 Germany, aying Indian and Arab nations artillery stocks to arm Ukraine. Derspiegel. Germany is considering approaching India and Arab nations to source additional artillery shells for Ukraine, Derspiegel has claimed. The media outlet alleged that Western intelligence chiefs recently warned that Kiev's defences could collapse unless its ammunition shortages are addressed quickly. Derspiegel reported that a top German military commander overseeing the procurement of weapons for Ukraine, General Christian Freiding convenes bi-weekly closed-door meetings with national diplomats, chancellery staff and other officials. Topping their agenda is the question of whether countries may still have considerable stocks of artillery shells and whether they could be enticed to share some of them, the media outlet claims. There is even a promise of discretion if a nation prefers to remain neutral on the Ukraine issue it added. Derspiegel quoted Freiding as confirming to the German parliament last week that Berlin is trying to purchase ammunition from all over the world with special emphasis on 155mm NATO standard rounds. According to the article, Germany has been eyeing India as a potential partner with some estimates indicating that New Delhi could have hundreds of thousands of shells. Given that India maintains close relations with Russia, any potential deal could only be conducted in secrecy and with the help of intermediaries Derspiegel claimed. As such, discrete negotiations are underway to determine if this ammunition could be offered through intermediaries. Similar arrangements could potentially be secured with unnamed Arab nations. The report suggested adding that some Balkan and African states may also have stockpiles of the ammunition in question or be able to produce it. Meanwhile, the head of leading Western intelligence agencies warned during a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference earlier this month that Ukraine might lose the ability to hold the front line by June, the media outlet reported. To prevent such a scenario, the West needs to quickly supply Kiev with artillery rounds. The top spies are said to have concluded. Houthis launched missile strike on oil tanker heading from Russia in Red Sea. The Houthis attacked Panamanian flagged tanker in the Red Sea, which was carrying crude oil to India, according to Reuters. It is reported that a missile launched from Yemen hit the tanker Pollux on the port side. The vessel was attacked northwest of the port of Mokka off the coast of Yemen. The tanker Pollux departed from the Russian Black Sea port city of Novoressk on January the 24th and was scheduled to be unloaded in Paradip, India on February the 28th. The vessel is owned by Ocean Front Maritime Company. The Indian Oil Company has a 300,000 barrels per day oil refinery in Paradip in the eastern state of Odisha. After the strike, Houthi rebels in Yemen stated that they would continue to attack ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with Hamas militants. Earlier it was reported that Yemeni Houthi rebels fired rockets at the Marlin-Lwanda tanker belonging to the Trafigura Group. The strike occurred approximately 55 miles southeast of the city of Aden, a fire broke out on board the vessel. Later it became known that the tanker was carrying Russian petroleum products for the production of gasoline and plastics. The cargo was loaded onto the ship in Greece indicating a violation of EU and US sanctions on the export of Russian petroleum products by the carrier. This was the second time the Houthis targeted a tanker carrying Russian oil with the first attack occurring on January the 12th. It is reported that the rocket launch was carried out southeast of the Yemeni port city of Aden. The vessel was selected as a target, presumably based on outdated publicly available information. Previously the tanker was owned by a British company. Ukraine expects French Mirage 2000 fighters the Skywar with Russia intensifies. Ukrainians want Mirage 2000Ds, that French plane maker Dassault optimized for ground attack missions. But French officials also have mentioned air defense optimized Mirage 2000Cs. According to Forbes, the single engine supersonic Mirage 2000 with its distinctive delta shape wing was the French Air Force's main fighter for 20 years starting in the mid 80s. It began leaving service as new twin engine Rafales arrived in meaningful numbers in the early 2000s. The ultimate version of the Mirage 2000C in French service had a single seat, an RDI pulse Doppler radar, the M53 P2 engine, a night vision compatible cockpit, and provisioned for MICA radar guided air to air missiles as well as laser guided bombs. The last few Mirage 2000Cs out of around 120 Dassaults built for the French Air Force finally retired in 2022. Since these old but well maintained airframes, an unnamed French official apparently was referring to when last year he told France 24 that one option for Paris was to donate to Kiev 13 Mirage 2000Cs that still had a bit of potential. Those jets could reinforce the Ukrainian Air Force's fleet of 40 or so 1980s vintage Sukhoi Su-27s that for two years now have patrolled Ukrainian airspace and occasionally flown low-level bombing sorties. The surplus Mirage 2000Cs could not reinforce the Swing-Wing Sukhoi Su-24 bombers that carry Ukraine's French-made scalp, e.g. land-attack cruise missiles. The 200-mile range scalps are some of Ukraine's best deep-strike munitions. Two-seat Mirage 2000Cs could bolster the two or three dozen Su-24s, however. One of the main differences between the Mirage 2000C and the newer Mirage 2000D, beside the additional seat in the latter, is that the Ds are compatible with scalps as well as with most of France's other precision air-to-ground munitions. The French Air Force is upgrading for another few years of service 48 of the 86 Mirage 2000Ds that Dassault built, adding new munitions including MICA missiles. The rest of the D models are retiring. In theory, they're available for onward transfer to Ukraine according to Forbes.