tirsdag 1. november 2022
RAF mangler flygere til F-35 - Sky News
UK has more F-35 fast jets than
pilots to fly them, Ben Wallace admits
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says "our pilot pipeline is not in a place I would want it to be".
The UK has more state-of-the-art F-35
fast jets than pilots because of problems with flying training, the defence
secretary has revealed.
The Ministry of Defence only has just over 20 of the
next-generation £100m warplanes but cannot even man all of them, Ben Wallace
confirmed.
Speaking to a committee of Peers, the defence
secretary described the situation as "quite a challenge", claiming
that the deficit in pilots was also because the F-35 Lightning aircraft is new.
However, the Ministry of Defence formally announced
its intention to buy the jets - a programme led by the United States and the US
defence giant Lockheed Martin - back in 2006, and the first British pilot flew
one in 2010.
The defence secretary conceded that the military's
flying training - beset by delays, with pilots waiting up to eight years to
qualify instead of the target time of between two-to-three years - was a key
factor.
"Our pilot pipeline is not in a place I would want it to be," Mr Wallace said.
He had instructed Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston,
the head of the Royal Air Force, to sort out flying training as his only
priority more
than three years ago. Yet - as revealed by Sky News over the summer - it is
still in crisis.
The F-35 is one of the UK's most expensive and coveted equipment programmes, with the jets seen as bringing a new level of capability to the armed forces because of their sophisticated radars, sensors and other pieces of covert equipment.
Britain originally intended to buy 138 of the F-35
jets over time.
However, at present it has only bought 27 of the
aircraft.
One of them is out of use after crashing into the sea off one of the Royal
Navy's aircraft carriers last year, three more are in the US, leaving just 23 in the UK
to be used by Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm pilots.
A-10 til Guam som et ledd i gjetteleken - Stars & Stripes
A-10 Warthogs deploy to Guam with aim to keep
adversaries guessing
By
WYATT OLSON
STARS AND STRIPES • November
1, 2022
A row of A-10C Thunderbolt IIs at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Oct. 23, 2022. (Courtney Sebastianelli/U.S. Air Force)
U.S. Air Force
A-10 Thunderbolts arrived on Guam last week for a dynamic force employment
operation that aims to foster unpredictability in overseas deployments, the
service said in a news release Wednesday.
The attack planes,
part of the 23rd Air Expeditionary Wing, flew from Moody Air Force Base, Ga.,
to Andersen Air Force Base.
“The United States
is committed to being ready to execute missions quickly in unpredictable ways
and rapidly respond to adversary moves within and across theaters of operation,”
the release said.
The Air Force did
not disclose the exact number of A-10s deployed to Guam. A photo posted on
Andersen’s Facebook page showed four of the aircraft — complete with their
hallmark paintings of jagged teeth on their nose cones — lined up at the base.
Dynamic force
employment “is designed as a way for Pacific Air Forces to exercise their
ability to generate combat air power from dynamic force elements while
continuing to move, maneuver, and sustain these elements in
geographically-separated and contested environments,” the Facebook post states.
The A-10,
nicknamed “Warthog” for its aggressive maneuverability and those teeth, are
designed for close air support of ground forces. It is highly effective against
tanks and other armored vehicles and can operate at low speeds and altitude.
An Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot calculates air time and determines status of aircraft upon arrival at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Oct. 23, 2022. (Courtney Sebastianelli/U.S. Air Force)
The aircraft
arrived about a week after the Air Force deployed an undisclosed number
of B-1B
bombers from South Dakota to Guam for a bomber task force
mission.
Bomber task force
missions are intended to demonstrate the B-1B’s “ability to rapidly deploy
anywhere, anytime, and provide lethal precision global strike options for
combatant commanders,” the Air Force said in an Oct. 21 news release.
The American
territory of Guam is of growing importance to America’s defense, according to
the updated National
Defense Strategy publicly released last week.
“Guam is home to
key regional power projection platforms and logistical nodes and is an
essential operation base for U.S. efforts to maintain a free and open
Indo-Pacific region,” the document states.
“Within the
context of homeland defense, an attack on Guam or any other U.S. territory by
any adversary will be considered a direct attack on the Unite States, and will
be met with an appropriate response,” the document states.
A $1 billion
effort to establish a comprehensive, integrated missile
defense system for Guam is underway, an endeavor some lawmakers
regard as urgent given North Korea’s stepped-up missile testing and China’s
military ambitions in the region.
Den russiske spionen - Godt jobba NRK!
Sjekk jobben NRK har gjort for PST her: https://tinyurl.com/3bfcaa8v
Ukjent Facebook-profil avslører: Spionsiktede bygget opp falsk ID i
Malaysia
NRK
har funnet spor som viser hvordan den spionsiktede russeren kan ha bygd en ny
identitet. Sporene peker mot Malaysia. – Det er et godt sted å starte for en
spion, sier norsk etterretningsekspert.
The Independent Barents Observer kreves stengt av russerne - Barents Observer
Russian General
Prosecutor Igor Krasnov (third from right) wants the Barents Observer closed.
Photo: General Prosecutor's office
The Barents Observer is requested closed
by Russia's General Prosecutor
Blocked for the second time: According
to the state attorney in Moscow, the Norwegian newspaper publishes "false
news about terrorism" and seeks to "destabilise the political
situation in Russia."
By
Atle Staalesen
October 31,
2022
The small newspaper based in Kirkenes, Norway, is
again on the agenda of Russian censorship authorities. It was blocked by media
regulator Roskomnadzor already in early 2019. This week, it got double-blocked
by the country’s General Prosecutor.
The online newspaper that
publishes in both English and Russian was notified about the decision on
Saturday the 29th of October. In a letter, the General Prosecutor’s office
gives the Barents Observer 24 hours to delete all “illegal information.”
According to the prosecutors,
the newspaper publishes “unreliable public information aimed at destabilising
society and the political situation in the Russian Federation.”
Furthermore, it distributes
“false information about terrorist acts,” and “creates threats to people’s
lives, health and property.” It also jeopardises public order, as well as
the safety of social and transport infrastructure, credit organisations and
objects of energy, industry and communication, the letter reads.
The Barents Observer is based
in Kirkenes, Norway, and covers Arctic and Russian developments. That includes
economy, society and national security. Since Russia’s onslaught on Ukraine in
2014 and 2022, the newspaper has closely followed the country’s growing
militarisation, nationalism and crackdown of the media and civil society.
In the wake of the attack on
the 24th of February, the Barents Observer has reported about the massive
losses of men and equipment of the brigades in the Kola Peninsula. It
has also repeatedly described serious
consequences for Russian economy, as well as for international
relations in the Arctic. In September, the newspaper strengthened its news
team with two experienced Russian journalists.
The letter from the General
Prosecutor is dated the 8th of October 2022. It underlines that the Barents
Observer’s main domain name will be blocked unless the newspaper complies with
demands.
The newspaper’s domain name was shortly later added to
a federal list of blocked websites. A
number of more media were added to the list on the same day, among them the
Russian version of the Moscow Times.
The blocking will have little
practical consequences for Barents Observer. It is from before blocked in
Russia, and Russians need to use VPN or visit the newspaper’s mirror domain to get access.
Thomas Nilsen is Editor of the Barents Observer.
According to Editor Thomas
Nilsen, the repressive action by Russian authorities illustrates that the
newspaper’s free and independent journalism matters.
“It shows that we are doing
the right things,” says Nilsen. “It shows that our independent and fact-based
journalism has an important role to play, and that representatives of
the increasingly totalitarian authorities in Moscow are reading our
stories.”
“Any independent media is a
threat to the regime,” he adds.
The editor underlines that the
Barents Observer will never give in to pressure. Like in 2019, the request from
Moscow will be taken seriously, but the demands ignored.
“The letter from the Russian
General Prosecutor only gives us more motivation and guts to continue our
work,” he underlines.
At the same time, Nilsen is
cautiously aware of possible more threats. While the blocking in 2019 was
conducted by media regulator Roskomnadzor, the latest decision is initiated by
the General Prosecutor.
“It is a step up, the latest
letter comes from a very powerful institution in Russia,” he explains.
Photo:
Atle Staalesen
Since the Barents Observer was
blocked on Russian territory in 2019, it has actively worked to find ways to
circumvent the blockage. The newspaper today makes all articles available on a mirror domain, and audio stories are posted
as podcasts. In addition, the newspaper
posts all stories on social media VK, Telegram, Twitter and Facebook. It also has newsletter
dispatches in both English and Russian.
The blocking in 2019 created a
stir in Norwegian-Russian relation and the Russian Ambassador to Norway was summoned to
the Foreign Ministry in Oslo.
It also created a stir in
Russia. A major number of Russian media reported about the case. Among them
were several hardline government media, as well as media believed to be
controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
«Block this newspaper to
hell,» said Vitaly Milonov, the Member of the State Duma. In an
interview with the Federal News Agency, Milonov lashes out against
the Barents Observer, saying that it represents «degeneration and decay» and
that «its ideology and its clients is based on people with queer psyche.»
«We must send them a note of
protest, call in the ambassador of Norway and say: what you are doing can affect
our relations, if you continue to produce this kind of materials for Russians
in the Russian language.»
In an
interview with Politika Segodnya, Aleksandr Malkevich, leader
of Russia’s Public Chamber on information, media and mass communications, said
that «it is time to set an example» against the Barents Observer.
«We need one striking show of
corporate punishment,» he underlined. «And if that will not be enough, then we
will need to whip them two or three times,» he continued.
«We have to do it as tough as
possible within the frames of our legislation, with the maximum level of
demonstration and publicity.»
The blockage came after
Russia’s state media authority Roskomnadzor on 28th January issued a warning
saying that the story
about Dan Eriksson, a homosexual Sámi man from northern Sweden, is a
violation of Russian law. In a letter, the media authority gave the
Barents Observer 24 hours to remove the Russian-language article.
The story, originally
published by Swedish newspaper Arjeplognytt, tells about Eriksson who lived
through years of hardship, and twice tried to kill himself, because of taboo
and prejudices connected with his sexuality. He is now a happy man who works
with mental health issues among young Swedish gays.
Roskomnadzor argued that the
story propagates suicide and is in conflict with Russian Federal Law «On
Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection».
The Barents Observer declined
to comply with the demands and the story remains available on the website, both
in an English and Russian version.
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