KDF PREPARES FOR THE MERKAVA 4-Update!!

Right from independence Kenya was always a buyer of Brit goods and services. Thanks to their Nairobi based rentiers major infrastructure projects were reserved for London based firms while the military bought their weapons systems. So complete was their hold they often supplied without tendering! A situation that persisted til the Kibaki administration took over in January 2003.

In the 80s the Brits delivered 76 Vickers 3 to the 2 armour battalions,the 78th and 81st. For its day and the threat environment it  was a good tank. Its 105 mm could handle any T-55/59/62/64 or even 72. The Nigerians also bought a similar amount.

In fact an upgraded version was developed some say specifically for the Kenya Army. There could be truth since,a version of the KAF ground support jet,the BAE Hawk 52 was a specific Kenyan iteration. Anyway only one Vickers 7 was produced. It had frontal Chobham armour and the turret design was seen on the Challenger. The gun was larger than the previous Vickers 3 being a 120 mm.

It came out at the late 80s and by the time the army was ready to upgrade in the early 90s,the country was under a low level arms embargo due to human rights violations and money was also an issue. Kenyans will remember the so-called tribal clashes of the early 90s that ushered in multipartyism. Hundreds of thousands were displaced from the fertile Rift Valley bread basket as then President Moi's Kalenjin attacked 'immigrants'.

Anyway,the original KDF Vickers 3 underwent a midlife upgrade 3 years ago. The Brits installed laser range finders and upgraded the thermal imaging equipment. However unknown to most people the armed forces are amidst an unprecedented rearmament. The aircav has received Z-9s,MI-28s and even the latest Russian double rotor gunship the KA -50 was tested out recently as a purchase probe that didn't go further.

                          A Chinese made Z-9

                Uncle Ivan's answer to the Apache,the MI-28

                      The double rotor,KA 50

 The navy finally received its Spanish OPV 2 years ago while a larger Indian Saryu class OPV currently under construction at a Goa shipyard is expected before the year end.

These are unmistakable indicators that the KDF is seeking an expanded regional role. A nation without the means to project power is forever doomed to insignificance:which brings us to Kenya pulling the wider east Africa along with the Middle Region out of the Western grip via the crucial LAPSSET.
In other words,Somalia as far as Bossasso on the Red Sea to N.Mozambique to S.Ethiopia,S Sudan as far as the northern border til the CAR and all parts in between  are inextricable linked to our national trajectory and therefore fall under the KDF defence orbit.
 Which means that while air assets may be sufficient for this task an armour element is still required-something heavier, more effective than the Ukrainian T-72s of the unforgettable MV Faina story of 2010 which were meant as a short term stopgap. Britain as a potential supplier of Vickers 7 is out-the decision was made the beginning of the Kibaki era no more arms purchases would be made from that direction.
The price and political noise of other otherwise excellent  examples like German Leopard 2s or French le Clercs discounted European armour. Enter the Merkava 4. 2 were field tested at the N Kenyan army grounds. The brass were seriously pleased. It does all an MBT of its class is expected and more.

It has an internal 60 mm mortar and can carry a half section of infantrymen in its spacious rear.

 Also it contains a revolutionary active defense system,trophy that shoots down incoming missiles and RPGs.
There's an actual combat shootdown of an incoming RPG at this link.

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/watch-an-active-protection-system-destroy-an-rpg-fired-1609196170


During the last Lebanon incursion in 2006, Kornet missiles penetrated a handful but no Merkava 4 was destroyed unlike the earlier Merkava 3 and 2 series.K

The Israelis are eager to find a foreign buyer for what's really a top of the line tank and seem to have found one in the KDF and mutually beneficial purchase agreements can be inked for this 6 mn $ beast. If only these fake Jews could reduce their murderous rampages against the Palestinians perhaps conscientious Kenyans wouldn't feel moral reservations at this imminent purchase.
In the real world though such feelings count for little,moral outrage carries its own weight.

Kenyans,Christian and Muslim would be loathe to see their hard earned tax shillings indirectly funding these favourite Israeli pasttimes.
Especially when one remembers all the false flags they've inflicted on us. The first was the Jewish owned Norfolk hotel bombing New Years eve 1980. By the usual Zionist standards casualties were small,roughly 10 killed and 3 times that number injured-maybe we should thank the Mossad? It turned out a mysterious Arab checked out the day before who later turned out to be affiliated with one of the myriad PLO splinter groups.
Everyone knows these Arab factions,splinters and the PLO itself are Israeli puppets. Then there was the Mombasa hotel bomb in 2002 that killed 12 underpaid ,sexually harassed and permanently humiliated Kenyan hotel dancers and the fake attempted Arkia charter jet shootdown.
We can't forget last year's slaughter at Frank Lowy's Westgate that killed almost 70 and damaged our economy to the tune of nearly 1.5 bn $,very serious money in these parts. At this rate we should probably get those Merks for free!!


Shlomo Swindlestein,what do you say?

http://karanjazplace.blogspot.com/2014/07/false-flags-and-terrorization-

of-lamu.html

http://karanjazplace.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-tenth-anniversary-of-israeli-false.html

http://karanjazplace.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-war-in-somalia.html

THE NAIJJA ARMY OFFICER CORPS WERE IN TOWN RECENTLY

Apparently they needed the successful KDF COIN experience against the ALS in S.Somalia to replicate against the alleged Alqaeda linked faction,Ansar Dine who captured N.Mali early this year. Mid last month after reviewing the after action reports and the wider strategy at KDF hq in Hurlingham a request was made for some Specops. They duly left for  the scene but returned with a grasp of the political shenanigans nixed such a collaborative effort.
The Arab North are talking directly to AD while the French are using ECOWAS,under the Nigerians to push for a military solution-obviously such diametrically opposed forces greatly complicate a clear military strategy,which is the message they brought back.
Last week a story appeared saying the Nigerians were too ill-equipped and indisciplined to conduct such an operation.

“The Nigerian army is in a shocking state,” said the source, who has seen
recent assessments of Ecowas’s military
capability. “In reality there is no way they are capable of forward operations in Mali – their role is more likely to be limited to manning checkpoints and loading trucks.”
“The Nigerian forces lack training and kit, so they simply don’t have the capability to carry out even basic military manoeuvres,” the source added. “They have poor discipline and support. They are more likely to play a behind-the-scenes role in logistics and providing security.”

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/05/nigerian-army-mali-mission-delayed

Generally such stories are planted with cynical motives. The KDF had to suffer similar slights when all manner of Euro news agencies claimed credit alleging help from 'their boys' allowed the capture of Kismayu-this after near defamation when the incursion kicked off.
 http://karanjazplace.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-significance-of-kismayu-capture.html
Though the writer of the Guardian piece,a Ghanian woman, Afua Hirsch never interviewed any Nigerian officer to at least attempt journalistic objectivity the question remains-is the Nigerian army truly indisciplined and ill equipped?
Hmmmm,as far back as the civil war an attitude of might and contempt for civilian authority was noticed-whether it was a direct outgrowth of the war and the subculture of  regularly subverting established peace time authority is debatable but by 1971 a scholar,Robin Luck published a book on it: The Nigerian Military a Sociological Analysis of Authority & Revolt 1960-1967.
On page 149 he writes of officer leadership dilemmas in " a poorly established authority structure,like the Nigerian army. " As time rolled on and both the Nigerian armed forces and civilians internalised the realities of frequent army coups and the stark reality of the monopolisation of state violence by those with little compunction to use it the latter would have little disagreement with Luck's earlier contention. In the 80s soldiers would readily assault civilian drivers during traffic mishaps anywhere in Nigeria,the senior most army levels were riddled with corruption that made dollar billionaires of a handful,while the NA conduct in ECOMOG operations in W.Africa was riddled with cries of looting, rape and general indiscipline.

On that matter why is the Nigerian navy unable to stop illegal oil bunkering which is now  a full scale commercial enterprise worth an estimated 100000-250000 bpd supplying off shore tankers? Is there no Coast Guard or Navy,pray tell. Those who observed the NA in the field would agree with Ms. Hirsch's basic contention that the army is indisciplined.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE KISMAYU CAPTURE

As expected by informed observers the capture of Kismayu went off without a hitch.On Thursday night an airborne unit,the 40th Ranger Strike Force staged a night low level drop,while a company of KN marines deployed from the sole Landing Ship Personnel, KNS Galana early Friday supported by 4 gunboats and landed on the beaches on 11m rigid inflatables to scant resistance.
 http://youtu.be/cfSsxQuWDB8
The first 30 seconds show Kenyan Marines practicing for the beach assault. Real footage will likely be released only after extensive debrief.

For those expecting a Hollywood style explosive entry into the port city complete with falling HE artillery rounds and hovering gunships,with guns clattering,accompanied by a corresponding collateral casualty count it was anti climactic. It was a slowly-slowly operation that incrementally increased forces in theatre til even ALS accepted reality and saw further resistance was pointless. The new Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud delayed the final assault,reaching out to Somali factions encouraging defections and surrenders while at the same time refusing point blank any negotiation with the foreign Islamist faction of ALS.
The endgame of the military phase has now begun. Though still rather early for a post script,some conclusions can be drawn. The winners are of course the Southern Somali people freed from terror who may now establish a new state,Azania,the Kenya government which has now protected its eastern flank (and the 23 bn$ trans continental Lamu port project a scant 10 km from Somalia) from terrorists and the KDF. They followed the basic maxim of any military force,viz,don't lose a war, receiving  praise from hitherto unimportant quarters;Kenyan civilians have never understood their role til this operation and in this new constitutional dispensation the KDF won't have to fight too hard to receive their allocations.
The losers are obvious,the international Al Qaeda and their Somali wanna bes,along with the Anglojews. Their pretensions as the sole bringers of peace and development have been shattered and both Uncle Sam and Johnny Brit are scrambling for relevance. Remember the sudden Somali Peace Conference in London in February?
The incursion took them totally by surprise as can be seen from the pique in their various semi official news agencies and think tanks.

 Faced with al-Shabab’s well-armed, experienced and more numerous guerrillas – fighters who two years ago saw off a far fiercer, better trained and bigger Ethiopian force – Kenya’s soldiers seem headed for deadlock at best and, at worst, bloody defeat

Read more: http://world.time.com/2011/10/19/kenya-invades-somalia-does-it-get-any-dumber/#ixzz27rZSjbLQ

The Somali President has declared the invasion “not welcome”, and commentators have argued that it risks uniting the Islamists at a time that they were splintering. J Peter Pham of the Atlantic Council think tank stated that the operation appears to be based “merely on an emotional reaction,” and that despite recently waning popular support for the Islamists, this operation allows them “to once again rally Somalis around them under the banner of nationalism.”

 http://crisisproject.org/kenyas-misguided-invasion-of-somalia/

 Considering the small size, poor condition and inexperience of Kenya’s fighter force, it’s perhaps surprising that the F-5s have been so busy over Somalia. But there are signs that the high operational tempo is taking a toll. Two F-5s reportedly collided and crashed near Kismayo last week. And an F-5 mistakenly bombed Somali refugees at a camp also near Kismayo, reportedly killing five civilians.

 http://www.offiziere.ch/?p=6767

 Kenya’s air force is notoriously inexperienced and dilapidated, even by the modest standards of East African air arms. The air force possessed roughly 18 U.S.-built F-5 jet fighters dating from the 1970s, two of which have already been destroyed in the Somalia fighting.

 http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/11/kenya-tweets-air-raids/

But this takes the cake for sheer arrogance and neocolonial presumption!

  Western diplomats in Nairobi said they had not been informed of the decision to enter the port city.  !??

 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/islamist-group-may-lose-its-final-somalian-stronghold-8190457.html?origin=internalSearch
Basically amusing,insulting and contemptuous  dismissals of what was actually a well thought out campaign fought by a well equipped and led force. Few first world nations have had recent success in 3rd world counter insurgencies.Careful observers will also note London trying to insert itself into the successful narrative of the Kismayu capture,an unusually unsubtle attempt on their part,perhaps indicative of Foreign Office mandarins concerns,(we all know they fund the Aunt Beeb,don't we?).

 Checkpoints have been set up on the main road north of Kismayo, with one eyewitness telling the BBC that the AU forces appeared to include white troops

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19754639

Already,informed observers are seeing a replication of the Somali operation further away in a more challenging environment of verdant jungles,myriad militias and mineral wealth of biblical proportions-an Eastern DRC incursion, pacification and an open ended occupation. The political processes involving local churches and civil societies,trying to catch Nairobi's eye to invite a robust military force and end the fighting which has killed at least 5mn since 1998, in what must surely be the most unlucky place in the world is well underway.
Watch this space.


http://karanjazplace.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-war-in-somalia.html

http://karanjazplace.blogspot.com/2012/08/finallythe-kns-jasiri-arrives.html