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| Europe | |||
| Sweden wants WAR! | |||
| 2007-02-24 | |||
Is Sweden finally invading Darfur? If the government accepts the military's forthcoming proposals, it will be the first time since a 1962 UN mission to Congo that Swedish Air Force planes are used in armed battle. Who knew? LOL. Speaking to Sveriges Radio, Major General Jan Jonsson foresees JAS Gripen fighter aircraft being deployed in direct battle situations. "We can't rule out using air force back-up in difficult situations where our ground forces are in trouble," he said. Supporting Swedish soldiers? Easier, and more profitable to just invade Finland. The Air Force would benefit greatly from seeing its aircraft used in battle, as well as giving its pilots first-hand combat experience. "Just like the American F14, F15, F16 and F18". But Sveriges Radio's army sources also reveal that such missions would not be carried out for purely military purposes. A decision to send JAS Gripen planes into action in war zones which are supervised by military leaders from other countries, including many NATO member states, could also create invaluable PR ahead of future export deals. "We can go to war, but only if we can bring a film crew". Sweden's air force and navy are generally used rather too sparingly on international missions, according to Jan Jonssson. The deployment of JAS Gripen planes in Afghanistan or in new missions to Africa would be a step in the right direction, he says. Sparingly=NEVER. LOL. When did Sweden last go to War? LOL.
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| Posted by:Brett |
| #12 I'm imagining the Swedish Chef covering Edwin Starr: VER! It eeen't nutheeng boot a heertbreeker, Ver. Hurty flurty schnipp schnipp! Freeend oonly tu zee underteker. Hurty flurty schnipp schnipp! Oohhh! Ver is un inemy tu ell munkeend, Zee thuooght ooff ver bloos my meend. Bork bork bork! Ver hes coosed unrest veethin zee yuoonger genereshun Indoocshun zeen destroocshun...vhu vunts tu deee-a? Oohhh VER! guud Gud y'ell hooh Vhet is it guud fur? Ebsulootely nutheeng...sey it sey it SEY IT! VER!...uh hooh yeeh hoo! Vhet is it guud fur? Ebsulootely nutheeng...leestee tu me |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-02-24 17:04 |
| #11 The Swedish craft in Africa were the Tunnan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_Tunnan Sort of looks like the Cartman of fighter planes. |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2007-02-24 09:42 |
| #10 Sparingly=NEVER. LOL. When did Sweden last go to War? LOL. They sent a medical unit to the First Gulf Conflict. Noted as the first military commitment outside Sweden since the Napoleonic Wars. IIRC, Swedish civilian aircraft were purchased and militarized and used during the Biafran [Nigerian] Civil War. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-02-24 09:21 |
| #9 I'm surprised that they haven't been approached to build large passenger/cargo aircraft, since AirBus is a disaster and Boeing has over a 1,000 aircraft backlog for just this year alone. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-02-24 09:15 |
| #8 No blood for Ikea! |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-02-24 08:40 |
| #7 ...Well, FWIW, Gripen is not a bad little bird - certainly the equal of the latest F-16s. But that's its problem: it's as good as an aircraft that we're getting ready to replace. The Swedes waited to long to get it built, and they're paying the price. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-02-24 08:28 |
| #6 Ten thousand Swedes ran through the weeds, Chased by one Norwegian. Ten thousand more ran to the shore, In the battle of Copenhagen. |
| Posted by: mrp 2007-02-24 08:25 |
| #5 I agree with DanNY. "We can go to war, but only if we can bring a film crew". John Kerry tried it and got a lot of publicity. |
| Posted by: plainslow 2007-02-24 08:02 |
| #4 Anything that takes sales away from France is ok with me. |
| Posted by: DanNY 2007-02-24 05:44 |
| #3 Gripen seems to always lose out in arms sales. They've always got a good product, but they seem totally oblivious to the idea that arms sales are also a method of strenthening alliances. Who wants to be allied with the Swedes? |
| Posted by: gromky 2007-02-24 04:04 |
| #2 Nothing easy about invading Finland. Ask the Russians. |
| Posted by: Classical_Liberal 2007-02-24 01:18 |
| #1 At lask check, SWEDEN is still in competition wid CHINA + FRANCE for internat Lite Combat Aircraft [LCA] sales. Looks like they all want to impress their customers + Mountain Babes by showing off their LCA battle scars. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-02-24 00:16 |