Tag Archives: F35

November 26, 2025 · 06:48

When one domino falls

That is always the case, isn’t it? For completely unrelated settings, one tends to dump over the other one. It isn’t fair, it doesn’t always make sense, but there you have it and whilst several players reported on it, I was pushed into motion by the Army Recognition story giving us “Canada is reexamining its plan to buy 88 F-35A fighters after Sweden used a royal state visit to promote a Gripen E or F production and R&D hub in Canada. The debate now pits industrial and political incentives against warnings from former RCAF leaders that a mixed fleet could dilute combat power and strain a tight defense budget.” It comes from the article ‘Canada Reconsiders Full U.S. F-35A Fleet As Swedish Gripen-E Fighter Offer Gains Ground’ which we see (at https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/aerospace-news/2025/canada-reconsiders-full-us-f-35a-fleet-as-swedish-gripen-e-fighter-offer-gains-ground) it isn’t merely about Swedish precision (Hasselblad is a great example), but the American administration is rearing its ugly head in a few nasty ways. There was the massive setting on the Ukraine peace plan, which according to some (unreliable sources) was delivered in Russian on a napkin, then there is the Epstein files, which first never existed, then it was a Dem Socratic hoax and now (source: the guardian) ‘US justice department renews request to unseal Epstein grand jury materials’, so the DoJ had to renew its request? This happens with “The justice department has renewed its request to unseal grand jury materials from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation that led to the disgraced financier’s federal indictment on sex-trafficking charges in 2019.” And with the actions of Ambassador Pete Hoekstra  actions in Canada. These matters all influence what is happening and with ‘Hoekstra hints F-35 deal could impact stalled U.S.-Canada trade talks’ (source: CBC) the Canadians have had enough and with the lingering ‘51st state’ comments from all over the place (mostly from America)  the entire setting of $20.2 billion is about to be thrown out of the window. And would you know it, the Gripen is cheaper, has a better Arctic track record (it tends to get really cold in Calgary and Winnipeg) and it is NON-AMERICAN and whilst PM Carney is making deals all over the globe and the 2 deals with the UAE and India setting the investment score for Canada at 125 billion. That is money not going to America, merely Canada and now they also lose out on 20 billion to their defense industry. Loss upon loss upon loss. How long can America pretend that it was no big deal? 

So while we read “Canada’s fighter replacement program, long anchored on an order for 88 F-35A Lightning II jets under the Future Fighter Capability Project, has entered a new and politically charged phase, as reported by Newsweek. During a state visit to Ottawa by King Carl XVI Gustaf, Swedish officials and Saab executives pressed a structured proposal to meet part of Canada’s requirement with Gripen E or F aircraft assembled in the country, tied to sizable job-creation and technology transfer promises. According to those familiar with the discussions, the idea of a dual fleet is now being floated just as former Royal Canadian Air Force officers publicly urge Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government not to trim the F-35 buy or introduce a second fighter type that would require separate training, infrastructure, and logistics.” This makes me wonder the ‘financial position’ of these FORMER officers. Wouldn’t ask that question? I am also wondering why they became former officers, but that is me because I do not know these people and I question everything. I reckon that Lockheed Martin might be worried when they lose 20 billion, making the deal with Saudi Arabia almost essential to make a living (an exaggeration for sure).

But the story from the Canadian side is whether the Gripen can uphold keeping the Canadian air-force competitive enough over Canadian sky. I tend to think yes, but then I am not a pilot and I never flown a jet, I merely watched Tom Cruise do so. My biggest flight setting was using the bar on a jet from Amsterdam of JFK international, so there, not entirely a noob. ;-P

And as Defence Industry Europe gives us ‘Canada considers shifting F-35 order toward Sweden’s Gripen as Ottawa reviews jet procurement’ (at https://defence-industry.eu/canada-considers-shifting-f-35-order-toward-swedens-gripen-as-ottawa-reviews-jet-procurement/) with “Canada has already selected the F-35A to renew its Royal Canadian Air Force fleet and has committed to buying 88 aircraft to replace its Boeing F/A-18 Hornets. Ottawa has allocated funds for 16 F-35s now being built in Fort Worth, Texas, but the remainder of the order appears uncertain amid worsening relations between Canada and the Trump administration”, so Lockheed Martin won’t lose all the dineros, but a large amount is seemingly move towards Sweden and as I see it, Sweden now needs to properly fund two Christmas baskets (nuts that time again). One for President Trump and one for Ambassador Pete Hoekstra for making this possible, expected Hamper shown below.

You see, this all seems clear cut, but I am wondering what this domino will throw over, because that is almost certain happening, especially with the American Ambassador throwing his accusations in the air. He might be claiming that Canadians are meddling in American politics, but they started the ‘51st state’ claims and the next Canadian step might be even less nice, Canada now have options especially when they are gaining so much ground in revenue, investments and manufacturing options (aka jobs). All these parts never involved America (other than making them no longer part of any equation), so what is next? I see options in possible ammunition replacements for the entire Defense industry. Jets and ships might make the news for the larger amounts, but the steady stream of revenue that ammunition brings could also fall to other places (like the UK), so what will that cost America?

Have a great day, I am now 83 minutes removed from the upcoming breakfast and there is a subtle hint hidden in that part too.

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November 8, 2025 · 16:33

Is it a bird, it is Superman?

Nope, it is a plane and it is heading for Saudi Arabia as we read (at https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/2025/11/08/saudi-arabia-to-buy-48-f-35-worth-142-billion/) ‘Saudi Arabia to Buy 48 Most Expensive Fighter Jet in the World Worth $142 Billion’, as such the first hurdle of the Pentagon has allegedly been passed. We are given “Saudi Arabia’s request for F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters is reportedly progressing within the Pentagon, according to sources cited by Reuters. The move could make Riyadh (RUH) the first Arab nation to field a fifth-generation stealth jet, breaking Israel’s exclusive control of the platform in the region.” And let’s face it, they can afford these bad boys. And it would make any Russian equipped Iranian flight force obsolete. Some say the best air force is one you never have to fly. I disagree. I say  “I prefer the air force  you only have to fly once. That’s how the veterans did it, that’s how allies do it, and it’s worked out pretty well so far” (yes, I stole this quote from Iron Man, so sue me) it is like Australia being attacked by New Zealand in Sopwith Camels in the past, it never went anywhere. As such these 48 birds will await with baited breath for Iran to make a silly mistake and it will be the last mistake they will ever make. I reckon that these 48 can take on at least 98 of their Sukhoi Su-57 and Russia (at present) seemingly only made 29 of them, the rest is outstanding, as such Iran will no longer have options in the air as soon as the first set of these bad boys arrive. 

I never understood the reluctance to sell these planes to their own ally, but in the end it seems that Saudi Arabia is getting them. And when we see “The potential sale aligns with former U.S. President Donald Trump’s defense agenda, as his administration approved a $142 billion arms package for the Kingdom in May 2025. Although the F-35 was initially excluded, the latest discussions suggest it has now advanced to the Defense Secretary level, signaling renewed momentum.” This event started in 2017 and it appears that Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud (who was elected to this position in 2022) did not wander in the situation, as it seems he went in and got the job done. This is no attack on its predecessor as the American administration had been dragging its feet since day one (a presumption that I am making) but now the good news is flying all over the Arabian peninsula and as I see it a defeat by horse no show through Iran. 

In opposition I see “Tel Aviv has repeatedly emphasized its right to maintain military superiority under U.S. law, which restricts Washington from supplying equivalent systems to neighboring states”, I am in opposition here as Iran is the danger and Israel knows this. Saudi Arabia had been adamant on protecting its own borders and this will do this. And as I see it, the Israeli response is (seemingly) ludicrous. With “Israeli officials and defense analysts have voiced concern that F-35 deliveries to Saudi Arabia could erode this advantage. They warn that potential technology transfers to Russia, China, or Iran—however speculative—could compromise sensitive systems.” It is a decent preemptive fear to have, but as Iran is no friend of Saudi Arabia and handing any technology to Russia would only make it stronger seems to be a weird fear to have. I get that Israel has these fears but as Saudi Arabia needs its own borders secure, I reckon that this is too far fetched a fear to have. It’s like I would have a fear being attacked by Piranha’s, all whist the closest lake is miles away. 

So I reckon that there will be salutes and felicitations going all over Riyadh at present.

Have a great day and don’t have too many dreams on Australia being attacked by Sopwith Camels, they don’t have the range to make it from Wellington to Sydney.

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March 17, 2025 · 04:53

On the left you’ll see

That is the setting, but is it the difference? You see Canada might have lost Justin Trudeau as the Canadian Prime Minister, but President Trump is about to face his most dangerous opponent ever. It is AP News (at https://apnews.com/article/carney-canada-uk-france-trump-arctic-60993a6e738f797977ef544dc5857ea3) that gives us ‘New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks alliances in Europe as he deals with Trump’ and before the ‘loyal’ Trumpetists shout “So what?” People need to realize that Mark Carney was the former Governor of the Bank of England. As such he has friends in very high places and has access to a lot of non official routes to information, A lot more than PM Trudeau ever had. I still think of him as Marky Mark of the British Bank (off the record). As such PM Carney can push new buttons Canada never really had access to. The second setting makes a lot more impact. He was the first noncitizen to be named to the role in the bank’s 300-plus-year history. That doesn’t merely imply that he was good, he was the best the Bank of England could get their fingers on and he was heading the race with more than 5% advantage over number two in that race. 

Another setting (given here) is “Robert Bothwell, a professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto, said Carney is wise not to visit Trump. “There’s no point in going to Washington,” Bothwell said. “As (former Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau’s treatment shows, all that results in is a crude attempt by Trump to humiliate his guests. Nor can you have a rational conversation with someone who simply sits there and repeats disproven lies.”” I cannot vouch for that, but the logic of Professor Bothwell is sound. The setting that everyone seemingly overlooks is that the Five Eyes group could become the Four Eyes Commonwealth. That is the larger issue that Trump faces and PM Carney as former Governor of the British Bank will have the UK and its MI5 and MI6 on its side. I reckon these two rascals (aka Sir Ken McCallum and Richard Moore) on his side and with that Australia (Mike Burgess and Kerri Hartland) will accept the new setting. I do not now where the The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service sits, but I reckon that they will most probably unite behind their Australian and UK parts (Andrew Hampton), I have no idea if there is a separate MI5/ASIO version for New Zealand, but it might be a reason to have one. As soon as America is booted of the Five Eyes group President Trump might throw a gasket or two and from then on we face a less friendly CIA/NSA. They don’t like to be excluded from anything. As I see it, they allowed Donald Trump to be elected, so they are part of the mess they created. This is not a given, but it is a possibility that PM Carney can throw for. In the second setting he could start the talks for a replacement for the F35 and the Typhoon is certainly up to the task, as such he could start these talks right now with the BAE. I reckon that President Trump will appreciate the loss of billions (who he’ll likely blame on deepfake intel from China).

As such there is also a need to get trade routes and alternatives arranged for industry losses of Canada and see what Canada can deliver to the UK and EU, who in turn can also be less dependent on America. I think he should also do this with Australia and New Zealand, but that need to happen in a separate meeting (let’s face it, has he ever seen the Sydney Opera House), as such PM Carney might have a pretty filled ball book this march. So in 14 days he can say to Trump “Did you see the Five Eyes report? No? April Fools you are no longer a member.” I reckon that Canadians and Australians share a nice set of dark humor moments. 

So enjoy this winning goal shot America, I reckon you will get this sinking feeling a few times more before April 1st. You pissed off more than merely Canadians in your 51st state setting, the other three are angry as well (even though not as angry as Canada is). President Trump angered more than Canadians. He showed for the first time that the Commonwealth needs to unite. China or Russia never gave us that need before. 

So, you all have a great day and see the fields where the pucks grow, Now we merely need to get Australia to appreciate the game of the puck and the 4 eyes nations to get a new competition started. Who knows in a few years time Australia and New Zealand could also beat America in overtime. #JustSpeculating

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March 8, 2025 · 10:43

Repetition of a speculated lie

That is the setting that the Guardian is giving us (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/07/saudi-arabia-ukraine-us-talks-analysis) with the underlying text “a country with ambitions to be a major diplomatic player despite its horrific human rights record, including the kidnap and murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018”, so how often does a lie need to be repeated before people might accept it as a truth? 

You see on February 27, 2021 I wrote ‘That was easy!’ (At https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/02/27/that-was-easy/) where I blew the massive disregard for evidence to smithereens, an essay presumably written by UN essay writer Eggy Calamari. The report of a lot of pages and several times I blew their ‘assessment’ apart on simple logic. So, does that make me correct? No, but I firmly believe that a person is innocent until PROVEN guilty and that was not to be seen. Just as an apology is not a valid defense, a ‘highly likely’ from the CIA does not constitute evidence. ‘Highly likely’ is a speculation at best, as such it is not evidence. Moreover no one actually did a forensic analyses on these so called tapes. As such it is a mere document of collected speculations. One source gave me that JK escaped to Tora Tora with a young mistress. I do not believe that, but there are speculations all over the field and now with the Guardian 4 years later I basically had enough. 

The terms “kidnap and murder”and “murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi” connects to other articles, so there is that too. The first one connects to a 5 year old article named ‘‘Mockery of justice’ after Saudis convict eight over Khashoggi killing’ and the other is ‘‘He couldn’t see light at the end of the tunnel’: Jamal Khashoggi’s widow on their life and his death’. All speculative views. So in 5 years no one was able to prove anything, as such his Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud as well as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are innocent. You think I am kidding? No, I am not. Evidence is central here and the media have been using the JK case as a cash cow for digital dollars. 

I think it is high time that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia takes new steps to silence these innuendo’s. If I had anything to say about this, I would give the media a taste of its own medicine. The Guardian (at al) would be banned from covering sport (and other) news in Saudi Arabia. I reckon that The Times, The Express, The Observer and others (the UK has dozens of newspapers) can cover Sport in Saudi Arabia, the Guardian gets banned until 2035 for all these events. When they are on the outside looking in, they will soon start screaming like little tea grannies on how unfair life is for them. 

I personally also think out is time for Saudi Arabia to take a harder stance on who their allies really are. It is nice that President Trump is coming for a investment donation of 1 trillion, however the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been barred from the F35 for a long time now. So if China could arrange for the J20 to be released to Saudi Arabia, they would be a much more worthy ally. So why doesn’t Saudi Arabia invest that money in China? Their might be larger considerations and I would not be privy to them, but an ally that merely claims to be an ally and whilst Saudi Arabia was under attack from Houthi terrorists, The US channels or assistance remains closed, even though several parties (including Colonel Turki bin Saleh Al-Maliki) who had shown several times that the Houthi terrorists were using Iranian drones to attack civilian Saudi targets (King Abdullah Airport in the southwestern Jizan province). The western media overlooked (I my view intentionally) that side of the story. And there is a lot more. As I personally see it intentionally silencing these matters should be seen as worse, but that is merely my point of view.

Oh, and the fact that I saw in hours these facts over 4 years ago and the ‘media’ never corrected their point of view is another matter entirely. They had no problems with replicating that work of fiction ‘Blood and Oil’ who used art of effective or persuasive writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech to make a case that never was. That is how I see it (to be certain I bought the book and I shot it to hell within the hour (I only looked at the Khashoggi mentions)

So how is the Guardian sizing up right now?

I reckon that there is a price to pay for these settings and it is time that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is making these people pay for the intentional distortion of truth, but I am not in command of anything in Saudi Arabia, so my view could be ignored. If it wan’t for that pesky setting that China has another option to put America (and the UK) out of business in certain parts of the world. I wonder if Iran could hand America a trillion dollars (and a lot more for several other parts). 

Did I oversimplify matter for the average reader? Have a great Saturday. I am off to a decent Saturday and Vancouver is still 9 hours away from Saturday.

 

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January 25, 2025 · 05:31

How does commerce work?

That is at times the question. As I see it President Trump has a flawed nd warped view of one. We get that from the Middle East Monitor, aka MEMO (at https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250123-trump-calls-for-1-trillion-saudi-investment-lower-oil-prices/) where we are given ‘Trump calls for $1 trillion Saudi investment, lower oil prices’ And I thought it was an error, but it was not (several publications give me a similar view). The weirdest part is “US President Donald Trump, on Thursday, said he will demand Saudi Arabia and OPEC bring down the cost of oil and will ask Riyadh to increase a planned US investment package to $1 trillion from an initial reported $600 billion” (source: Reuters). And the weird part is set in fact. When we see that USA exports 10.15 barrels of oil daily and IMPORTS 8.53 million barrels of oil, we come to the conclusion that America want cheap oil so that they can get a better margin on selling their oil (which will not be cheaper). So why would Saudi Arabia and Aramco do that? Would anyone do that? As such I think that America is thinking of getting the (speculated) $40,000,000 a day margin to settle their mega trillion dollar debt. It also makes me wonder how close are they to becoming bankrupt? And beside that, they want Saudi Arabia to invest a trillion dollars over 4 years. To be honest it seems like a radical stupid notion to get someone to invest a trillion dollars and lower the price of oil so that Saudi Arabia will be regarded as a friend? Sounds a weird approach to business to me. The quote given is ““But I’ll be asking the Crown Prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion,” Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I think they’ll do that because we’ve been very good to them.”” So exactly how has America been good to Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia has not been able to acquire the F35? Whilst Saudi Arabia civilian targets were hit by Houthi Terrorists, America did not come forward to sell necessarily equipment. So how has America shown themselves as a worthy ally?

You see, in my books an ACTUAL ally will aid when needed and supply hardware when needed (and paid for in some cases). There is also the notion that Iran have been circumventing the US Navy in several cases to deliver hardware to Houthi Terrorists, some navy. The funny part that MEMO describes “he will demand Saudi Arabia and OPEC bring down the cost of oil”, so now Saudi Arabia is seen separate from OPEC? OPEC is called that as it is the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. So, Saudi Arabia is not part of OPEC? A weird setting as I see it and if America is as broke as it seems to be, it makes some sense, but this would be regarded as a desperate knee jerk move (as I see it).

And on this setting, it has every notion of driving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia straight into the fold of China and their plans for the world according to China. So how does that help America?

Just a thought to have this lovely Saturday morning.

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December 29, 2024 · 22:00

At the close of a year

This might be the last article this year (no promises). I have been haunted by a weird dream, but that is not what this is about. You see, the army recognition group gave us yesterday (at https://armyrecognition.com/news/aerospace-news/2024/saudi-arabia-eyes-up-to-100-turkish-kaan-fighter-jets-as-us-made-f-35-remains-inaccessible) ‘Saudi Arabia eyes up to 100 Turkish Kaan fighter jets as US-made F-35 remains inaccessible.’ I know nothing of this plane, so I am not going in that direction. The setting that the US set the inability of the F35 being handed to Saudi hands is worthy of responding to. You see, the pricing of the F35 is set to “$102.1 million for the F-35C.” This means that America lifted their nose at 10 – 25 billion of hard needed income. The planes, the support and engineering surplus and a few other options. I expected that China would ‘swoop’ in to get that money. It is decently plausible that their were more reasons. I am merely setting that this could also mean the end of the Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB), you see, airbases on foreign ground are meant for allies and America has priced them out of that corner. As I see it Anthony Blinken has done away with that option. You see, only two months ago we got “US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday sought to make headway with Saudi Arabia on” whatever ‘his’ administration is ‘worried’ about. You need to have an ally for that and the fact that the F35 has been ‘unavailable’ since 2012. That is over 12 years, so as the F35 faces being optionally phased out by 2030, they lost one of their biggest customers and provisional ally in the Arabic peninsula as I personally see it. 

And America? Well, who needs an ally who is never there? That is the short and sweet part of this all and for Turkey this might be the sweet deal of the century. At some point the UAE and Egypt will also require 5th gen stealth fighters. This will make it harder for America and China to get traction. I never expected that Turkey was on that level, but that shows you what I know of this field.

And this is not the first time America, Europe and China enter behind the fishnet only to end up with nothing. This potential purchase follows Saudi Arabia’s $3.1 billion agreement with Türkiye in 2023 for the acquisition of 60 Baykar AKINCI unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), set for delivery in 2025 and 2026.

So, when was the last time major governments walked away from a potential 15 billion deal? America might shout tariffs and the upcoming said expansion with their 51st state (Canada), but they forget that Canada is part of a Commonwealth and in their views (the Commonwealth) it amounts to a direct assault on the Commonwealth. So when was the last time a nation was engaged with the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and at least two dozen more. If they reject all imports from America, the American economy goes the way of the dodo a lot faster than the dodo did. For China it sounds like a prolonged Christmas. You see, if they get traction with the Commonwealth, a desire they never thought realistic, but going after their largest member Canada might set that deal to nominal.

That as the rejection of billions set a dangerous premise for America and Saudi Arabia can play hard to get in that instance. So the next threat by the president elect Trump will set a minefield around (presumed) Marco Rubio making his job next to impossible. 

But we will see what will happen. In the meantime we should send a congratulatory card to Turkey for this achievement.

And of course the card for the next tenant of the Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB), but that is likely to follow in 2025/2026. As I see it, the next two years are close to essential for the next administration to avoid a governmental garage sale. But what do I know?

Still, in retrospect the dream still bugs me. The dream was a job at ADNOC, in Abu Dhabi. They had an AS400 running SPSS 6.1.3 and it had been gathering dust. It wasn’t working and the people at IBM said it was the fault of ADNOC. In the dream I merely had to remove 2 lines (reading ASCII data), two variables Alphanumeric were making a mess of things and removing the two lines solved 96% of the issue. 96% was fixed in the first hour (well for one job). I needed two additional hours to align the alphanumeric fields. And that took two hours to work out, I used Excel for that (the one Microsoft program Microsoft got right). And with that the first month was back on track. A weird setting, as I know next to nothing of ADNOC, I know that they are in oil, and that is all. I haven’t thought of that program in over 2 decades, so what gives? Well, in part technical support at SPSS was perhaps one of the most fulfilling jobs. But the powers that be didn’t see me as IBM material. O well, such is life. 

Time to head to the end of the year and see what 2025 will bring. 

Have a great day and the optional conclusion of a great year.

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