Pentagon

The US State Department has approved the sale of F-35 fighter jets and related ammunition and equipment to the Czech Republic, the Pentagon announced yesterday, as quoted by Reuters.

The deal is worth 5.62 billion dollars.

The Pentagon says a photo released by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) of apparent damage to a US nuclear bomb at a Dutch airbase shows a dummy weapon used for training emergency response teams.
FAS released a photo of a B61 bomb being inspected by US soldiers, two of whom are members of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit and one civilian.

Ahead of the Winter Olympics that is set to begin on February 4 in Beijing, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Wednesday (local time) suggested that the Olympics could affect Russian President Vladimir Putin's calculations over a possible invasion of Ukraine.

Lockheed Martin Corp met its goal of delivering 45 F-35 fighter jets to the U.S. government and key allies in 2015, a 25 percent increase from 2014 that brought the number of jets delivered to 154, the Pentagon said on Dec. 21.

Lockheed Martin Corp has won a preliminary contract valued at up to $5.37 billion to build a ninth batch of 55 F-35 jets for the U.S. military and its allies, the U.S. Defense Department said on Nov. 3.

The Pentagon on Dec. 12 said Italy and Turkey would provide initial heavy maintenance of Lockheed Martin Corp's new F-35 fighter jet and its engine in Europe from 2018, paving the way for billions of dollars in work by companies there.