Latest news with #UnitedStates-made
News18
6 days ago
- Business
- News18
Spain shelves plans for US-made F-35 fighter jet indefinitely: Report
Madrid [Spain], August 7 (ANI): Spain has likely decided to 'indefinitely" suspend its plans to purchase the United States-made fifth-generation stealth F-35 fighter aircraft, according to a report by per Politico's report citing local Spanish media sources, preliminary contacts for the acquisition of the fifth-generation American stealth jets have been halted. Instead, the Spanish government is now looking at European options, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and the upcoming Future Combat Air System (FCAS).'The Spanish option involves the current Eurofighter and the FCAS in the future," Politico reported, citing Spanish defence ministry sources .According to Politico, the decision is likely to be a 'major setback" to Lockheed Martin, the US defence giant, as Spain had earlier shown interest in the F-35 programme. In 2017, Madrid issued a non-binding request for information about the aircraft. The country's 2023 budget had also set aside over Six billion euros for replacing both navy and air force Navy plans to retire its Harrier AV8B fighters by 2030 and had considered replacing them with the F-35B variant, which is capable of short take-off and vertical landing. This version is already in service with the United States and the Spanish air force had been evaluating the F-35A model as a temporary stopgap solution to replace its ageing fleet of McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets while awaiting the rollout of also noted that the shift in procurement policy may further strain relations between Spain and the United States. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has openly criticised NATO's new defence spending target of five per cent of GDP, a goal advocated by US President Donald Trump, Politico further Indian Air Force (IAF) is also planning to acquire two to three squadrons of fifth-generation fighter jets from foreign sources to strengthen its combat capabilities until the indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) becomes in response to a question in the Lok Sabha regarding India's military ties with the United States and implying whether a potential acquisition of the F-35 Lightning II could be on the cards, Minister of State Kirti Vardhan Singh said that 'no formal discussions" have been held on the issue so Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs said, 'The India-US Joint Statement following the meeting of Prime Minister (PM Modi) with US President Donald Trump on 13th February 2025 mentions that the US will undertake a review of its policy on releasing fifth-generation fighters (such as the F-35) and undersea systems to India. No formal discussions have been held as yet on this issue."Meanwhile, Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports, citing national security over India's Russian oil trade. 'We did it with India. We are doing it probably with a couple of others; one of them could be China," he called the move 'unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable". (ANI)
Business Insider
08-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
'Inconceivable to Me': Apple Stock (NASDAQ:AAPL) Drops as U.S. Government Calls It Out
The issue of where consumer electronics giant Apple (AAPL) would produce those consumer electronics is a thorny one, and has been thorny for some time now. New reports show just how far and wide the thorns extend, as Trump advisor Peter Navarro called out Apple for moving too slowly in getting production out of China. The rebuke proved scathing to even shareholders, who sent shares down over 1.5% in Monday afternoon's trading. Don't Miss TipRanks' Half-Year Sale Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week. There is a lot at stake in determining production locations; while Apple is looking to get out of China, the Trump Administration wants Apple coming back to the United States, with President Trump reportedly telling Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'I don't want you building in India.' But with supply chain analysts declaring that a wholly United States-made iPhone could cost upward of $3,500, it is also the kind of thing that Apple is trying to balance. This in turn led to Navarro noting: 'With all these new advanced manufacturing techniques and the way things are moving with AI and things like that, it's inconceivable to me that Tim Cook could not produce his iPhones elsewhere around the world and in this country.' Indeed, 'in this country' proved a tall order; Apple recently announced plans to put $500 billion worth of investment in to the United States, including the assembly of some AI servers. An AI Boost Apple's work—or lack thereof—in artificial intelligence (AI) has left investors piqued over the last few months. But there are signs that Apple is looking to augment its presence in AI, as evidenced by reported plans to buy two new firms: TrueMeeting and WhyLabs. With TrueMeeting, Apple gets access to software that allows users to produce a 'hyper-realistic digital twin' of the user for use as an avatar in meetings. This works especially well for those whose cameras or internet connections do not do well with live video meetings. Meanwhile, WhyLabs works to inject some mental health into AI systems, working to prevent '…drift and performance degradations,' sometimes known as 'hallucinations.' Is Apple a Buy, Hold or Sell? Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on AAPL stock based on 15 Buys, 10 Holds and three Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 6.26% loss in its share price over the past year, the average AAPL price target of $226.36 per share implies 7.69% upside potential.
NDTV
09-05-2025
- NDTV
"Happiest Day...": The Man Behind Akash System That Stopped Pak Missiles
New Delhi: The indigenously developed Akash missile system was instrumental in neutralising missiles and drones and protecting cities in west India when Pakistan attacked Thursday night. The Akash system - a surface-to-air system designed to engage multiple targets simultaneously - was developed over 15 years by Dr Prahlada Ramarao, a former DRDO scientist. "It is the happiest day of life... seeing my baby work so accurately and beautifully in shooting down incoming enemy aerial targets," an elated Dr Ramarao told NDTV. He said he had tears in his eyes when he saw "it worked beyond expectations... engaging incoming targets effectively". Now 78 years old, he was the youngest Project Director for the Akash programme when he was handpicked by India's 'missile man' and former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. He recalled the Indian military had hesitated in acquiring the system, which his colleagues and he had designed to intercept drones, missiles, helicopters, and even highly manoeuvrable aircraft like the United States-made supersonic F-16 fighter jets, which are among those Pak pilots fly. The Akash system, working with India's integrated counter-unmanned aerial system grid, the Russian-made S-400, and other anti-aircraft weaponry, came together to create a shield that held firm. READ | How Indian Defences Protected Nation, Shot Down Pak Missiles, Drones And India, government sources said, had demonstrated it is 'capable not only of defending its skies... but it now controls them'. What is Akash Missile Defence System The Akash system is manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited in Hyderabad. Essentially it is a short range, surface-to-air missile system offering protection from aerial threats. It can engage multiple targets at one time, either as a group or autonomously. It has built-in electronic counter-counter measures and the entire system has been configured on mobile platforms, making it is highly manoeuvrable and potent addition to the military. The Akash system can engage targets at altitude of up to 20km. Each launcher carries three missiles - these work in a 'fire and forget' mode - and each missile is about 20 feet long and weighs 710kg. Each missile carries a 60kg warhead. The system is also fully automatic and has real-time, multi-sensor data processing and threat evaluation capabilities, and works rapidly from acquiring, identifying, and neutralising targets. The Akash system was exported to Armenia in a Rs 6,000-crore deal. Dr Ramarao told NDTV his tagline for Akash is ' sara akash hamara ', or 'the whole sky is ours', and today his weapon system lived up to that reputation.
Al Jazeera
13-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,144
Here is where things stand on Sunday, April 12: The acting mayor of the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy said at least 31 people were killed in a Russian missile attack. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a global response to the attack. 'Talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and aerial bombs. What's needed is an attitude toward Russia that a terrorist deserves,' he said. Ukraine's air defence units have intercepted and destroyed 43 drones out of 55 launched by Russia overnight targeting northern, southern and central areas of Ukraine, the air force said. But it did not say what happened to the drones that escaped destruction. A Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed in combat, according to the military, in the second such incident since the delivery of the precious United States-made fighters to Ukraine to help fight Russia's invasion. A Russian-guided bomb struck a house in the northeastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk, injuring four people and possibly trapping three more under rubble, Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Russia's Defence Ministry accused Ukraine of carrying out five attacks on its energy infrastructure over the past day, a violation of a US-brokered moratorium on such strikes. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Trump seems to understand much more about what is going on in Ukraine than any European leader, adding that the US leader understood the need to address the root causes of the conflict to resolve it.
Al Jazeera
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events – day 1,086
Here is the situation on Friday, February 14: Fighting Russia's Defence Ministry announced that its forces have captured Ukraine's Vodyane Druhe settlement in the Donetsk region. Moscow claimed it launched a coordinated overnight attack on Ukraine's military airfields, ports and workshops for drone production, as well as fuel and lubricant storage sites. Ukraine launched a huge wave of drones as well as missiles, Russia said, with 202 unmanned aerial vehicles shot down, along with three French-made Hammer guided bombs and United States-made HIMARS rockets. Ukraine's Security Service said the attack targeted Russia's Andreapol oil pumping station, causing an oil leak and subsequent fire, the Reuters news agency reports. Russia launched 140 drones in an overnight attack, the DPA news agency reports, with Ukrainian forces reportedly destroying 85 and more than 50 being lost before reaching a target. Damage and injuries were reported in Ukraine's Kharkiv and Odesa regions. Ukrainian military commander Oleksandr Syrskii said his troops hold about 500 square kilometres (193 square miles) of Russia's western Kursk region. The figure is about 800sq km (309sq miles) less than what Kyiv's forces controlled in September. A Russian attack on the town of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region killed a 46-year-old man and wounded five others, including a 16-year-old girl. A separate attack in the southern region of Kherson reportedly killed two more, aged 58 and 62. Politics & Diplomacy Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin needed to be organised 'promptly'. Peskov said Moscow wants to discuss European security with the US president. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told the Le Monde newspaper that Kyiv and Europe should not be excluded from future talks between Trump and Putin on ending the war in Ukraine. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would not accept any agreements on his country's fate decided on by Washington and Moscow if Ukraine and Europe were not involved. He also called for a plan to 'stop Putin' before any peace talks happen. Zelenskyy warned global leaders against trusting Putin's claim of willingness to end Russia's war on Ukraine. The European Union's foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas warned that any deal on the war in Ukraine made behind Europe's back would fail. Moldova's Foreign Ministry 'urgently' summoned Russia's ambassador after two Russian drones exploded in Moldovan territory. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the number of documented missing people due to the Russian war on Ukraine more than doubled to 50,000 in the past year. The ICRC said about 90 percent of those missing are men and women in the military. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the military alliance had to make sure Putin never attacks Ukraine again but clarified that Ukraine was never promised NATO membership as part of a peace deal.
