Dutch F-35s Replace F-16s in NATO’s Quick Reaction Alert: Nuclear-Capable Interceptors on Standby

 On March 29, Dutch F-35s assumed the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties previously held by F-16s, signaling a shift towards retiring the latter. Tasked with guarding the airspace over Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, these F-35s from the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) will rotate until May 9, with Belgian Air Force taking over thereafter.

NATO's QRA involves fighter aircraft scrambling to investigate potential airspace violations, requiring coordinated responses between reporting centers and pilots. The F-35's advanced capabilities, including powerful radar, stealth, and sensor fusion, make it a formidable interceptor, capable of identifying and engaging enemy aircraft before detection.

Operating from Leeuwarden and Volkel Air Base, the RNLAF's F-35As replace the aging F-16s, part of the phased transition towards a fleet of 52 F-35As. These aircraft, equipped with modern technology, ensure continuous readiness for rapid interception, particularly crucial amidst heightened tensions with Russia.

Despite past issues, including crashes and cost overruns, the F-35's cutting-edge features are acknowledged even by Russia-leaning experts. Furthermore, recent certification allows the F-35A to carry the B61-12 nuclear bomb, making it a dual-capable aircraft. However, this capability is currently limited to a new variant of the bomb, gradually replacing older versions.

Notably, the Dutch and Belgian air bases hosting these aircraft are also among the six NATO bases storing US-owned nuclear weapons, highlighting the strategic significance of these deployments. While details remain undisclosed, it's expected that all F-35As in the Dutch inventory will eventually be nuclear-capable, reflecting the need for operational redundancy.

New Zealand to join U.S. backed WGS program

WELLINGTON — The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is joining an international partnership that will give it guaranteed satellite communications for the next 20 years, Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman announced Jan. 18.

The NZDF is joining the Wideband Global Satellite (WGS) program, a network of nine military satellites built by Boeing and operated by the U.S. Defense Department.

Coleman said WGS will increase the NZDF’s access to satellite broadband “more than 20-fold, with guaranteed access and at a fixed price, ensuring better value for money.”

New Zealand will join Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in a joint agreement for access to the network in return for partially funding the ninth satellite. Australia has been involved in a similar agreement since 2007.

Currently, the NZDF purchases bandwidth on commercial satellites at spot prices, which can involve a premium of up to 100 percent depending on demand, and which can also limit availability of bandwidth.

The NZDF will spend 83.2 million New Zealand dollars ($67 million) on WGS over 20 years. The country’s current annual spending on satellite communications for the military is about 4.3 million New Zealand dollars, growing at some 10 percent per year.

                                                                                                                                              

                

Germany Hands Over Anti-Piracy Mission Command

BONN, Germany - Spain is the new lead nation of maritime task force 465 on an anti-piracy mission in the waters around the Horn of Africa. German flotilla Adm. Thomas Jugel handed the command of the European Union's flotilla Atalanta over on Dec. 6 to Spanish Capt. Jorge Manso.

Jugel had been commanding the task force of six ships and eight helicopters from Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and France for the past four months.

In a report issued by the German military, he spoke about the decline in the number of successful pirate raids from 50 in 2010 to 20 so far in 2011. According to the German admiral, more and more ships are passing the area registered and preferably in a convoys. In addition, the EU warships in May were granted a more offensive mandate to tackle the situation.

German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière, who visited the troops in Djibouti for the occasion, said he regarded the operation so far as a success. However, he warned that the military mission only fights the symptoms. A final solution requires that constitutional structures be established in Somalia, and the pirate masterminds had to be found and their cash flows cut off, he said.

Just a few days before the change in command, the German parliament voted to extend the country's participation in Atalanta for one more year. In the coming month, the German Navy will take part with about 500 troops, one frigate and a P3-C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. The upper limit of the mandate is 1,400 troops.

First Boxer MRAVs Sent to Afghanistan

BONN, Germany - The new German-Dutch Boxer multirole armored vehicle (MRAV) has been sent on its first operational deployment. Germany has flown five armored personnel carrier variants to the country's training and protection battalion operating around Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan.
The vehicles have been upgraded to the A1 level, which includes additional mine protection.

The remotely controlled light-weapon station also has been elevated by 30 centimeters to enhance its effective range. The station can be armed with the heavy 12.7mm by 99mm machine gun or the 40 mm grenade machine weapon.
Germany currently plans to deploy more armored personnel carriers and a command vehicle variant of the Boxer to Afghanistan during the first quarter of 2012.
As an armored personnel carrier, the Boxer can be used to transport and support an infantry group and its equipment. The binational project of the German and the Dutch militaries aims to fully or partially replace current vehicles, such as the armored personnel carriers M 113 and Fuchs.
The Boxer, which weighs 33 tons before the additional armor fit, is built by ARTEC, a joint-venture of German defense companies Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall Defence.
Britain was originally a partner in the program but dropped out in 2003 when it decided the vehicle didn't suit the then operational requirements for a rapidly deployable expeditionary platform.
The British have since changed their minds but have been unable to field a suitable vehicle due to indecision and a lack of cash. A Boxer-type vehicle is not expected to be fielded until the next decade.
The all-wheel drive 8 by 8 vehicle is built on a modular design that encompasses driving and mission modules. Besides the armored personnel carriers designed for the infantryman of the future (IdZ) system requirements, Germany wants to field a command vehicle, an ambulance vehicle and a driver-training variant of the Boxer.
In total, the first batch ordered contains 472 vehicles in nine different variants: 272 for Germany in four variants and 200 for the Netherlands in five variants. The Boxer is built on assembly lines in Germany and the Netherlands.
Andrew Chuter in London contributed to this story.

U.S. Tried Halting Pakistan Nuclear Drive: Documents

WASHINGTON - The United States waged a secret diplomatic campaign in the 1970s to prevent Pakistan from developing nuclear weapons by pressing countries to control exports, declassified documents said.

In remarks with striking parallels to current U.S. debates, officials in President Jimmy Carter's administration voiced fear about Pakistan's trajectory and tried both pressure and aid incentives to seek a change in its behavior.

In a secret November 1978 memo, then-Secretary of State Cyrus Vance instructed U.S. diplomats in Western Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan to warn governments that Pakistan or its covert agents were seeking nuclear material.

Vance acknowledged that Pakistan was motivated by concerns over historic rival India. But he voiced alarm that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, before being deposed as prime minister in a coup, said that Pakistan would share nuclear weapons around the Islamic world.

"We believe it is critical to stability in the region and to our non-proliferation objectives to inhibit Pakistan from moving closer to the threshold of nuclear explosive capability," Vance wrote, the year before the overthrow of Iran's pro-Western shah and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Britain was waging a parallel campaign, Vance said. Britain banned the export of inverters - which can be used in centrifuges that produce highly enriched uranium - and urged other countries to follow suit, Vance said.

Most countries sounded sympathetic, though West Germany - a major industrial exporter - insisted it already had adequate safeguards, memos said.

Pakistan nonetheless pursued nuclear weapons and detonated a bomb in 1998 in response to a test by India. The Pakistani scientist who built the bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, had access to sensitive technology in the Netherlands.

Khan admitted in 2004 that he ran a nuclear black-market, selling secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Khan, who is considered a hero by many Pakistanis, later retracted his remarks and in 2009 was freed from house arrest.

The declassified documents were released after requests by the National Security Archive at George Washington University and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars.

William Burr, a scholar at the National Security Archive, said that a U.S. report from 1978 that could shed light on Khan's activities was missing and that he feared it had been destroyed.

The released documents said Pakistan wanted to maintain work on a reprocessing plant. France initially supported the project but backed out in 1978 due to fears that it would be used to produce weapons.

Then-Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher in a secret memo urged a "low profile" on France's decision, saying it would "severely embarrass" France's then-President Valery Giscard d'Estaing and impede future cooperation if it appeared he was responding to U.S. pressure.

Christopher also said he was urging the U.S. Congress to consider economic assistance and military sales to Pakistan, which was considered a U.S. ally in the Cold War when India tilted toward the Soviet Union.

Assistance to Pakistan can "perhaps relieve some of the tension and sense of isolation which give Pakistan greater incentive to move covertly in the nuclear field," wrote Christopher, who later served as secretary of state.

The United States eventually pursued a major assistance package for Pakistan as part of a partnership against the Soviets in Afghanistan. The United States later cut aid due to nuclear concerns - only to resume it again as it sought Pakistan's cooperation in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

President Barack Obama's administration recently suspended about one-third of its $2.7 billion annual defense aid to Pakistan to put pressure for more action against Islamic militants.

Turkey Still Hopes To Order First F-35

ANKARA - Although Turkey still plans to buy about 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, it has not formally committed to the U.S.-led program. To do so, it needs to submit a purchase order for a first batch of six aircraft before the end of this year.
"We will have talks [with the Americans] in the months ahead in an effort to resolve some matters," said Murad Bayar, chief of the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, the government's defense procurement agency. "If we manage to reach an agreement, we expect to order the first six aircraft this year. We expect to reach a deal."

The F-35, whose production is led by Lockheed Martin, will be built by a consortium of nine countries, including Turkey. Other members of the consortium are Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Norway and Denmark.
A few years ago, when Turkey's planned buy of about 100 jets was expected to cost approximately $10 billion, Turkish companies grabbed project work worth up to $5 billion. But the unit price has gone up over the past two years, exceeding $12 billion, according to Turkish officials.
Now Turkish companies seek to raise their share to around $6 billion to stay near the planned 50 percent figure. In addition, the U.S. remains reluctant to share millions of lines of source code that make the plane's flight possible. But Turkey wants access to part of the source code related to operational needs.
But placing an order for the first six aircraft before the end of this year is related mostly to early deliveries, around 2014 and 2015, and failure to do so would not undermine participation in the program, Bayar said.
"If we don't place the first purchase order by the year end, it would not necessarily mean that we have failed to agree. It may mean that we, at this point, may not have the finances," Bayar said. "Anyway, we hope that none of this happens."
The F-35 comes in three variants for conventional takeoff and landing, short takeoff and vertical landing, and for aircraft carrier operations.

Danish Planes in Libya Running Out of Bombs: Report

COPENHAGEN - The Danish military forces operating in Libya are running out of bombs for their F-16 fighter jets and have asked the Netherlands to help replenish their stock, a report said June 9.
"The Danish F-16s are about to run out of bombs to continue to attack Libya," the Politiken daily said, citing unnamed defense sources.

"The Danish military has therefore asked Holland for help," it added.
A spokesman for the Danish military's logistics division did not confirm the report but said his department was speaking to other coalition partners about supplies.
"It is our job to always support operations in the short, medium and long-term and we always have a close cooperation with our F-16 partnership countries, in particular Norway and the Netherlands," Anders Paaskesen of the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation told AFP.
Denmark was one of the first countries to offer air assets for the international air campaign to protect Libyan civilians from Moammar Gadhafi's forces.
Its fighter jets have been participating in the mission since March 20.
Denmark has six F-16 jets stationed at the Signonella base of the Italian island of Sicily, four of which are operational at any given time.
Since operations began, the Danish jets have carried out 274 sorties and dropped 494 precision bombs, Inge Borggaard of the Air Force Tactical Command told AFP.

NATO Starts Taking Control of Libya Operations

BRUSSELS - NATO on March 30 began to take command of Libyan air bombing operations from a U.S.-led coalition, as warplanes and other assets from several allies came under the military organization's control.

French Air Force Rafale jets, right and center, and a French Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet are shown March 30 over the Mediterranean Sea. The jets are taking part in the military Libya operations, soon to be led by NATO. (Gerard Julien / Agence France-Presse)

"NATO aircraft are flying under NATO command in the Libyan sky," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.

"This is a phased process, which will be completed as soon as all allies and partners have transferred authority for their assets."
The 28-member alliance is gradually replacing the United States at the helm of aerial missions that have been conducted by U.S., French, British and other coalition planes since March 19 to protect civilians from Moammar Gadhafi's ground forces.
Britain, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands placed all or part of their military assets under NATO's authority on March 30, an alliance official said on condition of anonymity.
NATO's combined air operations centre in Poggio Renatico, northern Italy, transmitted flight plans to units involved in the aerial campaign, the official said.
A NATO diplomat has said that the alliance would effectively be in full command of the operations on March 31.
NATO has enforced an arms embargo off Libya's coast since last week and also is policing Libya's skies to prevent hostile jets from flying.
NATO agreed to take on the broader mission - strikes against forces threatening civilians - on March 27 after overcoming Turkish concerns about the air strikes and French reluctance to hand the lead to the alliance.

Canada Opposition Unhappy With F-35's Costs

OTTAWA - Canada significantly overpaid for new fighter jets jointly developed with the United States and its allies, a parliamentary watchdog said March 10.
Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page said in a report that Canada should expect to dole out as much as C$29.3 billion ($30 billion) for the purchase and maintenance of 65 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter over 30 years.

The estimate is nearly double the amount suggested by the government, and opposition parties pounced on the report to criticize Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet, set to replace a large part of the U.S. and Canadian warplane fleets, has become the most expensive weapons program ever, drawing increased scrutiny at a time of tight public finances.
The fifth-generation fighter was built with features designed to help avoid enemy radar and ensure supremacy in the skies for decades.
But it has been criticized for a series of cost overruns and delays, and now there is potential competition from China, which in January unveiled its first radar-evading combat aircraft.
At the same time, the contract awarded in 2001 had been planned to last 10 years, but has been extended to 2016 because of testing and design issues.
The United States is covering 90 percent of its development costs but has participation from Britain, Italy, Turkey, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Australia and Canada.
Other nations, including Israel and Singapore, have signed contracts to buy the plane.
Canada's main opposition Liberals, which committed to the F-35 program when in power in 1997, are now using the lack of open competition to replace Canada's aging fleet of fighter jets to press for a change in government.
Jay Paxton, spokesman for Defense Minister Peter MacKay, however stood by the government's procurement cost projections of C$9 billion ($9.2 billion) to buy and C$250-300 million ($256-308 million) annually to maintain over 20 years.
"The F-35 is the only jet that can meet the needs of the Air Force, as noted by Mr. Page," Paxton added. "Simply put, this is the best plane for the best price."