The Portuguese Air Force is no longer expected to acquire the 5th generation F-35 fighter from Lockheed Martin, all due to the review of the US position towards NATO.
The Portuguese Air Force is no longer expected to acquire the 5th generation F-35 fighter from Lockheed Martin, all due to the review of the US position towards NATO.
The comparison doesn’t really make sense, Eastern Europe has seen conflict since the 90s: the Yugoslav Wars, the Transnistria conflict, the Georgian–Ossetian conflict, the Chechen-Russian conflict, etc. etc.
Continental Western Europe hasn’t seen conflict for almost a hundred years. The closest conflict was the Troubles in the British Isles.
Who does Portugal need to defend themselves from?
So, WWII, that last major war… Taught a lesson: You need to be able to use violence, to deal with fascists. Because, before you know it, they’re walking across all of Europe.
Now, Portugal needs to worry about the hostile force that can park a fleet of warships off their coast (The US).
Point. However, the only realistic defense from the US empire is to rely on the nuclear arms from their allies or build their own nukes. Nothing else really matters.
Nukes, long-range cruise missiles, drones, guerrila training, electronic warfare and the main vehicles to deploy many of those things: planes.
As demonstrated again and again (for example in Vietname and Afghanistan), wars against the US aren’t won by crushing the US military, they’re won by making it too costly for America in lives and equipment - a nuked carrier group or the caskets of hundreds or thousands of american military personnel thrown again and again into conquering a piece of land that gets lost again to guerrilla tactics within a month or trying to hold a meaningless piece of territory is how American invasions get turned around.
And you need planes, to deliver those nukes…
From you, and from anyone who says we don’t need defenses.
They need an air force to stop me?
Damn I didn’t realize I was so powerful!
A puppet is as strong as the hand controlling it.