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Russia’s neighbor to splash €10bn on F-35 fighter jets in record deal
10 Dec, 2021 14:26
© Getty Images / guvendemir
Finland has struck a deal with America’s Lockheed Martin to buy a total of 64 F-35 fighter jets. The Finnish media is calling the €10 bn contract the largest of its kind in the country’s history.
The US jets are scheduled to replace Finland’s Hornets, which will be gradually decommissioned beginning in 2025. With its decision, the Scandinavian country has joined nations like Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Italy and Poland, which also opted for the American-made combat aircraft.
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 was competing with jets manufactured by Saab AB, Dassault Aviation, and Boeing, as well as the European Eurofighter Typhoon.
The whopping €10 bn contract reportedly covers not only the procurement of the jets but also the creation of technical and training infrastructure in Finland, spare parts, and weapons.
The decision was announced on Friday, with the defense minister, Antti Kaikkonen, saying that “when comparing military performance, the F-35 best met our needs.”
The battle between major arms manufacturers for the Finnish contract broke out back in 2015, when it became known that the country’s air force started looking for a replacement for the ageing fighter jet fleet it had bought from an American company, McDonnell Douglas, in the early 1990’s.
F-35 is a single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft. Its first iteration took wing back in 2006, entering service with the US Marine Corps nine years later.
However, the F-35 rollout and usage has been met with criticism even at home, with its price tag and operational costs among the prime complaints. With a single jet costing the US government some $36,000 for every hour it spends in the sky, the Department of Defense is reportedly considering launching a new, less expensive project to fill the roles which do not require the F-35’s level of avionics.
Back in July, General Charles Quinton Brown Jr., the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, was cited by the media as saying the following: “You don't drive your Ferrari to work every day, you only drive it on Sundays. This is our 'high end' [fighter], we want to make sure we don't use it all for the low-end fight.”
Unless the Ferrari is the only car you have!
Just last month, a British F-35 crashed off an aircraft carrier into the sea during a routine exercise mission. Thankfully, the pilot managed to eject and did not sustain serious injuries.
Aside from the phenomenal costs, the F-35 has been criticized for reliability issues. It's astonishing that so many Nordic countries that are so concerned about climate change and CO2 emissions would buy the world's worse aviation polluter. I wonder if Greta will have something obscene to say about that?
US delivers rockets to Ukraine's Donbass Region provoking Russia
11 Dec, 2021 13:54
FILE PHOTO. © REUTERS / Gleb Garanich
Now, what could possibly go wrong here? Is the sale of rockets to Ukraine worth the risk of provoking Russia. What madness!
The Pentagon has disclosed details of the shipment of anti-tank missile systems and projectiles supplied to Kiev, as Moscow grows increasingly concerned about the prospect of a full-blown conflict in Ukraine’s Donbass region.
In a statement received by Russian news outlet TASS on Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Anton Semelroth said that “the $60 million package… included 30 Javelin command and control launchers, as well as 180 missiles.” According to him, the rocket launchers were delivered to Ukraine on October 23.
“In 2021, the US allocated more than $450 million in aid to Ukraine for security tasks as part of our continued commitment to support the country’s ability to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the spokesman added.
And, not to mention, to buy American made weapons. You understand here that America is sending your tax dollars to Ukraine so they can send them right back to American weapons oligarchs. This is basically transferring money from the middle class to the super-rich while they risk your lives so-doing.
Semelroth’s comments come amid warnings from Moscow over tensions in the war-torn region close to Russia’s borders. Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that “more and more forces and equipment are being accumulated on the line of contact in the Donbass, supported by an increasing number of Western instructors.”
At the end of November, the top diplomat said that claims Ukraine’s troops had deployed American-made Javelin rocket launchers were a matter of grave concern and could lead to a full-blown offensive in the war-torn region.
“In recent weeks, we have seen a stream of consciousness from the Ukrainian leadership – especially when it comes to the military – that is excessively inflamed and dangerous,” Lavrov said.
Just hours before, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, Kirill Budanov, revealed that advanced US-made Javelin systems had been tested by Ukraine’s troops and were being used by soldiers in the Donbass.
Russia’s ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov, warned the White House earlier in November that supplying Ukraine with deadly armaments could diminish hopes for peace in the region, stating that Moscow believes “another opportunity to encourage Kiev to stop the war has been missed.”
Indeed, it encourages them to continue the war. All the more weapons to sell!
The conflict in eastern Ukraine began following the events of the 2014 Maidan, which eventually led to the ‘People’s Republics’ in Donetsk and Lugansk declaring their independence. However, neither Moscow nor Kiev officially recognize them, and the Kremlin has insisted that the onus is on Ukraine to strike a peace deal with the leaders of the breakaway regions.
US holds off on $200mn military aid package to Ukraine – report
11 Dec, 2021 09:08
Ukrainian troops during an exercise near Lviv, Ukraine, September 2021. © Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP
The US has decided against delivering a major military aid package to Kiev amid renewed tensions surrounding Ukraine, a report from NBC News has claimed. It follows a week of frenetic trans-Atlantic diplomacy around the issue.
The White House had prepared a package of $200 million worth of additional military assistance to the East European country, the network reported on Saturday, citing the customary anonymous sources "familiar with the matter."
NBC insists that the US has other options for helping Ukraine, including a much larger aid package that could be approved “in the event of [a] further incursion by Russia.”
The network quoted three people it said were "familiar' with the matter as indicating that the White House delayed a shipment of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine in an effort to defuse tensions and “retain leverage in the case of a Russian attack on Ukraine.”
Western officials and media have been accusing Russia of amassing troops and military hardware with the intention of attacking Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied the accusations, and insists that its military maneuvers – all taking part on its own soil – are defensive in nature. However, it pointed out that military action could be undertaken if Kiev makes a “provocation.”
US President Joe Biden spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky over the phone on Thursday, discussing military matters, among other things. Biden reiterated Washington’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Moscow has accused Kiev of endangering the safety of navigation and violating maritime rules in the Sea of Azov, near Crimea, after a Ukrainian naval vessel sailed close to the Kerch Strait late Thursday evening. Ukraine denied any wrongdoing, accusing Russia of “disinformation.”
Biden discussed the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin via video link on Tuesday, and called for a de-escalation. According to the Kremlin, Putin told his American counterpart that Russia seeks guarantees that NATO will not expand further eastward and move closer to his country’s border.
Chinese state-run media says Beijing ready to use force against US
11 Dec, 2021 13:51
FILE PHOTO. © AFP / ROLEX DELA PENA
A Chinese state-run media outlet has warned Washington that Beijing will not hesitate to strike US forces should they try to prevent China’s reunification with Taiwan, as promised recently by a top American official.
The Global Times picked up on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s statement on Tuesday, in which he said that the US was “going to take every action that we can take, from the point of view of both deterrence and diplomacy” to prevent a scenario where China takes over Taiwan militarily. The message was echoed the same day by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who warned China that a military scenario vis-a-vis Taiwan would be a “very serious mistake.”
However, the Chinese outlet surmised that Sullivan’s assurances should not be construed as a “manifesto of US policy,” as the “US simply cannot build a deterrent to prevent the Chinese mainland from carrying out reunification by force when necessary.” The op-ed goes on to claim that Washington does not really have the “will to defend Taiwan at all costs.”
The article takes a yet more bellicose turn when it says it is “credible” that US troops, should they come to Taiwan’s rescue, would be “heavily attacked” by the People’s Liberation Army if “reunification by force” does happen. The Global Times predicts Sullivan would be likely to “recall or downplay” his statement later, since the “US cannot afford” to defend Taiwan “at the cost of a deadly war.”
The op-ed warns that “reunification by force will definitely happen” unless Washington convinces Taiwan authorities to accept the concept of ‘one country, two systems’ and engage with mainland China “on the path of peaceful reunification.”
The article blames Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which came to power in 2016, for the escalation, adding that the situation has possibly already gone beyond the point of no return.
The op-ed concludes by advising Sullivan to weigh his words carefully going forward and not to “have a big mouth,” lest he “create more embarrassment” for the US.
Beijing sees Taiwan as an inalienable part of China. However, the island considers itself independent since 1949, when the losing side in the Chinese civil war fled there as communist forces took over the mainland. While Taiwan is officially recognized by a little more than a dozen countries, it enjoys a strategic partnership with the US. Washington sells weapons to the island’s authorities and provides them with diplomatic support. Tensions between mainland China and Taiwan have been gradually escalating over the past few years, with Beijing staging massive military drills near the island.
