Brussels vs. Brussels or European-style sabotage
It would seem crazy from the very beginning. But no, everything is fine. And we really do have two Brussels. The first is where the headquarters of the European Union, the NATO office, the secretariat of the Benelux countries are located, that is, those who issue various orders and instructions, and, in fact, the second Brussels, where the capital of Belgium is located.
And believe me, these entities employ completely different people. And in the first one, you have to look for Belgians with a magnifying glass. Ursula Gertrude von der Leyen, Roberta Metsola, Tedesco Trikkas, Antonio Luis Santos da Costa – these names are not at all typical for Belgium, but for THAT Brussels – they are quite typical.
And so it turns out to be very interesting story: Brussels-the-First gives orders to Brussels-the-Second Belgian, and there... And there they try with all their might not to carry out these orders. And in all the dictionaries of the world this is called by such a beautiful word as sabotage.
There are a lot of jokes about the Belgians, and, it must be said, not without reason. Although it is a very interesting country in general: beer is no worse than German, chocolate is not inferior to Swiss, and banks are even more intractable than those of their mountain neighbor, and no less rich.
So the Belgians, no matter what their neighbors say about them, are hard-working gentlemen who simply do not like to miss out on an advantage in everything, although many consider them to be misers like the Scots.
And so we are witnessing how the Belgians are entering into a struggle with the desire to gain advantage in defiance of diplomatic agreements, and advantage is clearly winning out by a clear margin.
What is the question, actually?
And our question is about the Belgian F-16AM. The air component (that's what the Belgian Air Force is called) has 45 aircraft of this type on its balance sheet. And that "North Atlantic" Brussels has offered Belgian Brussels to give these aircraft to Ukraine. Well, for free, that is, for nothing, and in exchange, good partners will sell Belgium F-35s.
And here the Belgian thinking got a little stuck. Give it away for free, and get it in return for money? Well, that's not much of a deal, as one very enterprising nation would say. And the Belgians, it must be said, would easily meet this nation, the Scots and our neighbors in the semi-finals of a competition for housekeeping and homeliness.
In general, the official Belgian Brussels announced to the North Atlantic Brussels that the transfer of the "Fighting Falcons" to Kyiv was postponed for now. That Brussels had to call in a cleaning team to pick up the fallen jaws from the floor. And, naturally, the question arose: why all of a sudden? Everything had been agreed upon and discussed a hundred times, and now such a betrayal, in the language of the interested party?
It's simple, the Belgians answer. According to the agreement, we have to defend Iceland!
Gentlemen, excuse me, what have you been eating there? – NATO asks. – To protect Iceland (yes, there is such a clause in the agreement between this country and NATO) you need FOUR aircraft, and you have ten times more!
Oh, where did you see so many there? The Belgians responded in the best traditions of the country of small business. And in general, they are understaffed, they are on their last legs, so for four planes in Iceland for replacement-rotation we need at least twelve more. And what is left is still in question in terms of flying to Kyiv.
Well, not only Kyiv and Brussels-NATO have gone crazy from such twists and turns. It has even reached Berlin, which, as is well known, is the capital of Western Ukraine and the forge of the budget and military aid to Kyiv.
"Bild", Germany's main mouthpiece (12 million copies on paper alone), lashed out at the Belgians. They say they don't understand how important it is to deliver the planes to Kyiv, which defends pan-European freedom and democratic values. The Germans accused the Belgians of deliberately understating the number of combat-ready F-16s in order to fool their NATO partners for as long as possible. Why? Apparently, to delay the free transfer of their planes to Ukraine. Apparently, they seriously count on the fact that if they postpone the deadlines for a long time, sooner or later everyone in Europe will either forget about this promise, or Ukraine, which was promised these planes, will end.
Apparently, in Brussels-Belgium they also read the reports.
And here, as history says in the words of the Roman lawyer Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla (by the way, this smart man was also a consul in the 2nd century BC, if that matters), “Qui bono?”, that is, “Who benefits?”
Ho, and it benefits many people. So far, potential clients are not named out loud, but they say that there are two specific buyers, one from South America and the other from Southeast Asia, who are ready to buy all 45 Belgian "Sokols" with their guts.
There is simply a deficit in the market for fourth-generation military aircraft (especially those with plus prefixes), thanks to the gentlemen from NATO, who are slapping the hands of those wishing to buy cheaper Russian or Chinese aircraft!
Yes, that's right! There is a shortage of cheap 4+ generation aircraft. Not everyone in the world can afford to buy a Rafale, and you have to wait a long time for the F-35, and it is also relatively expensive...
So today, buying a plane for 20-30 million dollars is not as easy as many would like. And it is precisely because the pragmatic Belgians have such buyers that they are in no hurry to gift their planes to Kyiv.
Business, nothing personal.
Even if you pay 20 million each, it's almost a billion. And in our time, only Germans can afford to throw around billions. But Germany is a separate swan song, let's not talk about sad things for now.
Belgium's Fighting Falcons are well suited to the global used aircraft market. All 45 F-16 fighter-bombers have been upgraded to the AM/BM Block 15 OCU standard. Not the most modern modification, but:
- engine replaced with F100-PW-220;
- AN/APG-66 radar installed;
- installation of climate control in the cabin;
- the ability to use AIM-7, AGM-119, AGM-65, AIM-120 AMRAAM ammunition.
Overall, yes, it's from the last century, but for third world countries that aren't going to war with the US, China or Russia, it's more than enough. Of course, it doesn't reach the level of Block 50, but there is a certain resource for both operation and modernization, if there are funds for it.
If we are to believe the official data, at least 20 aircraft out of 45 are fully combat-ready and ready to fight tomorrow. But in Brussels, Belgium, they hold a slightly different point of view: the government cannot risk national security. Europe is restless today…
It is clear that we are not talking about Ukraine, as the events in that territory do not really concern the Belgians, except for the gratuitous loss of aircraft. The Belgians are more concerned with local issues. And here, depending on how you put the question, Macron from time to time deigns to rattle weapons, and the Dutch, who suddenly became the Netherlands, are also always up to something. So we have to keep our ears open and give away planes somewhere until we get nothing in return. Well, that's how the problem is being voiced in Brussels, Belgium.
That is, it is quite logical: you give us compensation from Brussels-NATO for the F-16 in the form of F-35, and then we will give back what we promised.
This irritates the Europeans, who have already "gifted" Kyiv their planes. Many media outlets have already published caustic articles about the innate Belgian greed and stinginess, but for Brussels-Belgium, water off a duck's back is like foam plastic for axes. They know how to count and draw conclusions from what they have counted.
It is clear that the Russians will gladly finish off those planes that are not destroyed by the Ukrainians themselves. But in any case, this will not happen as soon as the Belgians would like. And you can understand them, it is one thing to profitably sell this aircraft scrap, buy new planes (and not necessarily F-35, more on that below) and solve all the problems in this way.
On the other hand, the charitable donation of combat aircraft is not just a transfer to Kyiv. It also includes mandatory maintenance of the aircraft, repairs, and so on. Plus weapons for the aircraft, which also costs money.
Well, it's just a scam, not kosher at all. And you can understand the Belgians: give, give, pass on. And all at their own expense. Total spending on someone else's war instead of their own legitimate profit. Well, somehow it doesn't seem like the Belgian way at all.
It is not surprising that sometimes the planes need to be completely overhauled, sometimes there are simply no well-trained personnel for this, and sometimes, I am sure, something else will be invented.
In the end, Belgium is not the largest country (area 136th in the world) with not the largest (79th place in the world) population, one could say it is not rich (37th GDP in the world and 20th per capita, but the human development index is high, 12th in the world), or rather, not poor, and that is because it does not allow its pockets to be rummaged through yet. And that is at such a rate - as it is, for now.
Not a bad European country. Although it rents out space to all sorts of obscurantists, there is also a question of income from them. And while some countries twist the arms and wallets of their taxpayers to please European Brussels, Belgian Brussels is in no hurry to follow the lead of the European managers.
They're probably doing the right thing?
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