Sweden said Thursday that Ukrainian pilots have completed a first round of training on Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets.
“The orientation training has been completed and according to the report I received from the defense forces, the training went well,” Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson told AFP.
Ukraine has been seeking Gripen jets throughout the war, and Swedish media reported this week that Stockholm was considering obliging the request, but a final decision hasn’t been made.
Jonson said the preliminary training “included test flights both in the aircraft and simulators and information sessions for ground crew.” He said the purpose of the training was to “form the basis of the ongoing work to determine” if Sweden can arm Ukraine with Gripens.
So far, the only Western-made fighter jet pledged to Ukraine is the US-made F-16, which is more expensive to operate and harder to maintain than the Gripen. A major difference between the two jets is that the Gripen has never seen combat due to Sweden’s long-standing neutrality policy, which has changed since the country applied to join NATO last year.
The provision of Western fighter jets to Ukraine is a major escalation of NATO involvement in the conflict. In the early days of the war, NATO ruled out arming Ukraine with fighter jets because they feared Russia would perceive the move as the alliance directly entering the war, but the concerns of escalation have waned.
“Gripen has never seen combat due to Sweden’s long-standing neutrality policy.”
Well they threw that awful policy away and now will know how crappy their jets really are using Ukrainian Guinea Pigs. .
I’m pretty sure they’ll be more reliable than the Russian sh!t jets flown by incompetent pilots.
Yes, their jets should be much better and their pilots much more seasoned. No reason to think that but when in doubt just go with what got you to this point. Blatant stupidity.
Sell out
How so? Or is that your new go to so I don’t bring up this:
You: “I used to respect Putin and side with him a while ago, that stopped in 2014”
More you: And yes, i’m against US invasion of ALL previous wars.
Yes. My new go to.
So what’s your point?
You continue copy pasting that quote as if some how it’s a gotcha.
You got nothing. It’s like calling out someone who left the republican party after realizing the party was fk up.
You are constantly supporting Russia.
You support the invasion and annexation of Ukraine.
I dont.
Sell out.
Yes. My new go to.
So what’s your point?
You continue copy pasting that quote as if some how it’s a gotcha.
I copy and paste the same thing because YOU said it. So, I’m basing what I said on concrete facts. You? NOT.
You got nothing. It’s like calling out someone who left the republican party after realizing the party was fk up.
The question is, what took you so long? You don’t mention anything about Georgia in 2008. Why is that? And you were in the US military at the time so I’m sure Putin wasn’t being talked about in any flattering tone. So Don, tell us why you were still respecting Putin before 2014.
You: “I used to respect Putin and side with him a while ago, that stopped in 2014”
You are constantly supporting Russia.
You support the invasion and annexation of Ukraine.
I dont.
See now Don, this is what I am talking about. You can’t quote me on anything that would back what you claim. You just say the same thing to anyone who doesn’t want the war to continue to meet the West’s (spearheaded by the US) goal of weakening Russia at the expense of Ukrainian lives and Ukrainian infrastructure. Whereas I can quote you. Plus, you’re a hypocrite because you’re anti-US yourself.
You: And yes, i’m against US invasion of ALL previous wars.
All i read was Desperate nonsense.
My response is the same as usual.
.
You support the invasion and annexation of Ukraine.
Rest my case.
I see you ignored 2008. AGAIN. Why won’t you tell us why you were still admiring Putin after that?
“All i read was Desperate nonsense.”
What you read are your quotes. So, if that is what you were referring to as “desperate nonsense”, then you were correct.
“My response is the same as usual.”
No doubt. The same tired shit that you can’t attribute to me, but you keep trying.
“You support the invasion and annexation of Ukraine.”
Case in point.
“Rest my case.”
You would have been a shitty lawyer.
I see you ignored 2008. AGAIN. Why won’t you tell us why you were still admiring Putin after that?
“All i read was Desperate nonsense.”
What you read are your quotes. So, if that is what you were referring to as “desperate nonsense”, then you were correct.
“My response is the same as usual.”
No doubt. The same tired shit that you can’t attribute to me, but you keep trying.
“You support the invasion and annexation of Ukraine.”
Case in point.
“Rest my case.”
You would have been a shitty lawyer.
Predictions are hard especially about the future.
To be fair the only “combat” most American or other NATO weapons systems have seen has been blowing goat herders to perdition from miles away. Their results against people who actually shoot back have been. . . underwhelming.
Whether goat herders or brown people, at least those weapons have been tested over the years. Sweden committed the ultimate sin by signing a deal with the devil not knowing what they got themselves involved in.
Soon to be shot down .
How much is America paying all the European countries that give away their old weapons and acquire new American weapons?
Good Question; because other than the US bankrolling this thing, and maybe Germany out of some self-destructive impulse, no one else is doing this for nothing; everyone gets paid.
The Nord Stream disaster really hurt Germany. I am sure that it is not lost on them that their “ally” did it to them.
No, that disaster really hurt Putin.
STOP THE LIES
Message from General Gurulyov, Russian Minister of Defense.
“Ex-Russian general warns ‘lies’ may obscure the battlefield realities of how Ukraine’s troops are gaining ground”
Full message.
I will briefly report on the situation at the front without reference to specific directions. The information was obtained from primary sources, systematized and the following conclusions were made.
The enemy, having specifically encountered our troops at the beginning of the counteroffensive, changed their battle tactics. They no longer advance in large forces; they were clearly prohibited from abandoning heavy equipment en masse.
Today they have switched to push-out tactics, they are using cluster shells en masse, they are shelling the strongholds of our units, assault groups, they have a lot of ammunition, they are trying to burn out absolutely everything. Yes, this situation forces our troops to retreat deeper. Not far, but in some places they lost up to 10 kilometers of territory. The enemy has somewhere occupied our defensive positions, which are very well equipped with our own hands.
After breaking the defense line, the enemies created conditions that made it impossible for our helicopters to use anti-tank missiles; due to the deviation of the line, they became accessible to enemy MANPADS. The effectiveness of our helicopters has decreased.
The enemy has learned to work with our very well made minefields. They competently clear them by applying artillery fire and using trawls.
Our artillery has improved the quality of counter-battery warfare. There are results, but the enemy is adapting again. Basically, all of its guns are installed at depth, at a distance inaccessible to our artillery. It is estimated that two artillery brigades were concentrated in the most “hot” areas, not counting the artillery of local brigades. We burned a lot of their towed artillery, they switched to self-propelled guns. Our people say that it is very difficult, almost impossible, to catch them; after the second aimed shot they move and change position.
They have many unmanned vehicles and even more. We have also adapted here and over the last 2-3 weeks we have actually begun to destroy them. The Verba and Strela-10 air defense systems work well against UAVs. But the ridges have a lot of drones, they use them wisely, you see these attacks not only at the front, but also in our deep rear.
The main conclusion: the war continues. Yes, we are stronger, our warriors are stronger and braver, our troops are more professional. We endure, we adapt, we adapt, we win; we have already laid down a lot of the enemy’s manpower. But it is foolish to deny that today NATO is fighting against us with all its advanced technologies. We will win in any case, but Victory is separated from us only by our one serious problem – lies. Yes, there is less of it than there was at the beginning of the SVO, but it is there. There are at different levels, the troops talk about it. Unfortunately, false messages lead to poor decisions on many levels. This is there, let’s admit it and fight it, otherwise there will be problems.