Zitat: IAF expands training for rapid refueling

In preparation for long-range missions and possible conflict with Iran, the Israel Air Force has expanded its training programs to include rapid refueling operations on runways.

It’s a dangerous practice since the aircraft’s engines are running while the fuel nozzle is still connected to the jets. The training is for both pilots and ground crews and it is being done to enable the aircraft to carry as much fuel as possible for long-range missions.

Fuel nozzles are traditionally disconnected from fighter aircraft while they are still parked in hangers and before they are rolled out to the runway, where they usually wait for several minutes before takeoff and while burning fuel. The new protocol includes keeping fuel trucks on the runway, having ground personnel reattach the nozzle and fuel the aircraft to the maximum fullness, disconnecting seconds before takeoff.

Zitat:Mossad chief reportedly visited Saudi Arabia for talks on Iran

Mossad chief Meir Dagan visited Saudi Arabia recently, if unofficial reports published over the weekend on the WorldNetDaily website are accurate. The Internet news site attributed the story to Arab sources.

According to the reports, the talks conducted in Saudi Arabia with the head of Israel's espionage agency dealt with Iran and its nuclear program. The account follows a series of recent reports on increasing secret cooperation between Israel and the Saudis, including defense coordination on matters related to possible military action against Iran's nuclear facilities.

Two months ago, the Times of London reported that during the course of a Saudi military exercise, air defense system operations were halted for a few hours to rehearse a scenario whereby Israeli fighter planes would cross Saudi Arabian air space en route to an attack on Iran.

Arab and Iranian media outlets have also reported Israeli air force planes and helicopters landing in Saudi Arabia for the purposes of positioning equipment there.

Three weeks ago, it was reported that the United Arab Emirates' ambassador in Washington said at a conference that the consequences of nuclear weapons in the hands of the Iranians would be more serious than an Israeli assault, because a nuclear Iran could not be tolerated. His remarks reflect a common concern felt in Israel and the Persian Gulf states over nuclear weapons in Iranian hands.

Zitat:hm, andererseits wie sollen Israelis sonst einen Überaschungseffekt erzielen, Beziehungen mit Türkei sind nicht so gut, Syrien wird kaum freiwillig mitspielen, in Irak gibt es warscheinlich viele iranische Agenten.

Zitat:So gesehen ist die Zusammenarbeit mit den Saudis beste Option.

Zitat:Und aus operativer Sicht hat der Iran kaum eine Möglichkeit frühzeitig gewarnt zu werden.

Zitat:Wenn sie Pech haben werden sie erst merken was sich hinter den zivilen Codes verbirgt wenn es längst zu spät ist.

Shahab3 schrieb:Ein Angriff kann durchaus außerhalb des iranischen Luftraums entdeckt werden. Der Radarschirm reicht mWn relativ weit in die benachbarten Länder hinein. Über dem Irak, dem Westen Afghanistan und dem südlichen Persischen Golf sind alle Mücken auf dem Schirm.

Shahab3 schrieb:Das schließt nicht aus, dass Flugzeuge eines Angreifers im Tiefflug über den Persischen Golf das Radar unterfliegen könnten und damit bspw. einen Überraschungsangriff auf den Reaktor in Bushehr fliegen.

Shahab3 schrieb:Danach gehts zwangsläufig sofort rauf auf > 6000-10000 ft. sonst ergeht es den israelischen Piloten, wie jenen die in Rumänien den Berg vor der Nase übersehen haben. :wink:

Shahab3 schrieb:Was für zivile Codes meinst Du? Bei Eintritt in einen FIR muss sich jeder Blip identifizieren und dann wird geprüft, ob es diesen Flug gibt und der Kollege muss brav im vereinbarten Airway bleiben und sich an aktuelle NOTAMs halten. Solange das nicht passiert, ist jeder Blib militärisch bzw. feindlich. Es wäre durchaus möglich, dass sich 2-3 Jets im Radarschatten eines regulären Linienflugs verstecken, aber die wären dann ziemlich isoliert und müssten alleine wieder raus.

Shahab3 schrieb:Ganz so einfach ist es also nun nicht...

Zitat:'More than 50% chance of attack on Iran'

Their is a better than fifty percent chance that Israel will launch a military strike against Iran before next July according to an article to be published in the upcoming issue of the journal the Atlantic. The article's author, Jeffrey Goldberg, gleaned this information from interviews he conducted over the last year-and-a-half with forty current and past Israel decision makers.

Goldberg claimed to have spoken with people in and out of government from various political parties. The consensus among them was that Iran is one to three years away from the ability to create a nuclear weapon. This fact coupled with Iran's publicly displayed animosity toward Israel makes a nuclear Islamic Republic a threat to Israel's existence, and therefore a likely candidate to face an Israeli military strike.

Zitat:17.08.2010, 04:00
Abschreckung statt Diplomatie
Israel wirbt für Luftschlag gegen Iran
Exklusiv
Israel fordert von den USA eine glaubhafte militärische Drohung gegen das iranische Atomprogramm. Washington müsse die Bereitschaft zu einem Luftangriff zeigen, sollte Teheran nicht doch noch im Atomstreit einlenken, sagte ein hochrangiger israelischer Militärvertreter der FTD.
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Auch der Iran hat seine Drohungen verschärft und Schläge gegen Israel und US-Stützpunkte angekündigt, sollten die Atomanlagen angegriffen werden. In Israel ist die Furcht vor einem ausufernden Krieg nach einem Angriff auf den Iran aber nicht so groß wie die vieler westlicher Beobachter. Die größten Befürchtungen richten sich auf die Hisbollah, die ihr Raketenarsenal im Libanon kräftig aufgestockt habe.

Zitat:NYT links Iran worm to bible

File named 'Myrtus', moniker for Esther, has experts believing Israel planted virus in Iran's computers

Computer specialists charged with examining the Stuxnet computer virus, which has reportedly infected Iranian nuclear infrastructure, have found that one of its files was named 'Myrtus', a moniker used to refer to Esther in the biblical book by her name.

New York Times report published Thursday says another biblical clue found in the virus's code was the word 'guava', a fruit belonging to the Myrtus family. The report names as its source Ralph Langner, a German computer security consultant and the first to devise that the worm was a pointed cyber attack.

The word 'Myrtus' is most simply used as a name for a family of fruit, also used for religious purposes during the Sukkot holiday, but some computer analysts see it as a biblical clue linking Israel to the attempt at breaking into Iran's nuclear technology.

However other analysts see the clue as a red herring intended at focusing suspicion on Israel and thus removing it from other possible culprits.

So far both Israel and the US, both immediate suspects in any attack on Tehran's nuclear program, have kept silent on the matter, and experts say the mystery may never be solved.

Zitat:14.10.2010, 11:00
Ahmadinedschad-Besuch
Die Schuld des Westens an der Libanon-Krise
Leitartikel
Es sind die Termine fernab des offiziellen Programms, die den Charakter des Besuchs offenbaren: Am Donnerstag wird der iranische Staatschef Mahmud Ahmadinedschad im Südlibanon nahe der israelischen Grenze eine klare Botschaft an den Westen senden: Wenn ihr den Iran angreift, wird hier die Kriegsfront verlaufen.
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Zitat:‘Stuxnet virus set back Iran’s nuclear program by 2 years'

Top German computer consultant tells 'Post' virus was as effective as military strike, a huge success; widespread speculation says IDF MI Unit 8200 may have been possible creator.


“It will take two years for Iran to get back on track,” Langer said in a telephone interview from his office in Hamburg, Germany. “This was nearly as effective as a military strike, but even better since there are no fatalities and no full-blown war. From a military perspective, this was a huge success.”

[...]

“It is extremely difficult to clean up installations from Stuxnet, and we know that Iran is no good in IT [information technology] security, and they are just beginning to learn what this all means,” he said. “Just to get their systems running again they have to get rid of the virus, and this will take time, and then they need to replace the equipment, and they have to rebuild the centrifuges at Natanz and possibly buy a new turbine for Bushehr.”

Widespread speculation has named Israel’s Military Intelligence Unit 8200, known for its advanced Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities, as the possible creator of the software, as well as the United States.

Langer said that in his opinion at least two countries – possibly Israel and the United States – were behind Stuxnet.

Israel has traditionally declined comment on its suspected involvement in the Stuxnet virus, but senior IDF officers recently confirmed that Iran had encountered significant technological difficulties with its centrifuges at the Natanz enrichment facility.

“We can say that it must have taken several years to develop, and we arrived at this conclusion through code analysis, since the code on the control systems is 15,000 lines of code, and this is a huge amount,” Langer said.

“This piece of evidence led us to conclude that this is not by a hacker,” he continued. “It had to be a country, and we can also conclude that even one nation-state would not have been able to do this on its own.”

[...]

Zitat:A Tehran street to be named after Rachel Corrie

TEHRAN, Jan. 5 (MNA) -- Tehran City Councilor Masoumeh Abad announced on Wednesday that one of Tehran’s streets will be named after Rachel Corrie.
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Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).

She was crushed to death in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bulldozer when she was kneeling in front of a local Palestinian's home, thus acting as a human shield, attempting to prevent IDF forces from demolishing the home.
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