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The latest satellite photos taken by private company Planet Labs appear to support claims that Israeli warplanes attacked an Iranian radar installation on Friday.
Christopher Biggers, an analyst with Hawkeye 360, a satellite imagery provider, found photographs over the weekend taken by Umbra Space, another private firm, showing Iranian air defences at Isfahan, site of a large air base and nuclear research centre.
The grainy satellite-based radar pictures from Umbra showed what appeared as damage to the mobile radar of the S-300, a long-range missile defence system.
Israel's attack came in response to an Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel on April 1, itself a retaliation for an Israeli strike on Iran's embassy complex in Damascus, which killed two generals.
This sparked debate among analysts as to whether the S-300’s 30N6E1 Tombstone mobile radar had been damaged or destroyed. High resolution images from Planet Labs taken on Monday show a large patch of burnt ground around the system.
Analysts were initially uncertain as to whether the site at the Eighth Shekari Air Base was struck by small drones launched within Iran – as Iran claims – Israeli jets, or both.
If jets hit the site, perhaps with long-range missiles from a safe “standoff” distance where they would be hard to detect on radar, the incident could represent the first clash between Israeli stealth F-35I Adirs and the much vaunted S-300 air defence system.
Iran’s purchase of the S-300PMU2 from Russia, completed in around 2016, caused consternation in Israel, as did deployment of the S-300 system to Syria in 2018, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “irresponsible”.
Iran’s variant of the S-300 is said to be able to track targets 200 kilometres away.
According to the Air Power Australia think tank, the 30N6E1 Tombstone is capable of engaging “targets with an RCS as low as 0.02 square metres at an unspecified range,” according to its manufacturer, meaning that it can intercept targets with a radar cross section of that size – or how targets appear on radar.
Stealth aircraft, including Israel’s F-35I Adir, have a classified radar cross section, but one that is widely described as being smaller than a golf ball. According to defence analyst Ray Alderman, this is 0.005m2 under the right conditions – particularly the angle of the aircraft in relation to the enemy radar. This means the stealth aircraft would be difficult to detect by the 30N6E1.
Such claims are only estimates however, since much about these systems remains classified, and analysts say there is a significant difference between detecting an enemy aircraft and being able to send a missile that can track it until scoring a hit.
US Air Force generals have in recent years said the F-35 would be the main aircraft leading efforts to break into enemy airspaces, despite claims of its vulnerability to detection by low frequency radars at long ranges, and more dangerously, detection by very high frequency radars at closer ranges, which might enable successful missile engagement.
Rankings
ATP: 1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 10,955 pts; 2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 8,320; 3. Alexander Zverev (GER) 6,475 ( 1); 5. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) 5,060 ( 1); 6. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 4,845 ( 1); 6. Roger Federer (SUI) 4,600 (-3); 7. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4,110 ( 2); 8. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 3,960; 9. John Isner (USA) 3,155 ( 1); 10. Marin Cilic (CRO) 3,140 (-3)
WTA: 1. Naomi Osaka (JPN) 7,030 pts ( 3); 2. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 6,290 ( 4); 3. Simona Halep (ROM) 5,582 (-2); 4. Sloane Stephens (USA) 5,307 ( 1); 5. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5,100 ( 3); 6. Angelique Kerber (GER) 4,965 (-4); 7. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 4,940; 8. Kiki Bertens (NED) 4,430 ( 1); 9. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 3,566 (-6); 10. Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 3,485 ( 1)
Can NRIs vote in the election?
Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad
Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency
There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas
Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas
A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians
Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.
This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India
A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians
However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed
The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas
Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online
The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online
The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg:
Juventus 1 Ajax 2
Ajax advance 3-2 on aggregate
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')
Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)
Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
