Persian Gulf & Middle East Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Scratch said:

Israel just took delivery of it's 5th Dolphin class submarine. The 6th and last will follow in about 4 years.

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Jeff Head said:

As I said to Vincent.

it is not necessarily true at all that the tractor trailer will use more gas. The efficiency of tractor trailers in hauling is much greater than over the road mileage of a self -propelled Howitzer.

Aside from that, you save the wear and tear on the Self Propelled Howitzer over long highway miles and have it add up on much less expensive tractor trailers.

Don't be too quick to judge these folks. They know what they are doing in their logistics train.

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Saudi Arabia has procured the Sikorsky-Lockheed Martin MH-60R Seahawk helicopter under a USD145.1 million contract announced by the US Department of Defense (DoD) on 18 December.

The contract, which was awarded to Sikorsky the day before the DoD announcement, is for 10 MH-60R helicopters to be delivered to the Royal Saudi Navy (RSN) in a 'green', unmodified configuration. A further contract for the integration of mission systems is expected to follow.

The US government approved the MH-60R sale to Saudi Arabia on 20 May for a total cost (including mission kits, weapons, and support) of USD1.9 billion. Specific items listed in the approval notification included 12.7 mm GAU-21 (M3M) and 7.62 mm M240 (FN MAG) machine guns, AGM-114 Hellfire laser-guided missiles, and 70 mm rockets that have been upgraded with BAE's Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System laser guidance kit.
The procurement of the MH-60R will satisfy the RSN's Eastern Fleet requirement for 10 maritime helicopters mentioned in the 2015 letter of request. Work is expected to be completed by 31 October 2018.

Once in service, the 10 MH-60Rs will join the RSN's existing rotary-winged fleet that comprises six Airbus Helicopters AS365 Dauphins, 12 Airbus Helicopters AS 532SC Cougars, and 15 Airbus Helicopters AS565SA Panthers.

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Israel's fifth Dolphin-class submarine has left Germany, where it was built, and is set to arrive at its homebase in Haifa in mid-January.
INS Rahav is the second new-generation air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarines after INS Tanin , which entered service in 2014. Israel has one more on order.
The navy "has doubled its covert capabilities", one source said, referring to the ability of the AIP submarines to remain submerged for longer.
After completing its 30-day journey, Rahav will undergo a series of Israeli systems installation programmes before entering service later in 2016, according to Israeli naval officials.

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FORBIN said:

With a unusual and nice painting ! dangerous SSK.
View attachment 22866

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Qatar parades new Equipment

Qatar displayed its new Leopard 2A7 tanks and PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers for the first time during its annual national day parade on 18 December.

At least six of the tanks and two howitzers were seen being driven down Doha's corniche on transporters in Qatari television coverage of the parade.

The German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) announced in April 2013 that Qatar had ordered 62 Leopard 2 tanks and 24 155 mm/52 PzH 2000 howitzers for EUR1.89 billion (USD2.07 billion). KMW sources told IHS Jane's at the time that the tanks would be the latest 2A7 version and that they and the howitzers would be new, rather than refurbished surplus systems.

A launcher from a Patriot air defence system was also seen during the parade with four canisters for PAC-2-sized missiles. Raytheon was awarded a USD2.4 billion contract in December 2014 to supply 10 Patriot fire units to Qatar, which has also ordered the smaller Lockheed Martin PAC-3 missile.

Perhaps the most intriguing appearance during the parade was by two Dassault Rafale multirole fighters that appeared to have the Qatari flag on their tails.

It was announced in May that Qatar had signed for 24 Rafales. France delivered Rafales very quickly this year to Egypt by transferring aircraft being built for its own air force. But Dassault Aviation has revealed that, as the first payment was delayed, the Qatari contract only came into effect on 17 December. The Rafales seen at the parade were therefore presumably French jets flying from their base at Al-Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates.

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According to well connected French financial newspaper La Tribune, France is proposing four more vessels to the Egyptian Navy: Two Gowind class corvettes, one OPV and another patrol vessel.

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Egypt is to acquire 46 navalised Kamov Ka-52K attack helicopters to equip its new French-built Mistral-class amphibious assault ships.

According to Kamov parent Russian Helicopters, the deal with Cairo has been signed via Russia’s Rosoboronexport arms export agency.

Writing in the latest issue of its corporate magazine, Russian Helicopters chief executive Alexander Mikheev says despite the “challenging environment” for overseas sales, it was still able to bring in new business.

These include “a major contract” “signed with Egypt by Rosoboronexport for 46 Ka-52 Alligators”.
No delivery timeframe has been released, however, although Egypt is likely to receive the two helicopter carriers by mid-year.

The naval variant of the twin Klimov VK-2500-powered Ka-52 features folding coaxial rotors and stub-wings.

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