I don't really think Russia would see any RED if the Finns buy Gripens.
They will if they then join HATO... as the swedes and other HATO countries want...
They already have 55 F-18s. A country like Finland cannot realisticly counter Russia on its own. They buy weapons to form alliances. While Finland is not a member of NATO, they have not joined "officially" out of respect to Russia not wanting a NATO nation on its borders.
Don't you see that a neutral Finland is much safer than one that is part of HATO... how long after they join will they be sending Finnish troops to Afghanistan or Libya?
Finland joined Germany in attacking the USSR in WWII. There were clearly some difficult conditions negotiated that allowed Finland to not be occupied by Russia after WWII, including some significant reparitions.
The Finns joined with Germany to take back land Stalin had seized in the winter war before Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The Finns took back their land but did not cross into Soviet territory with the Germans and did not directly assist the seige of Leningrad or other German attacks.
I think that earned them Stalins respect if anything.
The Finns I would say are an unofficial NATO member and have co-opertion agreements with NATO, but the red line is official membership. Finland cannot purchase any non-nuclear weapons that can actually counter Russia.
The only reason they would need to "counter" Russia would be if they were a threat and they would only be a threat if they were part of HATO.
That is the reality, similar to Canada NZ and Oz. If these relatively advanced nations really wanted independant security, the only option would be nuclear weapons.
Bullshit. If we wanted real security we would have conscription and every adult male and female would be trained to shoot and fight. There is no realistic threat on the horizon that we would need fighter planes for. We couldn't afford more than one F-35 and even then we would buy it on a plan where we paid it over 10 years... we could not afford to use it, so it would stay in its wrapper anyway.
As for Gripen, I still say its very low cost to operate. "Only" $4700 per flight hour according to Janes. Also the Czechs are extending the lease when they are pretty broke.
It is not a cheap aircraft at all... I would not believe that figure for flight hours.
Finland does not have 55 F-18s to counter Russia, they are for the alliance with USA. Maybe they will buy the SAAB-Boeing fighter based on the Tx...of F-18 Superhornets like Germany because alignment with Germany is also desirable.
Any alliance with the US in that part of the world is all about countering Russia. The tactical nukes pointed at Finland will be aimed at the bases that operate F-18s.... any new fighters no matter where they come from will just add to the number of nuclear weapons pointed at Finland.
Russia isn't going to invade Europe.... it doesn't need extra land... Europe is a threat and you deal with threats by destroying them before they can harm you. Getting in to bed with HATO will just mean Finland will be destroyed too. From a Russian perspective it just means nuclear detonations closer to their border but less guesses as to are they or aren't they. For Finland it means a much quicker death in WWIII which will likely be a relief, and for HATO it is another buffer state they can fight in where they don't risk their own cities for the conventional conflict... they just don't realise there is not going to be a conventional conflict.
With this reasoning no country with a smaller armed forces then Russia should spend any money on its defence.
Not at all... there are plenty of countries that need armed forces for national defence, but the whole idea of a group of small countries forming a group for collective defence so they can stand up to big countries is pretty dumb. What you effectively get is the war mongering colonial countries leading the organisation and using it for their own personal needs... HATO forces in Afghanistan and Iraq and soon Iran and perhaps Libya and Syria if they can manage it... WTF does that have to do with Finland?
Sure it suits US and French and British interests, but how does Georgia benefit sending its troops to fight and die in wars that have nothing at all to do with them?
Collective security my ass... more like cannon fodder for the big guys.
The idea of Finland and Swedens defence during the cold war was to have such large defence that it would not be worth attacking them. A modern fighter a large part of that.
Finlands security is better served by avoiding joining HATO.... an organisation designed to bait the Bear.
And yes why should Russia care about Finland buying Gripens from semi-neutral Sweden when they are flying US made F-18s today.
Russia wont care... it will just allocate the necessary tactical nuclear missiles to target their bases and things will carry on as normal.
Views on this article. Hmmmmm
"Chinese military experts praised the Russian Su-35, but said it was unsuitable for air combat"
Wow... that is Amazing.... your plane is shit so we will only buy it if it is the right price...
More amusing the advanced radar it is fitted with detects the position of the target but cannot quickly determine the distance to that target... how can you call such a radar advanced then?
This guy is not even using sensible aircraft terms so I suspect he is being paid to ride down the Su-35... being Indonesian, I suspect a contract must be due there soon...