Encroachment on Russian border: US approves sale of spy jets to Germany
WASHINGTON: The United States has approved the sale of $1.77 billion worth of Boeing spy jets to Germany as Nato increased activity on Russia’s borders.
The State Department’s office of Political and Military
Affairs announced on Saturday the approval of the sale to Germany of five
Poseidon P-8A patrol aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space
and Security, modified from the 737-800.
The aircraft armed with what the US flagship aviation
company has described as the world’s “most advanced” weapon systems and other
equipment such as sensors and radars, is used for reconnaissance activities.
The sale of the spy aircraft to Germany would “support the
foreign policy and national security of the United States,” the Defense
Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) wrote to Congress, adding that the sale
would also improve the “security of a Nato” member state.
The DSCA further said the sale of the spy aircraft will
require four US government officials and four contractors to spend two years in
Germany to help with “equipment familiarization, training and supply support.”
Germany’s purchase of the Boeing spy jets comes amid a sharp
increase in Nato flights along the Russian border over the past year.
In 2020 alone, the Russian Defence Ministry said thousands
of combat aircraft and spy planes approached the country’s airspace, and in
many cases had to be escorted away by interceptors.
The US and Nato forces also held US-led war games in eastern
Europe near Russian borders, deploying tanks and troops for the drills in the
region. Nato member Lithuania announced last year that the American troops stationed
in Poland had taken part in military exercises near Russian frontiers.
Lithuania’s army spokesperson claimed the exercises were
“defensive in nature and not directed against any neighbor.”
Provocative US-led Nato military activities have particularly
increased in frequency since 2014, when the then-Ukrainian territory of Crimea
joined Russia following a referendum and when a military conflict erupted in
eastern Ukraine.
Earlier in February, the US military reportedly conducted a
“mini exercise,” launching a simulated nuke attack on Russia.
The Pentagon claimed in a statement that the low-yield
warhead was deployed on the USS Tennessee submarine patrolling in the Atlantic
Ocean to deter "potential adversaries, like Russia," and in response
to Russian tests of similar weapons.
Russia has repeatedly denounced the US provocative moves,
warning Washington that it will respond to US hostility.
The US sale to Germany comes as Boeing, the flagship
American company that designs, manufactures, and sells aircraft, has suffered a
heavy commercial blow over the past two years due to fatal crashes, production
flaws and damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Boeing had to ground its 737 Max fleet over a series of
deadly crashes and then halt production at its largest facility in Washington
due to the deadly spread of the coronavirus.
"The deep impact of the pandemic on commercial air
travel, coupled with the 737 MAX grounding, challenged our results," said
Chief Executive Dave Calhoun. The past year was one of "profound societal
and global disruption which significantly constrained our industry."
The P-8A is being sold by Boeing to its clients as “a multi-mission
maritime patrol aircraft, excelling at anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface
warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and search and rescue.”
Boeing claims that the aircraft “combines the most advanced
weapon system in the world” with the cost advantage of sharing 86 percent of
its parts with the 737.
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