Somali pirates finally retire

After 8 years of hard work one of the main Somali pirates, Mohammed Abdi Hassan, has decided to retire. One can only guess about how much he managed to earn during his criminal career, because it was his gang which was behind the most high-profile attacks on ships. In particular, the seizure of the Ukrainian cargo ship “Faina” with T-72 tanks on board is also in his account.

His gang members following his example have also decided to retire. The mass exodus of Somalis from piracy is a clear evidence of the success of the international anti-piracy efforts, in particular, of the Russian warships, says military analyst of newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda Victor Baranets:

“In the world there are about 30 regions, where the pirates are highly operative. Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden are the so-called hot spots where fishing vessels are very often attacked. Russian warships almost continuously have been patrolling in at least five of the pirates hot spots. And we have many times received appreciation from countries whose vessels were rescued by our warships from pirates. Unfortunately, however, a UN rapid reaction force to pirates’ seizures has not yet been created. “

Russia the other day announced that it will be sending some of its Black Sea Fleet to the Horn of Africa, where those will conduct anti-piracy exercises. At various times in anti-piracy fights many ships of the Russian Navy, such as Admiral Levchenko, Admiral Chabanenko, Admiral Panteleyev, frigate Undaunted were involved.

According to experts, 2012 witnessed first major results in the fight of international community against piracy. A large role in this was played by the permit granting to deal with pirates not only at sea, but also on land, from where their robbery attacks were originated. Thanks to the international efforts, in the second half of 2012 not a single ship was seized by pirates.

Russia to develop sea-based space-defense system

(RIA Novosti / Igor Mikhalev)

Russia is developing a sea-based missile- and space-defense system, which will be deployed in international waters. The system is expected to become an integral part of the Russian Navy.

The construction of the new sea-based missile-defense system has been entrusted to Almaz-Antey, the arms manufacturer that also produces the S-400 ‘Triumph’ missile defense system.

Anatoly Shlemov, the head of national defense orders for Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation, told RIA Novosti that  “this task has been definitely set for the [Russian] military-industrial complex.”

Almaz-Antey is not working alone on the planned system, Shelmov said, without specifying additional details about the top-secret project.

At the St. Petersburg Economic Forum earlier this year, President Roman Trotsenko of the United Shipbuilding Corporation announced that the USC would begin construction in 2016 of a series of six nuclear-powered destroyers armed with high-tech missile- and space- defense system.

Trotsenko called the warships “benchmarks of Russian space defense in the World Ocean,”  but refused to comment further on the plans.

As it begins introducing the new S-400 system, Almaz-Antey is also finishing its S-500 ‘Prometheus’ system, which features space-defense capabilities. The S-500 is expected to be deployed in 2017, and will most likely arm the destroyers in project.

Previously, Almaz-Antey created the S-300 system for naval use, developing the S-300 Fort F and Fort FM for the Russian Navy.

S-400 system

The S-500 will supposedly able to engage targets in low earth orbit flying at speeds of up to 7 kilometer per second – the highest speed achievable by a ballistic missile at its highest trajectory in space.

The S-500’s capabilities are expected to exceed those of the US Aegis Combat System, but a point-by-point comparison is impossible until the S-500 is completed.

The backbone of the Aegis Combat System – the Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) – is a closely guarded secret, though the Missile Defense Agency of the US Department of Defense once published information revealing that the SM-3 can intercept targets flying at a speed of 3.7 kilometers per second.

The latest versions of the S-300 can engage targets flying at speeds of up to 2.8 kilometer per second; the S-400 can intercept targets at 4.8 kilometer per second.

A warship equipped with Aegis Combat System has a 190-kilometer range, and can intercept targets in low earth orbit up to 180 kilometers and detect objects at distances of up to 320 kilometers.

The S-400 can hit air targets at distances of up to 400 kilometers, while detecting them from as far away as 600 kilometers.

The Aegis Combat System is currently used by the US, Australian, Japanese, Norwegian, South Korean and Spanish navies.

@TV-Novosti