US Ends Support For Ukrainian F-16s • Hacker News Board

Re: US Ends Support For Ukrainian F-16s

#421

Post by meroes » Sun, Mar 09, 2025, 4:00 PM UTC

lolinder wrote: post #258

samcheng wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best explanation I've heard is that this (almost) half of the US population doesn't care if it hurts a bit, as long as it hurts the other half of the US population more.

No, that's not it. I'm writing this from rural America in deep Trump territory, and people here are already struggling and have been for years. From their perspective they've been left out of the benefits of the global economy—the big cities and the coasts might be better off, but the middle of the country wants to go back to when they had opportunities and jobs for working class Americans. They're almost certainly w…

Isn’t that wanting your cake and eating it too? Conservativism rejects progress and changes by definition, so these people purposefully didn’t adapt to changes since the rust belt occurred, and NOW they are so worse off and want blood in the water.

Re: US Ends Support For Ukrainian F-16s

#422

Post by lucasyvas » Sun, Mar 09, 2025, 4:00 PM UTC

blibble wrote: post #398

lucasyvas wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s easy to prove that half is wrong as well because all the US’ (past) global friends are screaming at the US trying to save them from driving off the cliff. It’s one thing for the US to want to remake itself - gradual, cooperative plans to reduce engagement on the world stage over multiple years would have been something manageable. Pulling the cord with such little respect will not be forgotten. The USD will be l…

> The USD will be lucky to still be the reserve currency in 5-10 years time. if the US regime carries on at the rate it has over the last month I expect it will be gone considerably faster than this

Practically speaking I think it requires a lot of will, momentum, and process to change this. The decision even if made soon would probably take a few years to complete.

Supplementing it may be faster (eg. adding Euro and/or Yuan) than outright replacing it, but it’s not my area of expertise. The timeframe was based on some light research.

Re: US Ends Support For Ukrainian F-16s

#423

Post by rocqua » Sun, Mar 09, 2025, 4:01 PM UTC

mrighele wrote: post #241

pokstad wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well he’s been very vocal about NATO countries increasing their defense contributions. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the US needs to sell all the weapons.

"Trump Tells Europe to Buy American Arms to Keep NATO Strong". [1] "U.S. President Donald Trump complained Thursday that his country's decades-old security treaty with Japan is nonreciprocal, as he steps up pressure on allies to increase defense spending and buy more American products." [2] It's about buying more American weapons. [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-13/trump-tel... [2] https://english…

We're not increasing defense spending to appease Trump though. We're increasing defense spending because we realize a need for strategic independence from the US. Because for the comming 4 years, it's obvious that the US won't be a reliable partner, and might even be an adversary. It makes no sense for us to buy American if we need strategic independence from the US.

Re: US Ends Support For Ukrainian F-16s

#424

Post by af78 » Sun, Mar 09, 2025, 4:01 PM UTC

jisnsm wrote: post #200

wyldfire wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The agenda that Trump advanced during campaigns was not "cut ourselves off from the rest of the world". Do his supporters really want this? What's the rationale he advances for this stance and the tarrifs? What would a president who was beholden to Russians do once elected? I mean -- what's the point of provoking Canada, of all countries? Canada as the 51st US state would be the new most populous state and would caus…

The agenda was to leave Ukraine and to have Europe pay for its own defence which is what’s happening here. Nothing more, nothing less. Don’t let yourself get manipulated by Reddit-tier arguments.

It goes beyond that:

- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7435pnle0go US sides with Russia in UN resolutions on Ukraine (the US rejected a resolution that named Russia as the aggressor).

- https://news.online.ua/en/the-us-is-ending-support-for-ukrai... The US is ending support for Ukrainian F-16

- https://www.reuters.com/world/us-cuts-off-intelligence-shari... US cuts intelligence sharing for Ukraine, adding pressure for Russia peace deal

- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-08/us-vetoes... US Vetoes G-7 Shadow Fleet Task Force Plan

There's a pattern: Trump wants to force a capitulation of Ukraine.

Re: US Ends Support For Ukrainian F-16s

#425

Post by iancmceachern » Sun, Mar 09, 2025, 4:01 PM UTC

Other countries who fly then will fill in the gaps. They may start making replacement parts themselves, that's what I would do if I were them.

Re: US Ends Support For Ukrainian F-16s

#426

Post by Chance-Device » Sun, Mar 09, 2025, 4:01 PM UTC

silvestrov wrote: post #414

Chance-Device wrote: post #286

I think I’ll use this thread to make a prediction. At the end of Trump’s term: - Europe will still be using F-16s and F-35s - The US will still be in NATO, and will still be actively committed to the alliance - European defense spending will be massively higher, with manufacturing and supply chains that are far less easily disrupted - The US forces deployed to Europe will still be there, but will be bolstered by more…

> - The US will still be in NATO, and will still be actively committed to the alliance This is already gone: "US ‘to cease all future military exercises in Europe’" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2025/03/08/us-to-cea...

I wasn’t aware that Trumps term had ended after only three months.

Re: US Ends Support For Ukrainian F-16s

#427

Post by Beijinger » Sun, Mar 09, 2025, 4:01 PM UTC

ta988 wrote: post #228

And the story continues. This means that no country will want to buy F16s. If you don't get support they are useless. They are eroding really fast the US shine and trust in the world. This is going to have a massive effect on the US economy, internal consumption will not save it. This is the end of an empire while its rich kings are golfing every weekend on the taxpayer dime using federal and local resources. I am re…

"If you don't get support they are useless"

Is this really the case or only a long term problem? The F-35 is a totally different story.

Re: US Ends Support For Ukrainian F-16s

#428

Post by tehjoker » Sun, Mar 09, 2025, 4:01 PM UTC

My suspicion is Trump is putting pressure on Zelensky (a) because he hates him personally and (b) because he wants an even bigger mineral rights deal. The thinking being, let Zelensky stew in it without U.S. help and suffer some humiliating defeats and let him come crawling back to the table so that he can sell of the majority of his country to the Americans, far more than the Russians will ever get.

Re: US Ends Support For Ukrainian F-16s

#429

Post by koolba » Sun, Mar 09, 2025, 4:02 PM UTC

snozolli wrote: post #261

maxlin wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

After Zelenskyy came to the White House with the intention of running the already-decided deal to the ground with some newly invented security guarantees not talked about previously, heavily expecting US to bend the knee to him is just out of place. This is a completely bonkers take. You actually expected him to sign over an absurd mineral commitment with no agreed benefit for Ukraine? Just toss Ukraine up on the tab…

> This is a completely bonkers take. You actually expected him to sign over an absurd mineral commitment with no agreed benefit for Ukraine?

Yes because that’s what they agreed to in advance of the meeting. The in person meeting, requested by Zelensky, was supposed to be a photo op. But he unwisely tried to steer it into a different direction and ended up losing the whole thing.

> Just toss Ukraine up on the table to be sliced up by the US and Russia?

Yes that’s traditionally what happens to the losers in a conflict. Ukraine does not have the money, guns, or soldiers to win this thing, doublely so without the USA.

Their end state in this is not going to be some pre war border as a NATO state. It’ll be losing land, losing mineral rights, and at best third party non-NATO peacekeepers manning a DMZ.

Re: US Ends Support For Ukrainian F-16s

#430

Post by this_user » Sun, Mar 09, 2025, 4:02 PM UTC

brookst wrote: post #326

casenmgreen wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taiwan is now going to be seriously worried.

If Taiwan didn’t give up on the US and start making alternative plans on Nov 7th, that was a huge mistake. The US has made it clear that not only is it abandoning traditional allies, it will likely side with any invading force that exercises the “might makes right” principle.

What alternative plan is there for them?

If the PRC should actually decide to invade, it is going to be extremely difficult to hold that off on their own for an extended period of time. Which means they need allies who can rapidly deploy a sufficiently large force to stabilise the situation.

But the only way to get there is with a naval force, and air supremacy would likely be critical to the outcome of that fight, which means you need someone with a large carrier fleet, and that is pretty much a pool of one.

Without US help, there is very little hope that Taiwan would not be overrun sooner or later. Their only real hope would be a nuclear weapons programme that would allow them to credibly threaten to nuke Beijing if invaded. But the PRC would never let it get that far and would make sure to strike before that could be completed.