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Kyiv receives long-awaited first F-16 fighter jets in major boost for Ukrainian air force

Tom Sables – 1st August 2024 at 12:44pm

Ukrainian pilots training with Nato F-16 fighter jets in May (Picture: Nato)

The first batch of long-awaited F-16 jets has arrived in Ukraine, marking a significant milestone in the country’s fight against Russia and the support it receives from the West. 

Kyiv has yet to officially confirm the aircraft’s arrival, but Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis posted on X: “F-16s in Ukraine. Another impossible thing turned out to be totally possible.”

Following months of pressure from Kyiv, US president Joe Biden authorised sending the American-built warplanes to Ukraine in August last year.

The US has not committed to sending its own craft, only joining others in training Ukrainian pilots on the platform, but it is thought nearly 80 F-16s will be sent from Belgium, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands.

While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has lasted almost two-and-a-half years, the much-anticipated jet has been flying for half a century and has become the backbone of modern air forces across the world.

At 50 years old, the F-16, or ‘Fighting Falcon’ is a single-engine, multi-role fighter, that can carry bombs despite its dogfighting roots.

Importantly in the context of the Ukraine war, its thought maintenance of the jet is comparatively straightforward.

Several outlets are reporting the arrival of this first batch, although Ukrainian officials have previously suggested a greater total number would be needed to make a real impact on a frontline spanning hundreds of miles.

With around 3,000 F-16s in service today in 25 countries, it is the West’s most widely produced military jet.

Watch: Ukrainian pilots train with Nato F-16 fighter jets

US Battleship Believed to be USS Nevada in Melbourne, Australia 1926 and possibly USS Washington (ACR-11/CA-11/IX-39) in background.Confirmation appreciated

Capturefile: D:\glass neg raws\Airspy series\box 18\box 19\ai0505.tifCaptureSN: CC001681.052485Software: Capture One PRO for Windows

US Battleship Believed to be USS Nevada in Melbourne, Australia 1926 and possibly USS Washington (ACR-11/CA-11/IX-39) in background.
Confirmation appreciated

USS Swallow (AM-65) 1944

USS Swallow, 1944


USS Swallow (AM-65) was an Auk-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was the second U.S. Navy ship named after the swallow. Swallow earned two battle stars for World War II service. She was sunk by a kamikaze aircraft off Okinawa on 22 April 1945. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 2 June 1945.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Swallow_(AM-65)

Tasmanian debut: Hawkei vehicles touchdown in Hobart

07 MARCH 2024 By: Robert Dougherty

Australian Army soldiers Lance Corporal Selina Schlimmer and Corporal Ash Werner drive the lead Hawkei light protected mobility vehicle across the Tasman Bridge from Hobart Airport to Derwent Barracks on Friday, 23 February 2024. Photo: Corporal Michael Currie

Four new Australian Army Hawkei light protected mobility vehicles have touched down at Hobart Airport as the first Hawkei vehicles delivered to Tasmania.

A Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster III aircraft from RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland delivered the vehicles to Hobart Airport in Tasmania on Friday, 23 February.

The vehicles were welcomed by Australian Army personnel from 12th/40 Battalion, Royal Tasmania Regiment, and other 4th Brigade units. Officials at the event included Commander of 2nd Australian Division Major General David Thomae and Commander of 4th Brigade Brigadier Michelle Campbell.

The vehicles have since travelled across the Tasman Bridge to the Australian Army’s Derwent Barracks in Glenorchy.

The Hawkei protected mobility vehicle – designed and built in Bendigo, Victoria, by Thales Australia, a subsidiary of the French defence company Thales Group – provides survivability, mobility, useability, payload, sustainability, and communications for the Australian Defence Force.

FS Mistral (L9013) is an amphibious assault ship, a type of helicopter carrier, of the French Navy. She is the fourth vessel to bear the name, and is the lead ship of the Mistral-class amphibious assault ships.

Construction and career

Mistral at the military port of Toulon in 2006
Mistral began sea trials in January 2005, and was commissioned in February 2006. She departed from Toulon for her first long-range journey in March, sailing through the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal, and the Red Sea to Djibouti and India, before returning to France. In July, to ensure the safety of European citizens in the context of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, France set up Opération Baliste. Mistral was the flagship of the fleet unit off Lebanon, escorted by the frigates Jean Bart and Jean de Vienne, and along with another amphibious assault ship, Siroco.

On 16 May 2008, the Burmese United Nations (UN) ambassador accused France of deploying Mistral to the Burmese coast for military purposes. The French UN ambassador denied this, stating that she was instead carrying 1,500 tons of relief supplies.[1]

In March 2011 Mistral was deployed to Libyan waters to help aid the joint NATO effort to repatriate tens of thousands of Egyptian refugees fleeing the violence in Libya.[2]

In January 2013, escorted by Chevalier Paul, Mistral took part in the ill-fated operation to retrieve Denis Allex,[3] a DGSE officer held hostage in Bulo Marer.

On 22 May 2022, Mistral, operating in the Gulf of Guinea in conjunction with the La Fayette-class frigate, Courbet, was involved in the seizure of almost two tons of drugs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Mistral_(L9013)

HMS Victorious – Sydney 1965 – HMS Victorious (R38) was the third Illustrious-class aircraft carrier after Illustrious and Formidable.

HMS Victorious – Sydney 1965 – HMS Victorious (R38) was the third Illustrious-class aircraft carrier after Illustrious and Formidable.
Nov. 1966: HMS VICTORIOUS, rebuilt WWII carrier, glides into Sydney

Ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme, she was laid down at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1937 and launched two years later in 1939. Her commissioning was delayed until 1941 due to the greater need for escort vessels for service in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Her service in 1941 and 1942 included famous actions against the battleship Bismarck, several Arctic convoys, and Operation Pedestal. She was loaned to the United States Navy in 1943 and served in the south west Pacific as part of the Third Fleet. In 1944 Victorious contributed to several attacks on the Tirpitz. The elimination of the German naval threat allowed her redeployment first to the Eastern Fleet at Colombo and then to the Pacific for the final actions of the war against Japan.

After the war, her service was broken by periods in reserve and, between 1950 and 1958, the most complete reconstruction of any Royal Navy carrier. This involved the construction of new superstructure above the hangar deck level, a new angled flight deck,[1] new boilers and the fitting of Type 984 radar and data links and heavy shipboard computers, able to track 50 targets and assess their priority for interrogation and interception. The reduction of Britain’s naval commitment in 1967, the end of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, and a fire while under refit, prompted her final withdrawal from service, three to five years early, and she was scrapped in 1969.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Victorious_(R38)