Ludmila Zhernovskaya22:36, 05/21/23
He was asked if these deliveries were a “colossal risk”.
United States President Joe Biden commented on Russia’s threats to face “colossal risks” in the event of deliveries of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine .
This statement was made earlier by Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexander Grushko. “Movement is under way on the so-called escalation ladder. And we see that the Western countries are still adhering to the escalation scenario. It involves enormous risks for themselves,” he said.
At a press conference after the G7 summit, Biden was asked if the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine is a colossal risk, as Russia claims. “For them, yes,” the US president replied.
(C)UNIAN 2023
“For them, yes,”
Exactly, although had they been delivered 6 months ago, a lot of lives would have been saved.
I saw a video that definitely looked like a commentary on the war, but I couldn’t understand the language because it was in Russian or Ukrainian. I was hoping to see a video of biden following through on his promise to help, because as much as I dislike him, I want to credit biden if he actually does something helpful. Is there a clip of this in English, or did I close it too early?
I agree Foccusser here, biden should have sent the jets a lot earlier, it might’ve made quite a difference if Ukraine could have pulled them out as an excellent surprise for Bahkmut, and would have saved many Ukrainians by shortening that battle. It might not be a “Pyrrhic victory,” but as hard as the russians tried, it made the AFU work long and hard for wearing down the orcs.
I don’t think he could.
He has consistently said he wasn’t against sending F-16’s if the European countries wanted to supply them (even months ago), so unlike many others I wasn’t surprised.
The reason they weren’t supplied was because the aid packages for this fiscal year is near depletion. If F-16’s were to be supplied, money couldn’t be spent on ammunition.
He did not explicitly say: “we do not have money”, but instead he said: “there are other priorities”.
Currently there is only 6 billion dollars left he can spend on supplying Ukraine until September, so there is no way the U.S. can afford to send F-16’s.
And no, even if these F-16’s are already decommissioned, they still have economic value so Biden cannot just send them.
Given that the next aid package for the next fiscal year is almost twice as big as the current one, I expect the U.S. to give some fighter jets in the fall.
This package still has to be approved, so there is still a chance it has to be watered down to pass Congress. So I think he will only promise fighter jets when he knows this 60 billion bill has been passed, otherwise he will be in trouble as he promises things he cannot deliver.
I don’t think Biden, as opposed to ATACMS, was against fighter jets, as the U.S. helped to get Russian fighter jets to Ukraine. The latter made sense, as F-16’s wouldn’t be ready in time anyway for the spring/summer offensive.
A very thorough, and concise explanation, thank you Bert.
Bert, nothing can be ready on time when you sit around with your thumbs up your ass for months at a time. And, I don’t buy the bullshit about “other priorities” at all. His priorities, maybe, but not real priorities that are essential in any war. The budget aspect is also nothing but smoke and mirrors.
Where there is a will, there is a way! Essentially, Biden could have taken concrete steps much sooner if he had made quick and decisive decisions. In war, proper timing is essential, which he doesn’t know because he never served. We have masses of mothballed planes, many makes and models, just sitting around in the Arizona sun. They have virtually no economic value. They will eventually be scrapped because if they are mothballed in the first place, not even the air national guard needs them. A small number – a few dozen maybe – could’ve been chosen and refurbished for a small sum, while, concurrently, Ukrainian pilots and maintenance crews are going through training. Those planes could’ve been in action for months already. Remember, where there is a will, there is a way.
Lame excuses don’t win a war and only increases casualties, pain and suffering.
Fuck, my comment is gone as my browser crashed.
In short, what I said is that economic value is not the same as practical value, as even mothballed fighter jets are in the books for many millions of dollars, even if they have no prospect of being sold or taken back in service.
In the U.S., the Congress constrains the power of a President by having the right to approve a certain budget to draw from. This would be undermined by having a President value equipment.
He could simply retire F-35 jets, mothball them and give them away for free.
Or the F-22: about 20 will be retired next year, but as the U.S. does not allow them to be exported because of its technology. They can not be sold, and because the production line is closed new parts can not be produced. The practical value is near zero as the U.S. cannot keep them in flying condition for much longer, but I cannot believe that the most expensive fighter jet in human history is in the books for 0$.
So I think what you said about the jets stored in the desert makes sense in a practical sense, but is illegal.
What Biden should have done is having introduction a much larger aid package, but it is not unlikely that wouldn’t have been accepted by the Congress.
I have never heard that handing over mothballed aircraft (or any other military items) is illegal. Can you provide me with a link about this?
There is an argument about the value of military materiel in storage. Theoretically, it has a certain value, somewhat less than the purchase price, but, practically, the value is zero. In some cases, a plane or tank or whatever is taken out of storage and put back into service, but this is not very common. Some are used as donors for spare parts. The big majority, however, end up never being used again. Some will eventually get put into museums and many will be scrapped.
As for the high-end items, like the F-35s and F-22s, they will see the same fate as F-15s, F-16s, A-10s, F-14s, B-52s and so on and so forth. They will degrade with time, and there comes the day when their usefulness – and value – is vastly reduced. What is cutting edge today, is old junk tomorrow.
It would be interesting to find out what value a certain plane still has that’s baking in the Arizona sun, but I couldn’t find anything about this, so far.