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Exclusive footage obtained by Sky News reveals IS terrorists have the technical know-how to reactivate surface-to-air missiles. The former head of the RAF has said evidence uncovered by Sky News of Islamic State recommissioning surface-to-air missiles is of great concern and that passenger planes would be an easy target. Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon was responding to exclusive footage which revealed the extremists were able to produce homemade thermal batteries for heat-seeking missiles - a feat that has eluded terror groups until now. It raises the possibility of the militants being able to reactivate discarded stockpiles of older missiles,...

Islamist militants shot down an Egyptian military helicopter in the Sinai Peninsula with a surface-to-air missile over the weekend, raising new alarms about the terrorist insurgency that developed there in response to the military takeover last summer. The attack — described by witnesses, documented in a video released by the militants, and confirmed by three people briefed on the Egyptian government’s investigation — validated longstanding fears that such weapons would spill into Egypt and beyond after the Libyan civil war tore open Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s fearsome arsenals. Known as manpads, for man-portable air defense systems, the missiles can bring down...

Russia has assured Iran it will honour a deal to supply the Islamic Republic with advanced S-300 air-defence missiles, Tehran's ambassador to Moscow said Friday. "We had heard reports that Russia would not deliver these systems to Iran, but we asked the Russian side and they denied it," Seyed Mahmoud Reza Sajadi told reporters in Moscow. "The delivery deadline has already passed, but the Russian side has cited technical problems which it is working to fix," he added. "We feel that this question will be resolved in the space of one to two months." The envoy's comments came after Iranian...

As the United States and its allies haggle with Iran over its nuclear program, Moscow has fueled Western unease about its military links to Tehran by pledging to continue selling arms to the Islamic republic. This has raised speculation that it may brush aside the strident objections of the United States and Israel and supply Iran with advanced S-300PMU surface-to-air missiles that would greatly enhance its defenses against airstrikes. The Russians, who have rejected the proposed imposition of economic sanctions on Iran as "counterproductive," are keeping the waters muddied with contradictory and ambiguous statements regarding the S-300s. On Wednesday, Russia's...

A man has been accused of trying to buy batteries that power Hawk surface-to-air missile systems for export to Iran, US Immigration officials said. Robert Caldwell, 56, who owns an export brokerage company, was a middleman in a scheme to smuggle Hawk missile parts to Iran, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents alleged in an affidavit. (AP)

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Iran has signed a deal to buy Russian tactical surface-to-air missile systems, a Russian newspaper reported on Friday. Iran is to buy 29 TOR-M1 systems, designed to bring down aircraft and guided missiles at low altitudes, said the Vedomosti daily, citing Russian defense sources close the deal. The deal is the biggest sale of Russian defense hardware to Iran for about 5 years, the newspaper said. It did not say how much the order was worth. Defense industry officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Tehran is under intense international pressure after failing to convince the...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal grand jury indicted two Southern California men Wednesday with conspiracy to smuggle surface-to-air missiles into the United States. Such missiles are designed to bring down aircraft. The U.S. attorney's office said the charges against Chao Tung Wu, 51, of La Puente and Yi Qing Chen, 41, of Rosemead marked the first time a 2004 anti-terrorism statute has been used. The statute calls for a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years and the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted. The men have been in custody since August when they were arrested as...

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bout 6000 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles are outside the control of any government worldwide, according to The New York Times. The number is triple the previous estimate of 2000 missing arms, and about 4000 of the weapons are said to be from Iraq's pre-war arsenals. The new estimate was discussed at a closed Defence Intelligence Agency conference in Alabama last week on the threat posed by the portable missiles to civil aviation, the newspaper said. Western intelligence and security officials have warned in recent months about the danger of attack by al-Qaeda operatives on civilian planes, similar to the 2002 near-hit...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3079654.stm Saudi authorities say they have seized a lorry-load of surface-to-air missiles destined for an unnamed terrorist group. The consignment was intercepted last month on a desert road near the port city of Jeddah. Police say the weapons - capable of being used to bring down aircraft - had been smuggled from Yemen. Last month, air travellers from the United States and Britain were alerted to the possibility of attack if they went to Saudi Arabia. The alerts came after intelligence reports were relayed to Washington and London by the Saudis of a specific threat to British airlines flying in...

<p>Since Sept. 11, 2001, many airport authorities have instituted vulnerability studies, with flight path security on their list of concerns. However, instituting a study is easy; stemming the market activity of weaponry is more difficult. Old but serviceable surface-to-air missiles — Russian SAM 7s and U.S. Redeyes — are being sold in Pakistan on Karachi's black market for $750 while new Chinese "Red Cherry" missiles go for $1,000. This raises questions.</p>

Breaking. Located th thru Google news search, in the PAKISTAN DAILY news, and picked up from Bill Gertz report in D.C., and also breaking in Asian news sources on the web: A report out tonight that Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi military have gone forward to modifications of their surface to air missiles, by changing/upgrading to two stages (SA-3 missiles) thus increasing the kill range in order to bring down more US/UK pilots who are flying the no-fly zones right now. Breaking. Admin Moderator: If full story is posted already, please pull this thread. If not, Freepers, please add and...