12 Sep 14. Iran to conduct unmanned-system wargames. Iran will be conducting a special drone wargame, according to Iranian press site Tasnim News. Iranian Army general Kiomars Heidari said the exercise will occur during the Iranian month of Aban, which falls between October 23 and November 21. Heidari “underlined that any possible military action by the US against Iran will ensnare the American forces and their allies in an ‘ambush’ that would lead to their ultimate annihilation,” according to the article. He also “praised the country’s high degree of military preparedness to counter potential threats, stressing that Iranian armed forces are able to target and demolish the enemy’s equipment that are used for long-range confrontations.” (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
11 Sep 14. Algeria aims to expand defence industry, increase economic output. Algeria is looking to expand its defence industrial workforce and output as foreign investment in the country’s industry approaches USD1bn, the head of Algeria’s military manufacturing body has told local media. In an interview with Algerian newspaper El Watan on 9 September, Major General Rashid Chouaki said the Algerian government was seeking to raise the country’s defence industrial output from about 5-6% of GDP up to 10% as part of efforts to reduce the country’s economic reliance on hydrocarbons and tackle the wider informal economy that makes up much of Algeria’s economic output. Maj Gen Chouaki said the policy aims to add 25,000 workers to the sector’s current 15-17,000, as well as 20,000 positions in adjacent sectors as the military looks to outsource roles such as mechanical repair. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
12 Sep 14. Ukraine’s president said on Friday there could be no military solution to his country’s crisis and said he hoped “a very fragile” ceasefire in the east would hold, allowing him to focus on rebuilding the shattered economy. Petro Poroshenko also said a new wave of European Union sanctions against Russia underlined Western solidarity with Kiev, and that the Ukrainian and EU parliaments could both ratify a deal on closer economic and political ties on Sept. 16. Ukrainian forces have been battling pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine for five months in a conflict in which more than 3,000 people have been killed. The two sides have been broadly observing a ceasefire since last Friday, despite sporadic violations. “There is no military solution for this crisis,” Poroshenko told EU and Ukrainian lawmakers and businessmen at the annual Yalta European Strategy conference – held in Kiev, not Yalta, due to Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in March. “I hope the very fragile but efficient peace process which started exactly one week ago will have a continuation, for the (sake of) stable peace and security on the continent,” he said, speaking in English. Poroshenko said Ukraine’s ‘association agreement’ on closer EU ties, due to be ratified next week, provided a road map for the reforms that he said would be his top priority after parliamentary elections on Oct. 26, provided that peace holds in the east. He said he had assembled a team of experts to help fight pervasive corruption, which he likened to “a cancer” eating away at the foundations of the Ukrainian state, but that improving the security situation remained the paramount concern. “Investors will come when they feel safe in this country. That is why we are reforming the very ineffective security system and army, our court system … If we do not reform these things, even after the war, investors won’t come,” he said. “I know personally how harmful the state can be for the investment climate,” added Poroshenko, a billionaire former businessman once nicknamed the “Chocolate King” for who making his fortune in confectionery. (Source: Reuters)
12 Sep 14. Ten Arab countries agree to support US against IS. Ten Arab countries have agreed to support the US in fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (