France and Germany Team Up for New Fighter Jet

French Defence Minister Florence Parly, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen and Safran Chairman of the Board Ross McInnes , visit the French high-technology group Safran plant in Genneviliers, near Paris, on February 6, 2019, during the inauguration of a construction platform as part of the French-German FCAS (Future Combat Air System). (THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Working together on advanced military capabilities strengthens the prophesied Franco-German alliance.

French Defense Minister Florence Parly and German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced on February 6 that France and Germany will sign a €65 million (us$73.5 million) deal to proceed with a project to produce a joint stealth fighter jet.

“What we are doing today with the Franco-German fighter jet of the future is concrete, balanced, makes us stronger, and prepares for the defense of Europe,” wrote Parly.

Europe’s Next Generation Combat System

 

Former competitors are now collaborating against their new archenemy: the U.S.A. Should you be concerned?

Europe’s call for a European army raises various questions: How powerful would such an army be? What weaponry would it use? Would it be in support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization? Or work against it? And finally, which nation would spearhead the endeavor: France or Germany?

The answer to these questions can already be seen in Europe’s arms industry.

The European Union’s joint military budget is already three times higher than Russia’s budget and approximately half of the United States’. And at this critical moment in history, Russia and the U.S. are being forced to make dramatic military cuts while Europe is boosting its spending.

War of Sanctions against Iran

 

BERLIN/TEHRAN (Own report) – New US sanctions against Iran have come into effect, without the slightest sign of success for the opposition to the US Middle East policy that had been so loudly proclaimed by Berlin and the EU. Berlin had affirmed, it would do everything in its power to secure for EU companies – particularly German – business deals with Iran, thereby safeguard the nuclear agreement while strengthening the standing of German/EU industry in Iran. The latter has completely failed. German business representatives are warning of the “danger” that German business with Iran “could come to a complete halt.” If this development continues, China – which during the first round of sanctions, had already become Iran’s main trading partner – could further enhance its position in Iran, particularly due to continued oil purchases from Tehran. Contrary to its announcement, the Trump administration did not succeed in entirely cutting off Iranian oil exports. Today, Iran is selling more oil than during the previous round of sanctions.

How to Become a World Power

 

BERLIN/TEHRAN/WASHINGTON (Own report) – Berlin is seeking to use Washington’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal to increase its pressure on Tehran. In their joint statement published Wednesday, the governments of Germany, France and the United Kingdom declared their continued commitment to the agreement, while demanding that the Iranian government limit its ballistic missile program and its efforts to obtain influence in the region. The reintroduction of US sanctions offers Berlin a chance to disguise its continued pressure on Tehran as a war preventive measure. At the same time, US sanctions against Iran continue to fuel the power struggle between the EU and the USA. The Airbus Company alone could lose €16 billion in commercial deals due to the sanctions imposed by the US government. Commentators recommend resistance: “You don’t become a world power in a conference room.” At the same time, Israel is exacerbating the escalating tensions with its aggressions against Syria.

Billions for European Wars (II)

BERLIN/BRUSSELS (Own report) – With billions in arms programs at the EU and national levels, the EU is seeking to become a globally operating military power. At its summit last week, the EU agreed not only to enhance cooperation among the member armed forces to facilitate their combat deployment – for example in Africa – but to also rapidly establish a “defense fund” planning to reallocate funds from civilian to military use. In a few years, Brussels will already be allocating €1.5 billion annually for both research and development of new military technology. The German government is also increasing its military spending and decided last week to allocate nearly ten billion euros for arms projects, including warships, tanker aircraft, satellites, and optimizing existing weaponry for current wars. In addition, billions are being earmarked for completely new projects. Lucrative for the arms industry, they include the Multi-role Combat Ship MKS 180, and a new fighter jet, capable of competing with the US F-35 and being integrated with guided missiles, drones and other weaponry.

EU states eye production of new fighter jet

New weapons system to help create EU defence sovereignty. (Photo: Defence Images)

 

Airbus, the French-based firm, is preparing to make a new fighter jet as the EU rolls out its defence integration project.

Fernando Alonso, the head of the firm’s military branch, told Handelsblatt, a German newspaper, that Germany and Spain have already signed up for the project and that he hoped France would also come on board.

“We are working on various building blocks in Germany and Spain, some of the financing comes from the governments, we hope for more,” he said.

Germany to deepen military ties with France, others: sources

A German soldier holds NATO flag during a ceremony to welcome the German battalion being deployed to Lithuania as part of NATO deterrence measures against Russia in Rukla, Lithuania February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

 

Germany will move forward this week with plans to set up a joint fleet of Lockheed Martin Corp C-130J transport planes with France and join a Netherlands-led fleet of Airbus A330 tanker planes, defense ministry sources said on Monday.

Those and several other initiatives with Norway, Romania and the Czech Republic are part of a broader drive to expand European defense cooperation to be announced at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, the sources said.

Obama Quietly Empowers Iran’s Military

• This sanctions relief not only gives legitimacy to the Revolutionary Guards globally, but emboldens and empowers Iran’s elite military unit by allowing them legally to conduct business and transfer money.
• Many Iranian companies are owned by senior figures from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and judiciary who have been involved in crimes against humanity, violating international laws, breaching UN resolutions, money laundering and monstrous human rights violations. Nevertheless, the new sanctions relief allows foreign companies to do business with them without repercussions.
• Furthermore, the Obama administration secretly agreed to remove sanctions on several Iranian banks, including banks have long been sanctioned by the UN due to their illegal activities in missile financing and skirting UN security resolutions regarding the arms embargo.

Iranian leaders have become cognizant of the fact that their hardball political tactics pay off very well with President Obama. They continue to obtain concessions from President Obama even in his last few months in office. They see that intransigence works with the White House, and that threatening the U.S. will lead to Obama offering more concessions to Iran. For Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), giving concessions means weakness.

Iran: Ayatollah Khamenei Warns President Rouhani on Economy

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (left) recently implied that if President Hassan Rouhani fails to adopt a “Resistance Economy” approach, it would negatively impact the President’s aspirations for a second term.

 

• Ayatollah Khamenei made clear that he would hold President Rouhani responsible for a failure to produce improvements in Iran’s economy. He implied that if Rouhani fails to adopt a “Resistance Economy” approach, it would negatively impact Rouhani’s aspirations for a second term.
• Khamenei’s warning to conserve foreign-currency windfalls that result from the lifting of sanctions is probably a criticism of Rouhani’s recent visit to Europe, where he signed deals to purchase 138 passenger planes.
• Rouhani’s management of the economy will be closely monitored by hardliners seeking a return to popularity and the presidency in the 2018 presidential elections.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei last month used the Persian New Year holiday (Nowruz) to deliver his most comprehensive plan for Iran’s economy. His address, proclaimed from his hometown of Mashhad, outlined ten principles of the “Resistance Economy.”

WRIST SLAP: NASA Official Fined $250 in Chinese Espionage Case

Glenn Woodell, a NASA supervisor who pled guilty to violating U.S. espionage laws involving a Chinese NASA contractor was given a slap on the wrist with six months’ probation and a $250 fine, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.

Daniel Jobson, a Woodell colleague and fellow NASA supervisor, had his espionage charges reduced to a misdemeanor and was released without any penalty.

The lenient plea deals were quietly delivered October 26 in U.S. District Court in Newport News, Virginia. The U.S. Attorneys office did not to issue a press release about the deals and declined comment when contacted by the DCNF.

In Flames (III)

Lest we forget the Obama administration’s foreign policy that has allowed Iran to strengthen and impose its hegemony in the Middle East — in this case, Yemen. Iran is backing Houthi rebels who are attempting to overthrow the country, which is of enormous strategic importance. According to the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) fact-sheet on global oil chokepoints, over 3.8 million barrels of oil and refined petroleum products pass through the Bab el-Manded strait. It’s shipped to Europe, Asia and even the U.S.. This strategic chokepoint is the world’s fourth-busiest. Whoever owns the straight controls access to numerous oil pipelines and terminals which are state owned by Egypt, the Saudis, UAE and Qatar.

Knowing this, you now know the reason behind Saudi Arabia’s involvement. It is not Saudi Arabia and Co. who are the “aggressors” which this article states. Rather, they are simply reacting to Iran’s actions and America’s inaction. Germany plays a key role as a weapons supplier in the sense that America is refusing to back its Saudi allies and is simply filling the vacuum. Saudi Arabia is fed up with America, which has become an unreliable partner for it, and is now taking the initiative. This is why you also see Saudi Arabia considering going nuclear and it has been once reported that they might’ve bought nuclear weapons from Pakistan already. It also gives Germany an opportunity to gain and strengthen footholds within the region as well.

In summary, a weak and corrupt administration in the White House has paved the way for all hell to break loose in the Middle East. Only time will tell when it comes to seeing who (aside from Israel) will remain the dominant Middle East power: Saudi Arabia or Iran.

 

SANA’A/RIYADH/DOHA/ABU DHABI/BERLIN (Own report) – Germany’s close Arabian allies are using German weapons to launch their deadly offensive on Yemen’s capital. Saudi Arabia has been carrying out its aggression on that country for about half a year, seeking to drive the Huthi rebels, considered allies of Iran, out of Sana’a. The Saudi military is using German weapons to wage its war, and its allies – the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – have also been equipped by German arms manufacturers. The air forces of these three Gulf dictatorships have been training aerial combat with the Bundeswehr and acquired skills that they could now put to use in their offensive on Sana’a. This is significant because observers have noted their extreme ruthlessness in combat methods. More than 5,000 people, half of them civilians, have been killed; a vast number of others have fled. However, the majority of those fleeing cannot leave their country – also because German technology blocks their routes at the Yemeni borders. Relief supplies into the country are insufficient due to a Saudi blockade. More than a quarter of the population is currently suffering acute starvation. Germany, however, is continuing its arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia’s war coalition.

Airbus threatens to PULL OUT of Britain if we leave EU amid war of words in City world

First Deutsche Bank, then Vodafone, and now Airbus. Germany’s Fourth Reich-dominated EU is definitely dropping a hint.

 

AEROSPACE giant Airbus has warned it will reconsider investing in the UK if Britain voted to leave the European Union.

UK boss Paul Kahn said he thought it was “vital” firms took a view on a possible “Brexit” following a promised in-out referendum on EU membership.

The move could put 17,000 UK Airbus jobs at risk, including 4,000 in Filton, near Bristol, and 6,000 at its wing-manufacturing plant in Broughton, north Wales.

The US ‘manufacturing renaissance’ doesn’t exist, says new report

Despite all the much-heralded talk of the rebirth of manufacturing, a new report suggests that the trend may be vastly overstated

Have we been letting a good story get in the way of the facts?

The “manufacturing renaissance” has been the central point in the return of America’s industrial power. It even has its own national council.

Yet here are the facts: the United States may have added only about one new manufacturing job in the last few years for every five that were lost during the financial crisis and the recession that followed.

That’s according to a new report from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a non-partisan and non-profit think tank based in Washington, DC. The report was released early this morning.

French plans for airport sale to China spark unease

The planned sale of a 49.99% government stake in the firm that manages Toulouse airport, where Airbus tests and assembles its planes, to a Chinese consortium has sparked concerns across France’s political spectrum.

Paris announced on Thursday that it had decided to sell a €308 million ($381 million) stake in the firm that manages Toulouse airport to the Symbiose consortium that includes Chinese state-owned group Shandong Hi-Speed Group and Hong Kong-based investment company Friedmann Pacific Asset Management.

Chinese Cabinet Receives Full Military Honors in Berlin

 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, 14 members of his cabinet and 130 business leaders were received in Berlin with full military honors on October 10. The two cabinets met and, along with the business leaders, signed agreements and contracts worth over $2.5 billion.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the “very intensive cooperation” that exists between the two nations, while Premier Li called Germany the “locomotive for cooperation between China and Europe.”