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☆ After a year of death and destruction, Ukraine braces itself for a major escalation in the war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Emergency service workers extinguish a fire after shelling on the Bakhmut frontline in Ivanivske, Ukraine as Russia-Ukraine war continues on January 02, 2023. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesWhen Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, it shocked the world. Russia and Ukraine have only published data sporadically on their own casualty rates in the war — so we have to rely on estimates. One former NATO official told CNBC that, sooner or later, Ukraine would need to be given combat aircraft. Kenzo Tribouillard | Afp | Getty ImagesAsked whether he believed Ukraine could prevail and win the war before the end of 2023, Shea said two things need to happen: Western weapons need to arrive quickly and Ukraine must be given aircraft.

☆ Israel Strikes Hamas Sites as Conflict Widens
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Aaron Boxerman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Gaza City after Israel launched air strikes on the Palestinian enclave early on Thursday. JERUSALEM—Israeli jet fighters struck Hamas sites after militants fired rockets from Gaza on Thursday, the Israeli military said, raising fears of a wider conflict after a raid in the occupied West Bank left 11 Palestinians dead. The Israeli military said it bombarded a weapons-manufacturing facility affiliated with Hamas, the de facto rulers of the Gaza Strip and a U.S.-designated terror group. Israeli forces also attacked a Hamas military site in Jabalia in northern Gaza.

☆ China, Japan square off at first security talks in four years
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Sakura Murakami | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Japan in December said it would double defence spending over the next five years to 2% of gross domestic product - a total of $320 billion - to deter China from resorting to military action. Beijing, which increased defence spending by 7.1% last year, spends more than four times as much as Japan on its forces. China is Japan's largest trading partner, accounting for around a fifth of its exports and almost a quarter of its imports. “While relations between Japan and China have a lot of possibilities, we are also facing many issues and concerns," Yamada told Sun. He pointed to their territorial dispute over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, Beijing's recent joint military drills with Moscow and the suspected Chinese surveillance balloons spotted over Japan at least three times since 2019.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Zelenskiy says Russia suffers extraordinary losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DIPLOMACY* U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Poland over Feb. 20-22 to mark the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. * Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will travel to Kyiv on Monday to meet Zelenskiy, a political source in Rome said on Sunday. Meloni, who took office in October, has said she planned to visit Kyiv before the anniversary of Russia's invasion. * The United States has concluded that Russia has committed "crimes against humanity" during its nearly year-long invasion of Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris said. * U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China's top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi at a Munich conference of consequences should China provide material support to Russia's invasion, while Harris said Chinese support would reward aggression.

☆ Biden Is Expected to Speak on Chinese Balloon, Unidentified Objects
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Ken Thomas | Catherine Lucey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A jet fighter flying near a Chinese a balloon before it was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean. WASHINGTON—President Biden is expected to deliver remarks on the shooting down of an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon and the subsequent takedown of other high-flying objects over North America, following days of questions over the administration’s response. The president is expected to speak Thursday or Friday, administration officials said, but he hasn’t yet made a final decision on the timing. He was at Walter Reed Medical Center Thursday morning for his annual physical examination.

☆ How unusually mild weather prevented what could've been the first aircraft carrier battle since World War II
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Sebastien Roblin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Argentine jets were poised to strike when the usually turbulent South Atlantic winds took a mild turn. Few of the half-dozen Argentine aviators expected to survive the attack, dubbed "Banzai Night" after the famous Japanese battle cry. Government of ArgentinaIronically, the Veinticinco de Mayo was originally a British carrier named the HMS Venerable launched by the Cammell Laird shipyard near the end of World War II. After a damaging boiler-room fire, the Karel was sold in 1969 to the Argentine Navy which extensively modernized and rebuilt the 25-year-old vessel. The Harrier and the Sea DartSea Harrier jump jets aboard HMS Hermes in the South Atlantic on May 1, 1982.

☆ Pentagon’s Unidentified-Object Office Is Underfunded, Senators Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Nancy A. Youssef | Lindsay Wise | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Pentagon office set up to detect and identify mysterious objects, such as the three shot down by the U.S. jet fighters over the past week, was mistakenly underfunded, said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the New York Democrat who pushed to create the office. The Pentagon last year established the classified All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, from legislative language Ms. Gillibrand and Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) put in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022.

☆ U.S. Military Shoots Down Fourth High-Altitude Object Over North America
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Nancy A. Youssef | Paul Vieira | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Pentagon said it began tracking the latest object over Montana. WASHINGTON—The U.S. shot down a fourth flying object Sunday afternoon at 20,000 feet above Michigan’s Lake Huron, the Pentagon said, underscoring its stepped-up defense of North American airspace following the discovery of a suspected Chinese spy balloon. An F-16 jet fighter shot down the object on orders of President Biden at 2:42 p.m., the Pentagon said, with the same kind of missile used in the previous three shootdowns, an AIM-9X Sidewinder.

‘Until a few months ago we didn’t know of these balloons,’ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. U.S. and Canadian officials were seeking Sunday to determine the origin and purpose of two objects shot down by military jet fighters over Alaska and Canada in the wake of increased aerial surveillance following the discovery of a suspected Chinese spy balloon. U.S. officials said they had stepped up monitoring of high-altitude airspace following the discovery of the Chinese balloon. In two separate incidents this weekend, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily closed off airspace to civilian operations—first over Montana, and later over Lake Michigan—to support Department of Defense operations.

☆ Why China's and Russia's 5th-generation stealth jets don't quite live up to the hype, according to a former US Navy pilot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Peter Suciu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Those jets have advanced features but aren't quite as advanced as US stealth jets, a former Navy pilot says. However, a copy of a fifth-generation fighter does not actually make it one. Russia's Sukhoi Su-57Russian Su-57 fighter jets. A Russian Su-57 fighter jet. Associated PressThough the Chinese and Russian aircraft are likely highly capable warbirds, some US aviation experts have suggested they shouldn't rightfully be considered "fifth-generation."

☆ Senate Republicans Demand Answers on Handling of Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Nancy A. Youssef | Warren P. Strobel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Senate Republicans demanded the Biden administration provide more information about its handling of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that crossed the U.S., particularly decisions made soon after its detection and why the military and spy agencies weren’t better prepared given previous incursions. Since an Air Force F-22 jet fighter shot down the balloon Saturday as it crossed the South Carolina coast, critics on Capitol Hill have said the administration needs to explain why it didn’t shoot the craft down sooner and how at least four suspected Chinese balloons had previously entered U.S. airspace.

☆ Decades after winning the world's first jet-powered dogfights, US fighter pilots are still flexing their muscles over Korea
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

That November, US Air Force and Navy pilots notched the first victories between jet-powered aircraft. The first, involving an Air Force Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star piloted by Lt. Russel Brown, occurred on November 8, 1950. Air superiorityUS Air Force F-80C fighters return from a mission in August 1952. The Air Force's 'first'A US Air Force F-80C armed with napalm bombs takes off from a Korean airfield in February 1951. The exercise, called Vigilant Storm, involved roughly 100 US aircraft and some 140 South Korean aircraft flying more than 1,600 sorties.

☆ Biden Administration Decision to Delay Shootdown of Chinese Balloon Questioned
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Alex Leary | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The Biden administration came under scrutiny Sunday over its handling of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, with Republican lawmakers asking why the craft was allowed to enter and then traverse the U.S. for days before being shot down. The U.S. military first detected the balloon north of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska on Jan. 28 and watched as it then entered northwest Canada and moved over Idaho and Montana and to the southeast before an Air Force jet fighter shot it down off the South Carolina coast on Saturday.

☆ A Swedish-made fighter jet could tip the scales against Russia in Ukraine, but it might not get there any time soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Sebastien Roblin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Ukraine's air force remains in the fight almost a year after Russia's shambolic invasion. Sooner or later, Ukraine must induct new jet fighters into service — and they sure aren't buying them from Russia. JAS-39 Gripen: background and capabilitiesA Swedish JAS 39 Gripen at Bobo, Norway in October 2018. A Hungarian Air Force JAS-39 Gripen in August 2010. JAS-39 Gripen vs. F-16A US Air Force F-16 takes off from Aviano Air Base in Italy in June 2020.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, days after it was spotted crossing the U.S. and adding to already high tensions between Washington and Beijing. An Air Force F-22 Raptor jet fighter on Saturday downed the balloon with a single AIM-9X Sidewinder missile off the coast of South Carolina at 2:39 p.m. ET within U.S. territorial waters, officials said. The jet fighter was flying at 58,000 feet, below the balloon, which had been flying as high as 65,000 feet.

☆ Fears of Losing Out to China Put U.S. Under Pressure Over Kenya Base
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Michael M. Phillips | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

MOKOWE, Kenya—Kenya is asking the U.S. to pay for the expansion of a joint counterterrorism base, raising concerns in Washington that the East African country could turn to China if the Americans balk, according to U.S. officials. The Kenyan military has drawn up plans for a new runway long enough to handle jet fighters at Manda Bay Airfield, a hub for U.S. and Kenyan operations against al-Shabaab, al Qaeda’s affiliate in neighboring Somalia, the U.S. officials said.

☆ Ukraine Calls for Western Warplanes Despite U.S. Refusal
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Thomas Grove | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ukraine renewed its calls for Western weaponry including new aircraft to replace its Soviet-vintage fleet, despite a refusal from President Biden to send U.S. F-16s. Less than a week after Kyiv secured pledges for more than 300 U.S. and German-made tanks from Washington and its European partners, Ukraine is looking for more powerful weapons, including F-16 jet fighters and longer-range missiles like Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS, that can strike deeper into occupied territory and even hit targets inside Russia.

☆ U.S., South Korea to Step Up Nuclear Deterrence Efforts Against North Korea
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Dasl Yoon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, center, with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jong-sup, leaving after a ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on Tuesday. SEOUL—Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. would expand military drills with South Korea and increase nuclear-deterrence efforts, as he sought to reassure the Asian ally of Washington’s commitment amid growing threats from North Korea. Mr. Austin said that more U.S. jet fighters would be deployed to South Korea this year and the two countries would hold larger-scale and longer joint military exercises than their previous ones. Mr. Austin, who is on a three-day visit to Seoul, made the commitments during talks with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jong-sup , on Tuesday.

☆ Here's how a wildly outgunned US Navy pilot outfoxed one of the Soviet Union's best jets, scoring a string of kills in a legendary dogfight
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

An outgunned US Navy pilot downed four Soviet MiG-15 jets in a legendary dogfight over 70 years ago. This swept-wing Soviet aircraft was considered to be superior to the straight-wing American Panther in terms of overall performance. A Grumman F9F Panther fighter jet fires its guns during an attack on the North Korean port of Hungnam. "In the moment I was a fighter pilot doing my job," Williams said in an account of the fight, according to Pacific Fleet. Williams' dogfight isn't the only example of US planes battling enemy aircraft that are superior on paper.

Ukraine has won promises of Western battle tanks and is seeking fighter jets to push back against Russian and pro-Moscow forces, which are slowly advancing along part of the front line. Zelenskiy, speaking separately, said Ukraine wanted to preempt Russian attacks on Ukrainian urban areas and civilians. Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian air force denied a newspaper report that it intended to get 24 fighter jets from allies, saying talks were continuing, Ukraine's Babel online outlet said. He also told Ukrainian national television that allied nations did not like public speculation about jets, Interfax Ukraine news agency said. Germany's defence minister this week ruled out the idea of sending jets to Ukraine.

☆ Ukraine denies report it intends to get 24 jets from allies
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A pair of Ukrainian Su-25 jet fighters fly low, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Kramatorsk, in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 24, 2022. REUTERS/Marko Djurica/File PhotoJan 28 (Reuters) - Ukraine's air force on Saturday denied a newspaper report saying it intended to get 24 fighter jets from allies, saying talks about potential deliveries were still continuing, a domestic media outlet said. Spain's El Pais newspaper, citing air force spokesperson Yuri Ihnat, said Ukraine initially wanted two squadrons of 12 planes each, preferably Boeing F-16 jets. Later in the day, he told Ukrainian national television that allied nations did not like public speculation about jets, Interfax Ukraine news agency said. Germany's defence minister this week ruled out the idea of sending jets to Ukraine.

☆ U.S., Israel Send Message to Iran With Biggest-Ever Military Exercises
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Dion Nissenbaum | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ABOARD THE USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH—Thousands of American and Israeli military personnel joined forces this week for an unprecedented exercise intended to send a message to adversaries like Iran that the U.S. isn’t turning its back on the Middle East, even as it focuses on the war in Ukraine. After four days of military exercises stretching from the Mediterranean Sea up into space, the U.S. and Israel fired more than 180,000 pounds of live munitions in the largest joint exercise ever carried out by the two allies. U.S. jet fighters roared off this ship, which served as a key hub for the military exercise off the Israeli coast, as top generals from both countries gathered on board to take stock of the week’s operations.

☆ U.S., Israel Send Message to Iran With Biggest-Ever War Games
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Dion Nissenbaum | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A jet fighter landed on the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush on Thursday during a four-day military exercise carried out by the U.S. and Israel. ABOARD THE USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH—Thousands of American and Israeli military personnel joined forces this week for an unprecedented exercise intended to send a message to adversaries like Iran that the U.S. isn’t turning its back on the Middle East, even as it focuses on the war in Ukraine. After four days of war games stretching from the Mediterranean Sea up into space, the U.S. and Israel fired more than 180,000 pounds of live munitions in the largest joint exercise ever carried out by the two allies.

☆ France may be the next country to send its tanks to Ukraine, but officials worry they could be 'a poisoned chalice'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

France is also considering sending its Leclerc tanks to Ukraine. A French Leclerc tank during an exercise in Germany in November 2019. Some claim it performed better than the M1 Abrams tanks that Saudi Arabia has used in that conflict. The Leclerc's lighter weight may make it more maneuverable than the other Western tanks headed to Ukraine. But other than Rafale jet fighters, the most powerful weapon — symbolically and militarily — that France could provide would be Leclerc tanks.

☆ 'We will get F-16s': Ukraine aims for NATO's fighter jets after winning battle for Western tanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Kenzo Tribouillard | Afp | Getty ImagesThe dust has barely settled on the decision by the U.S. and Germany to supply battle tanks to Ukraine, but talk has already turned to the possible use of other firepower, namely, fighter jets. Kyiv appears confident that, as with Western tanks, it will eventually be given F-16s too. The U.S. has been tight-lipped about giving Ukraine F-16s, or allowing other countries to re-export their own U.S.-made fighter jets to Ukraine (National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he had no announcement to make on the issue Wednesday). How helpful fighter jets would be to Ukraine is a matter for debate, and depends on the aircraft, its weaponry and flying conditions, experts note. Germany arrived at its decision to send tanks after months of pressure and deliberation, making any question over fighter jets a very distant prospect, according to Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at analysis firm Teneo.

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