Serbian president thanks Russia for political support amid rising tensions in Kosovo

"A will say thank you to Russia countless times for the support it provides to us.(...). I thank them for the political support, I thank China, I thank India. I am grateful to them all," the Serbian leader said

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic
©Russian Foreign Ministry Press Office/TASS

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic thanked Russia for its political support on the Kosovo and Metohija issue amid rising tensions in the region.

"I will say thank you to Russia countless times for the support it provides to us," he said in an interview with Pink ahead of a meeting with the residents of Kosovo and Metohija. "I thank them for their political support. I thank China and I thank India. I am grateful to them all," the Serbian leader added.

Vucic noted that Belgrade had to hold talks on deescalating the conflict with Western countries, that is, "with those who are on the side of the unrecognized Kosovo." "We aren’t in talks with impartial people. They are the people who fail to comply with (United Nations Security Council) Resolution 1244, who bombed this country, destroying it.

However, we talk to them because they have their forces in Kosovo and Metohija," the Serbian president stressed.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out earlier that Moscow was keeping a close eye on the situation around Kosovo and supported Serbia’s actions on the issue.

Tensions in Kosovo spiraled on December 6, when special forces of this unrecognized territorial entity, accompanied by patrols from the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), began to seize the premises of election commissions in northern Kosovo and Metohija. The Serbian population spontaneously organized resistance to the Kosovars, who fled across the Ibar River.

On December 8, about 350 police officers from Kosovo entered the Serb-populated north of the province in armored vehicles and blocked the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. On December 10, Kosovo police in Kosovska Mitrovica arrested Dejan Pantic, a former Serb police officer. In response, the Serbian population took to the streets to protest and blocked the roads in several communities.

Tension soars as main Kosovo-Serbia crossing closed

Kosovo's biggest border crossing with Serbia was closed today as months of tensions again flared, prompting Washington and Brussels to urge an immediate de-escalation of tensions.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade has refused to recognise it and encouraged Kosovo's 120,000 ethnic Serbs to defy Pristina's authority - especially in the north where ethnic Serbs make up the majority.

The latest trouble erupted on 10 December, when ethnic Serbs put up barricades to protest the arrest of an ex-policeman suspected of being involved in attacks against ethnic Albanian police officers - effectively sealing off traffic on two border crossings.

After the roadblocks were erected, Kosovar police and international peacekeepers were attacked in several shooting incidents, while the Serbian armed forces were put on heightened alert this week.

But a Pristina court has ordered that the former police officer, Dejan Pantic, be released from prison and placed under house arrest, a spokeswoman said.

The move could hint at a calming of the situation as ethnic Serbs cited his arrest as the main reason for erecting the barricades.

Late yesterday, dozens of demonstrators on the Serbian side of the border used trucks and tractors to halt traffic leading to Merdare, the biggest crossing between the neighbours - a move which forced Kosovo police to close the entry point yesterday.

"Such an illegal blockade has prevented the free movement and circulation of people and goods, therefore we invite our citizens and compatriots to use other border points for circulation," a Kosovo police statement said.

Pristina also asked NATO-led peacekeepers to clear the barricades that were erected on Kosovo soil.

US, EU urge de-escalation

Meanwhile, the European Union and the United States voiced concern over the situation and urged its immediate de-escalation.

"We call on everyone to exercise maximum restraint, to take immediate action to unconditionally de-escalate the situation, and to refrain from provocations, threats, or intimidation," they said in a joint statement.

The EU and US said they were working with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti to seek a political solution to one of the worst flare-ups in years in northern Kosovo.

Earlier yesterday, Serbian Defence Minister Milos Vucevic said that Belgrade was "ready for a deal", but did not elaborate.

Mr Vucevic described the roadblocks as a "democratic and peaceful" means of protest and added that Serbia has "an open line of communication" with Western diplomats on resolving the issue.

"We are all worried about the situation and where all this is going... Serbia is ready for a deal," Ms Vucevic told state-controlled public broadcaster RTS.

Russia backs ally Serbia

Northern Kosovo has been on edge since November when hundreds of ethnic Serb workers in the Kosovo police as well as the judicial branch, including judges and prosecutors, walked off the job.

They were protesting a controversial decision to ban Serbs living in Kosovo from using Belgrade-issued vehicle licence plates - a policy that was eventually scrapped by Pristina.

The mass walkouts created a security vacuum in Kosovo, which Pristina tried to fill by deploying ethnic Albanian police officers in the region.

Russia voiced support yesterday for its ally Serbia and said it was "very closely" following the developments while Germany warned against heightened military presence near the Kosovo border.

"We support Belgrade in all the actions that are being taken," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters yesterday.

He added however that "Serbia is a sovereign country and it is fundamentally wrong to look for some kind of destructive influence of Russia here".

According to Peskov, "Serbia is defending the rights of Serbs who live nearby in difficult conditions. Naturally they react harshly when these rights are violated."

The EU and several international ambassadors this week condemned four recent attacks against journalists who were covering the flare-up.

Kosovo's 1.8 million population is predominantly ethnic Albanian.

French MP Questions Fairness of Franco-German Gas Deal as Frenchmen Receive Vouchers for Firewood

©Sputnik / Alexander Wilf / Go to the mediabank

Europe is in the midst of an unprecedented and largely self-inflicted energy crisis after restricting the purchase of Russian oil, gas, coal and electricity to “punish” Moscow for its military operation in Ukraine. Restrictions have triggered a sharp increase in energy costs, and threaten the region with deindustrialization.

Gaullist politician and French National Rally lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy has questioned the fairness of the Franco-German gas deal, saying it is not sufficiently transparent, and costing Paris a great deal while guaranteeing nothing in return.

“This agreement testifies to the loss of France’s energy sovereignty,” Tanguy said in a recent appeal addressed to Agnes Pannier-Runacher, France’s Minister for Energy Transition.

The lawmaker pointed out that under the October agreement, France is required to supply Germany with between 31 and 100 GWh worth of gas per day, equivalent to as much as 10 percent of France’s daily imports via its four operating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals.

Demanding the government for transparency, Tanguy expressed concern that the agreement forces France to sell the gas it paid a premium for from the United States to a third country – Germany, for a price that hasn’t been publicized.

Paris has not provided any details “regarding the economic and financial terms of this agreement, in particular regarding the price of the gas [France sells] to Germany. And in return, France will buy electricity from its neighbor across the Rhine, electricity from fossil fuels, especially coal,” Tanguy said. This runs counter to France’s commitments on clean energy, the lawmaker pointed out.

The politician stressed that France’s energy system is facing a harsh winter, exacerbated by strike action, and urged authorities to 'prudently' manage "the gas reserves at its disposal” to meet demand.

He suggested that Berlin “has not officially committed itself to any obligations in the event of a lack of electricity supplies in France,” and that, “if this expected obligation is not fulfilled…France, having already supplied its gas to Germany, will be left without electricity.”

Accordingly, the current gas for electricity swap deal “marks a loss of France’s energy sovereignty,” threatening to turn the country into “a net importer of electricity for the first time in 40 years,” Tanguy lamented.

Tanguy stressed the government must make the provisions of the Franco-German contract public, “to make visible and transparent this unprecedented energy contract.”

Tanguy’s appeal, proceeded by weeks of fierce parliamentary debate about the terms and conditions of the agreement, comes amid the continuation of the energy crisis pummeling France and its European Union allies.

On Tuesday, French media reported that residents who heat their homes with firewood have begun receiving checks from the government of between €50 and €200 to help with costs. The amount of the check depends on income and marital status, with about 2.6 million households using firewood as a heating source eligible for the assistance.

In September, Paris announced a €45 billion spending plan to help shield households and businesses from dramatic energy price increases, with Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire assuring repeatedly throughout the year that a cap on electricity prices and other measures will assure that households aren’t driven into poverty by skyrocketing rates.

France has been partially shielded from the energy crisis pummeling most of its neighbors thanks to its nuclear power plants, which provide for nearly 70 percent of the country’s electricity needs. Despite joining its EU partners in slapping restrictions on Russian hydrocarbons, Paris has quietly continued to purchase enriched uranium from Russia and Kazakhstan to fuel its nuclear plants. According to French media, France bought some 153 tons of uranium enriched in Russia in 2022.

US-led collective West has long declared war on Russia, says Lavrov

©Mikhail Metzel/POOL/TASS

The US-led collective West declared war on Russia long ago, most notably, after the 2014 coup in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Great Game program, an excerpt of which was aired by Channel One on Wednesday.

"The collective West, which is headed by a nuclear power - the United States, is at war with us. This war was declared on us quite a long time ago, after the coup d’etat in Ukraine that was orchestrated by the United States and, in fact, backed by the European Union, and after the Minsk agreements that nobody was going to implement, as it now appears, and Ms. Merkel (Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel - TASS) confirmed that once again," the Russian foreign minister said.

In an interview with the German national weekly Die Zeit published on December 7, Merkel described the conclusion of the Minsk agreements in 2014 as an attempt to give Ukraine time to get stronger. She argued that it was clear to everyone that the conflict was stalled and the problem had not been resolved, "but this was what gave Ukraine invaluable time." She expressed doubt as to whether NATO countries would have been able to provide support to Kiev at that time to the same extent that they were doing now.

The United States and its NATO allies together with Ukraine want to defeat Russia “on the battlefield” in order to destroy it, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the state TASS agency in remarks published Monday.

“The actions of the countries of the collective West and (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky under their control confirm the global nature of the Ukrainian crisis,” Lavrov said.

“It is no secret to anyone that the strategic goal of the United States and its NATO allies is to defeat Russia on the battlefield as a mechanism for significantly weakening or even destroying our country.”

Lavrov reiterated that Russia and the United States cannot maintain normal connection, blaming the administration of the US President Joe Biden.

“It is objectively impossible to maintain normal communication with the Biden administration, which declares the infliction of a strategic defeat on our country as a goal,” Lavrov said.

He added that Washington’s “confrontational anti-Russian course is becoming more and more acute and comprehensive.

Russian top brass reveals 950 multiple rocket launchers destroyed in Ukraine operation

Russian forces have wiped out 950 Ukrainian multiple rocket launchers and almost 400 surface-to-air missile systems since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Wednesday.

"In all, the following targets have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation: 352 warplanes, 192 helicopters, 2,734 unmanned aerial vehicles, 399 surface-to-air missile systems, 7,282 tanks and other combat armored vehicles, 950 multiple launch rocket systems, 3,737 field artillery guns and mortars," the spokesman said.

The Russian Armed Forces have also destroyed 7,792 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, the general added.

Russian forces eliminated over 30 Ukrainian troops and military hardware in the Kharkov Region in the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Kupyansk area, over 30 Ukrainian troops, three combat armored vehicles and two motor vehicles were destroyed as a result of strikes delivered on the Ukrainian army’s units in areas near the settlements of Sinkovka, Timkovka and Kislovka in the Kharkov Region," the spokesman said.

Russian forces eliminated over 170 military personnel of four Ukrainian army brigades in the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics in the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Krasny Liman area, artillery fire struck four company tactical groups of the Ukrainian army’s 25th airborne, 80th and 95th air assault brigades and also 103rd territorial defense brigade in areas near the settlements of Novolyubovka and Nevskoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Terny in the Donetsk People’s Republic and also the Serebryansky forestry," the spokesman said.

As a result, Russian forces destroyed over 170 Ukrainian troops, two armored personnel carriers and four pickup trucks, the general said.

Russian forces eliminated over 80 Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk area in the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Donetsk area, over 80 Ukrainian servicemen, one tank, four combat armored vehicles and five motor vehicles were destroyed in the past 24 hours as a result of damage inflicted by firepower and active operations of Russian troops," the spokesman said.

Russian forces eliminated over 70 Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries near Ugledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the southern Donetsk area, damage was inflicted on units of the Ukrainian army’s 72nd mechanized brigade and also foreign mercenaries near the city of Ugledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Over 70 Ukrainian troops and mercenaries, five combat armored vehicles and two pickup trucks were destroyed," the spokesman said.

Russian forces obliterated two US-made M777 howitzers and a German-made FH70 howitzer in the Donetsk People’s Republic that had been shelling Donetsk residential areas, Konashenkov reported.

"In the counter-battery warfare, two M777 artillery systems of US manufacture and a German-made FH70 howitzer that had been shelling residential areas in the city of Donetsk were obliterated at firing positions near the community of Krasnogorovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

In the area of the city of Seversk, Russian forces wiped out three Ukrainian Grad multiple rocket launchers, the general added.

Russian forces eliminated a Ukrainian subversive group in the Donetsk People’s Republic in the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"A Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance group active in the area of the community of Vladimirovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic was eliminated," the spokesman said.

Russian forces struck five Ukrainian command posts and an ammunition depot in the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"Russian missile troops and artillery struck five Ukrainian army command posts in areas near the settlements of Dvurechnaya in the Kharkov Region, Yampolovka, Kirovo, Artyomovo and Novosyolka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, and also 72 artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 97 areas. In the area of the settlement of Gulyaipole in the Zaporozhye Region, a depot of armaments and military hardware was destroyed," the spokesman said.

Russian forces wiped out three Ukrainian howitzers in the Kharkov and Kherson Regions and the Donetsk People’s Republic in the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In areas near the settlements of Petropavlovka in the Kharkov Region, Berestovoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Chernobayevka in the Kherson Region, three Ukrainian Msta-B howitzers were obliterated," the spokesman said.

In addition, Ukrainian D-20 and D-30 howitzers were destroyed near the communities of Georgiyevka and Maryinka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the general added.

South Korean Defense Minister Apologizes for North Korean Drone Incident

Photo : YONHAP News

South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup on Wednesday apologized over the failure of the country's military to shoot down five North Korean drones that recently intruded in the South Korean airspace.

"I would like to say that I am sorry to the citizens about the result of the operation conducted in response to the North's drone provocation," Lee was quoted by Korean news agency as saying during a session of the parliament's national defense committee.

The minister also refuted media reports that the drones flew all the way to Yongsan, Seoul's central district, where the office of President Yoon Suk Yeol is located.

On Monday, Korean media reported, citing South Korean military, that a number of drones believed to be North Korean had crossed the inter-Korean border. South Korea tried to shoot the drones down and scrambled fighter jets and attack helicopters to intercept them. One of the aircraft, a KA-1 light attack plane, reportedly crashed during takeoff.

Four small North Korean drones flew in the area of Ganghwado Island in South Korea, and another flew up to the northern region of the metropolitan area, including Seoul. Yonhap later said that one drone managed to return back to the North, while the remaining four disappeared from radars.

The South Korean Defense Ministry called the violation of its airspace by North Korean drones "a clear provocation" and pledged to respond decisively.

Expressing regret over the outcome of the military operation, Lee explained that he received a briefing on the drone incursion at 12:10 p.m. on Monday and immediately reported the incident by phone to President Yoon Suk Yeol two minutes later.

The defense chief stressed that the drones did not fly near Seoul's Yongsan District, home of the presidential office, saying surveillance assets can confirm their flight path.

He also said photos taken of the drones will be submitted to parliament after proper security checks.

Regarding President Yoon's remarks about inadequate training under the previous administration, Lee admitted that related drills lacked intensity and practicality, and that there were no integrated maneuvers on asset response at the level of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the previous administration.

Pohon Besar Tumbang Tutup Jalan Nasional Penghubung Cisolok Sukabumi-Lebak Banten

Pohon kelewih berukuran besar yang tumbang dan batangnya menutup akses jalan nasional penghubung Kabupaten Sukabumi, Jabar dengan Kabupaten Lebak, Banten tepatnya di Kampung Ciwaru, Desa Cikahuripan, Kecamatan Cisolok, Kabupaten Sukabumi pada Rabu (28/12/2022). ANTARA/Aditya Rohman

Hujan deras disertai angin kencang menyebabkan pohon berukuran besar di Kampung Ciwaru, Kabupaten Sukabumi, Jawa Barat tumbang menutup ruas jalan nasional yang menghubungkan Kecamatan Cisolok, Kabupaten Sukabumi dengan Kabupaten Lebak, Banten, Rabu.

"Pohon yang tumbang di Desa Cikahuripan, Kecamatan Cisolok ini jenis kelewih dengan diameter sekitar 60 cm dan tinggi 15 meter. Kejadiannya sekitar pukul 20.30 WIB dan tidak ada korban jiwa," kata salah seorang warga setempat Supriyadi di Sukabumi, Rabu.

Informasi yang dihimpun dari warga, akibat pohon tumbang ini tidak hanya menutup akses jalan utama dan tidak bisa dilalui kendaraan baik dari Cisolok menuju Lebak maupun sebaliknya, tetapi juga memutus jaringan listrik di Kecamatan Cisolok serta Cilongrang, Lebak.

Akibatnya listrik padam di sebagian wilayah di Kecamatan Cisolok dan Cilongrang, bahkan hingga pukul 21.00 WIB listrik belum juga menyala. Petugas penanggulangan bencana bersama warga kesulitan mengevakuasi batang pohon yang melintang di tengah jalan ditambah hujan deras masih mengguyur lokasi kejadian.

Menurut Supriyadi, selain pohon tumbang, satu tiang listrik ikut roboh dan batang pohon itu pun menimpa warung milik warga yang saat kejadian warung tersebut dalam keadaan kosong.

Sementara, Kepala Dusun 3 Cikahuripan Yuli Kusworo mengatakan kejadian pohon tumbang ini merupakan yang kesekian kalinya, bahkan belum lama tidak jauh dari lokasi juga terjadi hal yang sama. Meski tidak ada korban jiwa, jalan itu hingga kini belum bisa dilalui kendaraan khususnya mobil, truk dan sejenisnya.

Pihaknya pun meminta kepada instansi terkait atau berwenang untuk segera melakukan penertiban terhadap sejumlah pohon yang tumbang, karena di sekitar lokasi masih banyak pohon berukuran besar yang rawan tumbang dan kondisinya sudah tua serta keropos.

F-35 Crash in Texas Prompts US, Israel to Ground Part of Their Fleets

F-35 Crash in Texas Prompts US, Israel

©Screenshot/CBS11Doug

A US test pilot had a close call earlier this month after his Lockheed Martin F-35B touched down nose first on the runway at a US military base in Texas, and proceeded to spin wildly out of control, forcing him to eject. The F-35 program has taken heavy flak over its astronomical $1.7 trillion price tag, and hundreds of major and minor defects.

Militer AS dan Israel telah mengandangkan sebagian armada F-35 mereka sebagai tanggapan atas kecelakaan 15 Desember di Forth Worth, Texas.

Dalam sebuah pernyataan kepada media AS pada hari Selasa, Kantor Program Gabungan F-35 Pentagon mengumumkan bahwa beberapa “F-35 berisiko tinggi” telah dikandangkan hingga Januari untuk memastikan keamanan.

“The F-35 Joint Program Office has issued a Time Compliance Technical Directive (TCTD) to restrict some aircraft, which have been evaluated to be of a higher risk, form flight operations while the investigation into the mishap on December 15 continues and until procedures can be developed for their return to flight. The affected aircraft have been identified, and the JPO will work with the [US military] and [international] partners to ensure compliance with the TCTD,” the statement said.

The office did not specify which planes it considered “higher risk” and un-airworthy, whether the TCTD applied F-35Bs or all variants of the aircraft. The F-35 crash in Texas involved an F-35B, which is a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the plane used by the US Marine Corps, as well as the British Royal Air Force and Navy. Italy, Singapore and South Korea also plan to order this particular model of the aircraft.

The UK has not grounded its F-35Bs in response to the incident. However, the Israeli Air Force announced this week that it had grounded eleven of its customized F-35I Adirs – F-35A variant aircraft which feature customized Israeli-made electronic warfare systems, sensors and countermeasures, and a custom main computer, in response to the Texas incident. The F-35A is a conventional takeoff and landing variant of the fighter.

#Breaking New much clearer video, courtesy Kitt Wilder, of STOL variant F35 B model landing JRB Fort Worth, and pilot ejects. Condition of pilot still unknown. @CBSDFW pic.twitter.com/BeERIeyhtO

— Doug Dunbar (@cbs11doug) December 15, 2022

In a statement, the Israeli Defense Forces said that an initial review determined that its F-35s may be prone to the same malfunctions as the US F-35B that crashed in Texas. “The IAF will analyze the findings from the incident and draw conclusions and recommendations for the safe return of the aircraft to operational duty,” an IDF spokesperson said.

It’s not yet clear what caused the December 15 F-35B crash at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, situated near Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth manufacturing facility. The F-35B that crashed was brand spanking new, and had not yet been delivered to the military. It was being operated by a US Air Force pilot with the Defense Contract Management Agency. The pilot was testing the plane before its expected handover to make sure it was operating effectively.

A source told US media that the F-35 crash may have been the result of a faulty propulsion system tube used to transfer highly pressurized fuel.

The Fort Worth incident caused the second grounding of F-35s this year. In July, the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps grounded part of their fleets over concerns over a faulty component in planes’ ejection seats which threatened to render them flying deathtraps in an emergency.

Over 820 F-35s have been delivered to the US military and partner nations around the world. Over seven years after being deployed, the aircraft continue to suffer from a range of problems, from cost overruns, parts shortages and quality issues to outstanding problems with the aircraft’s design. In a report earlier this year, the US Government Accountability Office cited four major Category 1 deficiencies, including cabin overpressurization and problems with the night vision camera, and 822 Category 2 problems. Other issues, from fear of lightening to software bugs, radar issues, corrosion, and neck-breaking ejection seats, have plagued the aircraft for years.

Despite these issues, Lockheed continues to enjoy solid orders for its enfant terrible of a product. Earlier this month, the German parliament’s budget committee approved the spending of €10 billion to procure a party of 35 F-35As.

The year 2022 saw the F-35 sales going up several notches, with many Western countries expressing interest in the aircraft. However, this fifth-generation aircraft manufactured by US-based Lockheed Martin also ran into controversies in 2022 and had to be grounded on more occasions than one.

In a recent blow to the reputation of the F-35 Lightning II, Israel grounded 11 of its F-35A stealth fighters on December 25. The decision was taken after an F-35B crashed in Texas, United States, earlier this month, The Jerusalem Post reported.

According to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the decision to ground the Israeli F-35 aircraft was made after an initial examination revealed potential similarities between the Israeli fighter’s malfunctions and those that may have contributed to the crash of the US fighter.

However, both IDF and Lockheed Martin have added a caveat that they weren’t sure at this point that the F-35A in the IDF fleet had the same technical problems as the F-35B aircraft involved in the Texas accident. They further stated that 11 aircraft were grounded only as a precautionary measure.

Shortly after the IDF decision was made public, the F-35 Joint Program Office also grounded a few of its new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in response to the Dec. 15 incident.

The F-35 Joint Program Office reportedly confirmed on December 27 that it has provided guidelines due to the incident and that some higher-risk F-35s are grounded, at least until January.

Controversies Gripped F-35 In 2022

The USAF grounded its F-35 fighter jets in July because of a malfunctioning cartridge-actuated device inside the ejection seat, which would have prevented the pilot from safely ejecting from the aircraft in an emergency.

The ejection seats inside aircraft have cartridge-actuated devices, essentially explosive cartridges used to help propel the seat out of a plane in an emergency. The manufacturer reportedly identified specific production lots of CADs used in Martin-Baker ejection seats as problematic and needing repair, which caused panic among aircraft operators worldwide.

Another big controversy surrounding the F-35 Lightning II unraveled in September, leading to the US State Department abruptly halting deliveries of the stealth aircraft upon discovering a Chinese component in the aircraft.

According to a statement released by Lockheed Martin on September 7, a magnet in the F-35’s Honeywell-manufactured turbo machine, an engine part that powers the starter/generator placed on the engine, was found to have been made using a cobalt and samarium alloy that is produced in China. However, the alloy was magnetized in the United States.

When the revelation was made, it caused widespread concerns about the security of the aircraft being compromised. Not just that, it exposed the loopholes in the supply chains and rattled the Pentagon and the higher echelons in the Joe Biden administration.

The spokesman for the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO), Russell Goemaere, stated categorically that the component which is a magnet used in F-35 turbo machine pumps, “does not transmit information or harm the integrity of the aircraft and there is no performance, quality, safety, or security risks associated with this issue.” However, the deliveries were suspended nonetheless.

Later, on October 4, a South Korean lawmaker stated that the nation’s F-35A fighters were labeled as operationally unready 234 times over 18 months ending in June because of malfunctions. The Air Force, on its part, acknowledged having trouble obtaining parts for defects in the aircraft. It added stated that it would strive to get them from the manufacturer.

Further, the aircraft has been under the scanner this month for cost overruns and the expenses that maintaining the aircraft can entail for the state exchequer. The costs of developing a new cockpit computer for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, set initially at $712 million four years ago, have soared by another $239 million, generating extra expenses of $680 million.

Not just that, a senior Australian journalist, Brian Toohey, criticized the ‘Defense Strategy Review’ of the Australian government that has recommended buying the fourth squadron of F-35 fighter jets.

He argued the long history of costly problems of the F-35s already acquired while arguing that Australia “should be asking for a refund” and that “the biggest mistake was to buy the plane in the first place.”

The effective combat radius of the F-35A, as previously reported by EurAsian Times, is only approximately 1,000 kilometers, and with a tanker aircraft, it might be increased to roughly 1,500 kilometers. The F-35A cannot travel to the South China Sea without aerial refueling. Even so, the availability of airborne tankers over contested airspace is questionable during a battle.

In addition, the F-35 unfortunately ran into many troubles this year. Before the hard nose landing of the aircraft in the US earlier this month, an F-35B Lightning II fighter jet was photographed parked in Okinawa, Japan, with its nose down on the road on December 1.

At the time of the Japan incident, EurAsian Times had reported that F-35B attached to the US Marine Corp (USMC) had suffered a nose landing gear collapse at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa while being towed following an emergency/precautionary landing.

An F-35A fifth-generation fighter plane crashed in the US state of Utah, close to Salt Lake City, in October 2022. Although the pilot is said to have successfully ejected and received treatment for minor injuries, the crash reportedly started bushfires that burned around 8 to 10 acres of land.

Area view after an Air Force pilot was ejected from an F-35 in October. (itschappy/Twitter)

Before the October event, two F-35 jet crashes were reported in January of this year. On January 4, the South Korean F-35’s pilot performed an emergency “belly landing” at an airfield when the landing gear malfunctioned owing to mechanical issues.

A few days after the South Korean accident, on January 25, a US Navy F-35C had a “landing incident” on the deck of the Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, the first-ever crash involving the carrier form of the fifth-generation fighter.

However, despite all the controversies and accidents that the aircraft had to brave this year, it has also garnered widespread global popularity. Faced with security threats posed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several European countries and the Global North have signed agreements to purchase this fifth-generation stealth jet.

It may have been a controversial year for the aircraft, but it has undoubtedly been very profitable for Lockheed Martin, which has been inundated with orders.