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Last February, in a speech at the annual Munich Security Conference, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen argued that the Alliance should turn into a consultation forum for global security issues. Such a role, he argued, would require the transatlantic security alliance to develop closer relations with all major global players, including India and China. Only a few years ago, any mentioning of India and China as potential NATO partners would have led to raised eyebrows not only in Delhi and Beijing, but also in many NATO member countries. Not this time. In the days just after the Munich conference,...

The Pentagon was on the verge of retiring the U-2 spy plane four years ago, but Congress blocked the mothballing, saying the plane still had plenty of life and utility. The plane, which was designed to detect nuclear missiles during the Cold War, is now playing a greater role in spotting roadside bombs in the war in Afghanistan, according to an article in The New York Times. The plane can fly at twice the height of commercial jets to evade anti-aircraft missiles, but its sensors can detect spots where dirt has been disturbed to plant roadside bombs. This capability, which...

Poland has 48 F-16 jet fighter planes. Most of them rarely take to the skies outside of routine training. But in two years, the planes could be heading to Afghanistan, reports Rzeczpospolita. The paper cites an unnamed soldier as a source that says the matter is already settled, just has not yet been announced publicly by Polish army authorities. Pilots at a large Polish Air Force base admit they have already started rigorous training and preparation for the 2012 departure to the war-torn middle-eastern nation, but Polish Air Force officials have yet to confirm this.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates raised the possibility Wednesday that some of the U.S. forces involved in the Afghanistan surge could leave the country before President Barack Obama's announced July 2011 date to begin withdrawal. Without giving specifics, Gates said, "It would have to be conditions-based." Gates made the remarks during a visit to a dust-blown training ground in Kabul province where Afghan soldiers come for weeks of training under U.S. and British instruction. British Brigadier Simon Levy told Gates that if NATO countries contribute more trainers, the project to expand the Afghan army will keep pace. In a press...

EXCLUSIVE: in a remarkable close-up account from behind enemy lines in Afghanistan, Channel 4 News video journalist Vaughan Smith joins the Grenadier Guards to reveal how British forces are using ambush strategies to beat the Taliban. A clandestine operation carried out by the Reconnaisance Platoon of the Grenadier Guards battle group took place in northern Helmand province during the initial stages of Operation Moshtarak.

Northrop Grumman radar that can track individuals on foot over a wide area is to be deployed operationally by U.S. forces in Afghanistan to aid the fight against improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar (Vader) is a podded active electronically scanned array designed to be carried by unmanned aircraft and smaller manned surveillance platforms (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 9). The Army recently completed evaluation testing of the radar installed on the centerline of a manned Twin Otter, following initial flights in 2009 on Northrop’s Islander test bed. Vader is designed to help intercept teams planting IEDs by...

KABUL, Afghanistan (Feb. 17) - The military phase of Operation Moshtarak remains on track. The insurgents are tactically adept, have resilience and are cunning, so continued tactical patience on the part of the combined force is important. Mining is significant in areas, and the combined force must be very deliberate in its movement in order to minimize local Afghan and combined force casualties. On the ground, the conduct of Operation Moshtarak is visibly demonstrating that the force has changed the way it operates and that it is working with and for the people of Afghanistan. ISAF is operating in support...

Taliban fighters are increasingly using civilians as human shields in the assault on the southern town of Marjah, an Afghan official said Wednesday as military squads resumed painstaking house-to-house searches in the Taliban stronghold. About 15,000 NATO and Afghan troops are taking part in the offensive around Marjah, which has an estimated 80,000 inhabitants and was the largest town in southern Helmand province under Taliban control. NATO hopes to rush in aid and public services as soon as the town is secured to try to win the loyalty of the population. With the assault in its fifth day, insurgents are...

The first stage of the onslaught against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan has "gone according to plan", the Ministry of Defence said Sunday. More than 1,000 British troops are taking part in Operation Mushtarak in Helmand province, a major assault designed to return the Taliban-held town of Marjah and surrounding areas to the control of the Afghan government. British forces supported by Afghan troops are holding the Nad Ali area north of Marjah, Major General Gordon Messenger told journalists in London, while thousands of US troops are focusing on Marjah itself. A total of 15,000 US, NATO and Afghan forces...

.S. Marines and Afghan forces airlifted over the Taliban -laid minefields into the center of Marjah town Saturday, apparently surprising the insurgents and taking strategic positions from them, according to military officials. Although billed as a major confrontation between the international coalition and Afghan forces and the Taliban , the first day of the offensive in the southern Helmand province saw only sporadic fighting. Two coalition soldiers were killed, along with about 20 insurgents. It was the biggest assault since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. The helicopter airlift into the heart of the city of 80,000 started...

The Army is working on a new and improved version of its Stryker wheeled vehicle, given the designation Stryker A1, intended to boost its performance with a more powerful engine, beefier transmission and suspension, better brakes as well as adding a new sensor suite, high tech shot detection and location system, an upgraded communications network and an improved remotely operated weapons turret. The Army plans to spend $134 million on the upgraded eight-wheeled vehicle in 2011, according to service budget documents, and nearly $880 million over the next five years. The designation A1 is typically added to Army vehicle names...

Noting signs that the new strategy in Afghanistan “is beginning to bear fruit,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates also said during an interview aired last night that the effort to build up Iraq’s security forces and move forward with the U.S. drawdown plan there remains on track. The secretary noted signs of a possible turnaround in Afghanistan, as expressed last week at the NATO Ministerial in Istanbul by Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander on the ground. “He thought the situation was still serious, but no longer deteriorating,” Gates said. “I think we are beginning to...

As DD India reports, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Sunday said that New Delhi had a "stake" in Afghanistan as he sought "a stronger, more inclusive security coalition" of countries like India, China and Russia to tackle terrorism, cyber attacks, energy cut-offs, piracy and climate change. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Rasmussen said that a key lesson of the alliance's troubled mission in Afghanistan is that NATO "needs an entirely new compact between all the actors on the security stage." "India has a stake in Afghan stability. China too. And both could help further develop and rebuild Afghanistan....

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Friday pledged surplus mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles along with expanded access to classified information to U.S. allies to help in combating the threat of improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan. “The United States will now do whatever we can within the limits of U.S. law, and as soon as we can, to provide as many surplus MRAPs as possible to allies, especially to those operating in high-risk areas,” Gates said at a news conference here after meeting with the defense ministers of 44 International Security Assistance Force partner nations. Gates promised to sell, loan or donate...

Special Forces Assassins Infiltrate Taliban Stronghold in Afghanistan Sunday, February 07, 2010 PrintShareThisAmerican and British troops poised to assault the Taliban stronghold of Marjah have begun targeting insurgent leaders for assassination. Military sources said special forces had been infiltrating the town on "kinetic" missions — jargon for armed attacks. "Special forces guys have been going in on assassination missions with the aim of decapitating the Taliban force," one said. At the British base of Camp Bastion and the adjoining Camp Leatherneck, the U.S. Marine base, troops and munitions have been airlifted in by night to avoid enemy rockets. It is...

Afghan President Hamid Karzai left for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss his reintegration plan aimed at persuading Taliban militants to switch sides. Saudi Arabia was one of the few countries that recognized the Taliban regime before it was ousted in 2001 and Saudi leaders have acted as intermediaries previously. The U.S.-backed leader, who was heading a delegation that includes new Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasoul and key religious leaders, planned to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, then meet with King Abdullah. The two leaders will discuss Afghanistan, the region and possible "solutions for reconciliation," according to a statement from his...

The United States will soon start transporting military supplies to Afghanistan across Russian air space as only some technical problems remain, Russia's NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday. Russia and the United States have discussed in detail the transit of military cargos through Russian air space on condition of inspection, Rogozin said in a video press conference between Moscow and Brussels. A summit between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama in July 2009 saw an agreement allowing 4,500 flights a year carrying U.S. troops and weapons to Afghanistan across the Russian territory for free. Obama hailed...

draft budget obtained by Reuters contains major funding for new military systems and equipment for Afghanistan. The U.S. Army has proposed a $9.3 billion war budget for Afghanistan, part of the $33 billion the White House seeks for emergency war funding in fiscal 2011 as the U.S. military builds up its presence there. A large part of the increased funding is slated for unmanned aerial vehicles, and to ramp up intelligence and surveillance efforts, according to Reuters. The proposed purchase list includes major items like "new helicopters, ground vehicles, missiles and ammunitions, and upgrades to existing equipment," the article notes....

While Israeli soldiers can't fight in the war in Afghanistan, Israeli drones can. Starting next week, five NATO member countries will be operating unmanned aerial vehicles produced in the Jewish state in anti-Taliban operations in the Central Asian country. Next week, officials from the German military will arrive to take delivery of an undisclosed number of Heron UAVs, made by Israel Aerospace Industries. The Heron is a medium altitude long endurance UAV that can remain airborne for more than 30 hours with a cruising altitude of 30,000 feet, and can carry a payload of 250 kg. It has a wingspan...

Just the other day the Pentagon erased the Islamic factor from the Fort Hood shooting. This afternoon we have Obama and Co. recognizing the enemy and they are accepting them into the political landscape of Afghanistan. Those that are supposed to be leading us, are not leading us in the right direction. I am sure that this will workout for the best….