Free Republic

The Daily Telegraph has seen confidential spending proposals and internal documents planning an unprecedented propaganda blitz ahead of and during European elections in June 2014. Key to a new strategy will be “public opinion monitoring tools” to “identify at an early stage whether debates of political nature among followers in social media and blogs have the potential to attract media and citizens’ interest”. Spending on “qualitative media analysis” is to be increased by £1.7 million ($2.7 million), and while most of the money is to be found in existing budgets, an additional £787,000 ($1.24 million) will be need to be...

RPT-Swiss opt for Saab's Gripen fighter jets - paper (Repeats to additional subscribers) ZURICH Nov 30 (Reuters) - Switzerland has chosen to replace its fighter jet fleet with Swedish defence and aerospace group Saab's JAS-39 Gripen, Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources close to the government. Neutral Switzerland has wrangled for the past three years over whether to replace its ageing Northrop F-5E/F Tiger fighters, purchased in 1976 and 1981, with up to 33 new aircraft. Saab shares were up 8.5 percent to 117.10 Swedish crowns by 1345 GMT after the newspaper report. The newspaper said the...

US concerned over Norway's $8bn fighter selection programme, Saab's Gripen may be favoured news 15 January 2008 Helsinki: Almost immediately after the Eurofighter consortium distanced itself from the Norwegian fighter replacement programme in December last year, citing alterations in the bidding process as favouring the US JSF-35 programme, it is now the turn of the US to cry foul saying that the process may actually be skewed in favour of the Swedish JAS-39 Gripen-N programme. Post-withdrawal of the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter from the competition, the Lockheed Martin JSF-35 and the Saab JAS-39 Gripen-N fighters are now in contention for the...

Gripen operational cost lowest of all western fighters: Jane’s The study conducted by IHS Jane's Aerospace and Defense Consulting, compared the operational costs of the Gripen, Lockheed Martin F-16, Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Dassault’s Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and the F-35 aircraft. The operational cost of the Swedish Saab Gripen aircraft is the lowest among a flightline of modern fighters, confirmed a White Paper submitted by the respected international defense publishing group IHS Jane’s, in response to a study commissioned by Saab. The paper says that in terms of ‘fuel used, pre-flight preparation and repair, and scheduled airfield-level maintenance together with...

Saab Receives FMV Funding for JAS-39 Gripen Upgrades Posted 10-Jul-2006 10:17 Saab received a SEK 1 billion ($130 million equivalent) order from the Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV), covering continued development of the JAS-39 Gripen fighter. The order reportedly covers various software upgrades, as well as other development activities supporting the long term development of the Gripen system. Work will be performed at Saab Aerosystems and Saab Aerotech in Linkoping, Sweden as well as at Saab Avitronics in Jarfalla and Kista, Sweden. See release. The JAS-39 Gripen is a 4th generation lightweight fighter in service since 1993, and adopted by...

Saab waits on Brazil and India for Sea Gripen go ahead By Gareth Jennings 18 June 2010 Saab will only develop an aircraft carrier-capable version of its JAS 39 Gripen NG fighter should either India or Brazil select the land-based variant to fulfil their fighter replacement programmes, the company has said. Eddy de la Motte, Gripen campaign director for India, told reporters on 12 June that development of the aircraft has, to date, been driven by its core customer, the Swedish Air Force (SwAF). With no Swedish requirement for a navalised aircraft, it requires a customer with a carrier capability...

Why Canada Should Buy The Saab JAS39 Gripen E “Next Generation” Fighter Editor’s note: Defence Watch reader Kyle Meema has researched alternatives to the F-35. In a two-part series running Monday and Tuesday he argues that Canada should purchase the Gripen fighter aircraft. By Kyle Meema Defence Watch Guest Writer Part One: Candidates: The Various Alternatives Contrary to the assertions of politicians and officials[1], there are several viable alternatives to the F-35A. The Rafale, Eurofighter, Next Generation Gripen, and F/A-18 E Super Hornet are all very capable fighter jets that could serve Canada very well. While the Rafale performs very...

In Czech Republic, a leading presidential candidate has a full-face tattoo File this under, “Things that could never happen in America.” That man is Vladimir Franz, a Czech composer who is tattooed from head — and face — to toe, and he’s third in the polls in the Czech Republic’s presidential election, which is going on Friday and Saturday. This is the first time Czechs will directly elect a president — a mainly ceremonial position because the prime minister largely runs the country. Since the breakup of Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic has had two presidents, Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus,...

Israeli officials have been holding talks in Jordan with Syrian opposition officials “in advance of a possible Israeli-U.S. operation in Syria to protect the Golan Heights,” Western intelligence sources reported Tuesday, Jan. 1. There was no further information about this operation or how rebel commanders were involved in military plans “to protect the Golan Heights.” Altogether, the goings-on on the Israeli and Jordanian borders with Syria are in deep hush. But European intelligence sources, some of them French and Russian, reveal nightly clashes taking place between US, Jordanian, Israeli special forces and Syrian rebels, on the one hand, and Syrian...

The Syrian crisis unbelievably took another turn for the worse Saturday, Dec. 29: After making no headway with Bashar Assad in Damascus, the UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was told in no uncertain terms by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow: “There is no possibility of persuading Syrian ruler Bashar Assad to leave Syria.” As they spoke, a record 400 people died in hostilities in the country. The burnt remains of hundreds of people slaughtered by the army were discovered in a Homs district. And Syrian opposition leaders have repeatedly preconditioned their acceptance of the Russian invitation to talks...

The Syrian Air Force is again firing Scud missiles, this time to stem the general offensive Syrian opposition forces, including jihadis, launched Friday, Dec. 21, to capture the Syrian army’s military-industrial complex at al Safira and the big chemical and biological weapons store adjoining the facility. It is there, that Scud D missiles stand ready for launching, loaded with chemical weapons. Rebel forces are converging on Al Safira from the east, the west and the south. Among them are brigades of the Jabhat al-Nusra which the US has designated part of al Qaeda in Iraq. Military sources report extremely heavy...

Palestine can count on about 12 Yes votes by EU countries when it tries to upgrade its UN status, in a move expected later this month. … A senior EU diplomat told this website the Union remains divided on the question, however. He noted that member states’ votes “will probably follow the same pattern as with UNESCO,” referring to a decision by the UN’s Paris-based cultural wing to admit Palestine as a member last year. At the time, 11 countries—Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Spain—backed Palestine’s UNESCO bid. Another 11—Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Italy,...

Nick Clegg clashed with the Prime Minister today after criticising plans to claw back powers from the EU. The Deputy Prime Minister said that only 'populists, chauvinists and demagogues' could benefit from a treaty negotiation, even though David Cameron yesterday re-affirmed his intention to repatriate powers. Mr Clegg warned that European politicians should focus on 'jobs and growth' rather than attempting to reform EU institutions. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2061798/EU-treaty-change-Nick-Clegg-clashes-David-Cameron-reform.html#ixzz1dnt5E4wa

The Obama State Department is once again flexing its muscle in what has become an ongoing and unrelenting effort to aggressively promote the radical gay agenda across the globe, and the latest target is the Czech Republic, where the Obama administration has joined with other "outside pressure groups" to push the radical gay agenda in the Czech Republic, in direct opposition to the will of the overwhelming majority of the Czech people. This latest action has prompte  121 other national and international pro-family organizations, under the umbrella of The World Congress of Families, to officially protest the State Department's participation...

August 9, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Dozens of pro-family leaders have signed a petition to condemn the participation of the U.S. embassy in the Czech Republic in this year’s “gay pride” parade to be held in Prague later this month. The signatories “vigorously protest the participation of the United States Embassy in the Czech Republic in a so-called gay-pride parade which will take place on August 18,” lamenting that “at the directive of the president of the United States, Washington is aggressively promoting the ‘gay’’ agenda internationally, including same-sex ‘marriage’ and the stigmatization and marginalization of any who object to the...

New cars and vans in the European Union will produce one-third less carbon dioxide within eight years, under proposed new rules set out on Wednesday (11 July) in Brussels. By 2020, the average emissions from new cars will have to be no more than 95 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer driven (5.4 oz/mile), a cut of more than 40 grams from today's levels and of 35 grams per kilometer compared with the 2015 target, if the proposed new regulations are accepted. Connie Hedegaard, climate chief of the European commission, said the goals were "ambitious but achievable" and would benefit...

Yesterday, various news agencies reported that Hungary opted out of the treaty while Sweden and Czech Republic remained "undecided". However, the latest spin is that Hungary did not opt out yet and the gang of 26 will forge ahead without the UK. UK the "Big Loser" Having Fallen into "French Trap"? Last evening in German Vision Prevails as Leaders Agree on Fiscal Pact the New York Times portrayed the UK as the "big loser", stating Cameron made a "poor gamble". On EU official said the UK fell into a "French Trap". Exactly 20 years to the day after European leaders...

The European Parliament on Wednesday (13 June) approved draft laws that would strongly increase Brussels' power over eurozone countries' budgets. But they tempered the previously austere proposals with measures for growth, debt redemption and democratic scrutiny. "This is the core of a fiscal union," said Austrian MEP and socialist leader Hannes Swoboda. "This is the first time that there is a structural solution [to the eurozone crisis] on the table," said Liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt. His Green counterpart Daniel Cohn-Bendit called it a "milestone" for the strength of agreement among MEPs. The pair of laws—also known as the two-pack—is among...

President Obama has a long track record of insulting the Poles. In 2010 he chose to play golf on the day of the funeral of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski, the Polish First Lady, and 94 senior officials who perished in the Smolensk air disaster. Eight months earlier he humiliated Warsaw by pulling out of the agreement over Third Site missile defence installations in Poland and the Czech Republic. And last night Barack Obama caused huge offence in Poland by referring to a Nazi death camp in Poland as “a Polish death camp” while awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom...

Anti-corruption police spokesman Jaroslav Ibehej has told CTK that the office has been conducting a large investigation since Monday. He refused to elaborate. The server iDnes has written that the police were making a search in Rath's office in the regional governor's building in Prague. The server has written that the investigation is connected with European subsidies for a hospital in Kladno, central Bohemia. Regional state attorney Lenka Bradacova has told the server iDnes that the police had detained five men, including one deputy, and three women, in connection with the case. Rath has come under the suspicion of harming...