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November 12, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land
Germany cautious as France leads European defense initiative
France is leading a 10-country defense initiative in a bid to "face new threats" outside existing structures. Germany is wary that the project could entangle its military in foreign interventions and undermine the EU.
Defense ministers from 10 European countries gathered in Paris on Wednesday to set the agenda for the European Intervention Initiative (EI2), a defense coalition spearheaded by French President Emmanuel Macron.
"To face new threats, Europe needs a strong defense," the French Defense Ministry said in a tweet after the meeting. "With the European Intervention Initiative, 10 European countries are committed to its protection."
EI2's goal is to create a results-based common strategic culture that allows for rapid response joint military operations, including in humanitarian efforts. As such, it is not aimed at establishing a supranational European army.
However, as an initiative outside EU and NATO frameworks, the French Defense Ministry has tried to alleviate concerns that it would undermine defense structures in the bloc and alliance.
"With the European Intervention Initiative, the whole European Union and the European pillar in NATO will also be strengthened," it added.
'Germany felt pressured'
But France's efforts have done little to placate concerns in Berlin, which Paris sees as a pivotal actor in the initiative.
Claudia Major, senior international security associate at the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), told DW that German officials are wary because "it's explicitly and deliberately organized and set up outside the European Union's structures."
"For the Germans, making a deliberate attempt to setting up something meaningful outside the EU's structures — and outside NATO — is not seen as a positive move but rather as undermining the EU," Major said.
"In the end, Germany felt pressured to agree and engage in the initiative, because otherwise all the talk about France and Germany being the engine of Europe and the heart of Europe, and driving European integration and cooperation forward, would look cheap, wouldn't it?"
Full article: https://amp.dw.com/en/germany-cautious-as-france-leads-european-defense-initiative/a-46201409
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January 23, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Why the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Stealth Fighters Will Revolutionize War
by Sebastien Roblin To recap: stealth technology is more effective at a distance. Although there are a number of methods to detect stealth fighters at long range, they generally don't permit weapons to lock on to them. In Len Deighton's book Fighter, he describes the tactics used by the outnumbered English fighter pilots defending against German Luftwaffe bombers in the Battle of Britain: The professional fighter pilot gained height as quickly as he was permitted, and treasured possession of that benefit. He hoped always to spot the enemy before they spotted him and hurried to the sun side of them to keep himself invisible. He needed superior speed, so he positioned himself for a diving attack, and he would choose a victim at the very rear of the enemy formation so that he did not have to fly through their gunfire. He would hope to kill on that first dive. If he failed, the dedicated professional would flee rather than face an alerted enemy. Full article: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-f-22-raptor-and-f-35-stealth-fighters-will-revolutionize-war-42322
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