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Title: Russia questions Britain's claim to the Falklands as garrison reinforced
Source:
telegraph.co.uk
URL Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor ... ds-as-garrison-reinforced.html
Published: Mar 24, 2015
Author: Matthew Holehouse
Post Date: 2015-03-25 12:28:02 by Pericles
Keywords: Russia, UK, Argentina
Views: 1646
Comments: 13
Russia questions Britain's claim to the Falklands as garrison reinforced Extra Chinook helicopters and new missile system to be sent to be deployed, as Russia likens Islands to Crimea By Matthew Holehouse, Political Correspondent 7:18PM GMT 24 Mar 2015 Britain will send two troop-carrying Chinook helicopters and new surface-to-air missile system to the Falkland Islands, amid fears Russia could be arming the Argentine government. Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, said the Islands will be ready to repel “any potential threat” following reports that the Kremlin is preparing to lease 12 Su-24 long range bombers to Buenos Aires in exchange for beef and wheat. It came as Russia questioned the legitimacy of Britain’s claim on the Islands. Alexander Yakovenko, the Russian Ambassador in London compared the referendum held in 2013 that found 99.8 per cent of the Falkland Islanders wanted to remain a British territory to that held in Crimea last year. The snap Crimean referendum, held at gunpoint and used to justify Putin’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula, was denounced as a sham by Britain. Some £180 million will be spent over the next decade in upgrading the island’s defences, Mr Fallon told the Commons. Two Chinook helicopters, which were sent to Afghanistan in 2006, will return and allow troops to respond to possible incursions more quickly, while a new system will replace the Rapier air defence missiles when they go out of service at the end of the decade. ...snip... The Russian intervention came in response to Philip Hammond, who used the first anniversary of the Crimean annexation to condemn the “sham” referendum as a “fig leaf” for Putin’s “land grab”. In a statement, the embassy said: “In its rhetoric Foreign Office applies one logic to the referendum in the Malvinas/Falklands, and a different one to the case of Crimea.” It followed weeks of rhetoric from pro-Kremlin newspapers and leading Russian MPs denouncing Britain’s “colonial occupation” of the Islands, which they dubbed the “Crimea of the Atlantic”. Alexei Pushkov, the head of the Duma’s committee of international affairs, wrote on Twitter: “Information for London: Crimea has immeasurably more reason to be a part of Russia than the Falkland Islands to be part of the UK.” Cristina de Kirchner, the Argentine president, has backed Putin. “The Malvinas has always belonged to Argentina, the same way that Crimea also belonged to the Soviet Union until it was given to Ukraine,” she said last year, in comments that delighted the Russian president. ...snip...
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#1. To: Pericles (#0)
Meh. These are fighter-bombers designed in the mid-Sixties. As of 2008, Russia still had over 400 of them but was replacing those with the much more capable Su-34, a Russian version of the B1B bomber that was produced at the end of the Cold War, then stalled for a decade until 2004 when Russia started slowly building them. They have 57 at present and will have 120 by 2020 and, given the age of the design, will likely build no more than 150 total. Russia doesn't sell any of its good modern stuff to foreign powers, even those in no position to ever threaten Russia. I'm not sure how much Russia is really protesting or that the Argentines fail to understand that it won't take much for Brits to shoot down 50yo jet fighter designs on old leased Soviet jets. Maybe it's a slow news day or something. This story isn't much of a story at all.
Maybe it's a slow news day or something. This story isn't much of a story at all. Tories look to justify increase in military spending.
The interesting thing about it is the potential political and diplomatic issues that this Russian gambit opens.
This and the possible sale/lease of Russian jets to Nicaragua and Russia's return to Cam Rahn Bay and the increasing Russian bomber presence around Europe and America points toward a return to Russian/Soviet meddling around the world. The Bear is still more scavenger and opportunist than predator. We make a lot of whining noises about Russia flexing their rather puny military muscle around the world but it is quite overblown compared to the far more credible Soviet threat. So Russian ships make a few calls to old bases in Cuba or in Vietnam or they fly some 1950s turboprop bombers around South America. The Soviets did more in a month to challenge the West than the Russians do in an entire year now. These various little picnics and outings around the world are just propaganda for splashy headlines in the West. And to get a little training for their rusty aircrews. The real threat from Russia is their focus on the near-abroad among the core Soviet states like Ukraine and Georgia and, sooner than later, Kazakhstan. Vlad almost certainly will try to detach the northern third of Kazakhstan where there are substantial Russian minorities. He can't do this as long as he needs the old Soviet spaceport in Kazakhstan but that will be shut down in a few years when all launches shift to the new Russian spaceport in Russia's far southeast. Reuters: Putin orders building hastened at new Russian spaceport 9/2/14 In many ways, Russia is still a paper tiger. It can't be seriously compared to the Soviet military capability. However, they seem intent on carving up non-NATO states at their periphery as buffer zones against invaders, a classic Russian obsession. Tsars and commissars and democratic regimes may come and go but Russia is still paranoid all the time. It makes the Bear difficult to make deals with.
Not to mention if any balance of power issues arise over even old airframes. South American nations are very conscious of who has what and how many. One having too many of one thing will prompt the other to purchase something else.
"For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)
I believe you are thinking of the Tu-160. The Su-34 is derived from the Su- 27, its closest American equivalent is probably the F-15E Strike Eagle, although the Su-34 has an airframe that has been altered more.
Russia is not the threat. The threat is an Argentina that tires of America and Britain as world leaders, and looks to the Chinese bank for its loans, and stiffs the Western institutions and claims the Malvinas, without an invasion, while an Argentine Pope calls for calm. Followed by a Brazil who agrees that the US and its lenders are overmighty, and looks to China too, along with a Venezuela and a Nicaragua. And all of a sudden, you have a growing cluster of large anti-American cluster of countries, each of which is friendly to Russia, and gains financial benefits by distancing themselves from the US and the dollar and cozying up to China. If Latin American and African nations start doing that, American military power is useless against it, and dollar hegemony cracks. Greece does the same, in Europe. Russian bases in Greece. Poland drifts. The US looks weak and loses diplomatic dominance. No shots fired, just the seething resentment against America given an organized way to vent, with financial rewards for doing so.
Mmmm...exact comparisons don't really work, I guess. The T-160 is lot more plane than a B1B and a B1B is a real long-range bomber, not just a two-seat fighter-bomber like SU-34. Vlad in a T-160, 2005.
I see your points overall but it isn't clear that Russia or China are capable of creating or holding together an international order the way America and her colonies do. What you're describing is still just skirmishing and grumbling at the margins of the global system for which "America" is only the most convenient and obvious label. But America only plays this role because other powerful countries and economies want America in that role. It's not just America but America et al. Any signs of dissent from this dominant system may be noteworthy but primarily for their novelty. It's been decades since any other power posed even the slightest threat to the American interest.
The western institutions that loan money to places like Argentina need to get hit, it would simply be a case of economic Darwinism. The TBTF banks have been bailed out for decades on their non-performing loans to the Argentinas of the world. We have no rational use for such stupidity, it should be punished by the market rather than rewarded by the crony socialist system.
Maybe a silver lining here. If China buys up these bad loans we front now in SA, maybe that will cause them a crash or two:)
"For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)
My take is different - the threat to the USA is that America's Mandarins sees competition - no matter how feeble as a direct threat to America and can't let it stand. TooC is correct - Russia is a paper tiger outside it's borders and near abroad but the USA has deep weaknesses as well overseas - while it can operate anywhere militarily on the world stage - it has no sustainability to do so - and relies on intimidation/influence peddling/bribes (and also good will - lots of people love American pop culture enough - not everyone hates us) rather than actual force.
If China buys up these loans and grants a Jubilee, it will buy them a very loyal and happy empire that will follow them to the end. China has not been an international player. The Chinese or their forebears never, ever hurt Latin Americans in any age. The Chinese have cash. Latin debt is large, but it's not monumental. If the Chinese, as a sovereign act, buy the debt and then, as a sovereign act, after careful negotiations, FORGIVE the debt, they will have the most grateful allies in the world. South America will dump the United States and ally with China. And open a new vista for Chinese goods, and Chinese mines, and Chinese oil wells. And if the Chinese decide, Chinese bases. China can buy an empire without war. And because of the way they can do it, they can buy tremendous goodwill and loyalty of these people they free from debt. There is a great deal to fear from this. Especially if the Chinese do it in conjunction with a plan to go to gold and a new currency.
Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, said the Islands will be ready to repel “any potential threat” following reports that the Kremlin is preparing to lease 12 Su-24 long range bombers to Buenos Aires in exchange for beef and wheat.
#2. To: TooConservative (#1)
I'm not sure how much Russia is really protesting or that the Argentines fail to understand that it won't take much for Brits to shoot down 50yo jet fighter designs on old leased Soviet jets.
#3. To: TooConservative (#1)
#4. To: Vicomte13 (#3)
The interesting thing about it is the potential political and diplomatic issues that this Russian gambit opens.
#5. To: Vicomte13, TooConservative (#3)
The interesting thing about it is the potential political and diplomatic issues that this Russian gambit opens.
#6. To: TooConservative (#1)
...the much more capable Su-34, a Russian version of the B1B bomber...
#7. To: TooConservative (#4)
#8. To: nativist nationalist (#6)
I believe you are thinking of the Tu-160. The Su-34 is derived from the Su- 27, its closest American equivalent is probably the F-15E Strike Eagle, although the Su-34 has an airframe that has been altered more.
#9. To: Vicomte13 (#7)
#10. To: Vicomte13 (#7)
The threat is an Argentina that tires of America and Britain as world leaders, and looks to the Chinese bank for its loans, and stiffs the Western institutions...
#11. To: nativist nationalist (#10)
#12. To: TooConservative, Vicomte13 (#9)
I see your points overall but it isn't clear that Russia or China are capable of creating or holding together an international order the way America and her colonies do.
#13. To: redleghunter (#11)
Maybe a silver lining here. If China buys up these bad loans we front now in SA, maybe that will cause them a crash or two:)
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