There is talk of us wanting B2 bombers.
The US would never sell the B2 bomber to us – or to any other country – it's all top secret.

They never sold the F-22 Raptors to any other country.

They bulldozed most of their F-117 Nighthawks into the ground
rather than sell them to us or any other country.

There are even rumors that we and every other country except Israel
got only a cut down version of the F-35
with the removal of 10% of its capability.

If we do get US subs will they also be nobbled in some way?



B2 bomber talk:

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-spirit-for-australia-why-canberra-should-p...

The Spirit for Australia: why Canberra should pursue the B-2 bomber

17 Apr 2025

Euan Graham and Linus Cohen

Tanks are obsolete now -
Russia lost over 10,500 tanks in Ukraine so far.
The Javelin missiles and drones destroyed most of them.

Giant battleships were obsolete by the time of WW2.

Submarines may already be obsolete.

Trump to sell nobbled F-35s - toned down 10%

President Trump,
Quote:


Jump to 2:40

https://www.smh.com.au/national/is-it-time-for-australia-to-acquire-its-own-nucl...

Opinion


Clive Hamilton
Professor and author
April 21, 2025 — 1.30pm

Is it time for Australia to consider acquiring nuclear weapons? It sounds outrageous. Stay with me.

Donald Trump is blowing up world trade. After a period of turmoil, it will probably settle into a new state where the US economy is substantially weaker. Trump is also trashing post-war alliances, including NATO, prompting US allies to decide America cannot be relied on. Europe no longer trusts the US to stand up to democracy’s enemies and will remake itself economically and militarily.

A mushroom cloud after an atomic bomb test in French Polynesia in 1971.
A mushroom cloud after an atomic bomb test in French Polynesia in 1971.Credit:Getty

China, Trump’s main target, will go through a difficult economic adjustment but is well-prepared and will come out on top. Beijing is already exploiting the Trump chaos, with President Xi Jinping making nice in South-East Asian capitals.

China will emerge stronger from this period of American madness and with more global influence. Trump will be gone in four years and Trumpism may be weakened, but the next US president will be unable to put the pieces back together. We are witnessing a break in history.

The chief ideologist of the MAGA movement, Steve Bannon, has asked, “What comes after the liberal rules-based order?” It’s an excellent question, but neither Bannon nor any of Trump’s acolytes can give an answer, perhaps because in their hearts they know what comes after Pax Americana. It’s Pax Sinica (China).

There are those who believe Australia can carve out an “independent” foreign policy and sail on without Pax Americana, using diplomacy as our best defence. It’s a charming vision, but one disconnected from the hard geopolitics of our region and the world.

Beijing has made it clear that it regards the entire Asia-Pacific, including Australia, as its exclusive sphere of influence. Its first strategic priority, after annexing Taiwan, is to drive the United States back across the Pacific.

cont...

If Beijing, confident that the US would not react, sends a larger naval force (they have 370 warships to choose from) to blockade Sydney Harbour, what would we do? Xi Jinping would like nothing better than for one of our 11 combat ships to sink one of theirs. In a frenzy of patriotic outrage, it would be an excuse for severe punishment.

So, what are our options if we do not want to become a tributary state in Xi’s new tianxia? To be sure, acquiring nuclear weapons would take Australia down a costly, contentious and perilous path.

The truth is, though, that for decades we have outsourced our nuclear protection to the United States. As we watch the US nuclear umbrella being folded up, we have three ways to react. We can say we never needed it anyway and rely on “diplomacy” for security. We can wait two decades for the new submarines to arrive, hoping they won’t be strategically redundant. Or we can put the money into building our own nuclear deterrent.

Any decision to acquire nuclear weapons would be a deeply moral one, but only the naive make moral decisions outside the hard realities of the dangers we face.

Clive Hamilton is professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University in Canberra.

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/global-militaries-study-india-pakistan-fight...




By Tim Hepher and Mike Stone
May 9, 20255:14 AM GMT+10Updated an hour ago


Summary

Pakistani jets shoot down Indian aircraft, US officials say

Fight pits Chinese jets, missiles against European weapons

Global militaries analyzing tactics, kit for future conflicts

Analysts caution that details are still to emerge

May 8 (Reuters) - A dogfight between Chinese-made Pakistani jets and French-made Indian Rafale fighters will be closely scrutinized by militaries seeking insights that could offer an edge in future conflicts.
A Chinese-made Pakistani fighter plane shot down at least two Indian military aircraft on Wednesday, two U.S. officials told Reuters, marking a potential major milestone for Beijing's advanced fighter jet.
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The aerial clash is a rare opportunity for militaries to study the performance of pilots, fighter jets and air-to-air missiles in active combat, and use that knowledge to prepare their own air forces for battle.
Experts said the live use of advanced weapons would be analyzed across the world, including in China and the United States which are both preparing for a potential conflict over Taiwan or in the wider Indo-Pacific region.
One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters there was high confidence that Pakistan had used the Chinese-made J-10 aircraft to launch air-to-air missiles against Indian fighter jets.
Social media posts focused on the performance of China's PL-15 air-to-air missile against the Meteor, a radar-guided air-to-air missile produced by European group MBDA (AIR.PA), opens new tab, (BAES.L), opens new tab, (LDOF.MI), opens new tab. There has been no official confirmation these weapons were used.
"Air warfare communities in China, the U.S. and a number of European countries will be extremely interested to try and get as much ground truth as they can on tactics, techniques, procedures, what kit was used, what worked and what didn't," said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
"You have arguably China's most capable weapon against the West's most capable weapon, if indeed it was being carried; we don't know that," Barrie said.
The French and Americans would likely be hoping for similar intelligence from India, Barrie said.
"The PL-15 is a big problem. It is something that the U.S. military pays a lot of attention to," a defense industry executive said.
Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation (AM.PA), opens new tab declined comment and the MBDA consortium (AIR.PA), opens new tab, (BAES.L), opens new tab, (LDOF.MI), opens new tab could not immediately be reached for comment on a French public holiday.
SCANT DETAILS
Western analysts and industry sources said crucial details remained unclear including whether the Meteor was carried and the type and amount of training the pilots had received. Arms firms would also be anxious to separate technical performance from operational factors, analysts said.
"There will be audits of what works and what doesn't work, but I think the other overlay is the proverbial fog of war," said Byron Callan, a Washington-based defense expert and managing partner of Capital Alpha Partners.
U.S. arms companies are getting constant feedback about how their products are working in the war in Ukraine, he said.
"So I absolutely expect the same to be the case with India's European suppliers, and Pakistan and China are probably sharing the same feedback. If the PL-15 is working as advertised or better than expected, the Chinese would like to hear that."
A defense industry source from a Western country operating the Meteor said an online picture of a seeker appeared to feature the component of a missile that had missed its target. There are conflicting reports on whether Pakistan has the domestic version of the PL-15 from the PLAAF, China's air force, or the lower-range export version publicly unveiled in 2021.
Barrie, who has written extensively on the missile, said he believed that Pakistan most likely has the export version.

lee wrote on May 9^th, 2025 at 6:45pm:



Wow - there must be a way to subtract the radar clutter from the wind turbines?

Preparing for war?

The real reason China sent warships to Australia | 60 Minutes Australia