Tag: Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II

Invasion Rehearsals? North Korea Slams Joint US, South Korea & Japan Drills as Tensions Escalate

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Amid a surge in joint drills carried out last year by the newly-forged trilateral military alliance of the United States, Japan, and South Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) warned that Washington-backed blocs were no longer hiding their “aggressive and chauvinistic nature,” putting the international UN-based order in jeopardy.

Invasion Rehearsals? North Korea Slams Joint US, South Korea & Japan Drills as Tensions Escalate

IRGC Spokesman Warns Iran will respond in kind to any US action as 3,000+ U.S. Sailors, Marines Reach Red Sea

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has warned the United States against any act of mischief in the region, including seizure of ships.

IRGC spokesman: Iran will respond in kind to any US action, mischief in region

Related:

3,000+ U.S. Sailors, Marines Reach Red Sea as Biden’s Middle East Build-Up Continues

‘What is your business here?’: Iran equips navy with drones, missiles

Depleted Uranium Ammunition and Crimea

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Source.

Depleted Uranium Ammunition and Crimea (archived)

Aside from armor-penetrating tank rounds, the US uses DU ammunition for its 30mm GAU-8 Avenger Gatling gun on the A-10 Warthog ground attack jet fighter. The A-10s figured prominently in the Iraq wars and in Afghanistan.

Ukraine last winter requested 100 A-10 jets from the United States and have been secretly training to use the aircraft in combat. If a Crimea offensive takes place, the A-10 may be moved into Ukraine and flown by a combination of Ukrainian pilots and possibly by volunteer former US Air Force pilots.

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How will Russia answer these latest developments? Putin has already sent a warning to Britain about DU ammunition, although what he actually has in mind is not clear. If Russia is watching US activity in rushing the Abrams tanks to the battlefield, including the possibility of the A-10, the situation will get more heated.

How Much it Actually Costs to Fly U.S. Military Aircraft

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

How Much it Actually Costs to Fly U.S. Military Aircraft

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter costs $41,986 an hour across all models, including the F-35A for the Air Force, the F-35B for the Marine Corps, and the F-35C for the Marine Corps and Navy. The Air Force in particular is stuck with the headache of replacing the F-16, which costs $26,927 an hour, with a plane that costs 25 percent more to operate, permanently raising costs. This is especially a problem as the F-35 was originally promised to cost the same to operate as the F-16. The Air Force must now either buy fewer F-35s or figure out how to foot a bigger annual bill.