Czech Republic: U.S. Says Tamara System Overrated
By K.P. Foley
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| American F-117A stealth bomber shot down over Yugoslavia in March of 1999. Pentagon officials confirmed that the aircraft was tracked by an unidentified radar and that two surface-to-air missile were fired at the F-117. Russian Minister of Defense announced that the aircraft was brought down by a Russian-made SA-6 mobile SAM working in concert with a ground radar. |
Washington, 17 November 1997 (Radio Free Europe) - The U.S. Defense Department is challenging claims that a Czech-built electronic intelligence system can thwart the technology that enables some U.S. military aircraft to evade radar detection. U.S. Defense Department spokesman Kenneth Bacon told reporters last week that there is no independent verification of the claim that the Tamara system made by the Czech Republic's private Tesla company can overcome radar evasion systems. The contention became an issue in Washington last week when the "Washington Times" newspaper reported that Iraq was trying to obtain the system to enable it to locate and track U.S. jets protected by what is popularly called stealth technology. That is a system that makes it difficult for standard radar to find aircraft equipped with it. The Czech Government said it was investigating the story. However, Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, on a visit to Washington last week, called the story nonsense and a provocation. He told U.S. Vice President Al Gore that Czech law would prohibit such a sale to Iraq. Tesla also denied the report. Bacon, nevertheless, said claims that the Tamara system could overcome stealth were wrong. He also said newspaper reports calling the Tamara system a radar were wrong as well. Tamara, said Bacon, is what he called a family of devices that collect a variety of signals that, theoretically, can be analyzed electronically and used to pinpoint the location of an aircraft.
The British Daily Telegraph on 12 November 1997 reported a CIA leak of Iraqi plans to buy the Czech-made Tamara electronic weapon system, which is capable of hitting US F-117 and B-2 Stealth bombers by tracking their electronic emissions.
The paper cited intelligence sources as saying that senior Czech military and political officials were involved in the sale, which was being brokered by Bulgarian merchants in contravention of the UN arms embargo on Iraq.
The sources said that delivery of the weapon, made by Tesla-Pardubice, had been discussed by a retired Bulgarian general and General Amar Rashid, a key figure in Iraq's efforts to procure weapons.
Washington Times
November 11, 1997
Iraq is ready to buy five electronic warfare radar systems from Eastern Europe that would give Saddam Hussein the capability of detecting and shooting down radar-evading U.S. stealth bombers, The Washington Times has learned.
Senior Clinton administration officials were informed of the deal late last month by the CIA. Diplomatic and other efforts are under way to derail the weapons transfer, which would pose a major threat to U.S. aircraft -- both stealth and conventional -- that operate in the region. "We're aware of this," said one administration official. "This is something we are working on. " According to knowledgeable sources, a group of Bulgarian arms dealers is working secretly with Czech military officials to arrange the sale to Baghdad of five electronic warfare systems, known as Tamara, for up to $375 million.
State Department spokesman James Rubin declined to comment on this specific case but said generally: "When it comes to this area, that is protecting our technological edge in the information and sensing technology areas, we leave no stone unturned in protecting our defense technology and making sure that we do all that we can so that our adversaries can't gain new advances in technology that could put our forces at risk. " Disclosure of the secret radar deal comes as Baghdad continues its standoff over American U. N. inspectors and is threatening to shoot down unarmed U.S. reconnaissance aircraft with surface-to-air missiles.
The state-of-the-art electronic warfare systems are made by the Czech Republic's Tesla-Pardubice Co. , which has claimed the unique technology of passive detection allows it to pick up electronic emissions from radar-evading aircraft such as the F-117 and B-2 bombers -- the world's only operational stealth planes. The CIA estimates that up to 15 of the radar systems are available for export. Some of the Tamara systems are now part of the arsenals of the Czech, Russian and German armed forces. According to intelligence officials familiar with the deal, a group of Bulgarian arms dealers, including retired Bulgarian Gen. Peter Barbalov, an ambassador to Iraq in the early 1990s, was working as late as two weeks ago to broker the deal, which has been under negotiation with Iraq since July.
All weapons sales to Iraq are banned under United Nations sanctions imposed on Baghdad since the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf war. Transfer of the system to Iraq by the Czech Republic also would be an embarrassment for the Prague government, which is expected to be admitted into the NATO alliance in the coming months. Iraq's military once had the most sophisticated nationwide air defense system in the region, with integrated radar and a variety of air-defense missiles. The air defense grid was blown up in the early hours of the Gulf war through the use of F-117 stealth jets. Officials said Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is seeking the Tamara radar as a direct counter to the F-117.
The Tamara systems are being offered for sale from a supplier in the Czech Republic that the officials did not identify. The systems are then to be shipped by air to Turkey and transported by truck into northern Iraq, the officials said. The payment for the systems, estimated at about $75 million per unit, is to be made in cash to several arms dealers in the Czech Republic who are believed to have access to a military warehouse where the systems are stored.
According to the intelligence sources, high-ranking officials of the Czech military and government are involved in the sale. Gen. Barbalov, the key arms broker in the deal, maintains close ties to Iraqi leaders, including Gen. Amar Rashid, head of the Iraqi military-industrial complex. The arms sales, including the Tamara radar and other weapons, include many Russian-made arms that have been falsely marked "made in Bulgaria" to disguise their Russian origin. The radar sale is expected to be carried out by identifying the end user as a nation other than Iraq in order to circumvent the U.N. sanctions, officials said.
Additionally, the officials have said top authorities in the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which was ousted from power in April elections, are aware and "supportive" of the radar sale. The officials said reports have identified BSP leader Georgi Purvanov as having information about the pending sale.
Gen. Barbalov, who was to travel to Baghdad in July as part of the radar deal, is said to be working with Russia's military and scientific complex and has bragged that almost any Russian arms can be bought, including the most advanced jet fighters, outside of Moscow's control. Gen. Barbalov is president of Inochem-SI Ltd. , an arms trading company registered with the Czech government. Another broker identified by the officials is Ivan Dimitrov, a former Bulgarian military intelligence officer and current head of Skylift International, a Bulgarian arms seller. Zhari Zahariev, a Bulgarian Socialist Party member and president of the Slaviani Foundation, also has been linked to the deal.
According to U.S. officials, there continues to be close ties between Bulgarian arms traders and Russian weapons producers. Maj. Gen. Oldrizhikh Barak, president of the company that produces Tamara, told the Russian newspaper Pravda last year that the company is struggling as a private firm and that the Tamara uses a "chronometric hyperbolic principle" that with three units spaced several miles apart can track stealth or similar low-signature aircraft from distances of about 12 miles, not the 93 miles that most other systems begin to track targets.
Gen. Barak also said a number of Western nations were interested in buying the Tamara radar. "The question of the sale of Tamara in and of itself, which relates to military supertechnologies, is quite complex and takes a great deal of time," he said. Permission by the Czech government is required before the radar can be sold, and the entire process can take up to 18 months, he said. Asked about Czech government disinterest in helping the company, Gen. Barak said, "they simply cast us to the whims of the market. " According to the magazine Jane's Defense Weekly, the Tamara can track more than 72 targets at once.
Recently Iran tried to purchase the so called "Tamara" passive radar system for $90 millions from the Czech Republic. Tamara is able to detect approaching "invisible airplanes" at a distance of 450 km. However, as it stands now, the stealth bombers remain "invisible" because the United States put severe political pressure on the Czech government and "suggested" that the manufacturer not be allowed to sell this particular electronic gadget. As a result, the Tamara branch of the Tesla Company closed the production line and dismissed its employees. Consequently, the "invisible" bombers are still invisible.
Czech Republic: Iraq Tries To Buy Aircraft Detection System
By Breffni O'Rourke
Prague, 12 November 1997 (Radio Free Europe) -- The Iraqi government of President Saddam
Hussein is reported trying to acquire a Czech-built aircraft detection system
reputedly able to pinpoint top-secret stealth aircraft.
Allegations concerning the illegal arms deal come amid speculation that the
United States is considering renewed air strikes on Iraq, because of Baghdad's
refusal to cooperate with United Nations arms inspectors.
Experts say that if any air raids do take place, the U.S. could well use its
radar-evading stealth aircraft, the B-2 bomber or the F-117 fighter.
A stealth aircraft is one which can enter enemy territory without detection by
normal radar systems. It does this by means of its shape, which is designed not
to reflect radar beams. The Czech-built Tamara detection system however, is
claimed to have the ability to pinpoint stealth planes, and thus open them to
attack.
A report in a U.S. newspaper yesterday (Washington Times) said the U.S. Central
Intelligence Agency is aware of Iraq's attempt to acquire five Tamara systems
from Bulgarian arms dealers, with the cooperation of high Czech military
officials.
Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, who is visiting Washington, described the
U.S. report as "almost a provocation". He says he does not rule out that Iraq
would want Tamara, or that a Czech company would want to sell the system, but
he says such a deal would never receive official permission. He did not
immediately address the issue of whether such a sale could take place
clandestinely, without the knowledge of the authorities. The allegations are
acutely embarrassing to Prague at a time when it is moving towards membership
of the NATO alliance. The Czech Trade Ministry issued a statement saying the
country is in full compliance with the U.N. Security Council resolutions on
Iraq.
The U.S. report further said that a retired Bulgarian general, Peter Barbalov,
was a key broker in the sale, and that senior members of the Bulgarian
Socialist Party -- the former communists -- knew of it and supported it. The
head of the Socialist Party, Georgi Purvanov, is today quoted as saying in the
press (Sofia's "24 Hours" Daily) that the report is slanderous, and that he
will sue the U.S. newspaper.
The Czech manufacturers of the Tamara system, Tesla-Pardubice was today
(Wednesday) not answering its phone.
A western air defense expert has called into question the effectiveness of any
Iraqi attempt to stop penetration by stealth aircraft, even if the Iraqis are
able to acquire Tamara in defiance of UN sanctions.
Nick Cook, the military aviation specialist with Jane's publishing organization
in London, told RFE/RL that Tamara is a passive detection system. He said it is
essentially a set of truck-mounted electronic listening devices arranged on the
ground in triangular pattern. These devices do not send out radar waves which
the stealth planes can avoid. He said that -- if the manufacturer's claims are
correct -- they instead pinpoint incoming planes by registering the electronic
"footprint" emitted by the planes themselves. These electronic emissions occur
regularly as aircraft establish their position and lock on to their targets.
Cook says the U.S. B-2 stealth bomber is a large aircraft which makes regular
emissions as it flies. But he says the smaller F-117 is almost completely
emission-free in operation, and is therefore likely to evade any threat,
particularly since the Tamara is acknowledged to have only a short effective
range.
Cook says that even if incoming stealth aircraft were detected, a key problem
would remain for Iraq, namely how to attack them. Ground-based missile could
not be guided by radar to their target, since the stealth planes to do not
register on radar screens. And he says that in addition, the Stealth planes
have inbuilt protection against infra-red detection by heat-seeking missiles.
Washington Times
November 13, 1997 p. A1
Gore works to kill Iraq radar deal
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Vice President Al Gore yesterday urged the Czech Republic's prime minister to block an illicit sale of anti-stealth radar to Iraq and was assured the Prague government is taking steps to stop it. Administration officials said Mr. Gore raised the deal with Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus during their meeting at the White House. Mr. Klaus returned to Prague yesterday afternoon. "There were indications that the Czech government takes the matter seriously and was very quick to address the concerns we have," said one official, who asked not to be identified. The officials said it is not clear the Czechs have succeeded in stopping the deal -- first reported Tuesday by The Washington Times -- but they have promised to do everything possible to block it. In Prague, the government announced it is launching an investigation into the sale of five Czech-made Tamara radar systems to Baghdad by Bulgarian arms dealers and Czech military and government officials. The radar's manufacturer claims it can detect radar-evading stealth aircraft. The radar would be used by Baghdad to counter U.S. F-117 stealth bombers and would greatly enhance Iraq's air defenses, which Saddam Hussein is threatening to use against unarmed U.S. spy planes. In Baghdad, Foreign Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf denied Iraq is trying to buy the Tamara radar. Mr. Sahhaf told reporters The Times report was "stupid," and he said, "This is an indication of their bankruptcy." Karel Vulterin, director of the Czech Republic's Secret Intelligence Service, known as the BIS, told reporters in Prague his agency is investigating the deal. A report by the counterintelligence agency will be sent to the Czech government and the security committee of the Czech parliament, Mr. Vulterin said, without elaborating. The deal appears to be an outgrowth of privatization in the former communist bloc, one White House official said. "Many formerly government-owned entities are making their way in the market," the official said. "And the problem is sometimes they are making their way in the black market." "We are satisfied that if a transaction occurred, it was not sanctioned by the Czech government," said a second White House official, who noted that information about the deal is "inconclusive." "We are continuing to talk to the Czech government about this and other issues," this official said. The U.S. government was engaged in diplomatic and other efforts to derail the radar transfer when it was made public, U.S. officials said. The U.S. and foreign government officials were reacting to The Times report disclosing a four-month effort by a group of former Bulgarian military and intelligence officials, collaborating secretly with Czech military and government officials, to sell the Tamara systems to Iraq. The deal is a clear sign that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is seeking weapons capable of shooting down U.S. stealth and conventional aircraft. He is threatening to shoot down unarmed U-2 reconnaissance planes in the standoff over American U.N. inspectors. U.S. intelligence officials told The Times that the arms deal would be worth $375 million. The radar systems, based on unique passive sensing, are produced by Tesla Pardubice, a Czech company whose president, Maj. Gen. Oldrizhikh Barak has said the systems can track stealth or similar aircraft at close range. Mr. Klaus said his government "has not and will not" approve export licenses for sales of any military articles to Iraq, according to a statement released by the Czech Embassy. He added that disclosure of the deal for the electronic warfare systems during his visit to Washington for meetings with U.S. officials was "practically a provocation." The Czech Republic is one of three prospective new members of the NATO alliance, and any effort to sell weapons to Iraq would be an embarrassment to the Prague government. "Czech government officials work very closely with their American counterparts on general principles of export controls as well as on individual cases," the Czech government statement said. "The Czech Republic is well aware of the threats posed by non-democratic regimes and considers strengthening the international isolation of these regimes to be one of its foreign policy priorities," the statement said. According to U.S. intelligence officials, the CIA notified senior Clinton administration officials late last month that the deal for the Tamara radar was being negotiated. The officials said the Bulgarian arms dealers were working with Czech military and government officials to obtain the Tamara radar from a warehouse in the Czech Republic, transport the electronic warfare systems by air to Turkey and then ship them overland into Iraq. A key figure in the deal, according to the officials, is retired Bulgarian Gen. Peter Barbolov, who has close ties to Iraq's Gen. Amar Rashid, head of the military-industrial complex. The officials said the secret arms deal was to be carried out by falsifying end-user documents to disguise the destination of the radar, the officials said. Philip Dimitrov, Bulgaria's ambassador to the United States, said his government "strictly complied" with the arms embargo on Iraq. "Naturally, no government can be fully aware of every act or intention of all its citizens," Mr. Dimitrov said. Mr. Dimitrov said the Bulgarian government has cooperated with international efforts "to stop illicit transactions which are not in compliance with international law." The Bulgarian government, in a statement, denied Gen. Barbolov was ever an ambassador to Iraq, as The Times reported. Other Bulgarians linked by U.S. officials to the deal include Ivan Dimitrov, a former Bulgarian military intelligence officer and Zahari Zahariev, a longtime member of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, according to U.S. officials.
Reference: 950803.154
REUTER NEWS REPORTS
Wednesday August 02, 1995
The Czech Republic will export its Tamara radar [or ESM?] system, said to be effective against stealth aircraft, to a former Soviet republic, believed to by Kyrgyzstan. Tamara has been exported to Oman, and to Warsaw Pact countries before 1989; if a system is in the possession of the Bosnian Serbs (as is rumoured), it would be an older, pre-1989 model with outdated software.
THE CZECH REPUBLIC - Industry faces testing time of opportunity
Jane's Defense Weekly
05-20-98
"In the run-up to NATO membership and economic integration Czech defence companies are asking whether they will benefit from new markets or lose out to foreign competitors. Although last year signalled something of a turnaround for industry after almost a decade of stagnation, industrialists say the government must now commit itself to supporting the industry. "What we need from the state is a clear legal basis concerning the defence of the country. From this follows a clear basis for the defence industry and a framework for imports, exports, and offsets," said Jiri Pisklak, Managing Director of the Association of the Defence Industry of the Czech Republic (AOP). Until the Czech government approves a new 10-year plan for the armed forces (see p22); establishes clear rules for offset requirements when purchasing from abroad; and passes a law on protection of industrial, commercial and military secrets; the defence industry will remain at a disadvantage, he said.
In recent years, the defence industry has been constrained by a lack of demand from its own armed forces. "From a technical point of view Czech arms companies are not at all bad," said Jiri Chroustovky, President of PSP Bohemia. "The problem is that the Czech armed forces, in view of their resources and objectives, are not a big enough customer, so every project must also be competitive enough to be offered abroad."
As a result, Czech defence companies are seeking foreign partners to help them enter new markets as well as provide technology and funding for new ventures. "Practically all the {defence} enterprises are trying to find certain partners for various projects," said Pisklak. For Chroustovsky such partnerships are desirable because of the particular synergies they create: "Foreign partners bring know-how and as far as former Warsaw Pact countries are concerned we know better how to offer what they need, so it's advantageous for both sides."
The best recent example of foreign partnership is Boeing's investment in Aero Vodochody, a move that is likely to guarantee the success of the Aero L-159 light combat aircraft. The acquisition of a 34% stake by a consortium of Boeing and Czech Airlines for around $28 million is expected to create significant opportunities for Boeing parts production and possible offset contracts if Boeing wins the race to supply fighters to the Czech Air Force. Although the only order for the L-159 so far has been to supply 72 to the air force, marketing director Martin Paloda says the company has identified a market for at least 300, and is in "serious negotiations" with more than five countries including Chile and South Africa.
A further boost to the Czech aviation industry is the $4.5 million sale of light aircraft manufacturer LET Kunovice to the US Ayres Corporation, also currently being approved. LET, which is best known for the L-410 commuter aircraft, has seen its sales drop from 70 per year to almost zero and the workforce from 5,700 to 1,700. Ayres is likely to move production of part of its own Loadmaster transport aircraft to LET and complete LET's L-610 project.
The potential benefits from partnerships can also be seen in the winning by ROSS Roudnice of a tender to supply the Czech Army with a new mid-size terrain truck that it developed with Renault (see p22) and PSP Bohemia's project to modernise Soviet T-72 main battle tanks (MBTs) to the T-72 MP configuration. Intended for the export market, the T-72 MP is a private venture collaboration with French Sagem and Ukrainian DB Mozorov.
The modernisation of T-72M1s for the Czech Army is being carried out by a part-Czech, part-foreign consortium led by Vojensky Opravarensky Podnik 025 (VOP 025). Two vehicles have been modified and are undergoing evaluation trials under the designations T-72M3 CZ and T-72M4 CZ. It was expected that 250 T-72M1s would be upgraded but this will depend on funding.
Another positive sign for Czech industry is that engineering giant Skoda Plzen - one of the largest Czech companies - has been attempting to move back into arms production and presented a new mobile anti-aircraft unit at the 1997 IDET trade fair in Brno. This system also benefited from foreign co-operation, being developed with Tatra Koprivnice, Retia Pardubice and Swiss company Oerlikon-Contraves. Tatra itself may be available for collaboration as its majority shareholder Skoda Plzen is looking for a strategic partner.
The forthcoming privatisation of the Czech banking sector is likely to increase foreign ownership of some Czech defence companies, while clouding the future for others. Banks currently own a large proportion of the industry through investment funds and privatisation is expected to lead to the divestiture of most such holdings. It is believed that significant and unpredictable bankruptcies will follow, but there will also be opportunities for foreign investors.
In some areas Czech industry is strong enough to succeed without foreign investment, even though some companies may have chosen to form foreign alliances. The electronics sector, in particular, is in a good condition. In the mid-1980s the Czech electronics industry was the world's seventh largest producer of military electronic devices. The skills underlying this strength have survived and according to Czechinvest, the country's agency for attracting foreign investment, "the Czech Republic has a strong and diversified electronics industry which has been privatised, rationalised and restructured".
Much of this potential is concentrated in small companies which are able to export up to 95% of production. Although the lack of state support for and co-ordination between research institutes and the recession in the defence industry has pushed many companies to switch to civilian production (HTT Tesla Pardubice, manufacturer of the Tamara passive surveillance device, is a good example), this is not true everywhere.
VZLU-Speel, formed in 1993 through the privatisation of the Czech Aeronautical Research and Testing Institute, designs and produces solid-state aviation data-recording devices. The company's latest products have been rated as technically superior and cheaper than the international competition. VYLU has entered joint ventures with Matra and Interpoint. Dicom Uherske Hradiste is developing lightweight digital field radios with Polish Radmor SA Gdynia and German Rohde & Schwarz. Thomson-CSF Paris holds a 35% stake in ERA Pardubice, which produces radar and passive surveillance technology, notably the PSS VERA system, which has good prospects of sales to foreign air traffic control centres.
The smaller Czech munitions and weapons manufacturers are also experiencing better times. The leading ammunition producer Sellier & Bellot increased sales by 25% last year, moving the company from heavy losses in 1996 to a small net profit. The company, which produces small-calibre ammunition for the Czech army, exports 36% of its production, mostly to the USA and Germany. Zbrojovka Brno, the largest domestic producer of handguns and hunting and sports weapons, expects to show a profit this year after two years of losses. The company provides service pistols to the Turkish police and is expected to win a forthcoming tender to supply the Czech police. It aims to concentrate on producing handguns for military use. Another gun manufacturer, Zbrojovka Vsetin, which has been in debt for years, is hoping to revive its fortunes through production of aircraft cannons.
Czech industry successes and the appearance of a co-ordinated strategy to seek foreign investment have happened while the industry itself is engaged in internal bickering. There are no less than four defence industry associations in the Czech Republic. Three of them have the same name and the fourth represents the aviation industry. This confused situation is due to a struggle between the RDP Group, a defence consortium dominated by Skoda Plzen, and a group centred around Synthesia Pardubice, engineering giant CKD Praha and former monopoly arms trader Omnipol. Although the two organisations agreed to merge a year ago, this has not happened and both claim to be the main representative of the industry.
Viktoria Hradska, the Chairman of the Board of RDP Group and head of one of the three Associations of the Defence Industry, said that the Czech Republic must adapt to NATO and the world defence industry and decide how to integrate. Hradska said that certain sectors of the Czech defence industry such as active and passive radar, vehicles, chemicals, optical technology, small arms and munitions would survive, but that others such as MBT modernisation might disappear: "It's interesting from the point of view of international trade, but not from the point of view of strategic output," Hradska said."
Czech anti-stealth radar may be operating in Yugoslavia
PRAGUE, April 1 - The Czech defence ministry said on Thursday that it was trying to trace dozens of surplus Czech-made ``Tamara'' anti-aircraft radar systems after a report in Germany claimed some may have fallen into Yugoslav hands.
The Tamara, a web of electronic cylinders usually carried in heavy trucks, can allegedly detect the U.S. radar-evading ``stealth'' fighters which have been used in the NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia.
One U.S. F-117 stealth fighter crashed during a raid last weekend but the pilot was rescued, and it is still not clear whether the aircraft was shot down or crashed in an accident.
The Czech Republic, part of the former Soviet bloc but a NATO member since last month, has been under close Western scrutiny over arms deals, especially the Tamara system, in the years leading up to joining the alliance.
Germany's ZDF television on Wednesday quoted a British security analyst who cited U.S. intelligence sources as saying that a Tamara system which the former Czechoslovakia sold to Russia prior to 1990 had been passed on to Yugoslavia.
Czech defence ministry spokesman Milan Repka told Reuters on Thursday that tens of Tamaras and the predecessor ``Ramona'' had been discarded as part of a conventional forces reduction agreement after the end of the Cold War earlier this decade.
``The ministry is checking on whether any of the discarded (Tamaras and Ramonas) made their way to Yugoslavia,'' he said.
Repka said the ministry was tracing documents on the surplus systems but could not verify if other countries may have re-exported them.
Tamara's maker, the privatised but struggling HTT Tesla a.s. located in the eastern Czech town of Pardubice, has been accused on several occasions of trying to sell the Tamara to countries considered antagonistic to NATO.
But Czech government officials insist that their post-Communist arms export controls have prevented potential enemy armies from obtaining illicit arms and the Tamara.
A spokesman for the Czech intelligence service BIS told Czech Radio on Thursday that it was unaware of a Tamara being sent to any crisis area or hotspot in the world.
(Source: Reuters, April, 1999)