Monthly Archives: June 2017

MOSCOW A NATO F-16 fighter jet approached and was then warned away from a jet carrying Russias defense minister, Russian media reported Wednesday, the latest in a string of aerial incidents that have marked rising tensions between the West and Russia.

The incident occurred over the Baltic Sea in northeastern Europe, according to reporters traveling with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in international airspace crowded with Russian and NATO jets testing one anothers nerve in sometimes dangerous proximity.

But no incidents yet had involved aircraft with high-ranking Russian or U.S. government officials aboard.

NATO confirmed the intercept, saying in an emailed statement that three Russian aircraft, including two fighters, had been tracked over the Baltic Sea. As the aircraft did not identify themselves or respond to air traffic control, NATO fighter jets scrambled to identify them, according to standard procedure, the statement read. NATO has no information as to who was on board. We assess the Russian pilots behavior as safe and professional.

The brush comes after days of close calls over the Baltics, as well as the first downing of a Syrian government plane by U.S. forces in that war-torn country. In response to the shoot-down, Russia said it would begin tracking U.S. aircraft in Syria as potential targets.

[U.S. aircraft shoots down Syrian warplane, Pentagon says]

Despite expectations that relations would warm under President Trump, a vocal admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, geopolitical hot spots from the Baltics to the Middle East have continued yielding tensions where U.S. and Russian military assets are in proximity.

The Ukrainian conflict has also remained a point of tension. The U.S. government on Tuesday introduced new sanctions against Russia, aimed at a shadowy paramilitary group called Wagner accused of fighting in Ukraine and Syria, as well as a company tied to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Putin associate sometimes called Putins chef.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that he was canceling an upcoming meeting with the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, Thomas A. Shannon Jr., in St. Petersburg because of the new round of sanctions, which target 38 Russian individuals and firms.

We regret that Russia has decided to turn away from an opportunity to discuss bilateral obstacles that hinder U.S.-Russia relations, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement Wednesday. ... If the Russians seek an end to these sanctions, they know very well the U.S. position: Our sanctions on Russia related [to] Russias ongoing aggression against Ukraine will remain in place until Russia fully honors its obligations under the Minsk Agreements. Our sanctions related to Crimea will not be lifted until Russia ends its occupation of the peninsula.

Trump and Putin were expected to meet for the first time next month during a Group of 20 summit in Hamburg. The meeting has been highly anticipated, a first encounter between two men who believe they can make use of each other despite a U.S. establishment livid over Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

But on Wednesday, Dmitry Peskov, Putins press secretary, said that there were no plans yet for a meeting.

It has not been prepared in any way for now, and nothing has been planned for July 7 so far, he told journalists, adding that the Kremlin does not rule out a meeting between Putin and Trump on the sidelines of the conference.

Peskov had previously said that the G-20 summit would be a good occasion to meet.

Asked by a Washington Post reporter whether his remarks Wednesday indicated doubt that a meeting would take place, he replied, It is still a good occasion.

There are concerns that the U.S.-Russian tensions could be playing out in the Baltics.

[Russian fighter intercepts U.S. heavy bomber over Baltic Sea]

On Tuesday, the Pentagon said that an armed Russian Su-27 buzzed an American RC-135 reconnaissance plane, closing to a distance of five feet. U.S. officials told Fox News that the maneuver was provocative. Russian officials blamed the pilot of the U.S. spy plane.

On Wednesday, Shoigus jet was bound for the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad when it was intercepted by an F-16, the Russian reports said.

The NATO jet closed in and began flying parallel to Shoigus plane, video shot on board and released by the Defense Ministrys Zvezda news agency showed.

A Russian Su-27 fighter accompanying Shoigus plane then approached from behind and rocked its wings to show that it was armed. Then, the F-16 veered off.

NATO and Russia are building up their defenses in the Baltic region, where former Soviet states (and now NATO members) Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia border Russia.

Since 2016, NATO has deployed four battalion-size battle groups to the Baltic states and Poland as part of what a NATO statement calls the biggest reinforcement of Alliance collective defense in a generation.

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NATO jet approached plane carrying Russian defense minister, reports say - Washington Post

Correspondents for RIA and TASS both reported the incident based on what they saw from the minister's plane. They said the NATO jet was "driven off" by a Russian Su-27 fighter, which "demonstrated" its armament by swinging its wings.

A NATO official confirmed that three Russian aircraft, including two fighters, were tracked over the Baltic Sea Wednesday.

"As the aircraft did not identify themselves or respond to air traffic control, NATO fighter jets scrambled to identify them, according to standard procedures. NATO has no information as to who was on board. We assess the Russian pilots' behaviour as safe and professional," the official said.

The same NATO official added that all sides involved acted in a safe and professional manner,

When asked by CNN if the NATO jet was chased away, the official said: "Once identification of the aircraft was complete, our jets broke away as it is standard procedure."

The Russian Defense Ministry has not responded to requests for comment from CNN. A television network run by the ministry released a video online that it described as showing the incident.

Shoigu was on his way to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, which is between Moscow and Poland.

Russian state media also reported that a NATO jet shadowed Shoigu's plane when he departed Kalingrad, but did not approach as closely as in the prior incident.

Wednesday's encounter with a NATO jet comes just two days after a Russian Su-27 fighter jet flew within five feet of a US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft in the skies above the Baltic Sea.

US officials deemed that intercept "unsafe" as the armed Russian jet flew "erratically," in close proximity to the American spy plane.

Russia disputed claims that its aircraft was at fault during the encounter and said it intercepted two US reconnaissance aircraft as they "approached the Russian state border."

There have been more than 30 interactions between Russian and US aircraft and ships near the Baltic Sea since the beginning of June, a US official told CNN. The vast majority of these encounters have been safe and professional, the official added -- a point that adds to the significance of Monday's incident.

"Russia is certainly within its right to exercise within international airspace, but we want them to respect international standards for safety to prevent accidents," said Pentagon spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis.

"The vast majority of interactions we have, intercepts that occur when we fly and that are intercepted by the Russians are safe. This is an exception, not the norm, but we were again operating in international airspace and did nothing to provoke," Davis said.

These recent intercepts occurred amid rising tensions between Russia and members of NATO -- particularly the US.

Earlier this month, the US Air Force deployed long-range B-52 bombers and 800 airmen to the United Kingdom in support of joint exercises with NATO allies and partners across Europe.

Those exercises have primarily taken place in the Baltic Sea, the Arctic and along Russia's border with several NATO partners.

Over the weekend over 1,000 US and NATO troops conducted a defensive drill in the Suwalki Gap in the border area between Poland and Lithuania. That area is seen by most experts as a likely Russian target in the event of a NATO-Russia military confrontation.

CNN's Oksana Brown, Mary Ilyushina, Pamela Boykoff, Emma Burrows and Ryan Browne contributed to this report.

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NATO jet intercepts Russian minister's plane - CNN

Bipartisan House leaders have introduced a measure reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations mutual defense clause after President Trump declined to do so in a speech abroad last month.

Top leaders, including House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Speaker Paul RyanPaul RyanRecord number attend Congressional Women's Softball Game after shooting Dems point fingers after crushing loss Savor the flavor of Georgia win, GOP. Midterms will be different. MORE (R-Wis.), Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.), unveiled the resolution on Wednesday.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, are also co-sponsors.

Hoyer's office noted he had been working on the resolution since visiting Denmark, Belgium, Lithuania, and Estonia to reaffirm NATO commitments around the time of Trump's speech. He spearheaded the measure upon his return to Washington and collaborated with McCarthy and other top Republicans to garner bipartisan support.

With Russia continuing its aggression in Eastern Europe and its cyberwar against the worlds democracies, NATO is as relevant as it ever was during the Cold War. I hope the House will take a strong, bipartisan vote to pass this resolution soon, he added.

During a speech before NATO leaders in late May, Trump scolded U.S. allies for not spending enough on defense.

Trump also declined to explicitly endorse NATOs Article 5, which states that a threat to one member nation is a threat to all.

NATO allies found Trumps omission particularly striking given that his speech was delivered at the dedication of a memorial dedicated to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. That has been the only time NATO invoked Article 5.

Vice President Pence and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley have since said that the U.S. still supports NATOs Article 5.

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Bipartisan House leaders unveil resolution endorsing NATO's Article 5 - The Hill

PARIS

Military conflicts and growing threats around the world continue to underpin demand for weapons, but industry and government leaders from the United States, Europe, Russia and the Middle East say they don't see a huge near-term spike in arms orders.

Executives report being busier than ever at this year's Paris Airshow, the oldest and biggest aerospace expo in the world, which featured aerial acrobatics by Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-35 fighter jet.

But they caution that foreign arms sales take years to complete, and NATO governments must get through lengthy budget and bureaucratic processes before they can raise military spending to meet a NATO target for members to spend 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.

No big spurt seen

"We're seeing some growth, but I like to be pragmatic. I'm not seeing a big tick up in defense spending across the board," Leanne Caret, who heads Boeing's defense business, told Reuters in an interview. Her division generates about 40 percent of its revenues overseas, a big change from just several years ago.

Boeing officials expect steady gains in weapons sales, but warn against expectations for any kind of "gold rush" despite U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to boost military spending, saying there may be more of a shift in what platforms and weapons programs are in demand.

Recent increases in tensions between Russia and the United States have raised concerns about another arms race, but top officials in both countries agree that there will not be a mad rush to bulk up on weapons.

Moscow's top arms trade official, Dmitry Shugaev, told reporters at the show that Russian weapon makers remained competitive despite Western sanctions, but the cyclical nature of the business and budget constraints are dampening prospects for a big surge in global arms sales.

He also expressed skepticism that NATO members would rapidly increase their military budgets, despite pledging to move toward the 2 percent goal.

Trump position

Trump's public declarations that NATO members are not pulling their weight may have had some impact. Lockheed Martin's Aeronautics business leader, Orlando Carvalho, said national security budgets and military systems' demand outside the United States are beginning to increase, "especially with the focus that the president has put on NATO."

In 2016, total world military expenditure rose 0.4 percent to $1.69 trillion, according the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The European Union's economic and financial affairs commissioner, Pierre Moscovici, also cited that risk, warning that European countries needed to match political pledges to boost military spending with actual resource commitments.

"There is now a window of opportunity for investing more in European defense ... but as with all windows, a window closes if you don't go through it," he said.

Gradual increases in Europe

Germany and other European countries are boosting military spending, concerned about terrorism and Russia's increasingly assertive military stance after its annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, but the increases are likely to be more gradual than dramatic.

In the missile defense arena, Western concerns about rapid advances in technology by North Korea, China and Iran, as well as Russia's increased military activities, are driving orders for a range of defensive systems, according to U.S. and European executives.

"The threat is absolutely increasing and it's increasing rapidly," said Tim Cahill, vice president of air and missile defense systems at Lockheed. "In every region around the world, the level of interest in integrated air and missile defense has been going up in the last few months."

Wes Kremer, president of Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems, said he was meeting with officials from countries that had not shown any interest in missile defense systems just four or five years ago.

"Back then, they didn't see a ballistic missile threat, or they didn't see Russia as a threat, but now that has changed," he said.

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Threats, NATO Demands Underpin Global Arms Demand - Voice of America

The U.S. Department of Defense says the presence of the world's most expensive fighter jet in Paris is a clear sign of the U.S. commitment to NATO.

The F-35A took to the skies above the French capital on Monday, wowing the crowd with a series of high- and low-speed maneuvers.

Gen. Tod D. Wolters, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, said the exhibition was an example of the willingness of the U.S. Air Force to work with allies.

"The presence of the U.S. F-35A at this Paris Air Show shows a degree of cooperation with our partners. And the NATO region will very soon further embrace the F-35Bs in the United Kingdom," he said in a panel presentation Monday. "The more we sit together side by side and think through ways to better integrate the better. That is exactly what is happening at this air show."

Wolters added that training allies in the operation of the F-35 was part of the wider goal to create a strong NATO force.

"I'm the NATO air chief. We wake up and our goal is to train and exercise like there is no tomorrow and our purpose is to take that NATO force and with each and every hour, minute, second we want a gradual improvement in our readiness.

"And that means that we will be ready for every occurrence that could take place in the region with the aim of protecting the sovereign land and skies of NATO members," he added.

The F-35 has been criticized for being too expensive, but news agency Reuters is reporting that people familiar with the matter say the plane's manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, is on the brink of a huge $37 billion deal to sell 440 F-35 fighter jets to 11 nations.

U.S. President Donald Trump has called NATO obsolete and has rebuked European allies for not spending enough on defense.

Speaking at the same presentation, Heidi Grant, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for International Affairs, said it is clear that NATO countries have been getting the message for some time.

"My observation is that years ago many countries depended on the U.S. but I think that in the last several years our partners are realizing that our stocks and munitions aren't what they used to be," she said.

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US says F-35 shows NATO commitment as rumors fly of massive deal - CNBC