More Realpolitik

[I B Hankering]

Potential for deadly, Russian missiles to end up on the black market.

Libya Has Advanced Russian SAMs

Mar 29, 2011
By David A. Fulghum, Robert Wall
Washington, London

Establishing a no-fly zone over *Libya may not be a massive challenge for the coalition trying to enforce *United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, but the operation has nevertheless exposed serious military and political pitfalls.
One of those surprises is the unexpected and elusive threat from a sophisticated surface-to-air missile (SAM) that Libya fielded virtually unnoticed—the NATO-designated SA-24 “Grinch.” Its presence on the battlefield underscores the need for coalition partners to draw on the full spectrum of electronic warfare capabilities to prosecute their air campaign. The missile also poses a latent threat to low-flying cargo aircraft once relief, medical, evacuation and rebuilding missions begin. Expectations are that these much-sought-after weapons will slip into the black market and into the hands of lawless groups that will want to stop aid to any of the sides involved in the Libyan conflict.
The presence—not announced yet—of the jam-resistance weapon was a surprise to U.S. and international military analysts because there have been only rumors of a possible Igla-S/SA-24 sale to Libya and no mention of it in officials sources, such as the U.N. Arms Register. Pictures of the SA-24 have appeared on television since the start of the war, but were not publicly identified by the intelligence community.
[more @
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/gener...annel=defense]

[P.S. the Libyan SA-24 cannot be used as MANPADS despite what the article suggests. A separate trigger mechanism, that Libya does not (not "supposed" to) have, is required. However, the Libyan military has
some Soviet era Strela-2 and Strela-2M manpads that could still be operational.]

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[I B Hankering]

EXCLUSIVE-Al Qaeda acquiring weapons in Libya:Algerian official

Mon Apr 4, 2011 2:28pm GMT
By Lamine Chikhi


ALGIERS (Reuters) - Al Qaeda is exploiting the conflict in Libya to acquire weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, and smuggle them to a stronghold in northern Mali, a security official from neighbouring Algeria told Reuters.
The official said a convoy of eight Toyota pick-up trucks left eastern Libya, crossed into Chad and then Niger, and from there into northern Mali where in the past few days it delivered a cargo of weapons.
He said the weapons included Russian-made RPG-7 anti-tank rocket-propelled grenades, Kalashnikov heavy machine guns, Kalashnikov rifles, explosives and ammunition.
He also said he had information that al Qaeda's north African wing, known as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), had acquired from Libya Russian-made shoulder-fired Strela surface-to-air missiles known by the NATO designation SAM-7.


[More @ http://af.reuters.com/article/topNew...330LB20110404]