The U.S. State Department has approved a planned military sale to Japan of 105 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and related equipment for an estimated price of $23.1 billion, as the ally moves to strengthen its naval strike capabilities. It will be the second-largest sale of military equipment by the United States since the country approved the sale of 84 F-35 fighters, missiles and other equipment to Saudi Arabia for $29.4 billion in 2010.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging the Pentagon to more quickly stop buying F-35 fighter jet components from Turkey. Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla.; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Thom Tillis, R-N.C.; and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., complained in a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper on July 6 that the Pentagon’s plans to buy parts from Turkey into 2022 undercuts U.S. pressure on the country over its purchase of the Russian S-400 Triumf air defense system.
As Australia’s defence industry prepares to kick into high gear as the mega projects enter the next phase, early engagement and collaboration with the domestic supply chain and defence industry leaders can provide long-term benefits, explains AIDN chief executive Brent Clark.
As you may already know, six Italian Air Force’s F-35As are currently deployed in Iceland for the second time in support of NATO Icelandic Air Policing. A few days ago, two F-35s performed a Tango Scramble (or Training Scramble) to intercept a Challenger CL-604 of the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) on its way to Greenland, which acted as a “zombie” for this training mission. “Zombie” is the term used by Quick Reaction Alert pilots to refer to the unidentified aircraft that they are going to intercept.
Those who follow developments in the Indo-Pacific often claim that Australia has a far more robust security posture there than Canada because of geographic necessity. The argument is that Australia must be especially vigilant because China is closer to it than Canada is to China. That perception may partially explain why Australia spends nearly twice as much per capita on defence as Canada does with little public discussion Down Under, let alone complaint.
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