Free Republic

President Joe Biden’s failure in Afghanistan continues to haunt the United States, now by potentially assisting the army we’ve spent billions helping another army to defeat.On Wednesday night, Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana told Newsmax of a report that indicates Russian President Vladimir Putin is in negotiations with the Taliban to purchase the weapons the U.S. left behind when Biden ordered a sudden withdrawal.The sudden withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 not only left behind over $7 billion in military equipment and weapons, but American personnel as well. Russia is in need of this equipment for its own army as it...

After a series of US-backed arms sales packages to Taiwan during Trump's last year in office, severely ratcheting tensions to where they are now, President Biden's administration on Wednesday approved its first arms sale to the island claimed by China. Bloomberg is describing the potential $750 million deal as including 40 new M109 self-propelled howitzers, essentially a highly maneuverable tank-like military vehicle with a giant gun, and some 1,700 kits designed to convert projectiles into more precise GPS-guided munitions.M109A6, Wiki CommonsThe contract by BAE Systems must first pass through congressional review, which is expected, and while it's not a large...

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is throwing his support behind a push to block part of President Trump's $110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. “The human rights and humanitarian concerns have been well documented and are important: of equal concern to me is that the Saudi government continues to aid and abet terrorism via its relationship with Wahhabism and the funding of schools that spread extremist propaganda throughout the world," Schumer said in a statement. The Senate is expected to vote this week on a resolution of disapproval from Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Al...

A North Carolina congressman is calling for a probe into a potential $418 million contract between Kenya and a major U.S. defense contractor announced on President Obama's last day in office -- a deal the lawmaker claims reeks of cronyism. Republican Rep. Ted Budd wants the Government Accountability Office to investigate a deal between the African nation and New York-based L3 Technologies for the sale of 12 weaponized border patrol planes. He said he wants to know why a veteran-owned small company in North Carolina – which specializes in making such planes – was not considered as the manufacturer. IOMAX...

Taiwan's top negotiator with China said Monday that ties with Beijing had not been affected by a recently announced US arms package for the island, adding that trade talks would go on as scheduled. Washington last month approved a 6.4-billion-dollar deal that includes Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and communications equipment for Taiwan's F-16 fleet. The weapons sale has sparked concern that Beijing, which has already cut off military and security contacts with Washington in retaliation, could also punish Taipei by postponing negotiations on a wide-ranging trade pact. However, Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of Taiwan's quasi-official Straits Exchange Foundation, played down...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says Moscow has agreed to sell Libya weapons in a $1.8 billion deal. Mr. Putin made the announcement Saturday while meeting with the head of Izhmash, a major Russian gun manufacturer. He said the contract was signed Friday, and covers both small arms and more complex weapons. Russia's Interfax news agency had quoted a "military diplomatic source" as saying Libya was ready to buy about 20 fighter planes from Moscow, as well as air defense systems and several dozen tanks. Libyan Defense Minister Major General Younis Jaber met with officials in Moscow earlier this week....

China attacks US 'Cold War' mentality over Taiwan arms sales China has accused the United States of 'rude and unreasonable Cold War thinking' over its decision to sell £4 billion worth of arms to Taiwan. By Peter Foster in Beijing Published: 1:41PM GMT 01 Feb 2010 The rhetoric in a series of venemous editorials in the government-controlled media was exceeded by thousands of anti-American comments on China's main internet portals, including a petition against the arms package that attracted more than 50,000 signatures in just a few hours. Beijing has already announced the suspension of some key military-to-military contacts follow...

China suspends military exchanges with US By CARA ANNA, Associated Press Writer BEIJING – China suspended military exchanges with the United States and threatened sanctions against American defense companies Saturday, just hours after Washington announced $6.4 billion in planned arms sales to Taiwan. The development has further strained the complex relations between the two powers, which are increasingly linked by security and economic issues. China's Defense Ministry said the sales to self-governing Taiwan, which the mainland claims as its own, cause "severe harm" to overall U.S.-China cooperation, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. The Foreign Ministry threatened sanctions against U.S....

As the title states, this is heavy on speculation. I put on the blindfold, spun around until dizzy, and then threw a dart at a spinning dart-board. Not really but, not having firm data, I did some guessing. The recently announced 2.5 billion dollar sale of Ukrainian arms to Iraq only accounts for 550 million dollars of the sale. A review of Ukrainian weapons production limits the likely exports planned for the remaining 1.95 billion dollars. The Ukraine primarily builds and refurbishes transport aircraft, wheeled armored personnel carriers, and tanks. The initial orders are for 10 AN-32 transport aircraft and...

Two major arms sales were announced over the weekend. First, the US announced that it is planning to sell Saudi Arabia $20 billion in advanced weapons systems, including Joint Direct Attack Munition kits or JDAMs that are capable of transforming regular gravitational bombs into precision-guided "smart" weapons. Largely in an attempt to neutralize Congressional opposition to the proposed sale, the Bush administration also announced that it plans to increase annual military assistance to Israel by some 25 percent next year and that it hopes that next year's increase in assistance will be maintained by the next administration. The second arms...

The US is considering a $20 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. According to a senior US defense department official, "We've been working very hard on a Saudi arms package, which we believe is critical to the overarching architecture... to deal with the changing strategic threat from Iran and other forces." The arms sale will be a major topic of an upcoming swing through the region by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Israel's concerns about the sale are expected to be allayed both by restrictions on the level of technology...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration said Monday it planned to sell Pakistan 36 new advanced F-16 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp. as part of a weapons package that could be worth more than $5 billion. In a notice to Congress, the Pentagon agency responsible for government-to-government arms sales said the new F-16 C/D models alone could be worth $3 billion if all options were exercised.