Saudi Spec Ops Commander and UAE Top Military Officer Killed in Yemen

Missile strike by Houthi rebels kills Saudi Head of Special Forces Colonel Abdullah al-Sahyan and Emirati officer Sultan al-Ketbi in Yemen. Inteligence sources ensures the news last Monday that Houthi militia group attacked the position of GCC Coalition in Yemen with Scud mmissiles and blast killed special forces operatives on the operation "Decisive Storm"! These two top official was also among those killed, though sources denied to clarify how many soldiers got killed. 

UAE Top Military officer Sultan al-Ketbi.

Colonel Abdullah al-Sahya, Head of Saudi's Special Forces.

Commander, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari: Iran Navy to send 35th flotilla to Gulf of Aden

Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari.

The 35th flotilla of the Iranian Navy plans to leave for the Gulf of Aden to safeguard naval routes for vessels operating in the region.

Iran's Navy chief, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, said on Sunday that the flotilla would depart for the strategic region on July 11. He added that the 34th flotilla has a 90-day mission to accomplish in the north of the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden, Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea.

The 34th flotilla, which comprises the Bushehr logistic vessel and Alborz destroyer, left Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas for the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab Strait on April 8. Sayyari said fighting pirates and ensuring safety for Iranian vessels sailing in high seas are among objectives of the 35th flotilla.

File photo shows an Iranian warship.

Iran’s Navy has succeeded in passing more than 2,700 oil tankers or merchant vessels through the Gulf of Aden and had 200 clashes with pirates, he noted. In recent years, Iran’s Navy has increased its presence in international waters to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers.

In line with international efforts against piracy, the Iranian Navy has been also conducting patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 in order to safeguard merchant containers and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran or other countries. Iran’s Navy has managed to foil several attacks on both Iranian and foreign tankers during its missions in international waters.

Source: Press TV

Iran Sends Warships To Monitor Yemen’s Coast

Two Iranian vessels have arrived in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is on a bombing campaign against anti-government Houthi rebels.

Iranian Navy destroyer.

The Alborz destroyer and Bushehr logistics vessel are on a patrol mission in the Gulf of Aden, south of Yemen, and the Red Sea, according to Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari. He says the ships will “provide [safety for] Iran’s shipping lines and protect the Islamic Republic of Iran’s interests in the high seas,” Press TV reports.

According to Tehran officials, the warships will be protecting a crucial trade route against pirates. The Iranian Navy has been conducting such patrols since 2008.

Iran’s fleet is headed into troubled waters, as at the moment Yemen is blockaded off by a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition. They are on a bombing campaign against anti-government Houthi Shia rebels, whose uprising forced Yemen’s President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to flee the country. He is currently in Saudi Arabia.

Iran has been vocal in calling for an end to the airstrikes against Houthis, which often end up hitting civilians. Saudi and Western officials believe Iran is directly supporting the Houthis with money and weapons, aiming to take control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast – something Tehran denies.

The fierce bombing campaign has led to over 560 deaths in just two weeks, according to the latest World Health Organization estimates. It describes the situation in Yemen as a rapidly-unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, with over 1,700 people wounded and 100,000 displaced.

An international evacuation effort is under way, with India alone rescuing some 4,000 of its citizens from the war zone. Russia is also taking part. So far, it has sent five airplanes to Yemen, rescuing its nationals, as well citizens of 11 other countries.

With the chaos triggered by the Houthi uprising and the airstrikes, militant and terrorist groups are finding it increasingly easy to operate in Yemen. Last week, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) captured the port city of Al Mukalla, seizing an army base and freeing 300 prisoners from a local jail.

On Tuesday, Al-Qaeda militants reportedly attacked an outpost on Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia, killing several officers and taking over the checkpoint.

Iranian general in Sanaa to organize Yemen rebel counter-offensive for Saudi-led attacks

Tehran took less than 48 hours for a decision to hit back at the surprise air and naval attack launched by Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and Egypt Thursday, March 26, to contain the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels’ sweep through Yemeni cities. debkafile’s military sources report that Iran’s top war commander, Al Qods Brigades chief Gen. Qassem Soleimani, landed in the Yemeni capital Sanaa Friday, March 27 to organize a counter-offensive and open Iran’s third direct Middle East warfront after Syria (in support of Bashar Assad) and Iraq (with the US against ISIS).

 

The "Shadow Commander" General Qassem Suleimani.

 The Saudi-GCC-Egyptian intervention found the pro-Iranian Houthi rebels at the gates of the big port of Aden, which commands the Straits of Bab el-Mandeb, the vital gateway for oil shipping between the Indian Ocean and Gulf through the Suez Canal and Mediterranean. Certain Yemeni army units have joined the rebels. They are armed with advanced US weapons that were supplied for the war on al Qaeda and now serve the revolt against a Yemeni regime recognized by Washington.

This rebel force had already seized most of Yemen’s cities and stretches of its Red Sea coast. Soleimani’s arrival in Sanaa signaled Tehran’s determination not to give up an inch of the ground gained by its proxies, while underscoring its demand for dominance as the leading Middle East power, promised by Washington in return for accepting a framework deal on its nuclear program.

US officials persist in their public pretense that the diplomatic and the military arenas are unconnected. So the deal is presented as close to signing by the March 31 deadline, while the flames of Shiite-Sunni violence are allowed to spread into another corner of the Middle East. In the coming hours, Egyptian and Saudi naval and marine forces are planning landings in Aden, according to their military sources. They will fight to contain the Houthi march across Yemen and prevent the fall of its last major town, after two days of Saudi and Gulf air strikes against rebel positions around Yemen.

 
debkafile’s military sources report that the Saudi and Gulf air forces and Egyptian sea units managed in their first 48 hours to cut off Iran’s air and sea supplies to the Houthi rebels. Gen. Soleimeni will need to find a means of breaking the Saudi-Egyptian blockade and restoring supply routes. Above all, he must determine whether or not to co-opt Iranian air and sea forces to the Yemeni front and so leading them into head-to-head battle against Saudi Arabia and its ten Sunni allies.

 
Egyptian and Iranian warships maneuvering for control of the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb were reported to have clashed Thursday, the first day of the Sunni intervention in the Yemen conflict. From outside the region, Pakistan stands ready to step into the contest, promising Friday “a strong response” to any threat to “Saudi integrity.” This opened the door for the Pakistani army to be drawn into the wars of Arabia against Iran alongside the majority of Arab Sunni nations.

Islamabad was responding to a Houthi warning to invade the southern Saudi provinces of Asir, Najran and Jizan, for which they counted on a welcome by the local Saudi populations, most of which belong to the minority Ismaili sect, that is closer to the Iranian Shiite and Houthi Zaydi than to the dominant Sunni faith of the Saudi royal regime.

Friday night, President Barack Obama spoke with Saudi King Salman and reaffirmed US support for the military action taken in Yemen by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies, the White House said in a statement. Obama and King Salman agreed that their goal is to achieve lasting stability in Yemen through a negotiated political solution, the statement said. Obama also underscored his commitment to Saudi Arabia's security.

Lebanon’s Shiite Hizbullah slams Saudi attack on Yemen

Hasan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hizbullah, Lebanese Shiite party-militia, weighed in on Friday on the Saudi intervention in Yemen. The Saudis put together a Sunni coalition against the Shiite Houthis and have bombed Zaidi Shiite population centers like Sa’adeh. I discussed their motives in my just-published piece in The Nation.

 

Hizbullah is opposing Saudi policy in Syria effectively, having intervened on the side of Bashar al-Assad, whom the Saudis are hoping to see overthrown. Hizbullah punches above its weight. Lebanon is a small country of 4 million. Shiites are about a third or 1.3 million. Not all Lebanese Shiites support Hizbullah, which has a few thousand fighters. But they managed to shore up the Syrian government where the Syrian Arab Army could not. Hizbullah is closely allied with Iran.

Nasrallah said that the Saudis are engaging in propaganda when they claim to be supporting the elected president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. He said that Mansour Hadi had in fact stepped down from his job, and wondered if the Saudis would go around restoring other former presidents, like Tunisia’s Zain El Abidine Ben Ali, to power. He teased Riyadh that King Abdallah opposed all the Arab Spring revolts and wanted to put the genie back in the bottle. (While it is true that Mansour Hadi resigned, he resigned because Houthi tribesmen were telling him what to do and he was a prisoner. He escaped to Aden in the South and now to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Nasrallah is doing propaganda here in glossing over Houthi dictatorship.)

Second, he said, the Saudis maintain that the Houthi movement is an enemy of Saudi interests. But, he said, the late King Abdallah had found it possible to do deals with them. A Houthi delegation came to King Abdallah’s funeral. Shortly thereafter, the new king, Salman, decided to turn on them and go into Yemen, Nasrallah alleged. Third, he said, the Saudis maintain that Yemen under the Houthis has become occupied territory, with Iran being the occupier. But, he asked, where are there any Iranian military bases or other signs of occupation in Yemen?

Nasrallah called for peaceful negotiations among the principle parties to find a solution to Yemen’s conflict. At the same time, Sunni leaders in Lebanon praised the Saudi intervention, as did the leader of the largely Sunni Future Party there, Saad Hariri. This conjuncture points to increased tensions between Sunnis and Shiites inside Lebanon. They were already divided over Syria, with Shiites mostly supporting al-Assad and Sunnis mostly seeking his overthrow.

43rd UAE National Day Celebrations

 43rd UAE National Day Celebrations.

 

Abu Dhabi comes alive this National Day with a choice of interesting activities, fantastic firework shows, captivating concerts, dazzling displays and heritage attractions, running across the Emirate. The festivities mark the country’s union over four decades ago and celebrate the spirit of the union. 

General Mohamed and Crown Princes at the National Flag celebration at the Breakwater in Abu Dhabi (WAM)

 

Sheikh Zayed Heritage Festival

Fireworks

 

Spirit of the Union Exhibition

Some of the exciting free-to-attend activities include concerts by top Khaleeji performers across the Emirate, competitions, sailing regattas, art festivals and theatrical shows.

United Arab Emirates To Purchase 150 VP11 4x4 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle

United Araba Emirates (UAE) has expressed intrest in purchase of 150 NORINCO's VP11 4x4 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.

The VP11 MRAP vehicle is designed using a 4x4 light truck chassis for reconnaissance, search and rescue operations in urban environment by homeland security forces. VP11 4x4 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle is equipped with a remote weapon station which is mounted on the rooftop of vehicle. 

 

UAE decides against Typhoon

 

Official Eurofighter logo

The United Arab Emirates has chosen not to purchase Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft despite high-level talks between UK and UAE officials, according to BAE Systems.
 

An RAF Typhoon in flight

“The UAE have advised that they have elected not to proceed with these proposals at this time,” says a 19 December media release from BAE.

“BAE Systems and the UK government have been in discussions with the government of the United Arab Emirates regarding a range of defence and security capabilities, including the potential supply of Typhoon aircraft,” BAE adds.

Typhoon was seen as a challenge to France’s Dassault, which for years has been seeking to sell its Rafale fighter to the UAE.
 

German ground crew mount an IRIS-T to a Eurofighter

But two years ago on the day before the Dubai air show, news broke that the UAE had asked the Eurofighter consortium to submit a proposal.

BAE’s media release says “all parties have invested significant effort in drawing up Typhoon proposals for the UAE.”

“Recognising the risk, scale and complexity of such a transaction, the group had not built this prospect into its planning assumptions,” it adds.

UAE ADCOM Systems & Testing Locations

Unveiled for the first time at 2011′s Dubai Air Show, ADCOM’s latest UAV, the United-40, features a unique biplane configuration.

 

Although a nascent industry, one of the UAE’s primary drone programs was started by a consortium of companies under the aegis, Advanced Communications Research and Development Center, more commonly referred to as ADCOM Systems. Thus far, the company has manufactured unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), aerial targets, air traffic control radar systems as well as advanced C2 solutions.

Those in the industry may have observed their systems at 2011′s Paris or Dubai Air Shows, or even more recently in last years Eurosatory Exhibition or ILA Berlin Air Show. If you still haven’t had the opportunity to see some of their systems, the company’s website is located here.

According to ADCOM self reporting, the company manufactures seven UAVs and four aerial target models as well as associated support systems such as ground control stations and various payloads. (The ADCOM Ground Control System was reportedly designed and manufactured with the help from South Korean companies, and by extension a supply chain that includes Chinese parts).

The company’s latest model, the United-40, a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV, was first unveiled at the Dubai airshow in 2011 and was reportedly ready for prime time in the first quarter of 2012. As observed above, the unusual biplane configuration provides for enhanced performance and endurance, according to ADCOM CEO and general designer, Ali Al Dhaheri.

Namrod Missile for the ADCOM United-40

Using US models as baselines, Al Dhaheri claims that the United-40′s unique design gives it a glide ratio of 1:43. That’s four times more glide ratio than the MQ-9 Reaper. In addition to fuel conservation, the aircraft is capable of taking off and landing on runways as short as 120 meters and can be equipped with eight Namrod missiles on an internal rotary launcher. At this year’s Idex 2013, Al Dhaheri unveiled United 40 block 5 whose performace included over 100 hours of operation without refueling and a new ceiling at 30,000 ft (up from 23,000).

The impetus for developing the United-40 reportedly came after the US Department of State denied the UAE’s request for ten Predators in 2002. Since then, the UAE has been on a quest to build their own MALE UAV and further develop their local industrial base. Possibly as a thumb of the nose, the UAE Air Force started the UAV Research and Technology Center at Al Dhafra Air Base, the same location the USAF currently has the 380th AEW  stationed with their RQ-4 Global Hawks. (Alternatively, the US may be helping the UAE with tactics for their current set of UAVs, a possible added bonus due to the UAE’s close cooperation in other areas)

Satellite imagery from Digital Globe on 13DEC10 show’s ADCOM’s rail launched UAV testing facility.

Although open source imagery hasn’t shown ADCOM’s UAVs operating at Al Dhafra, Digital Globe imagery and open source sleuthing has managed to locate at least 2 positions where the UAE and by extension partner firms have tested locally manufactured UAVs. The first location is broken up into two sections and by equipment: helicopter and rail launched UAV testing.

Imagery from Digital Gobe on 13DEC10 shows two ADLR-021 Rail Launchers from ADCOM and nine recently received SA-22 (5 visible on closeup) at the site.

In regards to the latter, imagery on 13DEC10 show the ADCOM testing site located 9 miles south of Al Dhafra Air Base. The site is complete with air traffic control and two ADCOM ADLR-021 Rail Launchers. Interestingly, imagery also captured nine recently received SA-22 (Pantsir-S1) on site which may suggest this location doubles as an air defense range.

Imagery from Digital Globe shows section two of the testing site located immediately to the West of the ADCOM testing site.

The second section of the site located just to the east is equipped with several helicopter hardstands, although nothing was deployed at the time of imaging. That said, open source reporting reveals the site was recently associated with Sweden’s CybAero, a commercial UAV manufacturer that reportedly assembles the Apid 55 in the UAE. By correlation, it’s probably a safe bet to assume the Austrian made Schiebel S-100 was also put through its paces at this location. The UAE has reportedly ordered 40 x S-100.

Digital Globe imagery shows position three of ADCOM’s associated testing sites.

The last position associated with ADCOM testing is located seven miles to the south of the rail and helicopter testing areas. The area provides ample room to test take-off and landing on unimproved surfaces as well as a safe stand off distance should any accidents occur. (The area is similar to that used by the USAF to test its UAVs at Cuddeback Lake). This area was discovered after acquiring several video feeds from ADCOM UAVs with the coordinates clearly displayed on the remote pilot’s HUD. 

Although ADCOM is a relatively young company, it has made considerable strides in the UAV market in a short period of time. According to market information, the company currently employs over 600 people, many in the heart of the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi-ICAD (Mussafah Area) and reportedly has branches internationally. With what began with targeting drone manufacturing in the 1990s, ADCOM has grown substantively to provide a robust product line to now include the production of 9mm and 50mm calibre ammunition. As a result, the company has quickly become an instant favorite with the UAE military.

United-40 Overview:

Specifications:

Wingspan	20 m	65.61 ft
Length	11.13 m	36.54 ft
Height	4.38 m	14.37 ft
Total lifting area	24.3 sqm	261.56 sqft
Empty weight	520 kg	1146 lb
Max. take-off weight	1500 kg	3306 lb
Payload weight	1000 kg	2204 lb
Fuel tank capacity	900 lt	237 gallon
Power	Hybrid: Main engine – 115 hp;  Electric power – 80 hp

Flight Performance:

Stall speed	50 km/h	[14 m/s]	26 kt
Cruise speed	75-220 km/h	[20-60 m/s]	40-120 kt
Endurance	120 hrs
Ceiling	7000 m	23000 ft

UAE Buys 2 French Surveillance Satellites

The United Arab Emirates ordered two military surveillance satellites from France on Monday in a deal worth more than 700 million euros (US $913.2 million).

The Falcon Eye deal, signed in Abu Dhabi over competition from Lockheed Martin of the United States, includes the supply and launch of two high-resolution Helios surveillance satellites, a control station and training for 20 UAE engineers.

The two satellites will be built by Astrium, the space division of EADS, and Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between French Thales and Italian Finmeccanica.

They share in half the contract of “a little over 700 million euros,” according to Astrium’s chief executive officer, Francois Auque.

The deal comes with an annex agreement between the two governments stating that French military personnel will help their Emirati counterparts in interpreting images and sharing received intelligence, said a member of the team of French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.