Violence and atrocities : F-16 fighter aircraft

Showing posts with label F-16 fighter aircraft. Show all posts

Friday, September 30, 2022

President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan wants to achieve self-sufficiency in defense

A new, domestically made amphibious warfare ship has joined the navy of Taiwan. Such a warship can land troops and bolster supply lines to vulnerable islands. This is a part of push to achieve self-sufficiency in defense, as envisaged by Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen. The name of the warship is Yu Shan. It is derived from the name of Taiwan’s tallest mountain. This is a program for modernizing the armed forces in view of increased pressure from the military of China. President Tsai said - “When it comes to China’s military threats, only by strengthening our self-defence capabilities can there be true peace.” She said the Yu Shan was a proof of the efforts of Taiwan to boost production of its own warships and ensure autonomy in national defense to “defend the country.” Taiwan adds new amphibious warfare ship to defence inventory. The arsenal of the warship consists of forward cannon, for use against air and surface targets. There are also anti-aircraft missiles, apart from rapid-fire Phalanx close-in anti-aircraft and anti-missile guns.

The warship was an amphibious warfare vessel. It has space for landing craft and helicopters. It will assume the “main transport role” for the South China Sea and offshore Taiwanese islands that lie close to the coast of China. It considers these islands as easy targets in the event of war. The Air Force of Taiwan has already taken advantage of the new and upgraded F-16 fighter aircraft. The focus of President Tsai is now on submarines that are already in production. In addition, she has plans for launch of a fleet of highly maneuverable stealth corvette ships. China has already conducted live fire drills near Taiwan last month. This was to express its anger at a visit to Taipei by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. China has continued its military activity at a much-reduced tempo. America is the most important international arms supplier for Taiwan and Tsai is determined to make Taiwan self-sufficient. A UK-based defense and security think-tank indicated last month that the military of China could struggle to launch an amphibious assault on Taiwan. This would be because of the island’s anti-ship missile defense systems.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

US ignores India's appeals and finalizes F-16 deal with Pakistan

India had appealed to the US to refrain from supplying F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan but, it now appears that the deal is going through and that the US government has formally notified the intended sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. The deal is in its final stages.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 6 March 2016.

Pakistan adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had indicated in a news briefing in Washington earlier this week that Pakistan had initially requested for 18 F-16s. However, in view of financing problems, it was purchasing just eight. The total cost of the deal would be nearly $700 million. He also added that the F-16s were a critical tool in the war against terrorism.
The US justified the sale as a part of US foreign policy objectives and national security goals because the objective is to help improve the security of a strategic partner in South Asia.
But - India is not happy at this decision. The Indian government and some US lawmakers have criticized the rationale of Washington and have wondered how such an arms transfer will help combat terrorism. They claim that these fighter planes in the hands of Pakistan will change the military balance in South Asia and will ultimately be used against India.
The US has justified its actions by saying that the additional F-16 aircraft in the hands of Pakistan would facilitate operations in non-daylight environments and "enhance Pakistan`s ability to conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations".

Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Monday, February 9, 2015

Jordan Air Force bombs ISIS targets in retaliation of burning alive a Jordanian pilot

#KingAbdullahII #jordan #ISIS #MaazalKassasbeh It was a retaliatory action by Jordan against the ISIS militants due to their burning alive a pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh who had been captured by the militants in Syria as reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 6 February 2015. He was captured by ISIS in December following the crash of his F-16 fighter aircraft in Syria.
King Abdullah II was briefed on the attacks by the armed forces chief of staff – the attacks were carried out by the Jordanian Air Force eagles. It seems the aircrafts struck ISIS training camps apart from their weapons and ammunition stores.
Location of the targets have not been disclosed but, as per information, the targets were destroyed and the aircraft were safe, they have returned to base safely.
These news have come even as people were killed when rebels unleashed rocket fire on Damascus and the forces of President Bashar al-Assad retaliated.
King Abdullah II cut short his US visit and returned to Amman after the video of Kassasbeh's killing emerged. Later, he visited the family of the slain airman to pay his condolences.
The military of Jordan has vowed to not only destroy the ISIS but also ‘kill the evil in its own place’ and punish them for perpetrating the heinous act of burning the pilot alive.
The situation in Syria is a matter of concern for the world. In a recent spate of attacks, at least 66 people, including 12 children, were killed by regime air strikes and shelling on rebel areas around Damascus as revealed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The assault took place on the Eastern Ghouta region and occurred when the rebels fired more than 100 rockets at the city, killing 10 people including a child.
Incidentally, Jordan has been carrying out raids on a regular basis as a part of the US-led campaign against the ISIS Sunni extremist group and over 200,000 people have lost their lives ever since anti-government protests erupted in Syria in early 2011. There is destruction and death all over the country and, with the escalation of a multi-sided civil war, the jihadists got an opportunity to enter and create mayhem.

Another interesting blog - Citizen Journalist

Another interesting blog - Ramblings