Rogue Planet

US circles hijacked ship with Sudan-bound weapons

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN and BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writers

U.S. warships and helicopters on Monday surrounded a hijacked cargo ship loaded with Sudan-bound tanks and other arms to keep the weapons from falling "into the wrong hands," an American Navy spokesman said.

The shipment of 33 Russian-designed tanks, rifles and ammunition on the Ukrainian-operated Faina was headed for Sudan — not Kenya as previously claimed by Kenyan officials, said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a deputy spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.

The pirates who seized the ship are demanding a $20 million ransom.

Christensen said an unspecified number of destroyers and cruisers have joined the San Diego-based USS destroyer Howard within a 10-mile radius of the Faina.

"The safety of the ship's crew and cargo is a paramount concern to us," Christensen said, adding additional warships and helicopters were deployed to prevent the weapons from falling "into the wrong hands."

The U.S. fears the armaments onboard the Ukrainian vessel may end up with al-Qaida-linked Islamic insurgents who have been fighting the shaky U.N.-backed Somali transitional government since late 2006.

"We maintain a vigilant watch over the ship and we will remain on station while negotiations between the pirates and the shipping company are going on," Christensen told The Associated Press.

Pirates seized the Faina's Ukrainian, Russian and Latvian crew off Somalia's lawless coast on Thursday as it headed to Kenya and anchored the vessel off Somalia's coast near the central town of Hobyo. One of the 21 crew members has died.

Ukrspetsexport expects rise in exports of weapons and defense services

Ukraine General Newswire
December 24, 2007 Monday 7:40 PM MSK

The Ukrspetsexport state company plans to boost its exports of goods and services for military purposes by around 15% in 2007 compared to 2006.

"The state company will fulfill its target figures. We expect this year's growth at around 15%," a company representative told Interfax- Ukraine on Monday.

"The structure of exports underwent no significant changes. The main market is in Russia, CIS countries, and some Asian countries," he said.

According to Ukrspetsexport Director General Serhiy Bondarchuk, the rise in exports of weapons and defense services was 16% in 2006. The company said it supplied 44% of its production to CIS countries, 29% to Asian countries, 19% to Africa, 5% to Europe and 3% to America. The volumes of exports to Russia tripled.

The Arms Trade in the Caucasus

Excerpts from 'Arms Export' magzine No. 198:

In its report to the UN Registry, Ukraine confirms its reputation as the
world's leading supplier of second-hand weaponry from the arsenals of the
former Soviet Union. In 2006, for example Ukraine sold T-72 and T-55 tanks,
armored vehicles, artillery systems, and MiG-29 jets. Its clients included
Azerbaijan, the Congo, Iraq, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Vietnam... and even
the United States. Ukraine managed to sell the Americans a batch of
Soviet-made portable surface-to-air missile systems: fourteen 9P58M
launchers and 33 9M36-1 missiles for Strela-3 9K34 systems, 29 9P519
launchers and 71 9M313 missiles for Igla-1 9K310 systems, 49 9P516 launchers
and 99 9M39 missiles for Igla 9K38 systems. Apparently, these weapons will
be used in the research and development process as the United States works
to develop weapons to counter portable surface-to-air missile systems.

Ukraine's arms exports are based on hardware inherited from the USSR. The
only hardware produced by Ukraine's own defense sector is the BTR-3U armored
personnel carrier (a modified clone of the BTR-80, assembled in Kharkiv),
along with R-27 missiles produced by the Artem plant in Kiev.

Ukraine continues to play a destabilizing role in the Caucasus region,
supplying arms to Georgia and Azerbaijan. Ukraine is the leading supplier of
arms and military hardware to both these countries. Most noteworthy: in
2006, Ukraine shipped the first five MiG-29 fighter jets to Azerbaijan -
enhancing the combat capacities of the Azeri Air Force substantially, and
signalling a new round of the arms race in the Caucasus. Ukraine continued
to supply T-72 tanks and 120-mm mortars to Azerbaijan. Ukraine's report to
the Registry fails to mention its delivery of six L-29 training planes to
Georgia in 2006 (although their physical transfer may have been delayed
until early 2007); it also fails to mention supplying Georgia with Osa-AKM
air defense systems and artillery weapons, although these are mentioned in
Georgia's list of imports.

Ukraine holds firm as a top world arms exporter, but lags far behind Russia

by Stephen Bandera, Kyiv Post Editor
Aug 29 2007, 23:24
Ukraine earned some $750 million through weaponry sales to 19 countries in 2006

Ukraine, one of the world’s top 10 arms exporting countries, earned some $750 million through weaponry sales to 19 countries in 2006, with exports to Azerbaijan and China leading the way, according to the country’s annual report to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms.

Azerbaijan received 17 battle tanks, while 20 were bought by the Congo and one was purchased by the United States. Ukraine has reported the transfer of more than 720 tanks to 11 different countries since the country joined the voluntary reporting mechanism established by the UN nearly 15 years ago.

Azerbaijan and the Congo also purchased 23 armored combat vehicles, while 50 armored combat vehicles (ACV) were delivered to Iraq and 10 to Nigeria. Earlier this month, Ukraine won a contract to supply 96 ACVs for $117 million to Thailand, which will take two years to complete.

In addition, Azerbaijan acquired 13 units of large-caliber artillery, according to the report published this month.

Ukraine's Shrinking Supply of Arms Dealers

Two Ukrainians convicted of illegal arms export killed in prison

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/83235.html Kiev - Two Ukrainians convicted of selling weapons illegally to China, Iran, and Eritrea have been killed in prison, Sehodnia newspaper reported on Monday. Both victims died of suffocation in Kiev Prison Number 13, a high-security installation containing mostly repeat offenders. Oleg Orlov, 60, reportedly died in his sleep after a cell-mate throttled him with a rope made from an undershirt. A third inmate in the room did not intervene in the killing. A second inmate also serving time at the same prison in connection with illicit weapons sales abroad was choked to death after a fight with another prisoner. Prison officials were investing both murders, according to the newspaper article. Orlov had been serving a sentence for participating in illegal weapons sales during the 1990s. A Kiev court found him guilty of selling high-tech cruise missiles to China, radio-location detectors to Eritrea, and multiple-rocket launch systems to Iran. He had been working for the state weapons export monopoly at the time. Ukraine's government later denied it had anything to do with the sales, and prosecuted officials involved in the allegedly "rogue" deal. Audio tapes secretly recorded in then-President Leonid Kuchma's office, and later made public by Kuchma's opponents, seem to show the Kuchma administration was directly involved in the deals. The US later accused Kuchma's government of attempting to sell anti-stealth technology to Iraq shortly before the US invaded. Orlov was an associate of Valery Malev, the head of Ukraine's national weapons export company at the time. Malev died in a suspicious 2002 automobile accident. As a result of Orlov's death, few witnesses with direct knowledge of Ukraine's weapons sales abroad during the 1990s are left alive, according to the Ukrainska Kriminal web site.