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The chief of U.S. transportation command says he is worried daily that advanced, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles will show up on the battlefield in Afghanistan or along the routes to fly there that could threaten strategic airlift. In particular, classified State Dept. cables have voiced concerns about Chinese weapons and trainers having connections with the Taliban. “Today [that threat] could change,” says Air Force Gen. Duncan McNabb. “I want us to stay ahead of it, with all of our international partners, [by being aware] these things might happen. We don’t talk a lot about it, we readjust. Even though it’s not...

Members of Congress are used to being attacked by their political opposition, but being attacked by anti-aircraft missiles is another matter entirely. In January, a six-member delegation of the House Armed Services Committee, led by Rob Simmons, R-Conn., came under missile attack as they traveled "lights out" on a military plane from Baghdad to Kuwait, according to three members of that delegation. Reps. Jeb Bradley, R-N.H., John Spratt, D-S.C., and Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, confirmed the incident to The Chronicle. Sources familiar with the Defense Department investigation into the attack said the missile used in the attack on the C-130 carrying...

(AP) — Some highlights from an FBI affidavit filed in federal court in New Jersey, outlining the alleged plot to smuggle a shoulder-launched missile into the United States: _Investigation began in December 2001, when a "cooperating witness" or informant under federal law enforcement control began talking with the alleged arms dealer, Hemant Lakhani, about obtaining anti-aircraft guns and missiles. The witness told Lakhani he was representing a Somali group that wanted to buy one missile initially "with a purchase of a greater number of missiles to follow." _Between Dec. 2001 and Aug. 13, 2003, more than 150 conversations between Lakhani...

Russia's decision to sell anti-aircraft missiles to Syria is a "wrong deal to the wrong country at the wrong time," a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Wednesday. Sharon revealed on Tuesday that he had received a letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin informing him of Russia's decision to go ahead with the sale of SA-18 shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to Syria. Both Israel and the U.S. had voiced their strong opposition to the sale. "We are not pleased with the sales of weapons to Syria, particularly sophisticated weapons that Russia intends to sell to Syria, weapons that...

The Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah has tripled its rocket and missile arsenal in Lebanon since 2001 and could transfer these assets to fight the U.S. military in Iraq, says Geostrategy-Direct, the global intelligence news service. A new report says Hezbollah has acquired an advanced anti-aircraft missile and long-range rockets capable of striking deep inside Israel. "Hezbollah's rocket arsenal was tripled in size and augmented by hundreds of long-range rockets capable of striking targets deep in the civilian and industrial heartland of Israel," the report by the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin said. "Construction crews worked around the clock converting caves into...

MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 25 (RIA Novosti) - A portable antiaircraft missile system has been seized from a local criminal group in Yekaterinburg in the Urals region in the east of European Russia, the Russian Interior Ministry said on Wednesday. According to acting minister Rashid Nurgaliev, this happened in January, when a "large network of organized crime" was exposed in the city. A disassembled Igla system was found in a hideout in a private house. Before that, the police used to find this kind of weapons only with militants in Chechnya, Nurgaliev said. The hideout was found to contain an entire arsenal...

Nicked ... emotionless Lakhani arrives at court THE British arms dealer seized over a US terror plot hero-worshipped Osama Bin Laden.Hemant Lakhani, 68, tried to supply missiles for a blitz on the scale of the September 11 attacks.He spoke of a bid to shoot down a plane on the anniversary of 9/11.Lakhani hated the US and was hell-bent on killing Americans, prosecutors said last night.The arms dealer believed terror leader Osama Bin Laden “did something right and set the Americans straight” when he orchestrated the September 11 attacks.And he was ready to help extremists unleash a new wave of terror....

Bob Arnot, reporting live from Iraq for MSNBC, just reported that the U.S. has found SA-18 SAM's in some Iraqi trenches. He described this weapon as being very sophisticated, capable of discerning between chaff and other countermeasures that our aircraft use. He described this weapon as being a real threat to Coalition aircraft. Questions: 1. What are the specs & capabilities of this weapon? 2. Where did the Iraqis get them from?

Israel and the U.S. are trying to halt a new deal for SA-18 shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles between Russia and Syria. Israeli security officials are concerned Syria might transfer the sophisticated weapons to Lebanon’s Hizbullah, which could use them to attack Israeli helicopters. According to Haaretz, Israeli officials said that although the Syrians have made offers to the Russians for the SA-18s, no deal has been finalized. Israel has recently raised its concern to U.S. officials, and asked for help to stop the supply of the missiles to Damascus. According to the Israeli newspaper, Washington has appealed to officials in Moscow,...