Canada Buys USED fighters

[Guest]

Quote

July 3, 2018 10:28 am

Updated: July 3, 2018 10:32 am

NATO countries push back at Donald Trump’s criticism of military spending

By Lorne Cook and Jan M. Olsen The Associated Press

 

BRUSSELS  — NATO’s European allies are pushing back against U.S. criticism that they are not spending enough on defense, as President Donald Trump ratchets up pressure ahead of a summit next week.

Ahead of the July 11-12 summit in Brussels, Trump sent a letter to Norway and other allies demanding that they boost spending. After Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, NATO allies agreed in 2014 to end defense budget cuts, to begin spending more as their economies grew and to move toward a goal of 2 percent of GDP within a decade.

READ MORE: Justin Trudeau heads to NATO summit on the heels of trade fallout with Donald Trump

In an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday, Norwegian Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen said that “Norway stands by its decision of the NATO Summit in 2014 and is following up on this.”

Norway has spent “far beyond” NATO’s target for spending on new military equipment, he added.

The upcoming meeting is the first major summit since the fractious Group of Seven meeting in Canada last month, and NATO officials are concerned that trans-Atlantic divisions over trade tariffs and the U.S. pullout from the global climate agreement and Iran nuclear deal could undermine alliance unity.

WATCH: NATO plays its part in Europe’s migrant crisis, Stoltenberg says

In the letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, dated June 19 and seen by the AP, Trump wrote that despite her country’s important role in the alliance Norway “remains the only NATO ally sharing a border with Russia that lacks a credible plan to spend 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense.”

In a line repeated in a similar letter to Belgium, Trump said that it will “become increasingly difficult to justify to American citizens why some countries continue to fail to meet our shared collective security commitments.”

Trump dressed down his NATO counterparts last year, publicly berating them for not spending enough and claiming they owe the U.S. money. When he first came to office he even suggested that the U.S. — by far NATO’s most powerful ally — might not protect countries that don’t pull their weight.

WATCH: Canada, NATO allies have stopped cuts to defence spending, Stoltenberg says

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel played down the importance of the letter he received, saying that it was “typical” of the kinds of things that are sent ahead of meetings like the NATO summit.

“I am not too intimidated by this type of mail,” he said in the margins of a European Union summit last Friday.

Michel said that Belgium is doing its part in the defense of the alliance.

“We participate in many military operations with our NATO allies and it is this government that decided to end the systematic reduction of defense spending,” he said.

READ MORE: Trump calls on Canada to increase NATO spending ahead of summit

Despite the political rhetoric, the 2 percent figure does not concern spending on NATO and no one owes the alliance or any ally money. It is about the size of national defense budgets only. Other factors that nations take into consideration when looking at burden-sharing are the amount of money spent on new military equipment and contributions to NATO operations.

But the U.S. spends more on defense than all the others combined — 3.61 percent of GDP in 2016, or around $664 billion. That’s roughly two thirds of total spending on national budgets, according to NATO estimates.

READ MORE: Donald Trump slams Trudeau (again), says PM will cost Canadians ‘a lot of money’

Trump argues that a pledge was made and must be kept. Other nations argue that the 2 percent pledge is a guideline only.

“You can ask 10 lawyers to provide a legal interpretation of that document and then you will have, I guess, 10 different interpretations. And then you can pay 10 more lawyers even more to provide you with a new interpretation,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last month. “This document is not a legal document. It is a political document with a political commitment.”

 

[J.O.]

Vladimir Putin would like nothing more than to see the NATO alliance fractured by petty infighting. How fortunate for him the US (ahem) government has decided to be his facilitator.

[mo32a]

I agree with Trump, we have let our military decline to where we couldn't defend ourselves against the smallest incursion. We have always relied on the knowledge that the US would protect us, and that may no longer be the case.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, mo32a said:

I agree with Trump, we have let our military decline to where we couldn't defend ourselves against the smallest incursion. We have always relied on the knowledge that the US would protect us, and that may no longer be the case.

Do you really think the US would simply sit and watch if Canada was invaded?  Not bloody likely.

[mo32a]

They could very well be the invading force.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, mo32a said:

They could very well be the invading force.

My immediate thought is "Never" but history has proven, when you neighbour wants what you have  and has the means to take it (without fear of being stopped), anything is possible. 

[Super 80]

There was a book I had to read in school where the grounds of YYZ become a killing field as an invading American airborne force is picked off with TOW missiles.

[Guest]

Canada requests seven additional Australian Hornets

• 04 July, 2018
• SOURCE: FlightGlobal.com
• BY: Greg Waldron
• Singapore

Canada has requested an additional seven surplus F/A-18 A/B Hornets from Australia.

In February, Ottawa requested seven examples for use in non-flying activities such as software testing, static training, and spares, says Australia’s Department of Defence.

The deal is subject to US export controls. If approved, it will bring to 25 the number of former RAAF Hornets sold to Ottawa. Should export approvals be received, negotiations would determine delivery timings.

In December 2017, Canberra confirmed that it will sell Ottawa 18 F/A-18 A/B Hornets for an undisclosed sum.

The first two “classic” Hornets will be delivered to Canada in 2019, at which point the Royal Australian Air Force’s transition to the Lockheed Martin F-35 will be well underway.

The Royal Canadian Air Force requires airframes to fill a capability gap during a pending process to obtain 88 new combat aircraft to replace its 85 Boeing CF-18 A/B fighters.

In February 2018, Ottawa announced that five bidders – Boeing, Dassault, Eurofighter, Lockheed Martin, and Saab – are eligible to replace the CF-18s.

Canada’s previous Harper government had selected the F-35 to replace the CF-18 fleet in 2009, but in 2015 the incoming Trudeau government cancelled this. Initially, the RCAF announced plans to buy 24 F/A-18E/Fs as an interim solution, then select a permanent CF-18 replacement in the early 2020s.

The Boeing deal fell through, however, amid Boeing’s (ultimately unsuccessful) trade complaint with the US Commerce Department against Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier over allegedly unfair pricing on a sale of CSeries aircraft to Delta Air Lines. The Canadian government reacted strongly against Boeing, cancelling the interim fighter deal.

The RAAF operates 55 single seat F/A-18As and 16 two-seat F/A-18Bs that were acquired in the 1980s. This fleet will be retired by 2022 in favour of the F-35A, of which Canberra has committed to 72 examples.