aircraft and a Boeing C-135FR aerial tanker/transport aircraft to the UAE as part of Paris’ plans to establish a permanent presence in the emirates.

There was a lull in the speculation over the potential bombing of Iran by the United States or - more likely - its ally Israel, with the world transfixed by Barak Obama's victory in the US presidential election. Talk of significant offensive action against Tehran became intense during the late summer, with two theories circulating on the eventuality of a strike to knock out Iran's nuclear facilities and perhaps other targets. One theory was that the outgoing Bush administration would sanction a strike as its last neo-conservative hurrah; and, two, that Israel would be emboldened to act. In September, UK daily The Guardian, added to the debate by publishing details of documents showing how Washington had sought to rein in Israeli hawks who were ready to attack.

The Saudi Eurofighter purchase has given the European consortium a vital lead in the long-term market for the RSAF’s eventual replacement of some 178 strike aircraft by around 2020. Boeing may yet sell F-15s to the RSAF, but if the United States is betting on major sales in the Gulf, it is to Iraq and the UAE, not the Kingdom. France is also a player, with its hopes for major combat aircraft sales analysed by GSN in an article below.

Yemeni-based militants constitute one external threat to expatriates. Indeed, the prospect of establishing bases in Yemen has been mentioned prominently in militant communiqués and in Saudi government statements since 2006.

Maysan province provides a pointer to the evolution of politics and security under Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, in the Bush administration’s last months, where huge resources are needed to assist the traumatised, impoverished population in arguably Iraq’s most under-developed and wildest province.

The ‘hard stop’ armed takedown of a vehicle at a government checkpoint – a regular occurrence in 2004-05 – has become so rare that the unsuccessful 14 October attempt to stop a suspected terrorist vehicle in Eastern Riyadh was big news. The authorities seem to have the jihadist challenge under control, but Yemeni-based militants still pose a threat, as does potential ‘blow-back’ from Iraq

Iraq is the other major source of advanced terrorist capability in Saudi Arabia, leading the Kingdom to quietly take steps to reduce potential blowback. The September announcement of a mutual extradition treaty between Saudi Arabia and Iraq received little media coverage but represents a significant development. The treaty stipulated “the exchange of convicted prisoners… so that they serve the rest of..

When Qatar bought 12 Dassault Mirage 2000-5 combat aircraft in the late 1990s it was catapulted into pole position as the world’s highest per capita defence spender. Nearly ten years after the first Mirages

It was only a matter of time before Iraq’s regional defence role returned in some shape or the other, and that day may come sooner than many would have expected, with Baghdad pushing to create a national force that would place over a million Iraqis in uniform, some of them in units loyal to Prime Minister Al-Maliki, and aiming to snuff out domestic threats.

According to Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi, terrorism and tribal rebellions have cost Yemen more than $2bn in economic losses. He has appealed to international donors to help. In early October, President Ali Abdullah Saleh arrived

Although the word 'coup' has been thrown around regularly in Baghdad since 2004, it has typically related to an imagined American step to seize direct control of the government once again by ousting elected leaders. Now, for the first time since Saddam Hussein's fall, the prospect of a slow-burning military takeover of politics is re-emerging as a credible threat.

US construction company Perini Corporation has been awarded work worth $170m from the US Army Corps of Engineers (Usace) in Iraq to provide its blast-resistant overhead coverage systems (OCS). The projects come under an existing contract for design, build and construction services

An Iraqi-led operation in Diyala province shows how Baghdad’s most intractable opponents are being squeezed. Operation Bashaer Al-Khair (Omens of Prosperity) kicked off three days earlier than anticipated in Diyala province, but otherwise came as no surprise. After other supposedly intractable security blackspots had been tackled this year – first Basra, then Baghdad’s Sadr City, then Mosul and