The Pantsyr has an interception range of up to 12 kilometers and detection range of 30 kilometers. The system can engage two air targets simultaneously.
"The end user for 10 of the systems is Teheran," a source close to the deal told Jane's on May 21.
Iran helped finance the Pantsyr sale to Damascus and Iran plans to take delivery in late 2008.
In 2005, Iran and Syria signed a strategic cooperation agreement that increased the flow of technology and facilitated joint arms purchases. The agreement has been enhanced over the past few months amid the threat of a U.S. air strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The Pantsyr-S1E, produced by the Tula-based KBP Instrument Design Bureau, is a close-in air defense system that can destroy fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, ballistic and cruise missiles, precision-guided munitions and unmanned air vehicles. In 2000, the UAE ordered 50 such systems in a project delayed by three years because of a request for further development.
The UAE has received the first enhanced Pantsyr with a new radar. Deliveries of the air defense systems, half of which would be mounted on Russian-origin GM-352M1E vehicles, are scheduled to continue through 2009.
Western intelligence sources said Iran has offered to finance Russian arms purchases for Syria, including the TOR-M1 short-range mobile air defense system, and plans to procure the S-300PMU1 air and missile defense system for both Damascus and Teheran.
"With Security Council sanctions on Iran, the only way Russia could sell weapons is through Syria," an intelligence source said.
___________________________________________________________________
Russia Promises 'Sword' Against U.S. Missile Shield - By The Associated Press
MOSCOW: The official considered to be a leading contender to succeed President Vladimir Putin criticized a landmark Soviet-U.S. arms treaty as being a "relic of the Cold War," and promised that Russia would have a "sword" capable of piercing a U.S. missile shield.
During a two-hour news conference Wednesday, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov harshly criticized U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying that Moscow does not trust Washington's claims that they are intended to fend off potential missile threats from Iran.
"A radar the U.S. is planning to deploy in the Czech Republic will be capable of scanning airspace up to the Ural Mountains," he said.
Ivanov said that Russia was not going to build a strategic missile defense system similar to the one the United States is developing but would take "adequate steps" to respond to the U.S. move. "A more efficient sword can be found for every shield," he said.
Ivanov also criticized the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed in 1987 by the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan. It eliminated an entire class of midrange missiles then based in Europe.
Ivanov called the treaty "a relic, a rudiment of the Cold War," saying that dozens of nations had developed intermediate range missiles since the pact was signed and that many of them are located close to Russia's borders. But he stopped short of saying that Moscow would opt out of the pact.
Ivanov also defended Putin's move to suspend Russia's observance of another critical Cold War-era agreement - the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty - which limits the number of military aircraft, tanks and other non-nuclear heavy weapons around Europe.
At the same time, he rejected claims of a new Cold War, saying that Russia and the United States have been cooperating productively in preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
"Russia isn't the Soviet Union. Russia isn't going to return to an arms race, and our military budget proves that," he said, adding that the country's military budget accounted for around 2.7 percent of gross domestic product, compared with one-third of GDP in Soviet times.
Ivanov made statements on a gamut of issues during the news conference, from global security to children's sports, in what sounded like a presentation of his election program.
Putin has not yet endorsed any potential contender for the election next March, and Ivanov has not declared whether he will run. However, he and another first deputy prime minister, Dmitri Medvedev, are widely seen as leading candidates being groomed by the Kremlin.
Ivanov, a KGB veteran like Putin, praised the country's growing economic might and military power, saying Russia ranks among the top 10 economies in the world.
"Russia is one of the leading global powers, and it will remain such, not only because of its powerful military but also because of its economy and intellect," he said.
Polish and U.S. officials met Thursday to discuss a proposed missile defense base in Poland, The Associated Press reported from Warsaw.
Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga said the talks with Washington, which began last week, were "interesting" but "we should not jump to conclusions as to their outcome."
___________________________________________________________________
Connecting the Dots — The Islamification of America Is Rapidly Accelerating - by Bill Wilson, KIN Senior Analyst - http://www.watch.org/
An analysis of the Pew Research Center poll on the Muslim population in the United States indicates that America is becoming increasingly vulnerable each day to a possible hostile environment within its own borders, especially as extremist attitudes among young Muslims increase support for suicide bombings and justify terrorism. Pew reports generally that "the first-ever, nationwide, random sample survey of Muslim Americans finds them to be largely assimilated, happy with their lives and moderate with respect to many of the issues that have divided Muslims and Westerners around the world." But this is a case where the devil is truly in the details.
Pew estimates the Muslim population in the U.S. at between 1.5 million to 2.35 million, while others estimate the population to be around 6 million. In other words, no one knows the true number of Muslims in America. Pew found that 8 percent of American Muslims believe suicide bombings can be justified "often" or "sometimes." That means 120,000 of the lowest estimate of the U.S. Muslim population believes suicide bombings are justified. If the highest estimate is used, 480,000 American Muslims believe in using suicide bombings. But Pew found that 83 percent of American Muslims believe suicide bombings are "rarely or never justified"; however, there were no figures released on how many Muslims in that category believe suicide bombings are rarely justified.
Pew found that younger Muslims between the ages of 18 and 29 are far more radical than the older generation. At 15 percent, younger Muslims are nearly three times as likely to believe suicide bombings are justified. While a large number of adult Muslims, 41 percent, think of themselves as Muslim first rather than American, an even larger number of young Muslims, 60 percent, think of themselves as Muslim first. The Muslim youth are nearly twice as likely as adult Muslims, 42 percent to 28 percent, to believe there is a conflict between devout faith and modern life. And Muslim youth are about 1-1/2 times more likely to attend a mosque on a regular weekly basis than their adult counterparts.
The young generation of Muslims in the United States is far more radical in its beliefs than is the last generation. And while, on the surface, Pew found that American Muslims are generally assimilated and moderate, 77 percent of them are dissatisfied with the United States as a country.
An Islamic revolution is brewing in America at a rapid pace, especially among the able-bodied and bold younger generation. When God pronounced judgment on Babylon, a country that looked very similar to the America of today, He said in Jeremiah 51:14 (NKJV), "I will fill you with men, as with locusts; and they shall raise up a battle cry against you."
The locusts are among us, and the battle cry is on the horizon.
____________________________________________________________________
Tactics of the enemy - Greg Laurie - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/ and http://www.harvest.org/
Talk about having it made in the shade! When God created Adam and Eve, He placed them in a veritable paradise. It was beautiful to say the least, and they enjoyed direct communication with God Himself!
Adam's job description was to tend and keep the garden, discovering and marveling in all God had done and walking in fellowship with Him.
The first couple was told they could eat of any tree in the garden – except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And yet there was Eve, hanging out by that very tree.
Why is it that we are always attracted to that which can harm us? You tell a child to not touch a certain thing or go to a certain place and that's exactly where he will be when given a chance. It's human nature!
Satan was saying, "Eve, you can be a goddess! Adam, you can be a god – just take a bite and see."
That was the bite felt around the world.
Satan certainly knows how to package his wares.
But God told Adam and Eve, and us, not to sin for good reason.
In our warped minds, we think that God is keeping something good from us. Scripture, however, tells us: "No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).
God gave them a warning, and they ignored it.
The book of Genesis records how our first parents ignored the warning, were fatally injured and had no one to blame but themselves (Genesis 3:1-13).
Of course, Satan, the devil, was there too, waiting for an opportunity to lead Eve astray. Here are three ploys he used to bring her to ruin.
Ploys, I might add, that he is still using today.
No. 1: He questioned God's word.
Satan didn't deny God had spoken. He simply questioned whether God had really said what Eve thought He had said. He wanted her to think that perhaps she had misunderstood God's command. He wanted to "interpret" God's words for Eve. It's the same in our world today. Satan still twists the truth to try to alienate people from God.
No. 2: He questioned God's love.
Satan wanted to make Eve think that God was holding something back from her. In reality, God Himself had placed this lone restriction in Adam and Eve's life to keep them from sin and its painful consequences! In the same way, the barriers God places in our lives are there because He loves us.
No. 3: He substituted his own lie.
Satan led Eve to believe if she ate of the tree she would become like God. At that point, Eve had a choice: She could take God at His word, or believe Satan's lie.
Satan knows that our minds are "command central." This is where we reason, fantasize and imagine. Through our imaginations we can reach into the future, and in our memories we can reach into the past. The devil will try to get a foothold in your thinking. He will attempt to make you second-guess what God has said in His Word, or try to get you to dwell on the "what ifs" in life.
Our counterattack is found in II Corinthians 10:4-5: "I use God's mighty weapons, not those made by men, to knock down the devil's strongholds. These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding him."
Having eaten now of the "forbidden fruit," something unusual happened to Adam and Eve: The Bible says, "The eyes of both of them were opened." That is, their eyes were opened to the earth, but closed to heaven.
So what happened next?
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:3).
When God didn't find Adam waiting in their usual meeting place, He called out to him, "Adam, where are you?"
I believe there was hurt in that voice, but love as well, as a Father called out to His wayward son.
And there was Adam, the crown of God's creation, cowering behind a bush in fear. He then asked Adam and Eve a series of questions in that terrible moment.
Who told you that you were naked?
Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?
What is this you have done?
Obviously, God already knew the answers to those questions, but He wanted to be sure they understood their actions. He was looking for an admission of wrongdoing, an admission of sin. He desired nothing short of a full-blown confession.
Instead of acknowledging his sin, however, Adam offered the mother of all excuses – in fact, it was the first recorded excuse in all of human history. "The woman who you gave to be with me …" Adam was in essence saying, "This is Your doing. It's the woman You gave me!"
That's what sin does. It blinds you to reality. We dare to blame God for the stupid decisions we sometimes make in life.
But God wanted fellowship restored with Adam.
That would ultimately be accomplished through the death of God's own son, Jesus Christ, when He died on the cross.
God desires to walk with you in the cool of the day, just as He had enjoyed the company and fellowship of the first human beings. He wants to draw near to you, comfort you, instruct you, guide you and lead you into a life of abundance and joy. He wants to be an intimate part of your life.
Could He be calling out to you right now, just as He called out to Adam?
Where are you?
How did you get to this place?
Do you want to change?
If so, you need to come to Jesus, and ask Him to help you do just that. He's just a prayer away.
___________________________________________________________________
Maranatha ! - (Lord Come Quickly)
"On Christ the SOLID ROCK I stand, all other ground is sinking sand"
YBIC-Randy
.JPG)
+map.jpg)
+2007.JPG)
.JPG)
Posts
