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Page 1 Daily News
by Gail Helmer
Friday, April 6, 2001
Jane's News Briefs
Jane's Defence Weekly
USA to quit Czech fighter contest
The US government is to consider withdrawing from the tender for 24-36 new supersonic multirole aircraft for the Czech Air Force, citing unacceptable criteria outlined in the tender documentation. The Czech government has specified that all bids be made in Czech crowns and that the offers be in the Czech language. "The US government is accustomed to communicating in the English language and conducting Foreign Military Sales (FMS) in US dollars with foreign governments all over the world," said a US government source.
Germany restricts indefinitely US field exercises
The German government has extended indefinitely two-week-old restrictions on military exercises and other field training by US troops stationed in the country. The measure is part of the effort to reduce the risk of foot-and-mouth disease being spread in the country.
Greek cutback is blow to Eurofighter
Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis announced on 29 March that a governmental committee has decided to postpone the acquisition of defence equipment, including 60 Eurofighter Typhoon strike aircraft, until after 2004.
Boeing JSF STOVL demonstrator flies
Boeing's Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) X-32B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) concept demonstrator flew for the first time on 29 March and successfully completed a 50-minute flight from Palmdale to Edwards Air Force Base, California.
Macedonian army lacking strength
The Army of the Republic of Macedonia (ARM) has launched what it calls a "final operation" to dislodge ethnic-Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA or UCK) rebels from Macedonia.
USA acts on ballistic threat
The US Navy has proposed a near-term, ship-based capability to defend the US homeland against a North Korean ballistic missile attack until more robust land-based and sea-based defences are available, Jane's Defence Weekly has learned.
UK sonar award may freeze out competition
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) could have effectively ended competition for future UK sonar programmes by awarding Thomson Marconi Sonar Ltd (TMSL) the much-delayed contracts for the Royal Navy's (RN's) new Sonar 2087 anti-submarine sonar and the Sonar 2193 minehunting sonar systems. The contracts are collectively worth about £200 million ($286 million).
Jane's Defence Upgrades
Viraat reveals latest upgrades at fleet review
The Indian Navy's sole operational aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, displayed a number of post-refit upgrades while participating in the Indian Navy's International Fleet Review of Mumbai in mid-February.
Temsah makes IDEX debut
Jordan's new Temsah (Crocodile) heavy infantry combat vehicle, developed by the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau, in collaboration with the Mechanology Design Bureau of South Africa and Helio of the UK, makes its debut at the IDEX 2001 exhibition at Abu Dhabi (18-22 March).
US Navy pushes for 27-ship Cruiser Conversion Program.
The US Navy is pushing to increase its 22-ship Aegis Cruiser Conversion Program up to a 27-ship programme as a surface warfare upgrade priority. If successful, the upgrade programme would bring in the first five Baseline 1 Aegis cruisers.
AII M1A2 SEP force proposed for US Army.
The US Army's Abrams Program Office is considering a plan for upgrading all the active force General Dynamics Land Systems M1 Abrams main battle tanks to M1A2 System Enhancement Program configuration.
More on India's MiG-21 upgrade.
Further information is now available on the first Indian Air Force MiG-21bis upgrade from Russia, now redesignated MiG-21bis-UPG on place of the former Russian designation MiG-21 93.
UPGRADE OVERVIEW: Russia revises aircraft modernisation plans
The Russian Air Force has revised the expected composition of its future air group and, by the end of 2000, had prepared basic guidelines for its air technology policy for 2000-01. Piotr Butowski reports.
TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE: AMIR mineclearing plough on Leopard 2
Following the troop and equipment reductions of recent years, earlier models of the Leopard 2 main battle tank are becoming available for other uses. As such, Leopard 2 chassis are being considered as the basic platform for several new specialised variant conversions. Stefan Marx describes the AMIR mineclearing plough fit for the Leopard 2.
Jane's Foreign Report
Speak out, Mbeki
ALL THE indications are that Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's strongman, will opt for a presidential election this year. This will provide the stage for a final showdown with the country's parliamentary opposition and will probably result in the establishment of a formal dictatorship. The country has thus gone the same sad way of other African states: from unbounded hopes to economic decay, and from political decency to the dictatorship of a decrepit pre-independence leader.
Arafat to escalate intifada
SOURCES close to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, say he and his colleagues are deeply disappointed by the new Bush administration. President Bush's firm request to Arafat to stop the fighting on the West Bank and Gaza, delivered to Arafat last week, was seen by the Palestinians as a humiliation.
America and Europe
THE new Bush administration is angry with the Europeans. The reason: the Europeans' response to its foreign policy initiatives. As seen from the White House, the Europeans are indulging in America-bashing. Senior American officials admit they are partially responsible, citing American policy reversals in the last few weeks: the withdrawal from the Kyoto accord on environmental protection, the mass expulsion of Russian spies, the cessation of the dialogue with North Korea's communist regime and a subdued policy in the Middle East. A certain amount of transatlantic friction was inevitable.
Bomb shakes Bangkok
THE bombing of a Thai International Airways jet at Bangkok airport on March 3rd, minutes before it was due to leave for the northern city of Chiang Mai with the new prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, on board has severely shaken the confidence of the incoming government. Political terrorism in South-east Asia is increasing. In recent months bombing campaigns have hit cities in Indonesia, the Philippines and Laos while the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, was the scene of an abortive coup attempt.
Russia's sphere of influence
WHILE Russia continues to re-establish a measure of control over neighbouring former Soviet states (FOREIGN REPORT March 22nd), it is also cementing relations with its non-Soviet neighbours - Iran and China. While there are firm commercial and economic reasons for this, the political dimension is also important as these alliances provide a counterweight to what Russia perceives as Nato expansion on its western borders.
Come back, Crocodile Dundee
THE mining multinational Rio Tinto is under pressure not to develop a uranium mine at Jabiluka in Australia's Kakadu National Park - a UN-designated World Heritage Site which was the setting for the film Crocodile Dundee. Rio Tinto recently acquired the Jabiluka lease with a view to developing the mine. In the face of fierce and spreading protests, however, it has announced plans to sell the lease. Campaigners are demanding, however, that the lease, together with that for the nearby Ranger uranium mine, also owned by Rio Tinto, should be transferred to the National Park.
Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst
Amid new uncertainties, GCC begins to stir
The buzzwords in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states these days are 'strategic deterrence', coinciding with a fresh impetus to develop a cohesive defence structure among the six members of that alliance. In part, this stems from dangerous new currents swirling throughout the region and from a growing awareness that the national interests of the western powers, the United States in particular - on which the GCC states currently depend - may not always coincide with the requirements of the GCC.
The Taliban versus the Idols
The single-minded destruction of the massive Buddha statues of Bamiyan, Afghanistan's most famous cultural symbols (until recently they figured on postage stamps), the obliteration of frescoes in nearby caves, and the wholesale demolition of statuary in the National Museum at Kabul, has caused some embarrassment in Islamist circles and aroused much negative comment in the Middle Eastern press of the 'with friends like these who needs enemies?' variety.
Algerian impasse
Algerians are getting the impression that far from seeing light at the end of the tunnel, they are going to have to settle down with misery and massacres for the foreseeable future. Political stagnation, soaring unemployment, an immobile economy and a sharp recrudescence of violent killings in rural districts has drained what little optimism was created by the 'Concorde civile' of January 2000 (see IAA Jan/Feb 2000) where the move for a reintegration of Islamist activists, not personally implicated in killings, would presage the return to normal civil society, stability and progress.
Hariri and Hizbullah: Same goals, different methods
When Israel pulled out of south Lebanon last May, many observers expected the fighting along the Lebanon-Israel borders to come to an end. But despite a reduction in tension on the ground, Israel's northern border with Lebanon remains a dangerous one. Reaction inside Lebanon to operations carried out by Hizbullah guerrillas in the disputed Shebaa Farms area have been mixed, with some in support and others voicing reservations. Although the majority of the Lebanese agree with their government that the Shebaa Farms, which are located on the slopes of Mount Hermon, are Lebanese territory, they nevertheless disagree on the approach that must be used to free them from Israeli occupation. Some observers believe that Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri favours a diplomatic approach to regain the Shebaa Farms, which Israel claims are part of the Syrian Golan Heights it captured in the 1967 war. Hizbullah, however, prefers the organised guerrilla warfare which succeeded in forcing Israel to end its 22-year occupation to south Lebanon in May 2000.
Iran's increasingly unconventional arsenal
Two recent US reports have highlighted the use of terror by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Both state that Tehran uses terror as a means of achieving political goals. The first was the essence of a report to Congress by the American Department of Defense late last year. In a confidential briefing which also declared that Tehran 'strives to be a leader in the Islamic world and seeks to be the dominant power in the Gulf,' the report highlighted what it termed 'trends in the Middle East involving nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) weapons proliferation'.
Xinjiang separatists fight on
There is no indication that armed Muslim separatists in China's northwest province of Xinjiang are prepared to give up the seemingly hopeless struggle to establish an independent Islamic Republic of Turkestan in the remote and impoverished region. Most of the separatists belong to the Uighur ethnic group, who constitute by far the biggest element of Xinjiang's 10 million-strong Muslim population. Although the number of active Uighur fighters may not exceed a few thousand, recent reports indicate that popular support for their campaign is strengthening. Support for the separatists is not based solely upon religious factors, as many of Xinjiang's indigenous inhabitants simply detest the Han Chinese migrants who now make up about 40 per cent of Xinjiang's population. The Chinese, who dominate commerce in Xinjiang's urban areas, and take most of the best government jobs in the province, are widely viewed by Uighurs as aggressive trespassers, bent on destroying Xinjiang's indigenous religion and culture.
Uzbekistan takes the lead - and the spoils
Faced with the prospect of renewed Islamic militant incursions in Central Asia for a third consecutive summer, the region's governments have spent the past year in preparation. In addition to focusing on military reforms, most states - notably Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - have also sought to fight terrorism and extremism through a variety of regional and international initiatives. Although each government can be criticised for narrowly pursuing its own national security, it has been the actions of Uzbekistan that have raised the most concern.
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