Af/Pak & Other News (5/11/2013)

[dump...@hotmail.com]

Panjwai district chief of police: 'Pakistan has been trying to bring
Afghanistan under its control':

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/05/pakistan_has_been_tr.php



11 Afghan landmine clearers abducted, bomb kills intelligence officer:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/bomb-kills-deputy-provincial-intelligence-chief-of-remote-northeastern-afghan-province/2013/05/11/e05583ae-ba26-11e2-b568-6917f6ac6d9d_story.html



U.S. and Afghans Negotiate Future:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/world/asia/afghanistan-and-us-continue-talks-on-future-relations.html



'Iranian citizens' reported killed in ISAF airstrike:

http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2013/05/iranian_citizens_reported_kill.php



Study: U.S. Soldiers Not Adequately Equipped for War:

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=1139





Pakistanis Brave Taliban Violence in a Landmark Vote:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/world/asia/pakistan-election.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0



Pakistan's Sharif declares victory amid violence:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/05/11/pakistan-election-bomb-khan/2152085/



Reputation remake: Tilt-rotor Osprey wins fans in Afghanistan:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/05/09/2569846/reputation-remake-tilt-rotor-osprey.html



Lightweight Personnel Armor:

http://defense-update.com/20130511_onr-study-lightweight-personnel-armor.html



Manhunt: Meet the CIA ‘Sisterhood’ That Tracked Bin Laden:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/05/manhunt-meet-the-cia-sisterhood-that-tracked-bin-laden/



Teething Troubles For Tiger:

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htairfo/articles/20130511.aspx





YouTube: India commissions first MiG-29K squadron:

http://alert5.com/2013/05/12/youtube-india-commissions-first-mig-29k-squadron/





Rafsanjani's last-minute entry transforms Iranian race:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/11/us-iran-election-idUSBRE94A02V20130511



Iran rolls out "stealth' unmanned aircraft:

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2013/05/iran-rolls-out-stealth-unmanne.html



Teherans’ Drone Fever:

http://defense-update.com/20130511_teherans-drone-fever.html



Explosion at Iranian Military Chemical Complex:

http://www.israeldefense.com/?CategoryID=483&ArticleID=2117





Syria-Linked Group Blamed in Turkey Blasts; 43 Die:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/hurt-blasts-turkish-syrian-border-19157767#.UY7Wt8rchmI




Syrian rebels, government fight over key highways:

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2013/05/11/syrian-rebels-government-fight-over-key-highways




Palestinian-Syrian group says forming units to fight for the Golan:

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/05/11/Palestinian-Syrian-group-says-forming-units-to-fight-for-the-Golan.html





IDF intentionally downs UAV due to malfunction:

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-intentionally-downs-uav-due-to-malfunction.premium-1.523476



Shin Bet stops plot to kidnap, kill soldiers:

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Shin-Bet-arrest-terrorists-planning-to-kidnap-kill-soldier-312478





3 Arrested in Plot to Bomb Egyptian Cities and Embassy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/world/middleeast/egypt-arrests-3-in-plot-to-attack-cities-and-an-embassy.html





Has Benghazi become the Obama administration’s Watergate?:

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2013/0511/Has-Benghazi-become-the-Obama-administration-s-Watergate





Scoot and Shoot “à la Française:” Caesar SP Gun Transforms French
Artillery:

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?shop=dae&modele=feature&prod=144902&cat=5




Alenia Aermacchi pilot ejects from stricken M-346:

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/alenia-aermacchi-pilot-ejects-from-stricken-m-346-385756/




Russia: Seeking A Kinder And Gentler Tyrant:

http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/russia/articles/20130511.aspx





China Seeks ‘Information Dominance,’ Pentagon Says:

http://defensetech.org/2013/05/11/china-seeks-information-dominance-pentagon/




Death Toll in Bangladesh Factory Collapse Soars Past 1,100 as Recovery
Operation Continues:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/death-toll-bangladesh-factory-collapse-soars-past-1100-19158300#.UY7XLMrchmI




Tradition Triumphs In New Zealand:

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/20130511.aspx





World grapples with rise in cyber crime:

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/05/11/world-grapples-with-rise-in-cyber-crime/






Protecting Satellites in Orbit:

http://defense-update.com/20130511_who-is-protecting-the-israeli-satellites.html




The Future of Special Operations: Lawrence of Arabia, Kim, & 007:

http://breakingdefense.com/2013/05/10/the-future-of-special-operations-lawrence-of-arabia-kim-007/




Successful Test of Laser System:

http://www.israeldefense.com/?CategoryID=483&ArticleID=2119



Army Defends GCV, Keeps Lakota Stateside:

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/05/09/army-defends-gcv-keeps-lakota-stateside/



Raytheon completes first international delivery of Enhanced Paveway II
GBU-50:

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Raytheon_completes_first_international_delivery_of_Enhanced_Paveway_II_GBU_50_999.html



Special Report: US SOCOM Pushes Ahead With Aircraft, Vehicle Plans:

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130511/SHOWSCOUT01/305130011/Special-Report-US-SOCOM-Pushes-Ahead-Aircraft-Vehicle-Plans



US orders removal of Liberator 3D-printed handgun blueprints:

http://www.strategicdefenceintelligence.com/article/lf0nPWQ6H3w/2013/05/10/us_orders_removal_of_liberator_3d-printed_handgun_blueprints/



Is there a morale crisis in the U.S. nuclear force?:

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20130511/NEWS/305110005



Navy Leaders Try to Rescue LCS From Its Own Report:

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/05/09/navy-leaders-try-to-rescue-lcs-from-its-own-report/



Stealth coatings on F-35 'easier to maintain' than on older jets:

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/stealth-coatings-on-f-35-easier-to-maintain-than-on-older-jets-385731/

[Andrew Swallow]

On 12/05/2013 02:25, dump...@hotmail.com wrote:
> Successful Test of Laser System:
>
> http://www.israeldefense.com/?CategoryID=483&ArticleID=2119

I see laser technology can now successfully shoot down missiles and
drones at 2km. Currently for armies and marines. Ship based versions
are being investigated.

Andrew Swallow

[dump...@hotmail.com]

On May 11, 9:59 pm, Andrew Swallow <am.swal...@btinternet.com> wrote:

Yep.

Navy Deploying Laser Weapon Prototype Near Iran:

"The Navy is going to sea for the first time with a laser attack
weapon that has been shown in tests to disable patrol boats
and blind or destroy surveillance drones.

A prototype shipboard laser will be deployed on a converted
amphibious transport and docking ship in the Persian Gulf,
where Iranian fast-attack boats have harassed American
warships and where the government in Tehran is building
remotely piloted aircraft carrying surveillance pods and,
someday potentially, rockets.

The laser will not be operational until next year, but the
announcement on Monday by Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert,
the chief of naval operations, seemed meant as a warning
to Iran not to step up activity in the gulf in the next few
months if tensions increase because of sanctions and the
impasse in negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program.
The Navy released video and still images of the laser
weapon burning through a drone during a test firing."

See:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/world/navy-deploying-laser-weapon-prototype-in-persian-gulf.html?_r=0

[jonathan]

"Andrew Swallow" <am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:s5ydnX8EkOUivBLM...@bt.com...

Star Trek isn't far off! One problem with using lasers against
troops is that it's legal to kill enemy soldiers, but considered
a war crime to blind them. So I suppose lasers would be
used mostly against unmanned equipment. Especially missile
defense, incoming mortars or those Iranian hordes of small
unmanned boats and so on.

[dott.Piergiorgio]

Il 12/05/2013 03:25, dump...@hotmail.com ha scritto:
> Russia: Seeking A Kinder And Gentler Tyrant:
>
> http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/russia/articles/20130511.aspx

well, the core issue is that Russians simply can only destroy and
discredit whatever political/economical system they import try to
implement... so, the core issue isn't the form of "little father", but
that Russians need a genuinely indigenous system and never attempt again
to export it (no one wants another half-century of stand-off)

and, without delving into single Czars's deeds and demises, there's two
"kindler and gentler" little fathers during the "communist" experiment
and both have a short career: Khrushchev and Gorbachev. 'nuff said.

(also, Lenin itself, in his last years, can be classified as "kindler
and gentler little father", but his demise was partially external (he
died of the consequence of a wound caused by a foreigner)

Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.

[dott.Piergiorgio]

Il 12/05/2013 12:33, jonathan ha scritto:

> Star Trek isn't far off! One problem with using lasers against
> troops is that it's legal to kill enemy soldiers, but considered
> a war crime to blind them. So I suppose lasers would be
> used mostly against unmanned equipment. Especially missile
> defense, incoming mortars or those Iranian hordes of small
> unmanned boats and so on.

if you care to notice, HE bullets below 40mm are still formally illegal
because 1800s people considered criminal and inhumane the direct usage
of explosive bullets against people (that is, gory wounds & painful
death from explosions on the body) so I suspect that in the end, some
treaty on *minimum* wattage output of laser/direct energy weaponry will
be drawn and science fiction legally enter the battlefield ;)

[Andrew Swallow]

It is very hard to cut people with lasers. We are mostly water which
has to be boiled. This requires a lot of energy.

Andrew Swallow

[Bill]

If that gets used Iran will scream blue murder and produce some poor
blind sailor and start proceedings in the International Court before
you can say 'But this man has been blind since birth"...

[Keith W]

Actually they arent illegal at all, 20mm cannon shells have been common
since the 1930's at least. What is technically illegal is shooting them at
people. However using them against the equipment they use is
perfectly OK. That equipment of course includes the aircraft or
truck they are in as well as the backpack they are carrying and
their rifle !

So as long as the lasers are pointed at aircraft that will be fine.
Of course if the pilot happens to look in the wromg direction ...

Keith