No like or dis-like on my side. don’t venture on that field. thanks. it’s all about being rationale.

Corsair:

maintenance hubs, which will be in Europe but outside of Finland, implying significantly decreased control on med-high level servicing.

Maintenance hubs are mainly a measure by the JPO to help the program to be more cost-effective. Obviously, trust among partners is at the base of this system just like it does among airlines. It remains to you to prove that Finland could feel deceived by this when the country has been operating among NATO partners for years. The main issues are on the diplomatic fields when you have some political divergences (none that I can see here) and on economical grounds with the sustainment of national industries (just as mandated in the latest Swiss RFI).

all those capabilities are already fielded with their F/A-18. I am not sure that Finnish mod has put an RFP that can be simply resumed to a quest for yet another SLEP contractor. They are on the run for new capabilities. So, even if Swedish defense sector offer plenty of opportunity in advanced systems, I do agree with Pesko that their line here is quite thin.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]260389[/ATTACH]

RAF/USAF Fairford. Senior Span Dragon lady (80-1083) complete with ice from rapid decent

Source:
FB

disponibilité des flottes des forces françaises stagnent depuis 2012, autour de 44%. En 2016, elle s’élevait à 44,4% et sur les six premiers mois de 2017 à 44,1%. Ces chiffres signifient que moins d’un aéronef sur deux est en mesure d’effectuer la mission pour laquelle il a été acquis. Et selon le rapport, “la disponibilité des hélicoptères, des avions de patrouille maritime et de l’aviation de transport tactique ne permet pas d’honorer le contrat opérationnel seuil bas, nécessaire pour répondre à la tenue de la situation opérationnelle de référence et à la préparation opérationnelle”. Au-delà de la difficulté à tenir les contrats opérationnels, le manque de disponibilité des appareils “obère la capacité des forces à soutenir dans la durée l’activité aérienne”, estime Christian Chabbert.
[…]
Ainsi la disponibilité atteint 80 % en opérations extérieures mais a contrario, elle ne dépasse pas 30 % en métropole
—————

the availability of French forces fleets have stagnated since 2012, around 44%. In 2016, it stood at 44.4% and in the first six months of 2017 at 44.1%. These figures mean that less than one out of two aircraft is able to complete the mission for which it was acquired. And according to the report, “the availability of helicopters, maritime patrol aircraft and tactical transport aircraft does not meet the low threshold operational contract necessary to meet the maintenance of the baseline operational situation and operational readiness “. Beyond the difficulty of keeping the contracts operational, the lack of availability of the devices “undermines the ability of the forces to support the long-term air activity,” said Christian Chabbert.
[…]
Thus the availability reaches 80% in external operations but conversely, it does not exceed 30% in metropolitan France

But everything is fine Mme La Marquise…
Take into consideration that the nbr of airframe deployed is drastically low (8 devoided to Barkane for example)

Source:
La tribune.fr

Kratos Gets Busy Building Dynetics’ Gremlins Drones

interesting reading

Source:
AviationWeek

US files complaint over Chinese laser use in Djibouti

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon says the U.S. has issues a formal complaint to China over the use of lasers near the military base in Djibouti (jih-BOO’-tee) that were directed at aircraft and resulted in minor injuries to two American pilots.
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White says the U.S. is confident that Chinese nationals are responsible for the use of the lasers. She says the incidents represent a serious threat to U.S. airmen. She says the U.S. has asked China to investigate the incidents.
The Pentagon says reports from pilots indicate that on three occasions the lasers were military grade and came from the Chinese base nearby.
The U.S. has notified airmen to exercise caution when flying in that area. The Chinese recently built a base near Camp Lemonnier, the U.S. base in Djibouti.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Also

On Thursday, the FAA issued a warning advising military aircraft to exercise “extreme caution” when transiting the area. The FAA has issued repeated warnings since April 14 to pilots in the area.
In a recent incident, two U.S. flyers piloting a C-130 turboprop transport suffered minor eye injuries after being exposed to the laser beam, a Pentagon official told the Wall Street Journal.

Sources:
The Washington Post.com
Stars & Stripes.com