Tag: weapons

Germany sells fifth nuclear submarine to Israel

Germany’s Federal Security Council has approved the export of a fifth submarine to Israel.

It’s the penultimate submarine promised to Israel by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and will be handed over by the company Thyssen Krupp.

Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper revealed the approval, citing the Federal Security Council’s report to the parliamentary Economics Committee.

Germany’s Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) builds the new Air Independent Propulsion Dolphins and the decision to sell them has been criticized for two reasons. One, in that German taxpayers are shouldering a third of the cost.

Secondly, the vessels are reportedly capable of being equipped with nuclear weapons.

Peter Roberts is an expert in sea power and naval weapons systems at the Royal United Services Institute in London and told Sputnik News that Israel will want to produce and develop nuclear capability on the new submarines.

“That’s the long term aspiration”, says Roberts. “But does it have it right now? No.

“These are new batch of submarines that Israel is receiving which have a markedly increased capability on what they’d had previously in terms of range, covertness and ability to reach different parts of the world then they had previously been able to do.”

Roberts adds that the submarines have the capability to become nuclear armed, “but probably not right now.”

“Several hurdles have to be overcome before it can be armed with a nuclear warhead.”

He explains that the key to being able to arm the submarines with nuclear weapons is down to the delivery mechanism.

“The Israelis rely on the fact they could fire the Popeye submarine missile — a system that the Americans successfully launched in 2002. But traditionally the Israelis only keep the Harpoon anti-ship missile.”

“These are the first submarines that will be able to fire this missile, the size of the torpedo tubes allow it to be fired, they have a bigger tubes for bigger missiles.

“The submarines would have the ability to launch them [missiles] — it’s the weapon itself that is the critical part and developing that weapon and navigation system for the guidance from within a submerged submarine is a further challenge.”

Peter Roberts says it’s difficult to say whether the submarines are distinctly designed for nuclear weapons.

“The Israelis will want to add this to their golf bag of capability which will give them huge resilience in their nuclear forces — but they’re not there yet.”

According to an article written by Anthony Bellchambers for Global Research, the Dolphin Class nuclear powered submarines “that have already been converted by the Israeli navy to being armed with ICB nuclear missiles…has given the Israeli state ‘deep sea dominance’ that is now virtually irreversible.”

Adding that German Chancellor Merkel agreed to supply Israel with the vessels “without any prior consultation with the EU.”

China producing arms at a faster clip than West

China has surpassed Germany to become the world’s third largest arms exporter, a Stockholm-based think tank said in a report on Monday.

China’s military spending has seen double-digit growth for decades, and Beijing has poured funds into modernizing its armed forces as it takes a more assertive stance on territorial disputes in the region.

Exports of major arms from the world’s second largest economy grew 143 percent over the years 2010 to 2014, versus the previous five-year period, when China had ranked ninth globally, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report.

“Asian countries continue to expand their military capabilities, with an emphasis on maritime assets,” Siemon Wezeman, senior researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, said in a news release.

More than 68 percent of Chinese exports went to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Beijing also sold major arms to 18 African states.

The volume of US exports of major weapons rose by 23 per cent between 2005–2009 and 2010–14. The USA’s share of the volume of international arms exports was 31 per cent in 2010–14, compared with 27 per cent for Russia. Russian exports of major weapons increased by 37 per cent between 2005–2009 and 2010–14. During the same period, Chinese exports of major arms increased by 143 per cent, making it the third largest supplier in 2010–14, however still significantly behind the USA and Russia.

‘The USA has long seen arms exports as a major foreign policy and security tool, but in recent years exports are increasingly needed to help the US arms industry maintain production levels at a time of decreasing US military expenditure’, said Dr Aude Fleurant, Director of the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme.

Analysts say Chinese-made equipment has found eager buyers among countries at odds with the United States and its allies.

Source: Reuters

European arms manufacturers seek cooperation with Russia

Europe’s weapons manufacturers are interested in closely cooperating with Russia, including in the naval defense sphere, a senior Rosoboronexport official said on Monday ahead of the opening of the Euronaval 2014 international exhibition in Paris.

Deputy Director General Sergey Ladygin, who leads the delegation from Russia’s main weapons exporter Rosoboronexport, said meetings with both traditional and potential partners from Western Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East are due to be held.

Special focus will be made on “discussing further cooperation with the leading European manufacturers, including the projects in the interests of the third countries,” the official said.

“Many European arms producers are interested in closer cooperation with Russia, including in naval defense. In current situation, such cooperation is of course hampered by political agenda, however we remain open for our partners and are set for a mutually beneficial dialogue,” he said.

Russia considers its participation in the Euronaval 2014, the world leader of exhibitions specializing in naval defense, maritime safety and security, as a “good opportunity to ‘synchronize watches’ and elaborate further steps,” Ladygin stressed.

The participants are expected to discuss the development of production cooperation, projects on joint design of new vessels and their entry to the global market. “Certainly, we will be actively promoting a whole range of the Russian-made naval vessels and equipment,” Ladygin said.

The company expects that foreigners will be interested in the Mirazh, Sobol and Mangust class patrol boats, the Project 11356 class frigates, the Project 20382 corvettes, Murena-E assault boats as well as the Varshavyanka-class and Amur 1650 submarines.

Rosoboronexport’s stand will feature the Club missile system, artillery cannons A-190 and A-220M with a 100 and 57 mm caliber, the Palma anti-aircraft artillery missile system and Gibka anti-aircraft missile launching systems for Igla missiles.

Euronaval 2014, held since 1968, is one of the world’s largest naval defense exhibitions. This year, the event takes place from October 27-31 at the Le Bourget exhibition center.

The exhibition brings together over 350 companies from around 30 countries. More than 90 delegations from 65 countries are expected to attend the event.

Source: Russia Insider