Mads Jacobsen — Denmark cuts welfare but buys new US fighter jets

In May 2016, the Danish government decided to make the largest weapons purchase in Denmark's history by ordering 27 new, American produced, Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighters at the cost of $3 billion, with the total cost for the lifespan of these fighters amounting to approximately $8,5 billion. Not even calculated in these expenses are the costs for bombs, ammunition and the aid for repairs following a bombing campaign.

The money for this purchase is, of course, covered by the tax revenue from the Danish people, meaning that instead of welfare, social services and other public goods, we get expensive military modernization. So, what do the Danes themselves think about this? Well, According to a recent poll made by Wilke, 53,3 percent of the Danish population believe that this purchase is a bad idea; 30.8 percent believe it is a good idea; and 15.9 are uncertain. Furthermore, on May 27th, nationwide demonstrations were held in Denmark with the message: "No thank you to new fighter jets!", and instead "put peace on the agenda, stop Danish war involvement and use the billions for welfare, peacemaking and useful workplaces".

Military expenditure crowding out domestic welfare.

Katehon

Mads Jacobsen: Denmark cuts welfare but buys new US fighter jets

Rakesh Krishnan Simha — US to kill F-35 fighter

The US Defence Department announced Tuesday it would "most certainly" kill the troubled F-35 'stealth' fighter after getting final clearance from Secretary of Defence Ash Carter. With $1 trillion already sunk into development and initial production, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme is known as the aircraft that's "more expensive than Australia".

Initial reports suggest the decision to terminate the largest defence contract in history was a result of the threat from advanced versions of the Russian Su-27 Flanker series aircraft. "We just can't overlook the fact that in every wargamed scenario the Flankers have whipped the F-35," Pentagon spokesman Siphon Cash told USA Today. "Even without being stealthy, the Flankers are getting better with each new model."

The impending arrival of the T-50 Sukhoi stealth fighter could be another reason. In a worrying trend, several American fighter pilots have taken early retirement even as the Russians have started inducting early models of their fifth generation fighter. "My father, a former USAF fighter pilot in the early 1970s, was spooked by the MiG-25 Foxbat and spent years in rehab," said John Kwitter, who was an F-35 pilot at Elgin Air Force Base, Florida. "The Foxbat was a big scare word in the USAF those days and rattled many pilots of my father's generation. With the F-35 likely to be a sitting duck for the Russian fighter jocks flying the T-50, I have decided not to end up in a mental asylum."....

Russia & India
US to kill F-35 fighter
Rakesh Krishnan Simha


(snark but pretty funny and with a grain of truth to it)

Sputnik — US to Permanently Base F-35 Fighters in Europe: Pentagon

About those base closures in Europe and troop drawdown, the US is replacing them with a couple of squadrons of F-35's.

Sputnik
US to Permanently Base F-35 Fighters in Europe: Pentagon

The F-35 is not expected to be operational until 2019 and won't be deployed to European theater until 2020. Meanwhile, Russia's f-35 killer, the Sukhoi Su-35S Flanker-E, is already operational.

The National Interes

Killer in the Sky: Russia's Deadly Su-35 Fighter

Dave Majumdar