Russia Invades Ukraine XIX

[UAH]

Russia produces as much ammo in 3 months as all of NATO does in a year, says NATO chief
Euro News

Just a follow up comment. I have read that antimony is a necessity for artillery shell production. There a number of countries that mine antimony but China is the principal processor of the mineral for use in weapons and manufacturering of batteries.

Needless to say China sells to North Korea and Russia and restricts it to the US and NATO.

China also produces a vast majority of rare earth magnets that are required in every missile manufactured and each automobile manufactured. There is a lot more to learn but does point to the fact that China has thwarted Trump's Tariff efforts to this point in time.

 

[Tidewater]

The US Army has created a drone course.
'We're behind': US soldier leading a new 'catch-up' crash course says that the Army has to aggressively close the drone gap
The course is taught at Ft. Rucker.
The Marines are doing similar things, but I believe they put theirs in the marksmanship unit at Quantico.
It is kind of disappointing that this was not done in 2022 or '23. The writing was definitely on the wall.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

The US Army has created a drone course.
'We're behind': US soldier leading a new 'catch-up' crash course says that the Army has to aggressively close the drone gap
The course is taught at Ft. Rucker.
The Marines are doing similar things, but I believe they put theirs in the marksmanship unit at Quantico.
It is kind of disappointing that this was not done in 2022 or '23. The writing was definitely on the wall.

It's more than disappointing; it's downright depressing. The hoary behemoth that is our DOD simply will not accept any thinking which falls outside traditional military thinking. Sometimes it seems we're determined to give our adversaries a huge head start. Russia's current strategy is to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses with masses of low-cost drones, knowing that they can't waste a multi-million Patriot on them. We need a defense against them as much as we need offensive weapons. I remember reading recently that the Navy was working on a laser-based defensive weapon to take out whole "swarms" of them at once. Something like that is desperately needed in Ukraine and for us in the future...

 

[Tidewater]

It's more than disappointing; it's downright depressing. The hoary behemoth that is our DOD simply will not accept any thinking which falls outside traditional military thinking. Sometimes it seems we're determined to give our adversaries a huge head start. Russia's current strategy is to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses with masses of low-cost drones, knowing that they can't waste a multi-million Patriot on them. We need a defense against them as much as we need offensive weapons. I remember reading recently that the Navy was working on a laser-based defensive weapon to take out whole "swarms" of them at once. Something like that is desperately needed in Ukraine and for us in the future...

In fairness, Special Operations Forces have been working with drones for years.

I am reminded that the most prestigious unit in the US Army in 1939 (the one everybody wanted to get assigned to) was the 1st Cavalry Division, equipped with horses.

US 1st Cav soldier Vincent Suarez 1942.

The USS Lexington (CV-2) had four turrets with twin 8-inch cannons.

The idea was the guns would engage enemy ships in the direct fire mode and the planes would spot the fall of shot and radio adjustments to the gunners. Forward thinking!

 

[Bazza]

Our armed forces is very busy right now around the globe - including our US Navy........

 

[Bazza]

-snip-There is a lot more to learn but does point to the fact that China has thwarted Trump's Tariff efforts to this point in time.

I know that China must be treated a lot differently than all the other countries for obvious reasons, and this is why it is taking longer.

See the middle part of the video below where CL explains:

 

[Bazza]

In fairness, Special Operations Forces have been working with drones for years.

I am reminded that the most prestigious unit in the US Army in 1939 (the one everybody wanted to get assigned to) was the 1st Cavalry Division, equipped with horses.
View attachment 52286
US 1st Cav soldier Vincent Suarez 1942.

The USS Lexington (CV-2) had four turrets with twin 8-inch cannons.
View attachment 52285
The idea was the guns would engage enemy ships in the direct fire mode and the planes would spot the fall of shot and radio adjustments to the gunners. Forward thinking!

Yesterday on my bike ride I thought about you TW when I passed by this gentleman wearing a "Beat Navy" tee shirt and chomping on a short cigar while wetting his lines.......

 

[Padreruf]

Yesterday on my bike ride I thought about you TW when I passed by this gentleman wearing a "Beat Navy" tee shirt and chomping on a short cigar while wetting his lines.......

View attachment 52287

Was he an older, slightly overweight British gentleman with an art easel near by?

 

[Bazza]

Was he an older, slightly overweight British gentleman with an art easel near by?

No - he reminded me of the mechanic on the TV show "Black Sheep Squadron"..... Master Sergeant Andy Micklin

 

[TIDE-HSV]

In fairness, Special Operations Forces have been working with drones for years.

I am reminded that the most prestigious unit in the US Army in 1939 (the one everybody wanted to get assigned to) was the 1st Cavalry Division, equipped with horses.
View attachment 52286
US 1st Cav soldier Vincent Suarez 1942.

The USS Lexington (CV-2) had four turrets with twin 8-inch cannons.
View attachment 52285
The idea was the guns would engage enemy ships in the direct fire mode and the planes would spot the fall of shot and radio adjustments to the gunners. Forward thinking!

Actually, the battleship mindset lasted into the early stages of WWII, until the old heads in the navy finally admitted that the future lay with carriers. And the Wehrmacht functioned largely as a horse-drawn army, to around 80% of transport and logistics. That was a two-edged sword. When they started to run short on fuel, the horses were more dependable...

 

[Its On A Slab]

Our armed forces is very busy right now around the globe - including our US Navy........

Busy running away from the 500 lb gorilla in the room.

Hey, look! A shiny penny!

 

[75thru79]

Russia Draws Hard Line Over Security Guarantees for Ukraine

Russia warned on Wednesday that it should effectively hold veto power over any action to assist Ukraine after a peace deal is reached, rendering planned Western security guarantees for Kyiv moot and delivering a setback to negotiations championed by President Trump.

These guys have absolutely no clue, do they?

 

[Bazza]

Busy running away from the 500 lb gorilla in the room.

Hey, look! A shiny penny!

 

[Tidewater]

Russia Draws Hard Line Over Security Guarantees for Ukraine

These guys have absolutely no clue, do they?

Russia sees Russia as a great power and great powers do what they want. Great powers have spheres of influence and the preferences of the peoples in those spheres of influence do not matter in the slightest.

That said, I think the genius of Clintonian foreign policy is ambiguity. The Bosnian war was fought over whether the Muslims and Croats could force Bosnians Serbs. Serbs wanted independence for the Republika Srpska and the Muslims wanted a united Bosnia.
At Dayton, Clinton got both sides to agree that there would be a Bosnian-Croat "entity," and a Bosnian Serb "entity." What is an "entity?" I don't know. Nobody really knew at the time. Muslims could go home and say, "We won! Bosnia is a united country." Serbs could go home and say, "We won the RS is an independent country." So they both signed the Dayton Accords.

We could use some ambiguity here.

 

[Bazza]

Jesse Watters gives his take on President Donald Trump's foreign policy wins and efforts to secure an end to the Russia-Ukraine war

Blessed are the peace makers for they shall inherit the earth....

 

[Tidewater]

Yesterday on my bike ride I thought about you TW when I passed by this gentleman wearing a "Beat Navy" tee shirt and chomping on a short cigar while wetting his lines.......

View attachment 52287

I have very limited loyalty to the school on the Hudson.
I love our Army and I also love out Navy, out Air Force I'm not so sure about (kidding), but USMA is just one commissioning source of many. In fact, all the service academies exhibit a degree of royalty and privilege antithetical to the American ideal. Generals tend to send their sons and daughters there (and somehow, generals sons and daughter seem to all get admitted), and then they get preference in assignments that get them on the path that, years later, lead them to the upper echelons of the company. It would be interesting to see what percentage of today's generals are the progeny of yesterday's general officers and how many went to the academy. It bet the correlation is pretty solid. USNA is largely the same.

USMA vs USNA is a football game between two colleges. Interesting, but I do not over-romanticize the service academies. Cadets at VMI and the Citadel live the same demanding lifestyle and get less privileges.

Given a choice between beating Navy or beating the enemies of the republic, I'll take the enemies of the republic even if it means USMA never wins another Army-Navy game.

 

[81usaf92]

I have very limited loyalty to the school on the Hudson.
I love our Army and I also love out Navy, out Air Force I'm not so sure about (kidding), but USMA is just one commissioning source of many. In fact, all the service academies exhibit a degree of royalty and privilege antithetical to the American ideal. Generals tend to send their sons and daughters there (and somehow, generals sons and daughter seem to all get admitted), and then they get preference in assignments that get them on the path that, years later, lead them to the upper echelons of the company. It would be interesting to see what percentage of today's generals are the progeny of yesterday's general officers and how many went to the academy. It bet the correlation is pretty solid. USNA is largely the same.

USMA vs USNA is a football game between two colleges. Interesting, but I do not over-romanticize the service academies. Cadets at VMI and the Citadel live the same demanding lifestyle and get less privileges.

Given a choice between beating Navy or beating the enemies of the republic, I'll take the enemies of the republic even if it means USMA never wins another Army-Navy game.

Honestly I found the dumbest officers to be from the academy in my experience. The ones that went the ROTC or OCS usually had a better understanding of how to lead enlisted men and women more effectively. So I really never got to fascination with cheering for one’s branch in a badly played football game.

Note: I know there is a long line of respected and famous academy officers and very few by comparison alternative commissioned officers. I’m just speaking from MY experiences with the academy types I’ve encountered.

 

[Tidewater]

Honestly I found the dumbest officers to be from the academy in my experience. The ones that went the ROTC or OCS usually had a better understanding of how to lead enlisted men and women more effectively. So I really never got to fascination with cheering for one’s branch in a badly played football game.

You know who I would rather cheer for? The staff sergeant in the maintenance hangar with five airman turning wrenches on Thursday evening at 1900 so they can finish the job and finally go home. The infantry private with icicles dangling from his canteen cover on a readiness exercise at Fort A. P. Hill in December. The aviation maintenance team, fixing helicopters on the apron in Djibouti when the temperature in the sun is 140. The petty officer steering a destroyer in the North Atlantic in a bad storm. Those guys deserve to be cheered for, but they never get that treatment. That is the heart and soul of the Army, Navy, Air Force and USMC.
I have a hard time getting too enthusiastic about a football game between college students.

The best officers I served with were graduates of UGA, Oklahoma, OCS, USMA, Ohio State. A mixed bag.

 

[Padreruf]

You know who I would rather cheer for? The staff sergeant in the maintenance hangar with five airman turning wrenches on Thursday evening at 1900 so they can finish the job and finally go home. The infantry private with icicles dangling from his canteen cover on a readiness exercise at Fort A. P. Hill in December. The aviation maintenance team, fixing helicopters on the apron in Djibouti when the temperature in the sun is 140. The petty officer steering a destroyer in the North Atlantic in a bad storm. Those guys deserve to be cheered for, but they never get that treatment. That is the heart and soul of the Army, Navy, Air Force and USMC.
I have a hard time getting too enthusiastic about a football game between college students.

The best officers I served with were graduates of UGA, Oklahoma, OCS, USMA, Ohio State. A mixed bag.

I nominate this for post of the year...except for the last paragraph....

 

[Tidewater]

Here is an excellent example of wartime propaganda. (I am not saying it is all false. In fact, if it is all true, I'd be very happy).

Note some of the tricks.
English spoken with an American accent. That choice is not accidental.
The audio says that maritime insurance has become 60% more expensive for ships heading to Crimea, while the news article shown (briefly) says insurance in the Straits of Hormuz is becoming more expensive.
Next, the story cites the Telegram channel of ATESH,. ATESH is the Crimean Tatar resistance movement inside Crimea. Very difficult to verify any information from a resistance movement. It could be true, but we do not know.
Ukrainian advances near Orokhiv, but Orikhiv was liberated back in 2023 and has been in Ukrainian hands since. Then the story reports that the Ukrainian forces have liberated two villages, but the story they show on the screen that Russian forces claim to have taken the villages.

The bottom line is let the listener beware.
I hope all the good things in that video are true and that the Russian forces are starting to crack, but I suspect that this was produced by the Ukrainian MOD (or SBU) to influence the American public to pressure Trump to put pressure on Putin by ramping up aid to Ukraine for Putin's intransigence.