Some
are assured on the positive result of this spending spree:
Defence spending by the EU’s members
reached €418 bn in 2025, a 20% increase on t2024, and is expected
to rise to €454 billion in 2026. That represents a 75% increase
since 2021.
https://europeanbusinessmagazine.com/europes-defence-boom/
*** 52% Van de
Nederlanders vindt dat export van wapens naar Israël beëindigd moet
worden (12% oneens). Nederland levert via de VS, nog altijd
onderdelen voor F-35.
*** Defeating the
Donroe Doctrine: Latin America can resist US’s gunboat policy.
Performative violence (executions without trial at sea) overshadows
how Washington builds its influence: murder as a tool to create
permanent structures of dominance & extraction.
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/what-is-trump-s-donroe-doctrine
No attack without defence, the arms
race in 4 words.
*** Talks
on Indian participation in FCAS 6th-gen air combat tech are
repeatedly reported in the Asian press, while Paris & French
industry remain discreet. In Delhi it was confirmed that official
approaches to France were made.
*** For a country
that prides itself on getting a fixed price and sticking to it, the
F-35 saga has been an education in how "fixed" defence
contracts really work. Now Bern just has to count how many it can
afford. fore more see ->
https://migflug.com/afterburner/de/switzerland-first-f35a-main-assembly-2026/
Wat is precies de betrokkenheid van
Damen: "Damen was de projectmanager van de zogenoemde ‘retrofit’
van de schepen, die op een Turkse werf werd uitgevoerd."
August 25
*** Lidmaatschap
militair industriële lobby organisatie NIDV is in drie jaar gegroeid
van 200 naar ruim 400 aangesloten bedrijven en kennisinstellingen.
Nederland militatariseert in rap tempo, zo gezegd om "Nederland
en Europa veiliger te maken."
https://web.apsis.one/wve/4ef4cc89-f777-44c3-935c-4fe261c42b3c
The US is planning revisions to US
nuclear employment guidance that will emphasize the role of tactical
nuclear weapons & limited employment options, while possibly
de-emphasizing certain missions for US strategic nukes.
*** Early
Monday morning, activists blocked access to the ThyssenKrupp Marine
Systems (TKMS) shipyard in Kiel. According to police, around 16
people participated in the action. The protest targeted the company's
arms production and arms exports.
https://youtube.com/shorts/2QYS_-d39sU?si=Wo-2NHBH1jOoynne
August 3
*** Can
S. Korea advocate peace while selling weapons of war?
Thales has welcomed the UK's investment
for its nuclear deterrent submarine programme. Thales also highlights
its ongoing partnership in supporting new build nuclear-powered
submarines and the performance of submarines already in service.
*** Airbus has been
fined £6.4m in the UK after the company admitted to breaches of
rules designed to stop sensitive military hardware falling into the
wrong hands. Notable, given the pivotal role it plays in Europe’s
military sector.
*** Ukraine is a
notorious arms exporter (long before Russia invaded) and is now
establishing a stronger arms export policy to give its military
industry a stronger position.
*** #NATO member
intervention of neigbours air space.
The Iraqi military said it downed a
#Turkish #drone over the northern city of Kirkuk on Thursday as
Ankara kept up its operations against #Kurdish militants inside
#Iraq.
*** The #Damen
build and delivered #warship for the China allied #Pakistani Navy,
PNS Hunain, visited Oman as part of its regional maritime security
patrol. During its maiden visit, the ship engaged in a naval exercise
with a vessel from the Navy of #Oman.
*** The Defense
News opinion piece of 10 Aug. by John Nagl and Daniel Rice ignores
the historical experience of cluster munition use while calling on
the 23 NATO states currently party to the Convention on Cluster
Munitions (CCM) to withdraw and resume production of these horrific
weapons.
To do so would irreparably damage the
credibility of these countries, set back decades of progress towards
better legal protection of civilians in armed conflict and betray the
commitment to a rules-based international order which NATO countries
and many others seek to defend, including in the current
Russia-Ukraine conflict.
*** Laten we
eerlijk zijn: het maken van #wapens ís nu eenmaal cru. Het zijn geen
sierobjecten.
Misschien moet het allemaal eens wat
minder schimmig. Maar eerlijkheid is moeilijk als je diep van binnen
weet dat je in een #business werkt die naar lijken stinkt.
*** It seems that
#China’s Ministry of Commerce had adjusted its #export control
measures on unmanned aerial vehicles (#UAVs or #drones). New policy
includes tightening some restrictions & relaxing others.
The amendments come into force on 1st
September 2024.
*** US arming of
Israel, Ukraine & stockpiling large quantities of weapons for a
potential war with China puts strains on US’s weapons manufacturing
base, leading to policy advice that would super-size its already
enormous Military Industrial Complex #MIC.
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/military-industrial-complex-2669002574/
*** #Serbia,
#France ink deal for 12 #Rafale #fighters.
President Vučić of Serbia was quoted
by press saying that his country will received 9 single-seat Rafales
and three two-seaters, delivered by 2029, with a price tag of €2.7
billion ($2.99 billion).
*** A blog I
wrote in 2012 started with Hamid #Karzai, the man who led the #Afghan
government at the time: "Men are fundamental and women are
secondary."
Is Myanmar Junta Turning to Russia’s
Wagner as Relations With #China Sour? While "the Chinese want to remain
the sole foreign actor in #Myanmar’s civil wars"
*** Horrible war
is also advertisement for state-of-the-art weaponry:
Like others, the UAE’s military and
intelligence agencies are closely monitoring the performance of
advanced weapons and warfare systems used in the Ukraine War.
https://www.tacticalreport.com/daily/62949
*** A strange
clip with a top-20 of arms exporting nations. It starts in 1960 and
ends in 2024. See countries: moving over time (e.g. Israel, S.
Korea), claiming the no. 1 position (USA), change name (USSR->
Russia), or even disappear from the list (India).
*** Opinion: #AI
must be prioritised across #US military programs & platforms, or
else America risks losing the AI race to #China.
*** Recently
relations between #Azerbaijan & #Turkey have been abnormal cool.
To observers who have seen the close connection between both this may
come as a surprise. @bahruz_samad explains why the Gaza-Israeli war
plays a role aswell as the views of Erdogan.
https://oc-media.org/opinions/opinion-azerbaijans-cooling-relations-with-turkey/
*** The #US is
seeking an arms #embargo on both sides of #Sudan’s conflict and is
open to working with any committed party, including Russia and China,
to expand humanitarian aid and stop the war, the U.S. envoy to Sudan
said on Friday. https://sudantribune.com/article289910/
*** #Qatar &
#Sweden are said to airm for strengthened military ties following a
series of high-level #meetings between the CoS of the Qatari Armed
Forces and top Swedish #military officials. the CoS had a meeting
with the CEO #Saab to discuss 'defence'.
https://www.tacticalreport.com/daily/62940
*** The State
Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign
Military Sale to the Government of Tunisia of 65’ SAFE Archangel
Boats and related elements of logistics and program support for an
estimated cost of $110 million.
https://www.dsca.mil/press-media/major-arms-sales/tunisia-65-safe-archangel-boats
't Israëlische leger gebruikt
Palestijnse gevangenen als menselijk schild in Gaza. Dat meldt de
Israëlische krant Haaretz na een uitgebreid onderzoek. NGO bevestigt
het onderzoek en spreekt van 'systematische praktijken'.
'Our lives are more important than
their lives': Gazans not suspected of terrorism are detained and sent
as human shields to search tunnels & houses before IDF soldiers
enter, with the full knowledge of senior Israeli officers, sources
say;
*** Wow "EU deplores all loss of
civilian life. It notes with utmost concern the unacceptable number
of civilian casualties, especially children, as well as the
catastrophic levels of hunger and imminent risk of famine caused by
the insufficient entry of aid into #Gaza,"
but at the same time EU members continue arms exports to Jeruzalem
with its ethnic cleansing policy & decades of land grab on the
West-Bank.
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-geneva/att-csp10-eu-general-statement_en
It seems Israel as an ally is more
important for Brussels than human lives are. *** A report
earlier this month that #Huawei is producing an #AI chip on par with
#Nvidia’s H100, the most powerful graphics processing unit #GPU
chip on the market, is yet another indication that US policy denying
#China access to technology isn’t working.
https://www.asiasentinel.com/p/us-export-controls-china-likely-backfiring
Words vs Action: To end armed
#conflicts, restrict global #arms trade. Global South must reject
injustice and resist becoming mere markets for Western arms. For the merchants of war, the
collective pain and misery of whole nations is dwarfed by the
lucrative deals of billions of dollars generated from weapons sales.
Philippine
#ambassador to the #Netherlands B. Ledda received #DAMEN Shipyards
area director for the Asia-Pacific Region R. Briene in The Hague on
july 3, 2018. They discussed possibilities of shipbuilding and vessel
manufacture in the #Philippines.
*** Arundhati Roy, the
writer, is urging India to slam the brakes on its arms sales to
Israel, warning that persisting in this bloody business will
permanently tarnish India with the stain of the ongoing genocide in
Gaza. https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/486721
*** De bewapening
en #wapenhandel met juridische middelen aan banden leggen, kan
onderdeel zijn van een bredere vredesstrategie. Maar zonder politieke
campagne, zonder druk van politici en maatschappelijke organisaties
in de media en op straat, schieten wet...
https://stopwapenhandel.org/oorlog-bestrijden-met-juridische-middelen-werkt-dat/
*** Ukraine is
free to use Canadian-donated tanks & armoured vehicles inside
Russia, the DoD said.
*** An #US Army
Intelligence Analyst pleads guilty to charges of 1) #conspiracy to
obtain and disclose national defence Information, 2) #export control
violations and 3) #bribery.
*** More uniform
approach to dual-use export control in the EU to be expected. New
types of technologies and goods are being used in warfare causing a
need for refinement to existing export control lists. In response,
Western leaders call for uniformising trade controls; however, this
appears to be just as tricky.
https://schjodt.com/news/modernized-ecom-regulation-provides-clarity-for-the-satellite-value-chain
*** ‘Developments
in arms production and the effects of the war in Ukraine’—New
external article in Defence and Peace Economics from SIPRI’s
Lorenzo Scarazzato, @Xiaoo_l, @NanTianSA and @dielopesilva.
Read it here
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10242694.2024.2381784
Nederlandse commando's #KCT hebben
februari-mei 2024 de #Ivoriaanse special forces les gegeven
in terrorismebestrijding en kregen rondedans & liederen als
waardering.
*** #Dutch #navy
announced its intention to equip its new frigates with robotic ships
to increase their anti-submarine warfare capabilities, without
expanding the pressure on its human resources. #drones
https://meta-defense.fr/en/2024/08/10/robotic-ships-asm-navy-netherlands/
*** #Damen
Shipyards gaat meebouwen aan een fregat voor de #Colombiaanse marine.
Het wordt 't eerste fregat dat in dat land wordt gebouwd. Damen
levert de technologie en de onderdelen. Het schip wordt naar een
model van Damen gebouwd en wordt 107,5 meter lang.
*** #Elbit Systems
announced on Thursday that it secured a contract worth $130 million
to supply Iron Fist Active Protection Systems to #BAESystems
#Hägglunds.
The APS will be installed on CV90
Infantry Fighting Vehicle over a 5½ year period.
There's a clear risk
that weapons and military equipment directly or indirectly exported
to Israel will be used to commit serious crimes against civilians in
#Gaza. Any state continuing to transfer arms risks becoming complicit
in violations of international humanitarian law.
Amnesty’s
latest research has confirmed that large amounts of weapons from
#China, #Russia, Serbia, #Turkey, #UAE and Yemen among others have
made it into the hands of #Sudanese combatants accused of serious
violations including war crimes.
https://amnesty.ca/activism-guide/protect-civilians-gaza-sudan/
*** A UK
guidance for academics in fields where there is a high risk it could
be used for military purposes, explaning: - how to assess if the UK’s
export controls apply - when research might be exempt - how to check
if an export licence is needed.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/export-controls-applying-to-academic-research
*** Investeer in
klimaatrechtvaardigheid, niet in oorlog! – 21-28/09/24 – Tijdens
de mondiale actieweek voor vrede & klimaatrechtvaardigheid
organiseren groepen wereldwijd allerlei activiteiten. Iedereen kan
meedoen met een eigen activiteit. Bedenk ook iets!
https://www.globalinfo.nl/nieuws/actieweek-voor-vrede-en-klimaatrechtvaardigheid/
*** FOLLOWING the news
that the UK government has delayed making a decision on arms exports
to Israel, War On Want, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and
Campaign Against Arms Trade released the following joint statement:
A former U.S. Green Beret who in 2020
organized a failed cross-border raid of Venezuelan army deserters to
remove President Nicolás Maduro has been arrested in New York on
federal arms smuggling charges.
