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[Mike1976]

UĶ

Twenty-thousand troops? We only have 25 main battle tanks working at best

Left to rot in sheds, our equipment is either ancient, non-existent or yet to arrive, while ammunition stocks would not last a week if push came to shove, says defence expert Francis Tusa

www.independent.co.uk

Con-scrip-tion
Build fac-to-ries
Scrap le-gis-la-tion

Problem solved. My €3m consultancy fee may be paid to ...

 

[PEMM]

I put this here in the news, because this is quite historical.

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[Mike1976]

It looks like the C-130 will quickly be going the way of the dodo in the European side of NATO in favor of the C-390M and A-400M.

Brazil confirms that three more countries are close to buying the C-390 transport aircraft

Brazil confirms that three more countries are close to buying the C-390 transport aircraft

armyrecognition.com

 

[av405]

It looks like the C-130 will quickly be going the way of the dodo in the European side of NATO in favor of the C-390M and A-400M.

Brazil confirms that three more countries are close to buying the C-390 transport aircraft

Brazil confirms that three more countries are close to buying the C-390 transport aircraft

armyrecognition.com

I would say it looks like the C-390 is gaining ground at the expense of both the C-130 AND the A-400M. To be fair, most of the C-390 customers so far either never operated the C-130 before or only had second-hand examples. But I can see that possibly changing as the years go by. The real loser is the A-400M. I think it ended up being too large for its own good.

 

[Mike1976]

NATO Moves Forward with Deployment of Drone Wall on Eastern Flank to Counter Russia

NATO Moves Forward with Deployment of Drone Wall on Eastern Flank to Counter Russia

armyrecognition.com

 

[Mike1976]

European Missile Hub Launched by Germany and U.S. to Supply NATO Forces

European Missile Hub Launched by Germany and U.S. to Supply NATO Forces

armyrecognition.com

 

[haze99]

Italy arms Ukraine with 400 M113 APCs and a satellite system

bulgarianmilitary.com

 

[Mike1976]

BREAKING NEWS: For first time GBU-53/B glide bomb launched by U.S. F-15E fighter jet controlled by Norwegian P8A aircraft

Breaking News: For first time GBU-53/B glide bomb launched by U.S. F-15E fighter jet controlled by Norwegian P8A maritime patrol aircraft

armyrecognition.com

 

[Mike1976]

Are the turret rings of Boxer and Patria identical?

IDET 2025: Turra 30 Turret Transforms Rheinmetall's Boxer 8x8 into a Multirole Assault Platform

IDET 2025: Turra 30 Turret Transforms Rheinmetall's Boxer 8x8 into a Multirole Assault Platform

armyrecognition.com

IDET 2025: Patria AMV XP 8x8 Evolves Into Full-Spectrum Weapon System with Turra 30 V10 Turret

IDET 2025: Patria AMV XP 8x8 Evolves Into Full-Spectrum Weapon System with Turra 30 V10 Turret

armyrecognition.com

 

[muck]

Spain is poised to throw NATO into disarray and antagonise US president Donald Trump.

Citing a letter to NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte, German weekly 'Der Spiegel' reports that Spain will openly refuse to adopt the 3.5%+1.5% spending goal the alliance is slated to agree on. It is the only country to have made such intentions known.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is quoted as calling the new goal, formulated due to American pressure, "unreasonable and counterproductive". He goes on as saying that 1.) radical rearmament violates "Spain's beliefs and values"; that 2.) Spain does not have the means to raise its military spending to such an extent without raising taxes or lowering social welfare payments; and that 3.) Spain's industry would not benefit fairly from a surge in Spanish military spending.

He threatens to veto the proposal—which must be adopted unanimously by all members—unless the 5% goal is either turned into a non-mandatory guideline or Spain is declared exempt from fulfilling it.

'Der Spiegel' points out that Sánchez is poised to throw the NATO summit in The Hague into disarray. An exemption for Spain is out of the question, as it is believed that Italy, Portugal, and Belgium would also demand exemptions for themselves. A non-mandatory guideline is believed to be anathema to Trump.

Rutte and Britain's Keir Starmer are said to have tried to convince Sánchez to change his mind, and failed. (Source)

That doesn't sound good.

 

[Nathyl]

That doesn't sound good.

No, not sound good... But they cannot convince him in good faith.

And to give in would be to lie to NATO face.

The problem is that even if he wanted to go to 5%, it is literally impossible to do so, because he lacks the legislative capacity and support to do so.

Let me explain the situation a little.

Sánchez lost the last elections and he governs now with only a tiny margin of 3/4 deputies in the Spanish Congress (he has the Senate against him) and that is only thanks to the support of the all Communist, Populist, Separatist and even pro-terrorist parties in the Congress. Most of those are 100% agains any rise of the Defence Budget, some even wanting to take Spain out of the NATO as soon as possible.

And at the moment he is also beset by many judicial investigations for corruption in his most direct environment, both at a personal level (his own wife and also his brother), and at the level of the political party and government, with several members of the government under suspicion who are gradually suffering "voluntary" resignations for the same reason (corruption scandals)... This very week the #3 of the Ministry of Finance has fallen...

Sánchez has been unable to approve a General State Budget (PGE) in the last three years and has no chance of doing so before the end of the legislature, that ends in 2027. Without PGE it is financially and fiscally impossible to articulate new allocations for Defence, to even reach the mandatory 2% this year he had to siphon dozens of programs from other Ministries (1 Billion € from Education for example) and almost empty the contingency fund, there is no more room for manoeuvre...

Moreover, Sánchez's political survival is not guaranteed. Nobody knows here how long he will be able to stay in power (days/weeks/months). The scandals made public by the media follow one after the other, day after day, each one more lurid and sordid than the last...

We have come to know of the business of his wife family (gay hot-houses and brothels). We learn of operations to blackmail or at least discredit prosecutors and police officers, also of alleged orgies of Ministers in National Paradors... The existence of a huge load of recordings of conversations, watsaps and sms, full of corrupt deals between high ranking government officials... We learn of "professional escorts" placed in state-owned companies as payment for sexual favours...
Oh man... Only this week we learn how they even tried to avoid the seizure of a hard drive during a police search of the home of an ex-Minister of Sánchez (containing allegedly compromising conversations between Ministers and even the Prime Minister Sánchez) camouflaging it under the clothing of a spanish pornstar.

With the corruption scandals continuing to climb the government hierarchy and causing his ‘partners’ to increasingly consider abandoning him in the face of the more and more sordid facts being made public from the investigations...

So no chance of Sánchez acepting the mandatory 5%.

IMHO, if he backtracks in the next few days or weeks under Trump or NATO pressure, it will be a bald faced lie. Nothing more.

Wait for elections or a vote of no confidence to overthrow Sánchez.

Until then, no possibility of Spain going to the 5% to Defence.

 

[PEMM]

IMHO, if he backtracks in the next few days or weeks under Trump or NATO pressure, it will be a bald faced lie. Nothing more.

In this instance we would be happy with the lie.

We already know that much of the souths spending is going to be very imaginative to reach the 5%. Such as new airports, house renovations etc.

 

[muck]

@Nathyl

Appreciate the additional insight, and I understand Sánchez' political predicament, but we're not in a good situation now. We all know that Trump pulled those 5% out of his arse in a bid to fund America's industry (the Americans do not reach 5% either); and we're all in agreement, I think, that mandatory capability goals would probably be more useful than ones based on spending.

Nevertheless, the arguments made by Sánchez (even if they were only produced to save face) are disingenuous.

He can't raise taxes or lower welfare payments? Well, boohoo. Never mind the fact this lends credibility to Trump's claim that the American taxpayer contributes to the defence of Europe so that we get to enjoy our welfare states, there are other ways to raise funds as well. The EU's new deficit rules allow increased debts for defence spending. Or look at what the Danes have been doing, axing public holidays to boost their economy and, as a consequence, fill the public's coffers.

Likewise, the argument that Spain's industry wouldn't properly benefit from a Spanish defence spending surge is also a non-starter. Even Trump's version of the 5% rule provided for a ten-year timeframe. That's more than enough time for Spanish defence industry companies to increase their footprint either through production or through share-holding.

We're in a bad spot now if no agreement can be reached. And frankly, the only compromise I could think of that might be accepted by Trump is an exemption for countries in acute financial distress, and only on the condition that such a state of distress is not declared unilaterally. Because that's what many governments would be tempted to do.

 

[Mike1976]

In a lot of countries both the armed forces and infrastructure are in shambles so a spending burst is needed to catch up what we have lost in time. Once things are sorted out there's no need to keep spending the 1,5% on infrastructure which is in addition to the money countries already spend on infrastructure.

Problem is that countries aren't even willing to maintain their infrastructure under the current regulations ...

Just like they're don't want to spend more than 1% on defence even if they could. Good infrastructure doesn't win or lose you elections, social welfare does. I'm all for not supporting any countries who aren't paying 2% of GDP on actual defence (not including all kinds of unrelated BS spending).

"But it's written down that you are required to render all possible aid!"

Yeah and so is the 2% requirement. It's been 19 years since that's been agreed on by all Member States. Zero excuses.

 

[Nathyl]

@muck

Yes, we are in a bad spot. But he knows it can't be done here without a budget, and he won't get one. And accepting it, even in jest, would alienate his government partners.

But that its the matter here, Sánchez knows that he needs the support of his partners to stay in power and to keep his judiciary immunity, while the opposition parties wouldn't piss on him even if he were on fire. Nothing else matters.

He needs to retain every vote from Podemos, Sumar, ERC, PNV, Junts, Bildu, etc... And for almost all of them, NATO is anathema.

Of course, Sanchez's justifications are ridiculous and disingenous, it's not a question of what suits the Trump Administration, the good or convenient for Europe, NATO or Spain itself. It is only a question of Sánchez's political survival, to continue holding the power and occupying the Moncloa Palace.

Last wednesday the leader of the opposition made it diametrically clear to his face, he only needs four votes and he will launch a motion of censure to send him home...

There is no real hard social or political issue with the rising of Defence budget in Spain... After Ucrania, that is a consecuence openly accepted and defended by the two opposition parties and if you believe the polls, the future election winners by a huge landslide.

We are not talking about a rational individual, with rational arguments. He is a desperate man, besieged by judicial investigations and embarked on a desperate flight that no one knows how it might end.

After naming his own judges to control the Constitutional Court, he failed to do so with the Supreme Court, but then issuing self-pardons for members of his party who have been already convicted of corruption, his latest move has been make an express reform to change the law of criminal prosecution to put his own Attorney General (currently under judiciary investigation with the Chief Prosecutor of Madrid who is already suspended in await of trial) in absolute control of the investigations of the judicial enquiries into his government and making a way to flood with "loyal judges" the judiciary career... Dude, we have now the judges and prosecutors protesting and announcing a strike against the government attempt to kill the judiciary independence.

The issue is here is Sánchez and his own problems.

Don't take seriously his words... They are only for the peanuts gallery.

 

[muck]

Good infrastructure doesn't win or lose you elections, social welfare does.

An election-winner it may not be; but I'd definitely say it's a vote-winner, if that makes sense.

 

[muck]

The Swedish government has announced an agreement struck with all parties in parliament to increase Sweden's defence spending to 3.5% of GDP. The deal will come into effect immediately if NATO increases its spending goals to that level. The surge is to be financed through a redeployment of capital and an increased debt limit. (Source)

Excellent news. It says a lot about Sweden's democracy that parties from the extreme left all the way to the extreme right were able to put their differences behind them for this.

 

[skaw]

...The deal will come into effect immediately if NATO increases its spending goals to that level...

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nato-countries-approve-hague-summit-statement-with-5-defence-spending-goal-2025-06-22/

 

[muck]

That was 46 minutes ago. Good timing.

No word yet on how Spain's objections were overcome.

 

[skaw]

German Tagesschau a bit more specific with 5% meaning: 3,5% pure defense spending and 1,5% spending on infrastructure and some sort of exemption for Spain.

NATO einig bei Ausgaben-Ziel von fünf Prozent

Die NATO hat bei den Verteidigungsausgaben eine Einigung erzielt. Das melden mehrere Nachrichtenagenturen. Demnach wollen sich die Bündnisstaaten bereit erklären, die Zielvorgabe auf mindestens fünf Prozent des BIP zu erhöhen - mit einer Ausnahme.

www.tagesschau.de