What better way to spread the love of Christmas than with the gift that gives on giving?
No, I don't mean fruitcake, but something even better:
10 MiG-29 Fulcrum Fighter Jets that Russia is providing to Lebanon free of cost.
Of course, it's a bit of a white elephant as well. One wonders where they will find qualified pilots for these advanced fighter jets. And the gift becomes token at best, really, when you remember that their southern neighbor Israel has arguably the world's best pilots plus top level fighter jets that they outfit with their own packages.
In the event of an air war, those MiG-29's would simply become the first targets.
No, Russia has not really changed the balance of anything in the region militarily speaking, what they are doing is stirring up trouble. First with the highly publicized trips to Venezuela and now Cuba, it seems they are looking to rekindle the frosty fires of the cold war. Of course, that won't happen, since Russia is actually doomed, demographically speaking.
Their birthrate is so low that unless a rapid change occurs somewhere, in a few generations they simply won't have the population to sustain a military large enough to matter. Their own healthy ministry is predicting that by 2011, the death rate there will equal the birth rate. (possibly due to the fact that their are more abortions than births in Russia) Coupled with the fact that their population has been declining by half a percent annually since the mid-90's, those figures spell bad news for Russia. Now, their population is projected to fall as much as a third by 2050, down to 85 million or so.
In summary, now might be a great time to visit Russia.
Who knows, maybe they'll give you a fighter jet.
Dos Vedanya, Tovaricham...
-()4|<.
No, I don't mean fruitcake, but something even better:
10 MiG-29 Fulcrum Fighter Jets that Russia is providing to Lebanon free of cost.
This is like upgrading from a .22 pistol to a shotgun for the less-than-formidable Lebanese Air Force:Russia gave Lebanon an early Christmas gift of 10 MiG fighter jets today in a deal to boost defence co-operation.
The MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters would be provided for free to Lebanon under an agreement on military-technical assistance, the head of Russia’s defence co-operation service said. Mikhail Dmitryev said that the jets would be taken from Russia’s existing stock.
The MiG-29s, one of Russia’s best fighter jets, will provide considerable additional firepower for the Lebanese air force, which currently has only five outdated Hawker Hunter jets and 16 helicopters.
Of course, it's a bit of a white elephant as well. One wonders where they will find qualified pilots for these advanced fighter jets. And the gift becomes token at best, really, when you remember that their southern neighbor Israel has arguably the world's best pilots plus top level fighter jets that they outfit with their own packages.
In the event of an air war, those MiG-29's would simply become the first targets.
No, Russia has not really changed the balance of anything in the region militarily speaking, what they are doing is stirring up trouble. First with the highly publicized trips to Venezuela and now Cuba, it seems they are looking to rekindle the frosty fires of the cold war. Of course, that won't happen, since Russia is actually doomed, demographically speaking.
Their birthrate is so low that unless a rapid change occurs somewhere, in a few generations they simply won't have the population to sustain a military large enough to matter. Their own healthy ministry is predicting that by 2011, the death rate there will equal the birth rate. (possibly due to the fact that their are more abortions than births in Russia) Coupled with the fact that their population has been declining by half a percent annually since the mid-90's, those figures spell bad news for Russia. Now, their population is projected to fall as much as a third by 2050, down to 85 million or so.
In summary, now might be a great time to visit Russia.
Who knows, maybe they'll give you a fighter jet.
Dos Vedanya, Tovaricham...
-()4|<.
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1 comment:
Dear Santa,
I have been very good this year. I have only really thought about invading Israel three times! My air force is a little old, and some upgrades would be awesome. Especially those neat-o MiG-29s you gave Russia a few years ago.
Hoping for a Very Merry ... Winter (that certainly does not involve any plots against neighboring countries that I don't like),
Lebanon
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