Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Jane's on Saudi, more info

My next Jane's Intelligence Review article is being published/posted to their web this week.  The topic:  Saudi Arabia's ballistic missile force.  Some of you will remember that I covered the topic here a few years ago.  That article has been removed for a while to maintain the exclusivity or whatever you want to call it (my decision, not theirs), but the new one is more than simply a re-write.  For one, there are different facilities examined.

The editors think there is a chance this goes over in a big way with some of the press for various reasons I don't want to spoil, but now that it's in the bag I'll actually get back to working on what I was supposed to be working on around here!

Given that the FSA appears to be committing revolution fail, the Syrian air defense piece is being shelved and will instead take its "normal" place inside an I&A issue.  The first thing to actually finish will be the S-300P history update, and then it's back into I&A and cleaning out the exploding Gmail inbox.

Incidentally, I'm looking for more interesting ways to monetize my existence.  If you know of anyone looking for imagery analysis work or something similar, send a note my way.  I'd also be amused to try my hand at the lecture circuit, for that matter, although how one breaks into such a thing is beyond me at this juncture.

Back to work!

Edit:  here's the online preview

6 comments:

Sean O'Connor said...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/10172463/Saudi-Arabia-targeting-Iran-and-Israel-with-ballistic-missiles.html

RAJ47 said...

" For one, there are different facilities examined."
Anything other than 'Al Watah, Al Sulayyil and Al Jufayr' covered?

Sean O'Connor said...

No, Al-Watah is the new place covered that was omitted the first time around.

poster said...

Al Jufayr' - where is it? can't find on the globe :(

RAJ47 said...

Did you read this?
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iran/2013/iran-130716-irna01.htm?_m=3n.002a.857.bc0ao01zvx.s6p

Sean O'Connor said...

That's pretty amusing. The bits about where the missiles are potentially targeted are basically a few sentences in the entire article, so it figures that's what is causing the most stress! Plus, what is disputable about the accuracy? If you stick DF-3 pads somewhere, it stands to reason it's a DF-3 site. The only thing in dispute is where they are actually pointed, but to conclusively answer that (I don't claim conclusiveness in the article, just a possibility) I'd have to know exactly how the guidance system operates. Somebody call the PRC and get on that.