Fraud halts India, Israeli arms deals

Fraud halts India, Israeli arms deals. New Delhi has suspended all arms trade with Tel Aviv after blacklisting Israel Military Industries (IMI) over corruption allegations.

The Indian government says the contracts were halted for alleged 'illicit trading and bribery'.

Arms deals with six other companies --from Poland, Singapore as well as India-- were also suspended.

The move, which came after the former head of India's Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) Sudipto Ghosh was arrested on corruption charges, puts billions of dollars worth of defense contracts at risk.

Ghosh is accused of receiving bribes from the arms manufacturers to favor them in arms purchase projects with OFB.

IMI had signed a $24 million contract with OFB under which it was about to set up an ordnance complex of five plants in northern India to manufacture 155mm Bi-Modular Charge Systems (BMCS) and other propellant charges for heavy caliber artillery ammunition for the army.

Arms trading between New Delhi and Tel Aviv, which is India's second biggest arm supplier after Russia, dates back to early 1990s, so far they have inked deals amounting to $8 billion.

Last month, India received the first of three Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) planes from Israel it purchased for $1.1 billion in 2004.

Iran mass produces new ground-to-air guided missile

top news : Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar inaugurates the production line of domestically-made supersonic ground-to-air missile system.

Mohammad-Najjar says the smart missile system, called 'Shahin' has a range of more than 40 kilometers.

He added that the system, capable of targeting fighter jets and helicopters, will promote Iran's defense capabilities against possible air attacks.

The research and production phases of the defense system, including missile, missile interceptors, hardware and software networks and launch pad have been carried out by Iranian experts, said Mohammad-Najjar on Saturday after launching the production line of the system.

Last month, Iran test-fired a new deterrent ballistic missile, the Sejjil II, with a 2000-kilometer surface-to-surface range.

The developments come as the country, which has been targeted by a series of sanctions over its independent stance, beefs up its defense amid increased Israeli threats to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran also launched a production line for manufacturing autocannons to mount on warships.

"The final range of the 40-millimetre naval autocannon, named Fath (Victory), is 12 kilometers; (more than seven miles) it shoots 300 projectiles per minute," Mohammad-Najjar said.

"It can be used against cruise missiles... It is an anti-aircraft low-altitude weapon which is mounted on warships," he said.

in daily news online Iran unveiled a new domestically produced attack chopper, the Shahed (Witness) 285, capable of taking part in sea and air combat operations.