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The UK is considering sending Starstreak missiles to Ukraine as it increases its support following Russia’s invasion. Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, described how Vladimir Putin’s invading army was inflicting “horrific devastation” on civilian areas. He explained that while the initial commitment was to supply 2,000 anti-tank weapons, Russia’s “indiscriminate and murderous” advance meant the UK’s support would be increased. But what are the Starstreak missiles which could form part of the next consigments to Ukraine? Here’s everything you need to know. What are Starstreak missiles? Starstreak is a man-portable air-defence system (MANPADS or MPADS) developed by Thales Air Defence...

#Ukraine: This morning, it is claimed that in the vicinity of #Kyiv a Russian Mi-35 attack helicopter was shot down, likely using MANPADS. It seems to be totally destroyed.

Germany’s Defence Ministry has declined to comment after the press learnt on Thursday that around 700 of the missiles they planned to send to Ukraine were found to be so old they had become inoperable. Berlin had planned to send Ukraine 2,700 ‘Strela’ rockets dating back to the German Communist era, as part of the weapons package Germany had prepared to help Kyiv fend off the Russian invasion, but at least 700 have been revealed to be defective, with the boxes they’re stored in being described as “mouldy”. The rockets had initially been designed for use by the National People’s...

Big misfire of an Igla MANPADS during the Clear Sky 2020 air defense competition in Russia click link for short video.

-Libyan-flagged vessel used by a Malta-based humanitarian organisation implicated in a covert US arms smuggling operation to Syrian freedom fighter- A Libyan-flagged vessel which last year was used by a Malta-based humanitarian organisation in supplying a lifeline to rebels in Misurata, has been implicated in a covert US arms smuggling operation to Syrian freedom fighters, which may also be linked to murdered US ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi last month. The ship 'Al Entisar' which was chartered last year by I-Go Aid Libya, then run by businessman Mario Debono, has been reported to be linked to last September's attack on...

The release of over 250,000 diplomatic cables has revealed a lot about the intricacies of U.S. diplomacy. However, one aspect of the WikiLeaks release that has been much under the media's radar is what the leaked cables have said about Russia and its surrogate-state sponsorship of what would most accurately be described as an international terrorist network. In a diplomatic cable dated August 6, 2008, regarding a meeting between U.S. and Russian experts on the export of Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) from Russia, the State Department expressed its concern about "Russian ammunition, sold to Venezuela ... found in possession...

These individuals note that the TNC officials are reacting to reports received during the week of April 25 from their own sources of information, the French General Directorate for External Security (DGSE), and British external intelligence service (MI-6), stating that AQIM has acquired about 10 SAM 7- Grail/Streela man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) from illegal weapons markets in Western Niger and Northern Mali. These weapons were originally intended for sale to the rebel forces in Libya, but AQIM operatives were able to meet secretly with these arms dealers and purchase the equipment.

The military tribunal verdict convicting Salim Hamdan of providing material support to terrorism was eminently just. The guy was, after all, Osama Bin Laden's driver, and he was, after all, arrested with two surface-to-air missiles in the back of his car. And there was, after all, the video of a 1998 Al Qaeda news conference for Pakistani journalists that at one point showed Hamdan with a machine gun and at another juncture captured him smiling at Bin Laden. And there were, after all, the undisputed facts that Hamdan fell in with Bin Laden in 1996 and worked with him through...

The Justice Department announced Tuesday the indictment of two Iraqis currently living in Kentucky on terrorism charges that included an alleged plot to deliver explosives and Stinger missiles for use against Americans abroad. Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, were arrested in Kentucky on May 25, and a federal grand jury in Bowling Green returned the 23-count indictment the next day. Each faces life in prison if convicted of the charges. Alwan has been under investigation since September 2009. Over the last eight years, officials say, he allegedly has supported efforts to kill U.S. forces in Iraq,...

Note: Photo included. SNIPPET: "Bout and American-born pal Richard Chichakli were accused of creating a new business, Samar Airlines, which they thought was clean of any connection to their own bloody dealings. Starting in the summer of 2007, Samar Airlines started making deals for airplanes and crews to ferry contraband between the United States and Tajikistan, the indictment said." SNIPPET: "The Russian-born Bout is accused of wiring $1.7 million from bank accounts in Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Russia through banks in New York City and Salt Lake City to finance the scheme." SNIPPET: "Bout, who is accused of supplying weapons to real...

ALBANY -- The spiritual leader of an Albany mosque repeatedly called a phone number in Syria that an FBI report indicates had been used to gather terrorist intelligence for Osama bin Laden, according to classified documents unsealed late Tuesday in U.S. District Court. The FBI report, which was based on information from a confidential informant, was among several once-secret documents that federal authorities say raise questions about Yassin Aref's connections to terrorist organizations across the Middle East. Aref, 35, a Kurdish refugee who moved to Albany with his family in 1999, is in jail without bond while awaiting trial on...

Grab a cup of coffee because itÂ’s a long read with over 350 citations and reference source links for confirmational material. We think youÂ’ll get hooked and find 95% of your Benghazi questions answered. And if you can find a factual flaw IÂ’ll buy the coffee.. SD The CIA and Intelligence community had stated earlier the biggest concern anyone held about arming the Libyan Rebels was the possibility those weapons might leave the Libyan conflict and travel to other locations where they would be used against our own soldiers. More and more evidence of this happening was growing. In 2011...

We have discussed the potential for MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense Systems) being used against passenger planes, specifically in the North Africa region, aimid these pages for over 4 years. Did it just happen? and would they even tell us if it did?

Syrian rebel fighters have been pictured eagerly unpacking Chinese-made surface-to-air missile launchers understood to have been smuggled into the country by African arms dealers. Taken in a remote area north of the city of Aleppo, the photographs show fighters from the Free Syrian Army assembling FN-6 anti-aircraft missile launchers for use against soldiers loyal to the Assad regime. The Chinese-made weapons are thought to have been provided to the Free Syrian Army by sympathisers in Qatar, who are likely to have purchased them from dealers with links to corrupt officials in the Sudanese government, before having them smuggled into Syria...

The Benghazi affair is beginning to shape up as a bi-partisan scandal — making Trey Gowdy’s life doubly difficult, of course. But the former prosecutor has been doing a bang-up job with his select committee, demolishing the mantra that there is “nothing new” to be learned about Benghazi and building a sober, far-reaching inquiry. Without Gowdy, recall, there would be no Clinton secret server, no Sidney Blumenthal trail, no new emails, and no upcoming testimony from Mrs. Clinton and her inner circle . On the latter, Gowdy is holding firm, saying he will not schedule testimony until all relevant emails...

Full title: Judicial Watch: Defense, State Department Documents Reveal Obama Administration Knew that al Qaeda Terrorists Had Planned Benghazi Attack 10 Days in Advance Administration knew three months before the November 2012 presidential election of ISIS plans to establish a caliphate in Iraq Administration knew of arms being shipped from Benghazi to Syria (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it obtained more than 100 pages of previously classified “Secret” documents from the Department of Defense (DOD)and the Department of State revealing that DOD almost immediately reported that the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was committed by...

RUSH: All right. The Israelis have rejected the ceasefire proposal made by the haughty John Kerry, who served in Vietnam. The Israelis reject ceasefire deal. The only thing a ceasefire does is allow Hamas to regroup. I think Hamas is on the ropes and that's why everybody wants a ceasefire. I'm telling you, everything over there is ass backwards. Everything in this conflict is 180 degrees out of phase. They want the ceasefire to give Hamas time to regroup. "Well, we have to make it fair, Mr. Limbaugh, because the Israelis have such an unfair advantage. They're richer and they're...

U.S. officials consider removing Castro regime from terror listU.S. officials are considering removing Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, even as Cuban allies continue to launch military attacks and trade for weapons. As part of President Barack Obama’s announcement in December that he would normalize relations with Cuba, Obama instructed Secretary of State John Kerry to review Cuba’s terror designation and issue a report in six months. While reports indicate that the administration is leaning toward removing Cuba from the terror list, such an action would conflict with the Cuban regime’s support for Colombian militants, Iran, and...

Rep. Trey Gowdy came out swinging at Tuesday’s hearing of his Select Committee, laying into Democrats for playing political games and blasting the State Department for refusing to produce documents and for preventing witnesses from testifying before the committee. ... At the hearing, the State Department’s liaison officer to Congress said that more documents would be produced in the coming days, including emails from Secretary of State Clinton – giving the lie to oft-repeated Democrat claims that everything relating to Benghazi was already on the public record. ... two very real stand-down orders were issued that night by Secretary Clinton,...

Shocking enough are the allegations that a long-perceived unassuming state senator tried brokering an international arms deal with military-style rifles and rocket launchers, but Leland Yee may have narrowly escaped an even more ominous label: supporter of terrorism. Yee, whose arrest after an FBI undercover sting shook the California political world last week, would likely have been charged with aiding terrorists if not for a bureaucratic label missing from the militant Filipino group that he is accused of sourcing for an international arms deal, counterterrorism experts told this newspaper. His ties to the group, whose leader has said he personally...