(Picture from globalaircraft.org) Reports at the Paris Airshow this week that something was afoot between Russia and Syria over sales of MiG-31’s (and thereby updating Syria’s aging fleet of MiG-25’s) has generated a certain amount of heat over allegations that Iran is secretly funding the deal. More below the fold:
North Korea to shutdown nuclear plant by July 2007. Russia’s Interfax news agency is reporting this AM that North korea will be shutting down and sealing up its controversial nuclear plant by July. This is the plant that serves as North Korea’s main nuclear reactor and source for weapons grade plutonium. The development comes on…
Quite a backlog of geopolitical news to sort through while YHS was gone this week including a ton on Russia, missile defense, INF and more. Here is a quick one re. India and support for arms sanctions vs. Iran and North Korea…(from New Dehli Zee News Television, 19 Apr) India has prohibited trade in all…
(earlier report on Iran’s space launcher acivity here) Much reporting since yesterday regarding Iran’s claims to have launched an object into space. To set the record right, Mohsen Bahrami, the head of Iran’s aerospace research centre, told state television that “The first space rocket has been successfully launched into space,” without disclosing its range or…
In the face of rising inflation (78% over the past 4 years) nationalization of the country’s largest electric company and the disappearance of staples from store shelves in reaction to government imposed price controls, comes this report on Venezuela’s ongoing military build-up. The Su-30s are kind of old news, but growing bonds with a radical…
A couple of interesting news notes picked up whilst culling international lists (one of the nicer aspects of YHS’ current job):First item — problems continue apace for the sublaunched variant of the Topol-M, the Bulava (“Mace”). Prior to this latest test (failure) there had been a number of statements in what passes for the open…
Reverberations continue this week over the Chinese ASAT test and allegations of Iranian and North Korean cooperative development of nukes and long range missiles; meanwhile Iran continues to rattle the cage with announcement of another Shahab-3 test and a “new†sub-surface ship killer missile; India announces its intent to establish a dedicated aerospace defense command…
Couple of quick ones from around the ‘sphere: Iran Announces It Has Built a Satellite Launcher. (26 January) – Jerusalem Post. Iran has converted its 30-ton Shahab-3 missile into a satellite launch vehicle, a US-based aviation journal reported Thursday. According to Aviation Week and Space Technology, Alaoddin Boroujerdi, chairman of Iran’s National Security and Foreign…
Some increased levels of chatter these past few days re. cooperation between Iran and NK in nuclear weapons and missile fields. First up, the nuclear issue: NORTH KOREA HELPING IRANIANS TO SET UP NUKE TEST: REPORT: KOREANS SHARING THEIR TEST RESULTS, The VancouverProvince (British Columbia), January 24, 2007. North KoreaIran to prepare an underground nuclear…
