ISIS fanatic security guard, 23, wished his followers a 'Happy 911' and sent 8,000 tweets glorifying the terror group and encouraging jihad

An ISIS fanatic who wished his followers a 'Happy 9/11' and posted 8,000 tweets glorifying the terror group and encouraging jihad has been jailed for five years.

Mohammed Ameen, 23, used 42 Twitter handles and 16 different accounts to express his support for ISIS between May and October last year.

Photos of Ameen holding a large knife with Arabic writing on the blade were found on his phone, and videos of him preaching on the streets of London had been uploaded online, the Old Bailey heard.

The security guard pleaded guilty last month to five counts of encouraging terrorism and one count of support for a proscribed organisation.

Ameen, of Dagenham, east London, also pleaded guilty to one count of dissemination of a terrorist publication, relating to a video called For The Sake Of Allah, posted on Twitter last September.

The court heard he sent tweets celebrating the 9/11 attacks in New York.

One read: '£TheMagnificent19 May you all get accepted in the highest ranks and multiply your kind! £Happy 911'.

An image was posted of a statement which read: 'When we descend on the streets of London, Paris and Washington the taste will be far bitterer, because not only will we spill your blood, but we will also demolish your statues, erase your history and, most painfully, convert your children who will go on to champion our name and curse their forefathers.' 

Ameen tweeted a picture of Mohammed Emwazi - known as Jihadi John - in a black face mask holding out a knife. Another tweet read: 'Your 7/7 is our 24/7'.

Prosecutor Christopher Amis QC told the court it 'perhaps gives an insight into the defendant's mindset'.

He said: 'The tweets, looked at individually or when taken as a whole, amount to a sustained effort indirectly to encourage others to engage in terrorism.

'There is, with one exception, no explicit encouragement. Mr Ameen does not direct or invite the reader to engage in acts which would constitute terrorism.

'However the messages clearly constitute indirect encouragement in that they glorify acts of terrorism and those involved in them and they encourage the emulation of this conduct.'

He added: 'There are tweets which celebrate acts of terrorism by ISIL (ISIS). The tweets encourage the emulation of terrorist actions.

'The tweets also portray those who engage in such terrorist action as role models.'

Ameen's home was first raided by police in December 2013, when they found a one way ticket from Luton to Istanbul, Mr Amis said.

Mr Amis said: 'He didn't travel to Istanbul on that occasion. It is thought the intervention of police caused him to alter his plans.'

In June 2014 counter terrorism officers interviewed him about his possible wish to leave the UK to 'travel to regions controlled by the ISIL', Mr Amis said.

In November 2014 he told police he was planning to go to the Turkish border with Syria that night as part of an aid convoy - but was persuaded not to go.

Mr Amis said: 'The defendant's father was shocked. He had no idea.'

He added: 'He was planning to travel to Syria that very evening as part of an aid convoy.'

But he refused to provide any further details regarding the people he would be travelling with, the court heard. 

The prosecutor added: 'He said in one tweet, 'I got radicalised in the UK and by Allah, I will stay a radical until the day I hit the grave'.'

His defence barrister, Tim Maloney QC, in mitigation, said Ameen was vulnerable to radicalisation and regretted his behaviour. 

Mr Maloney said: 'He is genuinely sorry for what he has done.

'Not only for the upset he has caused to his family, but he says he now sees the damage he could have done to other families of those he was encouraging.'

Sentencing Ameen to five years in prison, the Common Serjeant of London, Richard Marks QC, said: 'Those tweets involved a sustained effort on your part to give encouragement, albeit indirectly.

'And in some instances, you were involved in glorifying this, as well as celebrating acts of terrorism by ISIL, celebrating the view of a future that could, by its nature, only be achieved by terrorism.

'It was over a protracted period of about eight months and did therefore clearly show, as the prosecution put it, dogged persistence, as exemplified by the fact you kept opening new Twitter accounts.'

He said: 'Of that, you will serve one half. You will then be on licence.'

Ameen was also made to pay a victim surcharge of £120.

German nuclear plant hit by computer viruses

Computer viruses have infected PCs used at a German nuclear power plant.
The viruses were found on office computers and in a system used to model the movement of nuclear fuel rods.
Power firm RWE said the infection posed no threat to the plant because its control systems were not linked to the internet, so the viruses could not activate.
German federal cyber investigators are now analysing how the Gundremmingen plant became infected.
No damage
The viruses were found on the fuel rod modelling system and on 18 USB sticks used as removable data stores on office computers.
Staff found the viruses as they prepared to upgrade the computerised control systems for the plant's Block B, which is currently not producing power while it undergoes scheduled maintenance.
More than 1,000 computers have now been checked for infection and cleaned up, an RWE spokesman told newspaper Die Zeit. The plant has also improved its security controls.
No system directly involved with the control of the nuclear reactors was infected, RWE said, and there was no danger to the public as a result of the infection.
"All sensitive plant areas are decoupled and designed with redundancy and protected against manipulation," added RWE in a statement.
Among the viruses were two well-known malicious programs - W32.Ramnit and Conficker.
Ramnit debuted in 2010 and is a remote access tool that its creators use to steal data. Conficker dates from 2008 and aims to grab login names and financial data.
Because the infected systems were isolated from the net, neither Ramnit nor Conficker were able to activate, update and steal data, said RWE.
Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, said power plants and other chunks of a nation's critical infrastructure were often infected by viruses but such compromises did little damage.
"The most common viruses spread without much awareness of where they are," he told Reuters.
Gundremmingen is about 120km (75m) northwest of Munich and the plant is Gemany's highest output power station.

Syria conflict: Aleppo in 'catastrophic' state says UN

The UN says the situation in Syria's city of Aleppo is catastrophic, after dozens of people were killed in attacks on targets including a hospital
Air strikes on and around the Medecins sans Frontieres-backed al-Quds hospital killed at least 27 people, while more than 30 died in other attacks.
UN envoy Jan Egeland said the next days would be vital for the humanitarian aid lifeline for much of Syria.
The violence has left a partial truce hanging by a thread.
UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura warned the cessation of hostilities agreed between non-jihadist rebels and government forces on 27 February was now "barely alive".
Russia's continuing war
Has opportunity for peace been lost?
What is left of Syria?
Assad's growing confidence
Separately, the Syrian government reported that 150 US troops had arrived in the town of Rmeilan in Syria's predominantly northern Kurdish province of Hassakeh, denouncing it as an "illegitimate intervention".
US President Barack Obama said last week he was deploying 250 troops to Syria to help certain rebel groups fight so-called Islamic State (IS).
'Millions in danger'
Mr Egeland, the head of the UN humanitarian assistance to Syria, said he had been briefed on "the catastrophic deterioration in Aleppo over the last 24-48 hours... No-one doubts the severity of the situation."
He warned that the humanitarian lifeline for much of the country was at risk.
"I could not in any way express how high the stakes are for the next hours and days.
"So many humanitarian health workers and relief workers are being bombed, killed, maimed at the moment that the whole lifeline to millions of people is now also at stake."
Graph showing Syrian death toll
Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) said at least 14 patients and three doctors had been killed in the air strike on al-Quds hospital.
Among those killed was Mohammed Wasim Moaz, one of the city's last paediatricians, MSF said.
An MSF representative, Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, told the BBC Dr Moaz had worked at the hospital since 2013.
Mr Zabalgogeazkoa said: "He kept it going, was always there and always worried about the needs of the people. He was honest and very committed. He worked in conditions you cannot even begin to imagine."
Map of Aleppo
Local sources blamed war planes from the Syrian military or from Russia, which is supporting the government of President Bashar al-Assad, for the attack.
The Syrian military denied targeting the hospital. A military source was quoted on state TV as saying: "Such news is merely an attempt to cover up terrorist crimes which target peaceful citizens in Aleppo."
An activist at the scene, named Zuhair, told the BBC: "It was an air strike by two rockets, heavy rockets from [a] Russian air strike.
"Near the hospital, one building on five floors just crumbled and just crashed down and we don't know how many dead will be under these ruins."
However, Russian news agencies quoted the Russian defence ministry as saying it had carried out no air strikes in Aleppo in the past few days.
Jump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.
Media captionA doctor in Aleppo explains why he and his team must operate underground and in constant fear
US Secretary of State John Kerry said he was "outraged" by the hospital attack, adding: "It appears to have been a deliberate strike on a known medical facility and follows the Assad regime's appalling record of striking such facilities."
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on both the US and Russia to exert pressure to stop the violence, and demanded a credible investigation into the hospital attack.
Monitoring groups said at least 20 people were killed in other attacks on rebel-held areas in Aleppo on Thursday, while at least 14 died in rocket strikes on government-controlled neighbourhoods.
The upsurge in violence comes amid reports that the Syrian army, backed by Russian air power, is gearing up for a major offensive in Aleppo.
Analysis by Jim Muir, BBC News, Beirut
One of the reasons why the "cessation of hostilities" is now at death's door was reflected in the fact that from the outset it was not called a ceasefire or even a truce, because several factions were excluded, including not just the Islamic State militants but also the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
Nusra fighters are present in almost all combat zones, and are mixed up with other groups such as Ahrar al-Sham that Russia is now pressing to have added to the international terror list.
That has meant that hostilities have continued and intensified in many areas, with the government able to claim its attacks are legitimate.
Now state forces are reported to be building up in Aleppo as violence escalates there, raising fears that a long and costly all-out battle for the contested city may be looming.
That would put paid both to the lull and to the Geneva peace talks, prompting Mr de Mistura to urge the US, Russians and others to press their clients on the ground to ease off, so that stalled negotiations have a chance of resuming.

Court Clears Oshkosh to Continue JLTV work

Updated: February 18, 2016: A federal judge on Thursday denied Lockheed Martin’s motion that could have forced Oshkosh Corp. to stop working on a $6.7 billion Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) contract while a lawsuit over that contract award continued. A week after the court decision, following “careful deliberation”, Lockheed Martin has withdrawn its protest of the JLTV contract award decision in the Court of Federal Claims.

This decision lifted the last legal obstacle from the program and Oshkosh Corp. can now keep working on its JLTV contract, focusing on production and delivery. The procurement of JLTV could net the company more than $30 billion over the next 25 years.

Lockheed in its motion to halt work argued that the military applied different standards to the two companies when evaluating the contract and held ‘misleading’ meetings with the company about the bid.

TOW Missile Hits a T-90 Tank with ‘Soft-Kill’ (SHTORA) APS and Reactive Armor

An anti-tank team of the Free Syrian Army (western supported rebels) has successfully used a TOW anti-tank missile (Raytheon BGM-71) missile to hit a Russian T-90 tank equipped with a SHTORA ‘soft-kill’ active defense system. The close-range engagement was recorded on video at Sheikh Aqil, in Syria. The Shtora is an electro-optical active-protection system designed to disrupt the missile tracking using EO disruptor.

Russian T-90 tanks fitted with SHTORA were spotted in recent months in Syria, operated by Russian tank crews. The video report from Sheikh Aqil, northwest of Aleppo.Once a missile attack is detected, the system uses EO countermeasures and launches instant smoke screens against incoming missiles. None of these measures are observed on the video, alluding to the possibility that the countermeasures were not engaged or did not detect the threat. Although the missile seems to hit its target, the explosion effect could be caused by the reactive armor designed to defeat such threats. While a crew member is seen escaping, the tank seems intact, without catastrophic fire erupting as would be the case in frontal attack penetration of such weapon. The SHTORA APS is mounted on the Russian T-80 and T-90 series tanks, as well as the Ukrainian T-84 the Serbian M-84AS and BMP-3.

Commenting on the incident, deputy director of Uralvagonzavod which manufactures the T-90, Vyacheslav Khalitov, noted that the video is too blurry so that it’s difficult to determine what vehicle it is, admits it “closely resembles the T-90.” According to Khalitov. “Shtora is part of T-90s multi-layer protection. It is a subsystem designed to protect the vehicle against flare-tracked ATGMs,” Khalitov told Vzglyad.

He also suggests the SHTORA was switched off, but added, “the reactive armor suite was activated which prevented the tank from suffering serious damage and the crew was able to leave it… If that missile penetrated the armor, nobody inside the tank would have survived. Shtora is part of T-90s multi-layer protection which includes the ballistic protection and Kontact 5 reactive armor.

ST Kinetics Pursueing Combat Robotics, with Foreign UGV Developers

Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK) is highlighting at the Singapore Airshow two unmanned ground vehicle systems (UGV) demonstrating robotics applications of combat systems. The two platforms selected by STK are the Amstaff Israeli wheeled UGV from Automotive Robotic Industries and the TheMIS tracked UGV from Milrem of Estonia, Both debut a Singapore Airshow carrying ST Kinetics’ remotely controlled weapon systems.

Amstaff has already proved its operational use, guarding villages, military facilities and infrastructure site sin operational use and field evaluations in Israel, South Korea, Poland and Canada and other locations worldwide. The configuration used by Singapore Technologies include both 6×6 and 8×8 electrically powered vehicles dubbed ‘Jaeger UGV’. It is equipped with diesel engine and charger alternator that keeps battery full at all time, supporting up to 48 hours of autonomy. When silent operation is mandatory the vehicle can endure over 6 hours on battery power only, quick charging enables the robot to top-up its battery from the on-board charger in 3 hours.The second platform on display is the Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry System (THeMIS) from Milrem UGV. TheMIS ADDER (a variant where UGV THeMIS and RWS ADDER are integrated) is a weaponized unmanned ground vehicle equipped with a remote weapon station. The vehicle has independent, electrically powered propulsion units embedded in each track. The TheMIS development has been funded by the Estonian Ministry of Defence. The prototype of the UGV was unveiled at DSEI 2015 in London, UK last autumn.Its kerb weight is 750-850 kg and maximum speed is 25-35 km/h. The platform can carry its own weight (750kg) as payload, bringing the total gross weight to more than 1.5 tons; yet the wide tracks maintain the ground pressure as low as 0.069 kg/cm2, maintaining high off-road maneuverable and amphibious capability with high mobility in mud, sand, water and snow. The vehicle can be remotely controlled by an operator, or follow the operator from a safe distance, while maneuvering to avoid obstacles. In addition to the use as a mobile, remotely operated weapon or anti-tank missile carrier, TheMIS can also assume other missions such as combat casualties evacuation, firefighting, demining, CBRN reconnaissance, combat support supply ‘mule’.

IAI Introduces New Loitering Weapons for Anti-Radiation, Precision strike

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is unveiling two new variants of its Harpy/Harop loitering weapon family at the Singapore Airshow this week. The first is the Harpy New Generation (NG) — an autonomous, anti-radiation loitering weapon designed to Suppress and Destroy Enemy Air Defense (SEAD/DEAD) operations. The second is the Green Dragon, a compact, lightweight variant of the HAROP, which uses Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR)-guidance to provide ‘man-in-the-loop’ capability. HAROP and Green Dragon are designed to locate, track and destroy high-quality static and mobile targets.Harpy NG was developed to counter the newer types of air defense radar threats that have evolved since the introduction into service of its first-generation predecessor, in the early 1990s. It automatically engages emitters and radar-dependent threats in an area of responsibility assigned to it. The NG retains its predecessor’s original 15 kg. warhead, but has a new and improved RF seeker which covers a wider frequency range, to match the ‘migration’ of modern target-acquisition and fire-control radars to the lower frequency bands.

Utilizing the HAROP airframe, the Harpy NG also offers a longer loitering time of about six hours, extended range and a higher altitude ceiling. The common platform enables commonality in maintenance and training across several families of loitering vehicles operated by some of its customers. In addition to its service with the Israel Defense Forces, Harpy also serves as a loitering counter-air-defense weapon with a number of international customers, including India, South Korea, Chile, Turkey and China. Harop is operational with India and Azerbaijan.

Boaz Levi, IAI Corporate Vice-President and General Manager of the Systems, Missiles & Space Group, said: “IAI is introducing these new Loitering Munitions, intended to refresh, update and complement our already successful family of LMs. The new tactical products serve to bolster the abilities of small, tactical, infantry units and Special Ops, with a special emphasis on solving operational problems in urban areas.”The other new member of IAI’s family of LM’s is the Green Dragon – a tactical, affordable weapon which addresses the growing demand from military users for organic, persistent, situational- awareness diagnosis and rapid kinetic response. It is also suitable for small ground units and special operations forces, operating as an organic loitering weapon which enables both ISR and attack capabilities in short-response time. As an all-electric LM, Green Dragon operates silently for up to two hours, during which its operator can collect visual intelligence of surrounding areas up to a range of 40 km.

Green Dragon can locate and acquire targets and, upon a command from its operator, can dive on designated targets to impact and explode with an accuracy better than 1 meter (CEP). The operator can abort the attack any time before impact, through a built-in “abort and circle” capability, designed to prevent unnecessary collateral damage or mistaken targeting.

The Green Dragon weighs 15 kg. and uses an electro-optical ‘micropop’ EO/IR payload for surveillance, targeting and terminal homing. Its warhead weighs almost 3 kg. The Green Dragon is carried and launched from a sealed 1.7-meter-long canister that can be carried by a soldier in a backpack or stacked on a small vehicle in groups of 12-16 launchers. Upon launch, the weapon expands to a cruciform 1.7-meter-wide shape optimized for loitering and terminal dive. It is controlled from a tablet-sized control panel, through a tactical, low-power datalink.

IAI’s ROTEM – Tactical Multirotor Killer Drone

IAI recently released details on a new member of its mysterious family of multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the new version dubbed ROTEM L (abbreviation of its Hebrew designation: ‘hovering reconnaissance and attack platform – Light’). Designed as a small, quad-rotor based loitering weapon, ROTEM is uniquely built for operation in urban warfare, offering combatants effective, indirect observation and engagement of targets from an elevated position. IAI is displaying a number of loitering weapons at the Singapore Airshow this week, as well as the HoverMast hovering surveillance system.

The lightweight UAV weighs only 4.5 kg, packing an impressive array of sensors, including day or night (IR) cameras, used for piloting and reconnaissance, additional, multiple acoustic transducer enabling obstacle avoidance and flight through inner spaces of buildings, entering through windows, narrow urban streets or dense vegetation. The battery-powered drone can loiter for nearly 30 minutes, with one pound (0.450 kg) of explosive payload, or trade-off this deadly payload for a camera and more batteries, sustaining up to 40-45 minute in the air. The warhead comprises two blast-fragmentation grenades configured with a dual safe and arm mechanism. The ROTEM is packed folded in a carried in a canister or backpack and is assembled in seconds by a single soldier.ROTEM is operated by a single soldier using simple point and click commands on a tablet controller. The vehicle takes off vertically, and ascends toward the area of interest, where the operator can scan and observe the area using its forward looking slanted camera. From a distance of few hundreds of meters ROTEM is practically inaudible and can loiter silently for the entire mission. When a target is located and verified the operator can switch to attack mode, the drone responds and quickly accelerates to a high speed dive, closing in on its prey, with the target maintained in view throughout the flight, enabling the manned operator to monitor the attack and abort anytime if necessary. Using on-board sensors, ROTEM effectively avoids obstacles, enter windows at low or high levels, or maneuver around fences. The operator directs the ROTEM to its target – horizontally, vertically or slanted as necessary. ROTEM and Green Dragon both shares a common, modern tablet controller, allowing for simplified cross training and operation.

Unlike other loitering weapons, ROTEM is not necessarily expendable once launched. If the operator does not have the opportunity to engage or aborts the mission and decides to retrieve the drone, ROTEM is instructed to land at a safe location, it’s safe status clearly visible with warhead disarmed.

TODAY DARPA CHRISTENS ITS ROBOTIC SUBMARINE HUNTING SHIP

With a clattering of glass and a burst of non-alcoholic champagne, DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar will usher in a new age of Navy seafaring. Today in Portland, Oregon, she is going to christen the first of DARPA’s ACTUV submarine hunting ships for the U.S. Navy. Soon, bestowed with the unsubtle name “Sea Hunter,” the vessel will go forth into the ocean, carrying a crew of exactly zero humans.ACTUV, short for Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel, is 130 feet long and autonomous. We’ve seen glimpses of it before, and watched tests as it hit the water.The star-studded naming ceremony will feature Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, Director of Unmanned Warfare Systems Rear Admiral Robert Girrie, and Chief of Naval Research, Innovation Technology Requirements and Test & Evaluation Rear Admiral Mathias Winter. (This is a narrow definition ofstar-studded).Fully loaded, Sub Hunter weighs roughly 325,000 pounds, and has a maximum speed of 31 mph. The ship is mostly autonomous, though it can instead be controlled and piloted remotely by a sailor, if the situation requires.While not designed to carry a crew, parts of the ship are human accessible for maintenance, and it has life preservers on board to at least give it the appearance of a human-crewed vessel.

It's also the dawn of a new era for the navy. The Sea Hunter is designed to track and follow submarines, even hunting in pairs. It is, very explicitly, unarmed. In the future that may not always be the case, and it's not too hard to image naval conflicts years or decades from now between unmanned boats hunting unmanned submarines, while humans remotely direct their movements from bunkers on land far away.

AIR FORCE PROPOSES X-WINGS AS A-10 REPLACEMENT

YES, IT'S AN APRIL FOOL'S JOKE, BUT WE'LL TAKE IT OVER THE F-35


Few American airplanes are as beloved as the A-10 Thunderbolt II. Affectionately known as the “Warthog,” the iconic ground attack fighter is loud, ugly, deadly, and almost ancient. First flown in 1975, the plane is clearly showing signs of age, which is partly why the Air Force has spent decades

developing a replacement. The plane they chose, the expensive, problem-riddled F-35, is at the best of times a poor candidate for the A-10's old job. So today, as a joke, U.S. Air Forces Central Command tweeted out their suggested Warthog replacement: the X-Wing, from Star Wars.It’s an April Fool’s joke, sure. But it hits at a very real frustration within the military: the A-10 is an aging plane, and the F-35 simply can’t do the A-10’s job as well as the A-10. Yet the age of the Warthog means that, at some point soon, troops on the ground will have to do without the familiar brrrrt of the A-10's Avenger cannon blasting away hostile tanks, technicals, and other targets.
The A-10 was designed with a service life of 8,000 flight hours, which would have brought the fleet to retirement age in 2005. The War on Terror decided differently, so the retirement was pushed back to 16,000 hours (around 2016), and that’s been extended now to 24,000 flight hours, which will keep the planes in the air until 2028. There’s an inevitable obsolescence just from age itself. Add to that advances in anti-aircraft missiles and weapons over the past 40 years, and it becomes hard to ignore that the A-10’s days are numbered, even with a congressional caucus trying to save it.
So why all the clamoring for a new replacement? The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, designed and built over decades, is finally starting to enter service. It’s the most expensive airplane program in history, faced with a gargantuan task: replace six different retiring American fighters, using roughly one similar body. The F-35 has three different versions: the F-35A for the Air Force, the vertical-takeoff-and-landing F-35B for the Marine Corps, and the carrier-based F-35C for the Navy. All three boast sophisticated sensors and stealth for modern battlefields, but none features a gun even remotely on par with the A-10, and while they can carry a similar amount of missiles and bombs, they lose some of their stealth protection when doing so.
Given this frustrating reality, it’s no wonder Star Wars fans, including the Air Force, apparently, long instead for the reliable, powerful X-Wing fighters flown by Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy, and seen again under Poe Dameron’s command in The Force Awakens. In the movies, the X-Wing switches perfectly between fighting Imperial aircraft and attacking targets on the ground. It’s a beautiful, fictional plane, but it’s not a dedicated anti-tank machine like the A-10. If the Air Force really wanted to sell their joke, they’d have gone with the aging, rugged Y-Wing instead.

CHINA HAS A NEW ARMED DRONE HELICOPTER

  China's armed CH-3 and CH-4 drones have recently made international news, being used by nations that range from Iraq to Nigeria. And now NORINCO, one of China's leading defense contractors, is getting in on the international drone export game,

showing off a new armed drone helicopter.Unveiled at the International Exhibition of National Security and Resilience in Dubai, NORINCO's Sky Saker is a coaxial rotor, 100-200kg helicopter UCAV. The Sky Saker H300's cameras include electro-optical and infrared systems, along with laser target designators. In addition to surveillance and fire control, the Sky Saker H300 can provide midcourse corrections for guided munitions launched by other platforms, such as cruise missiles from H-6K bombers or shells fired from PLZ-05 howitzers. The Sky Saker H300's ground control station is likely to be networked to a wider array of Chinese military systems for integrated fire effect, which would make it not only a valuable asset for counterinsurgency and urban combat, but also for wider missions like hunting enemy small ships (such as the Taiwanese Tuo stealth boat) or electronic warfare vehicles.The Sky Saker has two missile launch tubes mounted on the fuselage sides; given that those missiles are "fire and forget", they are likely a version of the HJ-10 anti-tank missiles, which already arms the Z-10 attack helicopters, or even smaller 16kg TL-2 missiles.Just as Chinese conventional drones like the CH-4 have already made their mark in Middle Eastern conflict, the H-300 could soon see even more export and combat opportunities. Smaller, cheaper and with vertical take off capabilities that make it ideal for operating in urban and austere environments like jungles, this little robot helicopter would herald a new phase in the proliferation of armed robots.

North Korea Not Likely Able to Hit U.S. With Nuclear Strikes: U.S. Officials

U.S. defense officials said Saturday that they have no reliable information to confirm North Korea's latest boast — that it has successfully tested a new long-range rocket engine capable of targeting America with nuclear strikes.

While U.S. military and intelligence officials acknowledge the isolated nation is aggressively pursuing miniaturized nuclear warheads and long-range ballistic missiles, they remain skeptical of North Korea's claim, announced by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency.

Related: North Korea Launches 15th 'Projectile' in 2 Weeks

North Korea has already launched two medium-stage ballistic missiles that put two satellites into uncontrolled orbit in space, but officials contend that's well short of being able to attack the U.S. with a nuclear weapon.

U.S. officials have said that at the current rate of testing, North Korea could ultimately achieve its goal.

In response to the potential threat, the U.S. has stationed 30 anti-ballistic interceptor missiles in Alaska and at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The system is designed specifically to defend against a small-scale nuclear attack from a rogue nation by intercepting and destroying an incoming ballistic missile while it is still in space.

Number of ISIS Fighters in Libya Has Doubled

The outgoing commanding general of AFRICOM said Thursday that the number of ISIS fighters in Libya has roughly doubled in the past 12 to 18 months.

General David Rodriguez said that there are between 4,000 and 6,000 fighters there now, mainly in Sirte and with some in Benghazi and the east.

Related: ISIS Rebuffed in Iraq, Syria but Now Threatens Libya: Kerry

Rodriguez said that the U.S. is closely watching the development of a new government in Libya.

He said he anticipates that the U.S. will conduct airstrikes against ISIS in Libya once the new government is developed.

"That's a possibility as are many other things," Rodriguez said"

He added that the U.S. has said they will support the developing government of national accord there.

For months U.S. officials have warned about the rise of ISIS in Libya and have worried that the terrorist group could seize that country's oil reserves and wealth. In February, Secretary of State John Kerry stressed the importance of Libya's new unity government's efforts to keep the terrorists at bay.

"The last thing in the world you want is a false caliphate with access to billions of dollars of oil revenue," Kerry told ministers and officials from 23 countries at a conference in Rome in February.

The manager of a NSW prison has been stood down after a young Islamic State supporter allegedly attacked a former Australian soldier in a jail cell.

The 18-year-old allegedly carved “e4e” into his cellmate’s head, an apparent reference to the terrorist group’s “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” mantra, after lockdown at Kempsey prison on Thursday afternoon.

“As a result of that I have decided to suspend the general manager of the correctional centre pending the outcome of this investigation,” the New South Wales corrective services commissioner, Peter Severin, told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

“If you are radicalised and at risk of engaging in violent extremism, you need to be locked up.

“You need to be very highly controlled.”


Tony Abbott: I was right to put national security before moral posturing
 Read more
Severin said the teenager should have been placed in a high-risk management correctional centre and has now been transferred to one.

It is alleged the 18-year-old also placed a towel over his cell mate’s face and poured boiling water onto him.

The 40-year-old former soldier was rushed to hospital with injuries to his head and sternum and burns to his face.

The teenager has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm and choking.

Severin said the decision to stand down the prison manager was not taken lightly.

“We really have to make sure that not only do we have good procedures in place, but they’re adhered to.”

A full investigation into the management of radicalised prisoners will also be launched.

The corrections minister, David Elliott, said he was outraged by the alleged attack.

“I will ask the inspector of custodial services for a full and thorough investigation of the management of radicalised prisoners in the system, including the assault,” Elliott said.
A spokesman for the Public Sector Association, Steve McMahon, said the department hadn’t taken the alleged attacker’s extremist views seriously and should have placed him in segregation.

“The 18-year-old, in our belief, had presented enough information and bad behaviour to have been segregated, or at the very least, been put in a single cell,” McMahon said.

The charged teenager will face Kempsey local court on May 23.

The Navy is getting two new attack submarines

The submarine fleet will welcome two new Virginia-class fast attack subs, the USS Colorado (SSN 788) and the USS Washington (SSN 787). While new Virginia-class subs typically feature the latest and greatest tech in submarine warfare, everything from improved sensors to better acoustic camouflage, the specifics are classified for obvious reasons.

THEY WERE SEARCHING FOR PUTIN, THEY FOUND POROSHENKO, CAMERON…

It was discovered that about 140 politicians from more than 50 countries is connected directly or indirectly with fictitious companies in 21 tax haven – Name of Vladimir Putin is not mentioned in the documents
Frankfurt, Heidelberg – Munich daily newspaper “Sueddeutsche Zeitung” yesterday has succeeded to shake the world with the help of numerous media partners by releasing part of the documents revealing that there are hundreds of heads of state, kings, politicians, athletes, officials, business people, celebrities and their relatives and close friends who have, through a Panamanian law firm “Mossacka Fonseka”, founded the companies in so-called tax havens, mostly in order to avoid paying taxes, but also to verify the origin of the money.

Analyzing 11 million documents obtained by the “Sueddeutsche Zeitung”, about 400 journalists members of the international research team have identified 140 politicians from more than 50 countries that are linked directly or indirectly with companies in 21 tax havens.

Who is mentioned in the “Panama papers”

Frankfurt, Heidelberg – In addition to Putin, Cameron’s and Poroshenko friends and relatives, discovered documentation of Panamanian law firm discovers that fictitious companies in tax havens are owned by Al Mubarak, son of the deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the current President of the Argentine Mauricio Macri and his predecessor Cristina Kirchner, then Saudi king Salman, the family of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, relatives of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the sister of former Spanish king Juan Carlos, officials close to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, as well as relatives of Chinese officials, including the husband of a sister of Chinese President Xi Jinping and daughter of former Chinese premier Li Peng. Of all the politicians whose names are detected, the largest internal political scandal has erupted in Iceland, because the local Premier Zigmundur Gunlagson was accused of concealing millions of dollars through secret offshore companies and in that way took part in the collapse of the banking system that destroyed the economy of this country. In fact, the documents revealed that a quarter of the current government has a fictitious company – Prime Minister, Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktson and Interior Minister Olof Noral. Besides them, the list is Olof Horal, chairman of the ruling Progressive Party, and some of the richest people of Iceland.

While the British media primarily posted story suspecting that Russian President Vladimir Putin over his close friend secretly controls about two billion euros, “Sueddeutsche Zeitung” published not only the text of Putin’s relationships, but also about the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko , members of the ethics committee of FIFA, football player Lionel Messi, the Saudi king Salman, President of the Argentine Mauricio Macri and Icelandic Prime Minister Zigmunduru Gunlaugsonu and members of his Cabinet. And just when it seemed that all this is just catching on Putin’s financial secrets, to light was washed up financial dirty underwear of British Prime Minister family.

Based on the analysis of documents, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists claims that people close to Putin faked payments, changing dates on documents and secretly gained influence over the Russian media, the automotive industry and gunsmith companies. “The Guardian” and the BBC point out that Putin’s name in the documentation is not mentioned, but they claim that Putin’s associates are involved in the chain of money laundering through offshore arrangements and loans worth two billion dollars, and that this operation was managed by the Bank Rossi, which is under US and EU sanctions because of the Russian annexation of Crimea.

According to “The Guardian”, the documents suggest that Putin’s family had benefited from this money, but it seems that he can spend a fortune of his friends too. In the whole story is particularly prominent a role of steel concert owner Sergei Roldugina, a longtime friend of Putin from St. Petersburg, who allegedly through offshore companies provided the influence on the arms factory and media outlets in Russia. The documentation indicates that Roldugin is owner of companies that have profited from the fraudulent transactions, fraudulent contracts for consulting, non-commercial loans from Russian state-owned banks and the purchase of property paying unrealistically low prices. Beside Roldugin, the documentation discovered doubtful operations of Russian billionaires, brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, who are Putin’s friends from childhood. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that these allegations are meant to discredit Putin on the eve of the election.

“The main target of disinformation is our president, particularly in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections and in the long term, presidential elections for two years”, Peskov said at a press conference in Moscow, adding that “putinofobia” abroad has reached such a level that it is virtually a taboo to say something good about Russia. “But it is necessary to say bad things, a lot of bad things, but when there is nothing to say, then they should be invented. To us this is obvious”.

While the Russian media in their reports avoided publication of amounts and through which people money supposedly was taken for Putin’s account, they did not fail to declare that the Radical Party of Ukraine seeks dismissal of the Ukrainian president because it was found that during the conflict with the Ukrainian pro-Russian forces he founded the offshore company.

His financial advisors say that this was done so “Rosen”, a company of which he is owner and which he promised to sell during the presidential election, would become more attractive to potential buyers. However, they avoid to mention that it also means that Poroshenko will save millions of dollars because he will not pay taxes to Ukraine, just at the moment when the Ukrainian government actively opposes offshore companies, which annually in Ukraine manage to avoid paying taxes in the total amount of about 11.6 billion dollars.

In defiance of all this, the Ukrainian State Prosecutor Vladislav Kutsenko yesterday officially announced that the preliminary analysis of this information has not observed that Poroshenko has violated any law.

For now the French President Francois Hollande is first and only world leader who welcomed this “leakage” of information, thanking whistleblowers who forwarded the document about users of tax havens.

“All informations that were discovered will lead to an investigation by the tax authorities and appropriate legal consequences”, said Oland, and similarly reacted the head of British diplomacy, Philip Hammond, who said that it is “always interesting when information like this leak because they are an indicator of how the people who do not work according to the law are becoming vulnerable whet they engage in such activities”.

He also announced that the Prime Minister Cameron in May will organize Summit on Anti-Corruption, and in cooperation with Panama “they make serious progress”. However, at this point, Hammond may not have been aware that the target of the investigation is the family member of his party chief and prime minister. “Panama papers” contain documentation about the late father of Prime Minister David Cameron, Ian Cameron, that is, about his fictional company for which the British media claims that it was used for tax evasion in the UK. “The Guardian” has received confirmation that in thirty-year doing business, company of Ian Cameron did not pay a penny of tax in the UK.

What is “Mossack Fonseka”?

Frankfurt, Heidelberg – “Mossack Fonseka” is the law firm stationed in Panama, which for clients around the world provides the creation and management of offshore companies in tax havens such as Switzerland, Cyprus, British Virgin Islands, Belize… The company was founded by Ramon Fonseca and Jurgen Mossack, sons of Germans who on the eve of the Second World War fled from Europe. The company insists that it does not help crimes like money laundering and tax evasion, but it can not be blamed for any failure of intermediaries, including banks, law firms and accountants.

The prime minister’s spokesman declined to comment on whether the family Cameron still has money in a Panamanian offshore funds.

“This is a private matter. We are focused on the work of the government”, she said, refusing to comment on the new findings on the operations of the prime minister’s father. “Most of you know that in 2012 it was written about that, and then we respond to the charges. We have nothing to add”.

There are some good legal reasons for individual people and companies to use company established in Panama or another tax haven for their business, but hundreds of journalists who analyzed the enormous documentation “leaked” from “Mossack Fonseka” do not believe that this is the motivation of many whose names are revealed in this document, called “Panama papers”.

“Owning an offshore company is not illegal. There are a number of companies for which it is logical… but when you look at “Panama papers” you quickly realize that in most cases it comes down to concealing the real owners of companies, said the “Sueddeutsche Zeitung”.

According to Georg Mascolo, head of the research team in “Sueddeutsche Zeitung”, and two regional German public broadcasters NDR and VDR, never before existed an glimpse of this magnitude in the operations of these tax havens.

“Not all illegal and illegitimate. But we see that this system of fictitious companies is incredibly well tailored for abuse”, said Mascolo for the first channel of the German public broadcaster ARD.


For now the “Sueddeutsche Zeitung” has not revealed whether the documentation has mentioned any famous Germans, but certainly it will happen in next few days, since it published graphics that indicates that in Germany there are 173 companies, 53 clients and 251 shareholder who used the services of “Mossack Fonseka”. According to a spokesman for German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, Martin Jaeger, he hopes that the reports based on “leaked” documents will strengthen the fight against tax evasion and money laundering.

SAUDI ARABIA WILL CLOSE ITS PORTS FOR IRAN’S OIL TANKERS

Saudi Arabia has apparently banned its territorial waters for Iranian oil shipments. As well the ports of Bahrain, according to this, are no longer to be approached by ships that are carrying Iranian oil. This is apparent from a newsletter from an insurance company and has not been officially confirmed.

Saudi Arabia has taken action against its rival Iran. As the Financial Times reports, the country has banned its territorial waters for Iranian oil shipments. Ships of the neighboring country are not allowed to call into Saudi ports any more. As a source a newsletter of an insurance company serves, which was sent around in February. According to it, it prohibits access for ships that have Iranian oil on board and also applies for the waters of Bahrain. The letter of the insurance company supposedly also states that ships, which have been operating in Iranian ports, have to get a special permission from the authorities for transit.

Officials have not yet confirmed the sanction. Neither the Saudi oil company Aramco nor the state shipping company have spoken to the Financial Times. Iranian officials had expressed concern about the circulation of the newsletter. The measures would interfere with the sale of oil.

While Saudi Arabia and Bahrain own only few shares in the Persian Gulf, Riad does have a stake in a major oil storage facility in the Mediterranean, to which Iran previously had no access. The pipeline of Arab Petroleum Pipeline Company that can transfer oil from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, Iran is not allowed to use. In this project Saudi Arabia also owns shares.

Although no official position of the Saudi government exists, the mere rumor of the ban seems to be working. “It is considered an incalculable risk. No one wants to jeopardies its relations with the Saudis,” said one shipbroker quoted by Financial Times. Saudi Arabia had announced last Friday that it would agree to a long discussed limitation of oil production only, if Iran is bound by the Agreement as well. Iran rejected the demands and emphasized that they would move up production to at least to the extent that it had been before the start of Western sanctions.

MILITANTS SHOT DOWN SYRIAN SU-22, KILLED EJECTED PILOT IN SOUTH ALEPPO

A Syrian Su-22 fighter-bomber has been downed by militants in the village of Tel Eis in Southern Aleppo, Syria. Tel Eis is under control of Al Nusra and Free Syrian Army units which operate in serried ranks in this area.

A pilot rejected from the warplane, but he was captured and reportedly killed by militants.

RUSSIA CALLS TURKEY TO ABADON USING FORCE AGAINST KURDS

Moscow insists on participation of the representatives of the Syrian Kurds in the negotiations on the Syrian conflict, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Zakharova said during Weekly Press Briefing on Wednesday, April 6.

Zakharova added that Russia is concerned over violence in Turkey’s Kurdish-populated provinces and called the Turkish government to stop military actions to solve the “Kurdish issue”. The Russian official said it’s a dead-end method.

ISIS WITH NEW WEAPON DELIVERIES

ISIS may have gotten anti-aircraft weapons.
Information has come to light that the Islamic State has acquired anti-aircraft weaponry from an international cell in Kuwait. The information came from Kuwait’s Interior Ministry. In the statement, it’s said that a 45-year-old Lebanese national has been detained as a ringleader and has given information on the international cell which was operating in the country on behalf of ISIS.

Although five members of the cell were detained, another four are on the run from authorities outside Kuwait. The international cell was responsible for making arms deals for ISIS, acquiring Chinese-made FN-6 air defense systems, according to the Kuwaiti Interior Minister. Details have emerged that the first of the weaponry has been shipped from Ukraine to Turkey and then on to Syria.

Others involved in the cell were Syrians, one Kuwaiti, one Egyptian and four others who are on the run outside the country. Those on the run are Aussie-Lebanese nationals along with two Syrians.


The Ringleader, 45-year-old Osama Khayat,  admitted to also funneling funds into Turkish bank accounts for the Islamic State as well as carrying out a propaganda campaign on behalf of the terrorist group. Interior Ministry said that the cell was discovered amid a crackdown in the terrorist activities in the country.

Black Hornet drones will reach Army units

These mini-drones weigh about 18 grams but pack both standard and thermal cameras for reconnoitering enemy positions. U.S. Special Forces tested the drones in 2015 and the British have used them since 2013. PEO-Soldier, the Army office that acquires this kind of gear, is looking to field an unknown number of the drones in 2016.

AH-64D Apache Long Bow

The Boeing AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter was known to be the preeminent

and most powerful anti-armor weapon system in the Gulf War. Designed to perform its combat missions day or night and in adverse weather, the Apache was designed specifically to meet the rigid requirements of the US Army’s Advanced Attack Helicopter Plan. The Apache is equipped with state of the art electronic technology and fire control systems. The firepower is awesome. The Apache can be loaded with 16 AGM-114 Hellfire Missiles, 76 70mm folding-fin aerial rockets or a combination of both – in addition to 1,200 30mm rounds for its M230 automatic cannon.

Barrett Reveals M240LW Machine Gun

Barrett has given the U.S. military’s M240 crew-served belt-fed machine gun a makeover for 2015, and the result is the new M240LW.

barrett_m240lw_machine_gun_1Introduced at the 2015 SHOT Show, the new Barrett M240LW trims around 6 pounds of weight and just over 5 inches in length from the traditional M240B design, offering a more compact and lightweight version of the proven machine gun. The new M240LW weighs 21 pounds and has an overall length of 44 inches. 

Representing Barrett’s first step into crew-served belt-fed machine guns, the 7.62x51mm M240LW features an adjustable stock and a Barrett-designed handguard system that removes the barrel from any contact with the handguard. The lightweight M240 also incorporates a quick-detach (QD) bipod system for dismounted use.