Author: Steven Sahiounie

The timely production of key components for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation multirole combat aircraft has been put out of whack thanks to US lawmakers’ decision to kick senior development partner Turkey out of the programme, Breaking Defense has reported, citing a fresh report by the Government Accountability Office. According to the spending watchdog, as many as 15 key components for the F-35 once produced in Turkey are currently not “being produced at the needed production rate.” At the same time, the GAO reported that Lockheed has had to scramble to find new suppliers for a whopping 1,005…

The Saudi-backed Yemeni Army managed to score a big advance in southern Yemen on Wednesday after storming the positions of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in the Abyan Governorate. According to reports, the Yemeni Army advanced in the Sheikh Salim area in central Abyan, seizing several sites from the STC forces. The Yemeni Army also carried out a deadly ambush in this area, which left many dead and wounded. They would also manage to seize eight vehicles that belonged to the STC forces during this battle on Wednesday. The Saudi-backed troops are now pushing further into Abyan, as they look…

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that Boeing will supply the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with more than a thousand missiles. The Pentagon said that the company will export to Riyadh about 650 SLAM ER missiles and 402 Harpoon anti-ship missiles. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Riyadh has signed a contract with the company for $ 1.971 billion to develop and transfer 650 SLAM ER missiles to Saudi Arabia. It is noteworthy that the range of these missiles is approximately 270 km, and the deal is expected to be completed by December 2028. As for the export of (Harpoon)…

The Egyptian Armed Forces were able to manufacture the ghostly corvette in the Alexandria Naval Shipyard Company in cooperation with their French allies. Egypt celebrated the inauguration of the first Ghoweind frigate, which was built at Alexandria Shipyard Company in 2018. The French shipyards in Lorient began building the first corvette, which was later called “Sajim Al-Fateh” in April 2015, and it appeared almost a year later in September 2016 in France in the presence of the Commander of the Egyptian Navy, Lieutenant General Osama Rabei, and Egypt received it on September 22, 2017, where it entered service in October…

Syria has emerged “victorious” in the “universal” war which was waged against it, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hasan Nasrallah said on May 13. “Syria emerged victorious at the end of a universal war. It has survived a scheme which aimed at dividing it. Of course there still are some regions like Idlib that are not liberated but in all Syria has triumphed,” Nasrallah said in a speech, according to the al-Manar TV. The Lebanese leader made his remarks during a televised speech commemorating Hezbollah’s commander Mustafa Badreddine, “Zoulfikar,” who was killed in Syria four years ago. In his speech, Nasrallah touched on…

an unidentified unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) targeted a vehicle of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on a road between the town of Sarmin and the government-held city of Saraqib in southern Idlib. According to the SMART News Agency, four militants of the al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group were injured in the drone strike. Opposition activists shared photos showing the targeted vehicle, a white Hyundai Santa Fe SUV. The vehicle received a direct hit with what clearly was a precision-guided munition. The drone strike took place a few hours after the 11th joint Russian-Turkish patrol on the M4 highway, which links the cities of Lattakia and…

The Energy Ministry of Saudi Arabia will soon announce the opening of two new oil fields that were discovered in the first three months of this year, Arab media reported, citing a communication from the kingdom’s oil company Saudi Aramco. According to Al Arabiya broadcaster, the Saudi Energy Ministry will announce the opening of the new fields after putting together the data about their discovery in accordance with all legal requirements and regulations. Saudi Arabia is the third-largest producer of oil and one of the world’s largest exporters.

Gulf kingdoms’ move to deepen oil supply cuts in June following the OPEC+ group’s decision to slash output by a record 9.7 million bpd has sent oil prices higher. International energy experts discuss whether additional cuts could become a panacea for the fragile oil market. Saudi Arabia signalled Monday that it would further reduce crude output by another 1 million barrels per day next month, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait vowed to additionally slash oil production by 100,000 bpd and 80,000 bpd in June, respectively. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives aim at urging the countries participating…

The order, launched in May last year, placed Huawei, ZTE and dozens of other Chinese tech firms on an Entity List, citing national security. US president Donald Trump extended on Wednesday an executive order barring US firms from buying and using Huawei telecom equipment, Reuters reported. The news comes as the US Commerce Department is set to extend a licence allowing US firms to continue buying and selling with the Chinese tech giant, according to a source cited by Reuters. But such licence extensions were slammed by wireless trade association CTIA, who urged US authorities to back a “long-term” licence extension.…

The president’s comments follow in the wake of increasingly bellicose statements by US officials in recent days threatening to sanction, sue or tariff China over its alleged mishandling of the coronavirus crisis. Beijing has warned that it would retaliate to any hostile US measures. The United States could cut off diplomatic relations with China entirely over the coronavirus crisis, and save half a trillion dollars doing so, President Donald Trump has announced. “There are many things we could do. We could cut off the whole relationship. Now if you did, what would happen? You’d save $500 billion dollars if you…