DTN News - SYRIA UNREST: Why Syria Won't Get The Libya Treatment From The West

Defense News: DTN News - SYRIA UNREST: Why Syria Won't Get The Libya Treatment From The West
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Vivienne Walt - TIME
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 19, 2012: One year ago, on March 19, 2011, Western leaders, alarmed by the disaster unfolding in Libya, voted in the U.N. Security Council to intervene militarily with "all necessary means," arguing that they could not stand by and watch civilians get massacred. As a result of the U.N. resolution, NATO launched a bombing campaign, led by Britain, France and the U.S., and flew about 10,000 bombing sorties over Libya, helping to obliterate Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year dictatorship in just seven months.

So, could it happen in Syria? Probably not, according to two reports out on Monday. Both suggest that the Western powers would face significantly bigger challenges in intervening against President Bashar Assad, both politically and militarily, than they did in Libya. Says the British military think tank Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) in a report marking the anniversary of the U.N. vote: "The Libya intervention took place in a singularly unique moment where the international stars, as it were, were aligned in a set of propitious circumstances."

(MORE: How a New York City–Based Activist Group Became a Player in Syria)

Unlike Gaddafi, Assad has hugely upgraded his air- and sea-attack capabilities since the revolt against him erupted a year ago, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which tracks the opaque defense industry. In its yearly report on global arms transfers, also to be published on Monday, SIPRI lists billions spent by Assad on state-of-the-art Russian systems, much of which has been delivered during the past year. "This is a major upgrade," says Paul Holtom, SIPRI senior researcher on arms transfers. "Any discussions about an air attack on Syria would be more challenging than it would have been previously."

Last year, Russia delivered as many as 36 Pantsyr-SI antiaircraft missiles to Syria, according to SIPRI. Lightweight and mobile, the medium-range missiles can be mounted on the back of trucks, making them difficult for combat jets to target. In addition, the organization believes Russia has recently delivered upgraded versions of the MiG-29 combat aircraft to Syria. And it has upgraded hundreds of T-72 tanks every year since 2007, fitting them with far more modern weapons; in recent weeks, opposition activists in the besieged city of Homs filmed video footage showing T-72 tanks in action during the assault on the city.

Aside from the Pantsyr, Russia also sent Syria other modern antiaircraft missiles last year, including about 40 SA-17 Grizzly missiles and two medium-range SA-17 Buk systems, according to SIPRI. And despite the world's outrage over Assad's crackdown, Assad announced a $550 million deal with Russia in January for 36 light training and combat aircraft called Yak-130.

(PHOTOS: Alessio Romanzi's Photographs of the Syrian Civil War)

Indeed, if Gaddafi had taken delivery of the weapons, which Assad now has, he would have proved a more formidable foe against NATO forces, according to Holtom; Gaddafi's order for six Yak-130s had not been delivered by the time the Libyan revolt erupted in February last year, and he lacked new-generation antiaircraft weapons. "These are systems Gaddafi did not have," Holtom tells TIME. "He was in advance discussions about buying a number of air defense and combat aircraft from the Russians, but he never bought them."

That turned out to be a lucky break for NATO, according to RUSI. It says the Libya campaign was much more difficult than Western leaders revealed publicly at the time, making the prospect of a Syria campaign much more worrisome for politicians with the Libya experience behind them. When NATO began bombing Libya last March, Gaddafi was a much tougher enemy than the coalitions leaders, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, had calculated. Having been argued at the U.N. that it was only to protect civilians in eastern Libya, "the operation was conceived at the lowest level and for the shortest period of time," writes RUSI director of international security studies Jonathan Eyal in the report.

Instead, it quickly morphed into an all-out war. That severely strained European militaries, which flew 90% of the attack sorties. "European stockpiles struggled to cope," writes Elizabeth Quintana, a RUSI airpower senior research fellow, adding that the U.S. ultimately had to "plug the gaps." And since Britain's Tornado and Typhoon jets were flying daily sorties over Libya, Britain's own airspace was left dangerously vulnerable. In addition, she says, European militaries were relying on aging aircraft ill equipped for the intensity and fast pace of Libya's war.

(MORE: The Gaddafi Regime Is Broken. What Will Take Its Place?)

As Libya's war dragged on for months, the strain on NATO forces grew more evident. Indeed, Cameron and Sarkozy must have breathed a sigh of relief when Libyan rebels finally killed Gaddafi on Oct. 20, ending the NATO campaign. "The armed forces were lucky the rebels toppled the Gaddafi regime when they did," Quintana writes.

Ironically, the Libyan war now makes it more difficult for Western leaders to win U.N. approval for military intervention against Assad, even though Syria looks worse than Libya did last March: U.N. officials estimate that more than 8,000 people have been killed in Syria's yearlong revolt, including many civilians in assaults against Homs, Idlib and other opposition enclaves.

This time around, however, Russia with veto powers at the U.N. Security Council has made it clear it will not ditch its longtime ally; it maintains its only naval base in the region in Syria's port of Tartus. Russian officials have said repeatedly they believe Western leaders misled them at the U.N. in March 2011 by saying NATO attacks were only to protect civilians, rather than to overthrow Gaddafi; China which also has veto powers at the Security Council has expressed similar views.

In truth, Gaddafi did critical damage to his own cause — a mistake from which Assad seems to have learned. In firebrand speeches in Tripoli last February and March, Gaddafi dared Western leaders to attack his country and scorned several overtures by them and the Arab League to negotiate a political settlement or exile deal. The RUSI report says Gaddafi "virtually invited military action upon himself. What dictator would now ever risk announcing to the world's media his intention to butcher an entire city like rats," a phrase Gaddafi used frequently to describe his opposition.

Notwithstanding the assault on Syria's opposition, there are differences: U.N. envoy Kofi Annan flew to Damascus on March 10 to discuss possible negotiations with Assad. "Gaddafi had no powerful friends and was isolated in a way that Bashar al-Assad, for example, is not," says the RUSI report. And so far those friends are standing by their man, a leader who now has other weapons at hand.

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*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Vivienne Walt - TIME
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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: 10 Companies Profiting Most From War

Defense News: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: 10 Companies Profiting Most From War
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Michael B. Sauter and Charles B. Stockdale, 24/7 Wall St. - The Bottom Line on msnbc.msn.com
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 7, 2012: Global sales of arms and military services by the 100 largest defense contractors increased in 2010 to $411.1 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The increase reflects a decade-long trend of growing military spending. Since 2002, total arms sales among the 100 largest arms manufacturers have increased 60 percent.

The institute recently published its annual report on the leading arms producing companies in the world -- SIPRI Top 100. The report identifies the largest companies in the sector and provides each company’s arms sales as a percentage of its total sales. Based on the report, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 companies with the highest revenue from arms sales. These companies alone account for $230 billion -- over half of all arms sales that year.

While many industries continued to suffer in 2010 as a result of the financial crisis, leaders in the arms and military services were largely unaffected. According to SIPRI arms industry expert Susan Jackson, when sales dropped, it was not because of the financial crisis. Instead, Jackson notes that loss in sales was due to “the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and the subsequent expected decrease in related equipment sales.”

The composition of the 10 largest manufacturers reflects the state of modern warfare. More and more, battles are fought remotely through air surveillance and strikes rather than on-the-ground combat. As a consequence, seven of the 10 largest companies are among the leading aerospace companies. Surveillance and battlefield communications also are increasingly important in modern warfare. All of the companies in the top 10 have significant electronics divisions.

Of the 100 companies on the list, 44 are based in the U.S., including Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. The American companies account for more than 60 percent of arms sales revenue of the 100 manufacturers. Seven of SIPRI’s top 10 are American, one is British, one is Italian and one is a multinational EU conglomerate. The U.S. federal government has contract deals with all seven American companies. These seven are among the top 10 U.S. federal contractors by amount procured, according to the government’s Federal Procurement Data System.

24/7 Wall St.: The 10 most expensive weapons in the world 

24/7 Wall St.’s analysis of the SIPRI 100 includes revenue for arms sales for 2007, 2009 and 2010, as well as percentage of company revenue from arms sales, employees, industry and applicable military division. 24/7 Wall St. also included history of each company and notable weapons systems manufactured.

These are the companies profiting most from war.

1. Lockheed Martin 

• Arms sales 2010: $35.73 billion
• Total sales 2010: $45.80 billion
• Arms sales as pct. of total sales: 78 percent
• Total profit: $2.93 billion
• Total employment: 132,000
• Sector: Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Space

Lockheed Martin is the largest arms-producing and military services company in the world, with nearly $3 billion more in arms sales than second place BAE Systems. Although military sales make up the majority of its revenue, it is significantly less than many other major arms-producers, including BAE’s 95 percent share. In addition to being the world’s largest arms-seller, Lockheed is also the largest federal contractor in the U.S. by a large margin. In 2010, the company’s government contracts totaled nearly $36 billion. Lockheed produces a number of major products, including the Trident missile and the F-16 and F-22 fighter jets. Despite being the largest military service company on this list, Lockheed is only the fourth-largest company by overall sales among the companies featured on this list. In 2007, the Lockheed was the third-largest arms producer.

2. BAE Systems

• Arms sales 2010: $32.88 billion
• Total sales 2010: $34.61 billion
• Arms sales as pct. of total sales: 95 percent
• Total profit: $1.67 billion
• Total employment: 98,200
• Sector: Aircraft, Artillery, Electronics, Missiles, Military vehicles, Small arms/ammunition, Ships

BAE Systems is an aerospace and defense contractor based in the UK. The company has a major U.S. subsidiary, BAE Systems, Inc., which by itself would be the seventh-largest weapons manufacturer in the world. The British company was formed in 1999 through the merger of Marconi Electronics (which was at the time a subsidiary of GE) and British Aerospace. BAE produces weapons systems in nearly every major military category, including aircraft, defense electronics, vehicles, naval vessels and small arms. Among the company’s notable contributions are the M2/M3 Bradley fighting vehicle, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Type 45 destroyer and the Astute-class nuclear submarine. In 2010, 95 percent of its revenue came from arms sales, $32.88 billion in all.

3. Boeing 

• Arms sales 2010: $31.36 billion
• Total sales 2010: $64.31 billion
• Arms sales as pct. of total sales: 49 percent
• Total profit: $3.31 billion
• Total employment: 160,500
• Sector: Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Space

As recently as 2007, Boeing was the largest arms producer in the world. By 2008, it had fallen behind Lockheed Martin and U.K.-based BAE Systems. The aerospace and defense company remains one of the largest in the world, however. Boeing is the second-largest aircraft producer in the world by deliveries, behind only Airbus. It is also the second-largest U.S. government contractor, procuring just under $19.5 billion in contracts in 2010. Major products produced by the company include the KC-767, an aerial refueling tanker, and the F-15 fighter jet. Boeing made less in arms sales in 2010 than it did in 2009, although arms sales made up a larger amount of total sales -- two percentage points, to be exact -- in 2010 compared to 2009. Even in 2010, however, only 49 percent of revenue came from arms sales, which is among the lowest rates among companies on this list.

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4. Northrop Grumman 

• Arms sales 2010: $28.15 billion
• Total sales 2010: $34.76 billion
• Arms sales as pct. of total sales: 81 percent
• Total profit: $2.05 billion
• Total employment: 117,100
• Sector: Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Ships, Space

Northrop Grumman is the fourth-largest weapons contractor in the U.S. The company, which is based in Falls Church, Va., is one of the leaders in aerospace technology and the leading producer of naval vessels in the world. The company manufactures Nimitz-class carriers that are the current flagships of the U.S. Navy. And over the next few years it is also set to build the new, $9.7 billion Gerald R. Ford-class supercarriers. Northrop Grumman also develops radar systems for aircraft and ground defense, sensor systems for a variety of vehicles and several unmanned aircraft and drones. Weapons systems sales accounted for 81 percent of company revenue in 2010. Arms sales grew by approximately $3.5 billion between 2007 and 2010.

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5. General Dynamics

• Arms sales 2010: $23.94 billion
• Total sales 2010: $32.47 billion
• Arms sales as pct. of total sales: 74 percent
• Total profit: $2.62 billion
• Total employment: 90,000
• Sector: Artillery, Electronics, Military vehicles, Small arms/ammunition, Ships

General Dynamics is an American defense company that deals in aerospace, combat systems, information systems and technology, and marine systems. Although the company has been around since 1952, it has enjoyed a resurgence beginning in the 1990s, thanks largely to a number of mergers. Since 1997 General Dynamics says it has acquired more than 50 companies. Over this same period, its revenue increased from $4 billion to more than $32 billion. It also added more than 60,000 employees to its workforce. Currently, 74 percent of the company’s sales are arms sales. General Dynamics owns Electric Boat and Bath Iron Works, two of the largest naval vessel builders in the world. General Dynamics is notable known for its Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, the Seawolf-class submarine, the M1 Abrams tank and the Arleigh-Burke-class destroyer.

Click here to read the rest of the companies profiting the most from war.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Michael B. Sauter and Charles B. Stockdale, 24/7 Wall St. - The Bottom Line on msnbc.msn.com
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News: Middle East - Arab Gulf States On A Puzzling Arms-Buying Spree

Defense News: DTN News: Middle East - Arab Gulf States On A Puzzling Arms-Buying Spree

Source: By Brenda Sorensen in Stockholm, DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources

(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - November 7, 2010: Mystery shrouds high levels of military spending and arms procurement in the Gulf states among which Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates stand out, says a new document by the eminent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

A report in September 2010 reported that Saudi Arabia had sought the U.S. Government's permission to purchase large numbers of combat aircraft and helicopters from American companies.
"This was just the latest indication that Saudi Arabia is planning a new arms-purchasing spree similar to that in the 1990s, raising questions about the possible impacts of military build-ups in the Gulf region, which includes both Iran and Iraq alongside the Arab Gulf states," states a 'fact sheet' compiled by Carina Solmirano and Pieter D. Wezeman.

Since transparency is poor in most of the Gulf region, the SIPRI fact sheet combines data on known military spending and recent and planned arms imports in the Gulf states: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The importance of the SIPRI paper lies in the fact that assessments of military developments in the Gulf states are complicated by very low levels of public transparency. It brings together SIPRI data on the Gulf states' military expenditure and on arms transfers to the region, taken from the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database and the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database.

The paper notes that recent increases in military spending and arms procurement by the eight states bordering the Gulf -- Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE -- have revived widespread discussion about the possible impacts of military build-ups in the region.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE stand out for their high levels of spending and arms imports, yet almost all the Gulf states devote a larger share of their gross domestic product (GDP) to military spending than the global average.

However, the available data on the Gulf states' military expenditure is highly uncertain. In many cases, notably Bahrain and Iran, not all military expenditure appears in the official figures; while in others, particularly Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, states do not report their military spending separately from their broader spending on security, including internal security.

It is also unclear whether some arms imports are paid for directly from oil revenues and thus do not appear in government accounts. In the case of Iraq, only budget figures are available, and actual expenditure may vary significantly, notes the paper.

"The patchiness of the data makes it hard to describe regional trends in military spending. However, Saudi Arabia is clearly the biggest spender, followed by the UAE and Iran. Iraq's military budget shrank by almost 30 per cent between 2008 and 2009. Almost all the Gulf states consistently spend a greater share of their GDP on the military than the global average. Indeed, in the period 2000-2008, Oman and Saudi Arabia spent more of their GDP on the military than any other country for which data is available," authors of fact sheet, Solmirano and Wezeman say.

The Gulf states accounted for 10 per cent of imports of major conventional weapons in the years between 2005 and 2009. Since arms production capabilities in the region are limited, almost all procurements of major weapons were imports.

The weapons were supplied by at least 30 countries. The largest suppliers were the United States, France, Russia, the Britain and China. Russian and Chinese exports went mainly to Iran, which received no major arms from the USA or from most European states.

The report notes that the pattern of imports to the region has changed over time. While the UAE accounted for 57 per cent of the volume of imports of major conventional weapons over the period 2005-2009 and Saudi Arabia for only 10 per cent, over the longer period 1990-2009 Saudi Arabia was the largest importer in the Gulf region.

While advising caution, the fact sheet lists most significant transfers of major conventional weapons to the Gulf states since 2005.

UAE

The volume of arms imported by the UAE has increased significantly in the past decade and the country is likely to remain a major arms importer in the coming years. Contracts for the delivery of 62 Mirage-2000-9 combat aircraft from France and 80 F-16E combat aircraft from the USA were completed in 2005-2008. In 2008-2009, 30 AH-64D combat helicopters were delivered from the USA.

Contracts being implemented include the delivery from the USA of 4 Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, 60 UH-60M armed transport helicopters, and 12 C-130J-30 and 6 C-17 transport aircraft; from France of 3 A-330 MRTT tanker/transport aircraft and 6 Baynunah corvettes; from Russia of up to 50 Pantsyr-S1 air defence systems; and from Italy of 2 Falaj-2 corvettes and 1 Abu Dhabi frigate.

The UAE's arms procurement plans include 3 Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile systems and 16 CH-47F transport helicopters from the USA; 60 combat aircraft from France or the USA; 48 M-346 advanced trainer aircraft and another 2 Falaj-2 corvettes and 1 Abu Dhabi frigate from Italy; and 3 airborne early warning aircraft, which several countries are competing to supply.

SAUDI ARABIA

The volume of major arms imported by Saudi Arabia has been relatively low in the past decade compared with its imports in the 1990s. However, signed contracts and known procurement plans indicate that Saudi Arabia’s arms imports are set to increase significantly once again.

Contracts being implemented include the delivery of 72 Typhoon combat aircraft and probably Storm Shadow long-range air-to-surface missiles from the UK, as part of a major upgrade of Tornado combat aircraft; 12 AH-64D combat helicopters, 35 UH-60L transport helicopters, about 373 M-1A2S tanks, and new engines to upgrade 70 F-15S combat aircraft from the USA; 724 Piranha/LAV armoured personnel carriers (APCs) from Canada; and 6 A-330 MRTT tanker/transport aircraft from France. (End)

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com

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