arms dealing reaches the states

Briton arrested in 'terror missile' sting

A Briton has been arrested in the US after a suspected plot to supply a lethal surface-to-air missile to terrorists.
It is thought the alleged target might have been a commercial aircraft or the US President's personal aircraft.

Western intelligence officials have confirmed to the BBC it was a multinational sting operation, involving agents from the US, Russia and Britain.

It resulted in the arrest of a British arms dealer at Newark in New Jersey on Tuesday.

Two people were later arrested in New York and the trio are expected in court on Wednesday.

Officials say the British man successfully imported a Russian-made Igla missile into the US and believed he was selling it to an Muslim extremist.

But his buyer was an undercover FBI agent and the arms dealer's voice is heard on tape saying he wanted the missile to be used to shoot down a large passenger plane.

The FBI have denied that the plane in question was Air Force One, the US President's official aircraft.

They insist they were aware the missile was being brought into the US at Baltimore docks, shipped from Russia and disguised as medical equipment.

Although no actual terrorists are thought to have been involved in the operation, intelligence officials said it was a terrifying illustration of the vulnerability of Western nations to attack by extremists.

Over the last 15 months, there have been three foiled attempts by groups linked to al-Qaeda to shoot down planes carrying Western or Israeli passengers.

BBC correspondent Tom Mangold said the man bought one for $85,000 by corrupt middle management at a Russian factory and was promised another 50.

The FBI deny the presidential aircraft was a target
He said: "It may not have happened, but when the dealer says he wants to bring down Airforce One, it's pretty dispiriting."

He said apartments in London were being searched by Scotland Yard and more arrests could follow.

The sting demonstrated "fantastic" cooperation between the US, Russia and Britain, added Mangold.

"Old enemies really have joined hands," he said.

MI5 and MI6 in London were involved with Russian secret services FSB and the FBI.

Putin help

Russia detected the arms dealer five months ago in St Petersburg and Moscow, then kept under surveillance.

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, authorised for the FBI to have an undercover agent sent to Russia to work with the FSB.

The arms dealer flew to New York with his wife on Sunday at 1330 BST on a British Airways flight from Heathrow Airport in London.

But he was followed on to the plane by an FBI agent and arrested in New Jersey after he collected a package marked 'medical supplies'.

The man is an established arms dealer, thought to be a middle aged man of Indian origin, who lives in London.

Washington officials are remaining tight-lipped about the operation but admitted there had been an arrest.



The Igla
Russian-made surface-to-air missile
4km range
Infra-red capability
believed to have been responsible for the shooting down last year in Chechnya of a Russian troop-carrying helicopter


Threat of the Igla missile

[ 08-13-2003, 03:14 AM: Message edited by: Djinn Raffo ]

Apparently, according to the Metro Newspaper he is an Indian with a British passport.

And that's relevant enough to point out in a seperate post, because...?
Besides, the article Djinn posted actually mentioned that already. http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...ons/icon37.gif

Unfortunately, the US supplied the Afghan resistance (later to become the Taliban) with some 900 shoulder fired stingers - to fire at Russian military aircraft. An estimated 350 were fired (with a success rate of 79%) - leaving a rather large quantity 'unaccounted' for. So even if Russia secures its own shoulder-fired SAMS, there are probably already a large number of US ones on the black-market.

Aircraft like the Presidents 'Airforce One' have only a minimal fear of such weapons since they are equipped with just about ever counter-measure conceivable (and the President's plane is always escorted by two? fighters who are supposed to 'take the missile' if neccessary).

Commercial airliners however, have a lot to fear during take-off and landing (in mid-flight they are generally above the operating ceiling of the missiles), and as the story shows, US customs can't monitor everything entering the country (and ditto for the UK).

I'm at a bit of a loss to work out what's been achieved here. A dodgy arms dealer has been arrested, that only leaves a few thousand more then. We now know there is a trade in arms from the former USSR, that's hot news.

The best news is the co-operation between Russia and the US.

If no terrorists were involved how did Airforce One become a target? Who set the target? Or was it an imaginary target?

Perhaps the US and UK governments could instigate a 5% Freedom Flies tax to cover the cost of fitting commercial airliners with ECM devices ;)

[ 08-13-2003, 11:46 AM: Message edited by: Skunk ]

Riiiiight. [img]graemlins/whackya.gif[/img] If you want to mail me my portion of that tax, then okay. ;) Besides, I think ECM (except the truly expensive versions which AF1 hopefully has) are not that effective on a big plane that turns, banks, and dives at glacial speeds. As far as I understand it, most ECMs, whether they fool radar, heat-seek, or IR guidance, rely on "confusing" the missile with a second target while the (swift) jet darts out of the guidance systems "sight."

all that talk about AF1 and ECM reminds me of one of the last scenes in the horrible flick "Air Force One"
Two MIGs not being able to shoot down a 747 really is some of the most unrealistic action-cinema I've ever seen.

Yeah nice to see the cooperation between the Russians and the Western intelligence communities. Cold war is over afterall!