[BartSimpson]

Just came back from a nice lunch with a friend and there's a few tidbits to share.

As usual, this is all unconfirmed scuttlebutt so WYSIWYG.

* The US Department of Commerce and DoD are holding up a list of export permits for the block III F/A-18 Super Hornet. As of right now it will not be exported to Canada. No idea why.

Lots of stuff from Pakistan where my lunch buddy just returned from.

* The Pakistani ISI has moved from intimidating and threatening journalists in Pakistan to going after critics in Europe, too. Reporters in the Netherlands have been threatened and Pakistani reporters abroad have had their families in Pakistan threatened if the reporters do not censor themselves.

* The Paki military (which prefers to be called 'The Instituion') is behind the censorship actions of the ISI.

* Pakistan has been added back to the Foreign Action Task Force (FATF) 'gray list' due to confirmed ties between the Paki military and ISI with Taliban groups in SW Pakistan. The ISI is now confirmed to be sponsoring sanctuaries for Taliban who operate inside Afghanistan.

* A growing number of Paki general staff are considered to be radical Islamics.

* China in the past four weeks has tried to mediate a peace and settle border claims between India, Pakistan, and China. The talks seem to have collapsed and the result had China withdrawing some key military contacts with Pakistan. A Paki order for two Chinese Type 54A frigates is supposed to be fulfilled by 2021 but China is allegedly shopping for an alternate buyer in a signal that they do not approve of the Paki regime.

* Recent violence between Pakistan and India has caused more damage to civilian structures than during the 1990's.

* India and Pakistan publicly renewed their 2003 truce along the Line of Control yet sporadic cross-border artillery fire continues to take place daily.

* Sudan has cut military ties with North Korea.

* China continues to block UN action over the Rohingya and is supporting the Burmese in their effort to keep the Rohingya Muslims out of Burma.

* Paki officials admitted that elements of the Haqqani terror network have remined in Pakistan since 2015 despite prior assurances to the West that this group was no longer in Pakistan.

* Now that Italy is no longer allowing NGO groups to operate rescue ships from Italian ports the volume of illegal migrants trying to enter Italy has dropped by over 95%.

* A localized conflict in Ben Guerdane (Tunisia) may lead to war between Libya and Tunisia. Libya is siding with the criminal gangs that are being suppressed by Tunisian security forces. The Tunisian gangs are a primary source of arms to the Libyan regime due to the UN arms embargo that's now been extended another year.

* Approximately two dozen Al Qaeda operatives were killed at a camp in western Libya by a US air strike. The US attributed the strike to a drone and local witnesses identified multiple low observability fighters that did not appear on local and military radars.

* Russia in 2012 announced ambitious plans to replace their air transport fleet with 170 new cargo planes. The older aircraft were supposed to be refurbished but instead are being scrapped due to high maintenance costs and a lack of foreign buyers for old Soviet aircraft.

* Due to the lack of air transport capability Russia has abandoned or "put into storage" a significant number of their remote airfields that are dependent upon supply by air.

* India and Viet Nam got together for a summit in Viet Nam and signed several agreements to cooperate against their common enemy, China. Chinese fighters crossed into Vietnamese airspace concurrent with the summit meeting and Vietnam responded with the launch of anti-aircraft missiles. Neither side reported any loss of aircraft.

* Norway has emerged as a global leader in sales of military grade UAVs. In particular they have now made over 5,000 "Black Hornet" micro-UAV recon drones for soldiers and police. Versions available for 'military only' sales include weaponized drones that carry a small payload of explosives for anti-personnel and anti-light vehicle use.

That is all.

[Fighter]

It's 11:26 p.m here....

Thank you for giving me great laughter right before I go to sleep....I am waiting for this year to pass on...Then I will be posting threads/topics as well....Members over here will be enlightened greatly then, I believe.

BTW...Your buddy who just returned from Pakistan is Pakistani or American?

If he is Pakistani then he is loser and if he is American then he is propagandist, a terrible one though.

All rumor bullshit aside, I have read somewhere, Chinese say: lose gold but not lose Pakistan.

China has only one real ally'

https://www.businessinsider.com/leading-chinese-foreign-policy-thinker-china-now-has-only-one-real-ally-2016-2

http://www.app.com.pk/pakistan-closest-political-cultural-military-ally-china-chinese-scholar/

http://www.app.com.pk/pakistan-closest-political-cultural-military-ally-china-chinese-scholar/

[llama66]

This post is 2 years old... and its an opinion piece.

[bootlegga]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

* The US Department of Commerce and DoD are holding up a list of export permits for the block III F/A-18 Super Hornet. As of right now it will not be exported to Canada. No idea why.

Meh, I doubt we were going to buy them anyways, with all of Boeing's BS last year and Trump's recent shenanigans. Odds are, we'll have a new competition and a European aircraft will win.

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

* Norway has emerged as a global leader in sales of military grade UAVs. In particular they have now made over 5,000 "Black Hornet" micro-UAV recon drones for soldiers and police. Versions available for 'military only' sales include weaponized drones that carry a small payload of explosives for anti-personnel and anti-light vehicle use.

Very interesting - this technology is going to change warfare immensely.

[llama66]

bootlegga bootlegga:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

* The US Department of Commerce and DoD are holding up a list of export permits for the block III F/A-18 Super Hornet. As of right now it will not be exported to Canada. No idea why.

Meh, I doubt we were going to buy them anyways, with all of Boeing's BS last year and Trump's recent shenanigans. Odds are, we'll have a new competition and a European aircraft will win.

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

* Norway has emerged as a global leader in sales of military grade UAVs. In particular they have now made over 5,000 "Black Hornet" micro-UAV recon drones for soldiers and police. Versions available for 'military only' sales include weaponized drones that carry a small payload of explosives for anti-personnel and anti-light vehicle use.

Very interesting - this technology is going to change warfare immensely.

Drones scare the shit out of me.

But they totally are the future of warfare. Saturation attacks.

[BartSimpson]

Fighter Fighter:

If he is Pakistani then he is loser and if he is American then he is propagandist, a terrible one though.

He is an American and I've passed this on to him.

[llama66]

Lol. That's mean :/

[BartSimpson]

You're right.

It's true but you're right. In any case I edited this so as not to ruin the potential surprise.

[llama66]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

You're right.

It's true but you're right. In any case I edited this so as not to ruin the potential surprise.

No one likes someone who ruins surprises for others

[xerxes]

$1:

* Sudan has cut military ties with North Korea.

Oh noes! What will NK do without those $10?

$1:

* Norway has emerged as a global leader in sales of military grade UAVs. In particular they have now made over 5,000 "Black Hornet" micro-UAV recon drones for soldiers and police. Versions available for 'military only' sales include weaponized drones that carry a small payload of explosives for anti-personnel and anti-light vehicle use.

I'm surprised that more countries aren't investing more R&D into this (at least that we know of. I imagine there's some funky things flying around the Lockheed Skunkworks). This is obviously the future of aerial warfare.

[Fighter]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Fighter Fighter:

I've passed this on to him.

So?

How can he prove what he is claiming?

Yes, Pakistan was put on FATF grey list but not for reasons he told you.

As far as China is concerned, People in US know very well how close Pakistan is with China...Never happened as far as I know that Chinese are cancelling any order from Pakistan.

As far as ties with terrorists are concerned....US tops the list. John McCain is working on who's behalf over here? Got any clue??

[BartSimpson]

Fighter Fighter:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Fighter Fighter:

I've passed this on to him.

So?

How can he prove what he is claiming?

I put a disclaimer on this: As usual, this is all unconfirmed scuttlebutt so WYSIWYG.

As far as 'proof' goes I put this out there for our fellow posters who are veterans or active duty and if they're interested they can find this same information through their connections. None of this is classified information.

Fighter Fighter:

Yes, Pakistan was put on FATF grey list but not for reasons he told you.

As far as China is concerned, People in US know very well how close Pakistan is with China...Never happened as far as I know that Chinese are cancelling any order from Pakistan.

As far as ties with terrorists are concerned....US tops the list. John McCain is working on who's behalf over here? Got any clue??

Again, this is what's called 'scuttlebutt'.

If you really want to argue with the person who told me about this then you're welcome to give me your name and address and I imagine he'll come visit you and then you can register your objections with him at that time.

I'd recommend having a decent Scotch on hand when he arrives because he gets irate if he gets served any of that goat piss from Muree.

[llama66]

Why does everyone but me get scotch? I'm big and scary goddamnit. People call me the bear. The Bear!

[BartSimpson]

llama66 llama66:

Why does everyone but me get scotch? I'm big and scary goddamnit. People call me the bear. The Bear!

Right now I'm working my way through an 18yo Talisker and I highly recommend it!