'From Berlin with love' - Germany's Federal Security Council has approved the export of a fifth submarine to Israel.

'From Berlin with love' - Germany's Federal Security Council has approved the export of a fifth submarine to Israel. (SP).

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.

A recent report titled 'German Submarines — Capabilities and Potential', written by Captain Raimund Wallner, and published by the Royal United Services Institute in London, says:

"To sum up, one may say that due to their characteristics of compactness, covertness, sustainability and high combat power, submarines made in Germany are already able to meet the majority of the demands which today's and future scenarios pose to underwater platforms. Hmmm......To boldly go to Iran. Read the full story here.

"Run Silent - Run Deep" Israel’s Newest, Most Expensive Weapon: The INS Tanin Submarine.

"Run Silent - Run Deep" Israel’s Newest, Most Expensive Weapon: The INS Tanin Submarine.(Algemeiner).

In a commemoration aboard Israel’s 4th and newest submarine, the INS Tanin (”crocodile,” or “alligator”), the IDF on Sunday held a wreath-laying ceremony at the site where 69 soldiers of INS Dakar went down with the ship, in the Mediterranean Sea some 270 miles off the Israeli coast in 1968, the Israeli army said.

“We will guard, protect, and act in any enemy coast, and fight bravely for the navy and the state of Israel,” Adm. Ram Rothberg, said at the event, The Jerusalem Post noted.

Referring to the prowess of the new Dolphin-class craft, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz said that, “Without a doubt, this power, operationally and strategically, is very important for Israel, the IDF and the navy.”

The INS Tanin is the most expensive weapon currently in IDF service, at a cost of over $513 million dollars, and is considered one of the most sophisticated submarines in the world.

“More than four decades passed since INS Dakar’s last voyage… Although the threats have changed, and today you have the most modern equipment, the most advanced technologies, and the most quality means, the mission remains the same mission that the INS Dakar personnel were sent on, and the responsibility is the same. To protect the Israeli coast, sea waters, and working with all of the IDF’s branches to achieve the relevant goals,” Gantz said.

In addition to the IDF’s top brass, three survivors of the Dakar were aboard: Abraham Szabo, Israel Rosen and Abraham Carmel.

The three, who were supposed to have boarded the submarine, at the last minute received orders to remain dockside and wait a few days before another ship was scheduled to arrive in Israel, according to Israel’s NRG News.

According to the Defense Industry Daily, the diesel-electric attack submarine will be outfitted with its Israeli systems after arrival at a specially-made, secretive dock in Haifa.

The sub is reportedly designed for a crew of 35 and can support 10 passengers. It is said to have a maximum speed of 20 knots, and a maximum range of 2,700 miles (4,500 km).

The craft can fire torpedoes and missiles, perform underwater surveillance, and launch combat swimmers out of wet and dry compartments.

According to Janes, the Dolphin-class subs are reportedly nuclear-armed, possibly with Israel’s Popeye Tubo cruise missile.

The official festive welcoming ceremony is set for Tuesday in Haifa.

The next craft in the fleet, the INS Rahav is scheduled to arrive in Israel during 2015, with a sixth projected to arrive in 2019.

Watch the ceremony HERE.

Take an inside look at the most formidable, and expensive weapon, in Israel’s arsenal HERE.

Hmmm.....Erdogan's BFF and 'Israel's staunchest Ally' Pres Obama is delivering State of the art Torpedoes to Turkey.


 The Mk-48 is a huge 533mm torpedo (19 feet long, 3,500+ pounds) with advanced homing, wire guidance capabilities, and devastating consequences when its 300kg warhead hits a target. It is designed to kill both fast, deep-diving nuclear submarines and high performance surface ships.

PHOTOS: PM Netanyahu at ceremony upon arrival of IDF's new INS Tanin Submarine today. pic.twitter.com/bRAkwtz1Lx

— Israel News Feed (@IsraelHatzolah) September 23, 2014

Video - North Korean sites hacked by Anonymous.

Video - North Korean sites hacked by Anonymous. HT: SunNewsNetwork.The notorious hacker collective Anonymous has taken credit for a number of successful attacks against North Korean websites.

The state-controlled news site Uriminzokkiri was offline as of Thursday morning. Its Twitter account was taken over, posting links to other North Korean sites that were taken offline, including Air Koryo, the country's airline.

Uriminzokkiri's Flickr page was filled with unofficial pictures Thursday, including one depicting leader Kim Jong-un as a pig, one that said "We are Anonymous," and images of the iconic Guy Fawkes mask that serves as the hacker group's logo.

According to North Korea Tech, a Japanese site that monitors the state of technology in the censorship-heavy dictatorship, Anonymous has claimed responsibility for the attacks and has posted a list of 9,000 registered Uriminzokkiri users.

Very few people in North Korea have access to the Internet. The attacks comes as the reclusive nation ramps up its nuclear production and threatens the U.S. and South Korea.Read the full story here.

North Korea moves medium range missile, warns army cleared to wage nuclear war.

                                   New North Korean  'propaganda' vid released.

North Korea moves medium range missile, warns army cleared to wage nuclear war.(TOI).The North Korean army warned Washington Thursday that its military had been cleared to wage an attack using “smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear” weapons.

The statement came shortly before the North Korean army began moving a medium-range missile to the country’s eastern coast, according to a South Korean news agency. The missile, with a 3,000 kilometer range capable of hitting South Korea, Japan and Guam, may be meant as a show of strength by the regime in Pyongyang.

The threat from the unnamed army spokesman early Thursday was latest in a series of escalating warnings from North Korea, which has railed for weeks against joint US and South Korean military exercises taking place in South Korea and has expressed anger over tightened sanctions for a February nuclear test.

The spokesman said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency that troops have been authorized to counter US aggression with “powerful practical military counteractions,” including nuclear weapons.

Earlier in the day, the Pentagon said it would set up a missile shield in the Pacific against an attack by Pyongyang.

The delivery of the missile shield system in Guam comes as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel labeled North Korea’s recent rhetoric as a real, clear danger and threat to the US and its Asia-Pacific allies. The Pentagon chief said the US is doing all it can to defuse the situation.

Deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System is the latest step the US has taken to bolster forces in the region in a far-reaching show of force aimed at countering the North Korean threat.

The Pentagon already has sent dispatched bombers, stealth fighters and ships.

North Korea’s nuclear strike capabilities remain unclear. Pyongyang is believed to be working toward building an atomic bomb small enough to mount on a long-range missile but is thought to be several years from being capable of mastering the technology.

Hagel told an audience at the National Defense University that there is a path to peace on the troubled Korean peninsula, but it doesn’t include making nuclear threats or taking provocative actions.

The land-based missile defense system includes a truck-mounted launcher, tracking radar, interceptor missiles, and an integrated fire control system. The Pentagon said the system will boost defenses for American citizens in Guam, a U.S. territory, and U.S. forces stationed there.Read the full story here.

North Korea approves nuclear strike on United States

North Korea approves nuclear strike on United States.(AFP) By Jung Ha-Won. SEOUL — North Korea dramatically escalated its warlike rhetoric on Thursday, warning that it had authorized plans for nuclear strikes on targets in the United States.

"The moment of explosion is approaching fast," the North Korean military said, warning that war could break out "today or tomorrow".

Pyongyang's latest pronouncement came as Washington scrambled to reinforce its Pacific missile defences, preparing to send ground-based interceptors to Guam and dispatching two Aegis class destroyers to the region.

Tension was also high on the North's heavily fortified border with South Korea, after Kim Jong-Un's isolated regime barred South Koreans from entering a Seoul-funded joint industrial park on its side of the frontier.

In a statement published by the state KCNA news agency, the Korean People's Army general staff warned Washington that US threats would be "smashed by... cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means".

"The merciless operation of our revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified," the statement said.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel earlier said Pyongyang represented a "real and clear danger" to the United States and to its allies South Korea and Japan.

"They have nuclear capacity now, they have missile delivery capacity now," Hagel said after a strategy speech at the National Defense University. "We take those threats seriously, we have to take those threats seriously.
"We are doing everything we can, working with the Chinese and others, to defuse that situation on the peninsula."

The Pentagon said it would send ground-based THAAD missile-interceptor batteries to protect military bases on the island of Guam, a US territory some 3,380 kilometres (2,100 miles) southeast of North Korea and home to 6,000 American military personnel, submarines and bombers. They would complement two Aegis anti-missile destroyers already dispatched to the region.Read the full story here.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges talks in North Korea crisis warns that situation has become “Serious”!

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges talks in North Korea crisis warns that situation has become “Serious”!(Yahoo).United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that a crisis over North Korea had gone too far and urged dialogue and negotiation to resolve the situation.

”Nuclear threats are not a game. Aggressive rhetoric and military posturing only result in counter-actions, and fuel fear and instability,” Ban said at a news conference in Andorra, where he was on an official visit.

Earlier on Tuesday, North Korea’s leader appeared to tamp down hostile rhetoric that had threatened impending war with the United States and South Korea. The U.S. has bolstered its forces in the region after a series of threats by Pyongyang to attack U.S. bases in the Pacific and to invade South Korea.

”Things must calm down, as this situation, made worse by the lack of communication, could lead down a path that nobody should want to follow,” Ban said, offering to help the parties to begin talks.

”I am convinced that nobody intends to attack (North Korea) because of disagreements about its political system or foreign policy. However, I am afraid that others will respond firmly to any direct military provocation,” he said. He also called on North Korean authorities to abide by resolutions from the United Nations Security Council.Read the full story here.

China mobilizing troops on Korean border apparently taking North Korea's threats seriously.

China mobilizing troops on Korean border apparently taking North Korea's threats seriously.(FB).

China has placed military forces on heightened alert in the northeastern part of the country as tensions mount on the Korean peninsula following recent threats by Pyongyang to attack, U.S. officials said.

Reports from the region reveal the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently increased its military posture in response to the heightened tensions, specifically North Korea’s declaration of a “state of war” and threats to conduct missile attacks against the United States and South Korea.

According to the officials, the PLA has stepped up military mobilization in the border region with North Korea since mid-March, including troop movements and warplane activity.

China’s navy also conducted live-firing naval drills by warships in the Yellow Sea that were set to end Monday near the Korean peninsula, in apparent support of North Korea, which was angered by ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that are set to continue throughout April.

North Korea, meanwhile, is mobilizing missile forces, including road-mobile short- and medium-range missiles, according to officials familiar with satellite imagery of missile bases.

The missile activity is believed to be North Korea’s response to the ongoing U.S.-South Korean military exercises that last week included highly publicized flights by two B-2 strategic nuclear bombers near North Korean territory as part of annual military exercises.
...

The Chinese military activities near North Korea were detected in Jilin Province, and intelligence reports from the area on March 19 indicated that PLA forces were ordered to go to “Level One” alert status, the highest level of readiness.

Large groups of soldiers were seen on the streets in Ji’an, a city in Jilin, amid reports that the PLA had been ordered to combat readiness status.

PLA heavy armored vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, were reported moving near the Yalu River that separates China from North Korea.

The troops were part of the 190th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, stationed in Benxi, in Liaoning Province. The movements are believed to be related to increased tensions in Korea.
...
Chinese forces along the border responded to some unknown event in North Korea near Siniju on March 21 that involved Chinese fighter jets flying over the area.
...U.S. officials say China’s main fear for its fraternal communist client regime in North Korea is a collapse of order that leads to large-scale refugee flows into China.

Reports from inside North Korea also revealed that North Korean soldiers have been issued bread, instant noodles, sausages, milk, and dried fish that appeared to be supplied by the United Nations as aid meant for the civilian population.Read the full story here.

"A man with a vision" - PTI will hold the biggest ever protest in Pakistan: Imran Khan.

"A man with a vision" - PTI will hold the biggest ever protest in Pakistan: Imran Khan.(Tribune).ISLAMABAD: While the people and the media of Pakistan have not gotten over Tahirul Qadri’s long march, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan announced on Friday that his party will hold the “biggest ever” protest which will “trump all other protests people have seen in the past.”
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Khan said that he had kept his party members on standby for the protest, which is why, he said, he had earlier announced a 7-point agenda.
“Being a political party, we hold the right to lodge protests. About two million people in the United Kingdom took to the streets in order to protest the Iraq killings,” said Khan.
He said that there was a lot of pressure on him from his party members to join Minhajul Quran International chief Qadri’s long march, however, he said that he told his followers to wait for the “right time”.
Khan said that he will lead the protest “only to get free and fair elections conducted in the country.”
Responding to a question, the PTI chief said that there was “no question” of boycotting the elections, because “the upcoming elections are the most important throughout Pakistan’s electoral history.”
While talking about a caretaker setup to be put in place, Khan said that all political parties should sit together to deliberate upon the issue and that the caretaker prime minister should be the one agreed upon by all the parties.
However, he said that so far, no one had approached his party to discuss the caretaker setup.Hmmmmm......"He said that there was a lot of pressure on him from his party members to join Minhajul Quran International chief Qadri’s long march, however, he said that he told his followers to wait for the “right time".......A dangerous intelligent man.Read the full story here.