Mr Putin's Bears are getting to be a nuisance ... and Iceland are in no position to argue
“RAF Typhoons prepare for Iceland QRA duty”, is the title of an piece by Tim Ripley in subscrition only Jane’s Defence Weekly.
This - which we cannot reproduce , explains how the Royal Air Force are to deploy six Eurofighter Typhoons from RAF Coningsby to Keflavik Air Base, Iceland, for a couple of weeks as part of an allied rotation of fighter units to provide air surveillance and intercept cover over the Greenland-UK gap.
Joint Strike Fighter a victim of the Credit Crunch ?
Haaretz had a story last week that the IDF will need to reevaluate its procurement of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in light of the global economic crisis, as ..."cracks appearing in the coalition producing the plane could push up the price of the jet. "
Last month, the Pentagon announced plans to sell Israel 75 JSF jets in a deal that could reach over $15 billion. Israel said it will likely exercise the right to buy 25 planes, which it would like to begin receiving in 2014 but rumours abound of a delay.
Last month, the Pentagon announced plans to sell Israel 75 JSF jets in a deal that could reach over $15 billion. Israel said it will likely exercise the right to buy 25 planes, which it would like to begin receiving in 2014 but rumours abound of a delay.
Italy, one of the project's nine partners, said last week it would not purchase two early models of the jet it had intended to use for testing and evaluation although it remains a partner and is committed to buying 130 planes. JSF manufacturer Lockheed Martin confirmed that Italy would not purchase the test aircraft but that Rome was still a full-fledged partner in the program and was committed to buying the final version.
They also report cold feet in the MOD (who have run out of money for the forseeable future). British had planned to buy 150 planes. It had intended to deploy the jets on the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers. According to the report, Britain has commissioned studies (?)to analyze whether Eurofighters could be adapted to fly off the carriers instead..... Lord Patel has alreadt commissioned a technical report and the carriers are some 1,600 feet short.
There are no reports yet that the multi role Typhoon / Eurofighter is to be used as a passenger aircraft... yet.
1 comment:
Wasn't there talk of "negotiations" by the Icelandic government for a 4 billion dollar loan from Russia ?
Perhaps the Bears will actually be flying out of Keflavik, if/when that loan goes sour.
Time to re-read the 1982 classic by General Sir John Hackett - "The Third World War, August 1985: a Future History" which featured a Soviet Russian invasion of Iceland.
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