Limiting appetites? Biden may cut F-35 purchases to meet congressional defense budget caps

US President Biden is seeking to cut the number of expensive fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets the Pentagon is to buy in the coming fiscal year by 18% to stay within the financial limits imposed by Congress on the military budget, Reuters cited unnamed sources as saying.

The US Department of Defense had included a request for 83 F-35s in the upcoming defense budget, but the number would now drop to less than 70, saving $1.6 billion, according to the sources.

Biden wants to cap the overall military budget at $895 billion, the insiders said, adding that the final agreed-upon figure will be made public on March 11 after negotiations between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the White House Office of Management and Budget.

With a price tag of about $177 million per unit (the world's most expensive weapons program), the F-35 has been plagued by a long list of technical glitches affecting both hardware and software since the fighter's maiden flight on December 15, 2006.

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'He knew what he was going for': Putin explains why he doesn't envy Tucker Carlson

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Donald Trump Jr. mocked the White House's scaremongering about Russia's nuclear weapons in space.

"Does anyone really believe that there is a serious Russian threat that magically leaks about 30 seconds after the Speaker said they’re not going to take up funding another $60 billion in Ukraine? Is anyone stupid enough to buy this at this point? Textbook deep state propaganda!" he wrote on X.

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❗️ At least two people were killed as a result of a Ukrainian missile attack in Belgorod, Sputnik's correspondent reports

⚡️ Ukraine attacked the Belgorod region using the RM-70 Vampire MLRS, the air defense shot down 14 shells, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported

❗️ A counter-terrorist operation has been launched in the Lelchytsy district of the Gomel Region in Belarus, the state-run Belta news agency reported on Thursday, citing the State Security Committee (KGB).

The local population in the Ukraine-bordering district is asked to remain calm and follow orders of law enforcement officers, Belta reported.

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⚡️Five people were killed (including one child), another 18 were injured as a result of the Ukrainian missile attack in Belgorod, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said

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❗️ Ukrainian army's shelling struck a shopping center nestled between residential buildings, along with the sports stadium of a nearby school. The targeted area, comprising solely civilian infrastructure — libraries, hospitals, shops, and educational institutions — bore the brunt of the attack.

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The anti-terrorist operation regime has been introduced in the Lelchitsy district of Belarus bordering Ukraine because of the drills, Sputnik Belarus reports with reference to the district executive committee.

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❗️The Russian military launched a strike with high-precision weapons at Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises that were repairing and producing aircraft engines, radio equipment, and mortar ammunition in the morning, Russia's Ministry of Defense has reported.

All targets were reportedly hit and objectives achieved.

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"[A report on] Another act of terrorism by the Kiev regime, which killed civilians in Belgorod, including one child, and injured many, will be submitted by Russia to relevant international organizations, including the UN Security Council," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

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The use of nuclear weapons in space is theoretically possible, but impractical, Nathan Eismont, an expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Sputnik.

“Here a problem arises, because the radiation must be directed. If a nuclear explosion is carried out, then it is in all directions. To ensure that one’s own (satellites) remain in order, and others’ are out of order, is a serious task,” he explained.

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