BRAHMOS MAKES ADVANCES
India’s Brahmos cruise missile is generating worldwide interest, according to defense officials. The low-cost, advanced cruise missile is capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads with a payload of up to 660 lbs. It travels at nearly three times the speed of sound and has a range of 185 miles. Brahmos is a joint venture between India and Russia (named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers) and India has already placed $3 billion in orders over the next 7-8 years. A senior Indian defense official revealed that countries from South America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa have expressed interest in the cruise missile, and the joint venture looks at creating an order book of $13 billion for the missile. A supersonic air-launched version is to be tested in 2012 and the Brahmos II, a hypersonic version capable of traveling between five and seven times the speed of sound, is expected to be ready by 2013-2014. (Economic Times September 1, 2010)
TTP TO FTO LIST
The United States State Department has, after considerable delay, declared the Pakistani Taliban or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) a “foreign terrorist organization,” (FTO) subject to comprehensive U.S. government sanctions. The TTP is an umbrella organization of affiliated Pashtun militant groups linked with the Taliban and al Qaeda that operate out of Pakistan’s tribal areas and Khyber Pakhtooknwa (formerly the Northwest Frontier Province). The TTP has waged a violent campaign against the Pakistani state, killing thousands of civilians and security officers and has conducted operations against the U.S.-led Coalition in neighboring Afghanistan. America has targeted TTP leaders with CIA-operated, unmanned aerial drones in Pakistan’s tribal areas and congressional leaders have long pressed to have the TTP labeled an FTO but the State Department argued it could not legally label the group an FTO until it posed a direct threat to the United States. A failed attempt to set off an explosives-laden vehicle in Times Square last year was traced back to the TTP. The State Department determined the connection was sufficient enough to apply the designation and did so on September 1. (foreignpolicy.com September 1, 2010)
RAJAPAKSA DOES AWAY WITH TERM LIMITS
Sri Lanka’s president has further tightened his grip on power after the country’s parliament voted to do away with term limits for the presidency, creating what some critics are terming a dictatorship. The constitutional amendment, which passed 161-17 in a 225 member parliament, easily achieved the 2/3 majority needed. The vote was boycotted by the main opposition United National Party but another opposition group, the Tamil National Alliance, representing the country’s ethnic Tamil minority, sided with the government to pass the bill. The amendment removes the restriction that limited a president to just two six-year terms and gives the office of President Mahinda Rajapaksa further control over the judiciary, police, and civil service by allowing the president to appoint officials in those areas without the approval of independent commissions, as was required before the amendment. M.A. Sumanthiran of the Tamil National Alliance warned the bill “threatens to finally nail the coffin in which the democracy of this country has been laid,” in a parliamentary debate before the vote. (Washington Times September 8, 2010)
INDIA AND RUSSIA TO BUILD FIFTH GEN FIGHTER
India and Russia are poised to sign a multi-billion co-development agreement this December in a venture to build a fifth generation fighter aircraft capable of competing with America’s F-22 Raptor. In anticipation of President Dimitri Medvedev’s visit in December, negotiators from both countries recently finalized a preliminary design contract. Each side will contribute $6 billion and the development and construction of the fighter is expected to take 8 to 10 years. India will take part in 1/3 of the design effort, including on composite components and high-end electronics and will have to redesign the single-seat fighter into the two-seater favored by the Indian Air Force. The aircraft are expected to compare favorably to the Raptor, which costs around $340 million per fighter on top of development costs. The U.S. produced 187 Raptors. The Indian-Russia fighter, by contrast, is projected to cost $100 million per aircraft and each country is expected to induct around 250 fighters. (India Defence September 10, 2010)
LeT UPS PRESENCE IN AFGHANISTAN
Lashkar e Taiba, an infamous Pakistani militant group responsible for the 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai, India has expanded its activities into Afghanistan in recent years, according to U.S. officials. Once focused exclusively on conducting attacks in Kashmir and urban centers in India, the terrorist group, has broadened its horizons, sending increasing numbers of fighters into neighboring Afghanistan. According to U.S. officials, LeT has “multiple cells” in five Afghan provinces, “actively collaborating with everyone from the Afghan Taliban to the Haqqani network,” an al Qaeda affiliated group responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan. Islamabad formally banned LeT in 2002, but Stephen Tankel of Carnegie Endowment says elements of Pakistan’s intelligence services may well be using the LeT to their strategic advantage in Afghanistan, even if “there’s no smoking gun.” Both Islamabad and the LeT resent Indian influence in Kabul. The Pakistani intelligence services have been linked to at least one massive attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul and Afghan officials have implicated the LeT in a February 26 attack on a guesthouse in Kabul that killed 9 Indian nationals. (Time September 10, 2010)