NATO: Discussion and News

US nuclear weapons may end up in Eastern Europe if Germany rejects them — NATO

https://tass.com/defense/1363759

Russia spends around US $ 60 billion.  It is behind the UK and Germany at the French level.
They spend 17 times more than Russia and they would not be able to win even a conventional war with Russia

NATO is a defensive alliance and Putin is the aggressor

kvs wrote:

Arrow wrote:Russia spends around US $ 60 billion.  It is behind the UK and Germany at the French level.
They spend 17 times more than Russia and they would not be able to win even a conventional war with Russia

NATO is a defensive alliance and Putin is the aggressor

These are nominal exchange rate values.   Using a realistic PPP (based on actual prices for Russian military hardware),
the Russian military budget is closer to $300 billion.    But Russia does not have the pork barrel base in every crack racket
that sucks up a lot of the US military budget.    

People should not use budgets to compare the potency of a country's military.  It has to be measured in terms of technology,
equipment and trained soldiers.     The whole of Europe could not defeat Russia in any war.    Russia can take on the USA
no matter how hard US fanbois pretend that it is much weaker than the USSR.    

Well when you see the actual numbers it seems that the corruption in Russia is past, at least in big companies like Sukhoi. They have engineers paid 1000$ which is a good amount there and su-35 at less than 20 million.

First US reinforcement troops arrive in Germany — agency

Earlier, Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby stated that these forces were going to ensure the robust defense of NATO allies

WASHINGTON, February 4. /TASS/. The first US reinforcement troops for Europe have arrived in Germany, Reuters reported, citing the US military’s European Command.

"Soldiers from the 18th Airborne Corps arrived in Wiesbaden today," the agency quoted a spokesperson for the command as saying. According to him, they will establish a headquarters in Germany "to support 1,700 paratroopers meant to deploy in Poland."

"These are the first of 2,000 soldiers to arrive in Europe following the Pentagon’s announcement of additional forces moving from the United States to Europe to support our NATO allies," the spokesperson added, according to Reuters.

On Wednesday, the US authorities announced plans to move about 1,000 troops from Germany to Romania and about 2,000 troops from the US to Germany and Poland. Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby stated that "these forces are not going to fight in Ukraine, they are going to ensure the robust defense of our NATO allies."

The West and Kiev have recently been echoing allegations about Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded", serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such claims and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.

https://tass.com/defense/1398371

Not sure where to put this. As Republic of Ireland isn't part of NATO but part of Europe, mods feel free to move post.

I personally think they don't need such aircraft. They could buy more Pilatus PC-9 or buy super tucano it's enough for their needs. If they do really want jet aircraft buy Aermacchi M-346 Master which is extremely similar to the yak-130 (originally designed together), but I wouldn't go above this. And the price quoted on F-16 cost they are dreaming, even second hand cost more than that. And dreaming of taking the defence budget from around €800mn to €5bn is pure fantasy. I highly doubt F-16 will be purchased or any other jet aircraft. And I doubt defence budget will increase.

"Top Gun-style F-16 fighter jets recommended for new Irish Air Force
A “squadron” of fighters is a preferred option, while the report also recommends adding at least another three ships to our naval fleet

Jet fighters for a newly rebranded Irish Air Force will be recommended at the publication of the Government’s Commission on the Defence Force’s report on Tuesday.

In the most ambitious of the Commission’s plans presented to the Minister for Defence in a report, seen by the Irish Mirror, a “squadron” of fighters is a preferred option.

These could be the world famous F-16 fighters seen in many films, such as Top Gun.

The report also recommends adding at least another three ships to our naval fleet bringing the total complement to 12 - we currently only have five operational.

And it is quite firm that we need proper “primary radar” to monitor ships or submarines lurking in our waters.

The report goes on to further say that we should have defence capabilities “comparable to similar sized countries in Europe.”

One country that is often compared to Ireland in many instances is Denmark, which has a population of 5.5million people.

The Royal Danish Air Force uses F-16 fighter jets, supplied by the Americans, to primarily defend their maritime waters.

This would be what Ireland would want fighter planes for too, although it is doubtful we could afford too many F-16s as the average price per fighter is €35million.
Denmark currently has 34 of these top-of-the-range jets in their Air Force.

A source on Tuesday night said we would more likely be looking at between five and eight in our squadron to cover our territorial waters and wider Exclusive Economic Zone.

The report suggests: “Air combat and intercept capability through the acquisition of a squadron of combat aircraft,” with “combat aircraft, pilots and support personnel to provide organic intra-theatre mobility.”


There have been three Levels Of Ambition (LOAs) presented to Minister Coveney in the report by the Commission on the Defence Forces.

LOA1 is the least ambitious and would just be a maintenance of the status quo, while LOA3 would see the Defence budget soar from under €1billion to €5billion a year, providing us with a world class Defence Forces.


https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/top-gun-style-f-16-26176500

Which "Top Gun" is this? The original movie was around the F-14. Which isn't in service anywhere but in Iran right now. Not in production either.
I agree that Ireland does not need anything better than the M-346. Getting combat jets is a waste of money.

Second hand F-16 jets are getting to be so expensive even the Gripen is starting to look like a good deal.

lancelot wrote:Which "Top Gun" is this? The original movie was around the F-14. Which isn't in service anywhere but in Iran right now. Not in production either.
I agree that Ireland does not need anything better than the M-346. Getting combat jets is a waste of money.

Second hand F-16 jets are getting to be so expensive even the Gripen is starting to look like a good deal.

Western media are terrible when it comes to getting facts on military equipment. Maybe the west deems the F-16 to be top notch the new top gun hahaha well they do think the F-35 to be a super aircraft another laughable claim.

This article is a republic of Ireland defence minister or MP's fantasy nothing more

Greenland is Danish. The Dutch still have some colonies in the Caribbean I think.