We remember those who died in uniform this Memorial Day.
A complete lack of any kind of sense of urgency to do better. I'm hoping that assessment doesn't apply to America.
Are aerial dog fights over? We thought that before and were wrong. But that assumption drove the design of the F-35. The assumption may be correct for now. Although it will be a long time before non-stealth planes are the majority of even our fleet. And the chaos of war probably means it will still happen. (But will it be significant?) Still, even if true for the big planes, dog fights might continue with small drones in the "brown skies" over front-line small combat units, as I explored in Army magazine.
Because of natural gas and other resources: "At least 24 countries have sent soldiers to support Mozambique in its fight against insurgents in northern Cabo Delgado province." I predict corrupt Mozambique will be worse off as a result of their riches.
As I've said, I'm conflicted over military orders requiring Covid vaccines. And a Navy separation board has agreed with one aspect of my concern: the order was not a lawful order.
Famine? I'm sure our government will make a major effort to identify the correct pronoun for each and every starving or hungry human. Via Instapundit.
Huh: "Iran's hard-line president vowed revenge on Monday over the killing of a senior Revolutionary Guard member gunned down in the heart of Tehran the day before, a still-mysterious attack on the country's powerful paramilitary force." Is the killing a one off or the tip of the iceberg of intent and capabilities? Even if the former, could such killings be a spark that ignites the latter?
Iran relies on surface-to-surface missiles to make up for a weak conventional army. Is Iran learning lessons from Russia's missile use against Ukraine? One lesson should be that an enemy would have no problem bombing a much smaller Iran to retaliate and go after Iran's missiles. Still, they could damage Gulf Arab oil facilities before Iran' oil industry is destroyed.
Russians are feeling the pain of war. And that doesn't count knowledge of the deaths of their sons in the war.
I mentioned this good news last week, I think: "Ukraine has sown crops on 11.84 million hectares, or 82.2% of the 14.4-million-hectare area planned for this spring[.]" Ukraine's Black Sea ports are captured or blocked. But the harvests had to be sent by rail to those ports. Why can't railroads send crops to other ports outside of Ukraine? This would be a major change to patterns and so difficult to carry out. And I assume rail width changes at the border. But shouldn't this be a priority? Tip to Instapundit.
Too many government officials believe only doing the jobs they are paid to do is insufficient for their giant brains and vast skill sets. Via Instapundit.
Just more cannon fodder to defend the castles of the ruling elites.
I'll only really worry when it starts to return to Earth. Via Instapundit.
I admit I don't know what it is. But I know I want Guam to have it.
Oh FFS, the dramatic increase in Navy desertion is because the sailors dislike their work and so the Navy should make it easier to get out? Bad senior leadership is the root cause.
I know it is all the rage, but I actually assume Russia did it.
The opposite of smart bombs: "Technicians linked to the Syrian military’s infamous barrel bombs that have wreaked devastation across much of the country have been deployed to Russia to help potentially prepare for a similar campaign in the Ukraine war, European officials believe." Is this from the desire for terror or a lack of conventional bombs? I'm guessing former, but who knows? Although Ukrainian air defenses might make Russian losses in helicopters too high to endure. Via Instapundit.
Last week I mentioned that Russia shoveled some BS, with a promise to create new units to confront Finland and Sweden who are joining NATO. Remember, 7 years ago the Russians created armies to pose invasion threats in the west. Yet today Russia had problems coordinating multiple battalion tactical groups--and seems to be going down to combined arms companies. So, yeah, not getting worked up.
Good Lord, is Putin carrying out a massive slave raid on Ukraine? "Russia has forcibly taken 1.4 million Ukrainians to its territory, Kyiv's ombudsman for human rights Lyudmyla Denisova has said, according to the Interfax news agency."
Would an international naval force escort grain ships from Odessa to the Mediterranean Sea?
Iran has problems. But Iran has hope.
This certainly has military potential. But could it repel boarders?
Yes, I'd like a sense of urgency there: "The Defense Department of Defense has dithered as China builds ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles to attack Guam, America’s most important military base in the western Pacific."
The B-21 seems to be progressing just fine. It sure looks like a B-2. The B-21 looks like the B-2. Is it basically a modernized B-2? So a B-2.1? Air power is only a partial lane for me and I don't follow the B-21 issue that closely. So my comment is quite possibly way off base.
Blaming children is just Science! you haters.
Just when you think standard parliamentary systems produce nutball tiny parties that can wield tremendous influence, take a look at how Australia does it. As we criticize our Congressional system, remember it can always be worse. Some places in America do this sort of thing. God help us if it goes national.
The changing character of combined arms. A very interesting article. Combined arms rule despite changes in its character. I don't seek silver bullet weapons that win battles by themselves. Still, are massed precision missile salvos and defending against them the way to define future warfare? What happens when the precision missiles run out? Wargaming and experimentation is the way to evaluate the way forward. As long as it isn't pseudo-science. Do read it all.
Why is the FDA trying to starve American babies? The rules and the bureaucracy that enforce them are more important than the people the rules and organization are theoretically supposed to protect.
The woke socks in the jackboots, eh? Trudeau's ruthless suppression of protesters was shocking to me. I used to love visiting Canada. I don't know if I can go back with a clean conscience while this state of affairs continues. Via Instapundit.
"Find someone who loves you like John Kerry loves the Iran nuclear deal." Well sure. He's a reprehensible man.
I wonder if Russia's practice of having its troops wear white arm and leg bands to distinguish them from Ukrainian troops will backfire by essentially equipping every soldier with a white flag to surrender.
Xi had to destroy the economy in order to save the Chinese Communist Party? Maintaining CCP rule is the one one and only job. All else is secondary. Tip to Instapundit.
The Navy is considering donating 9 Littoral Combat Ships to South American navies. Why not first experiment with them as APDs to move Marine Littoral Regiment troops around the Pacific?
It's this kind of Russian attitude that gets me to momentarily want to grind Russia into dust: "Sergei Lavrov accused Western countries of espousing 'Russophobia'
since Moscow launched its 'special military operation' in Ukraine, which is how the Kremlin defines its invasion." #WhyRussiaCan'tHaveNiceThings
We're from the government and we're here to ... [checks notes] ... make things worse. Tip to Instapundit.
Regulations are a tax. And Biden added a lot. Via Instapundit.
The government shoveled refugees into planes at Kabul to pad numbers to pretend the Afghanistan skedaddle debacle was a glorious success. But who did we get out of Afghanistan? The government won't release information to answer that. Tip to Instapundit.
The view from China. Can Xi Jinping ride his record to a third term (and beyond, with even more power)? Remember, prosperity hasn't pushed China to abandon CCP autocratic rule--yet.
The quiet battle over high-tech Western components in Russian weapons.
If we are counting on our submarine force to be the last bastion of institutional competence while the rest of the Navy gets its shit together, we'd best pray the Chinese navy isn't nearly as good as its shiny ships portray: "More than two years of lax oversight from leadership on one of the U.S.
Navy’s most powerful submarines ultimately led to the grounding of the
attack boat on an uncharted, underwater seamount in the South China Sea,
according to an investigation into the Oct. 2 incident." This was in one of our elite submarines. And part of the problem was over-using the boat. This is another example of a broad Navy problem.
Is Russia ripe for a coup? Who knows? But if so, a replacement might want peace or a replacement might want to escalate and/or mobilize to defeat Ukraine. Would Putin's personally loyal National Guard fight for him? It certainly has an advantage because the army and airborne forces are committed to the war in Ukraine and have been decimated and demoralized. But then again, maybe the National Guard doesn't want to share the same fate. I don't pin much hope on a coup resolving this war to our satisfaction.
We're from the government and we're here to help.
Is the price of Turkey allowing Sweden and Finland into NATO the alliance's silence on this anti-Kurd operation? "Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday Ankara would soon launch new military operations along its southern borders to create 30-km deep safe zones to combat terrorist threats from these regions."
To the shores of A2/AD outposts to give the PLAN a taste of its own medicine.
I'm no expert, but is the utter failure more than two years after the Xi Jinping Virus pandemic hit the world of widespread vaccination to stop the virus because models rely on actual "vaccines" that prevent sickness? I don't get caught up in definitions wars, but our "vaccines" for Covid-19 aren't really traditional vaccines like the one for Polio. Has that simple fact confused us? I honestly don't know. But something is really flawed in our science on this.
Oh? "But as the Army continues reworking its force structure and doctrine in preparation for a potential large-scale conflict with an adversary like Russia, China or Iran, air cavalry doctrine and units are coming back into vogue." I have my doubts. But big, if true, of course. Perhaps integrated drones and long-range fires will enable the helicopters to achieve their missions and survive.
Rebuilding America's strategic minerals stockpile.
Russia's demographic decline. Is it reversible? Does it doom Russia to decline? And even if the answer to the first is "yes" or the latter is "no", if Russian rulers believe the answers are the reverse does it mean Russia will try to take people by invading countries to grow?
I basically don't recycle because I figured it was just an effort to make me feel guilty and to let some people who recycle feel superior to me. So bite me. Tip to Instapundit.
A good sign in the Middle East: "Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, visited Israel this week, a sign that Israel and Turkey may be on a path to reconciliation, after a decade of antagonism. However, Jerusalem has made it clear to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the expulsion of Hamas leaders from Turkish soil is a prerequisite for closer ties." Is this driven by mutual worry about Iran? Whatever the reason, it would be nice if Turkey was no longer NATO's problem child. But with Erdogan still in charge, I want to be careful about reconciliation.
America's birth rate edged up, the first increase in 7 years. Good. But one year is not a trend.
But somehow neither of them are inciting riots. Fascinating.
Artillery retains its title of king of battle in Ukraine.
Are aubrites remnants of mercury's outer layers? Tip to Instapundit.
The jihadi terror threat to America continues.
Libya is a failed state: "The clear lesson here is that someone will have to intervene to prevent the Islamic terrorists from gaining too much control over the country, or simply to stop the violence before the economy (oil industry) is destroyed. At the moment no one is stepping forward to intervene, mainly because it is an expensive and thankless job."
China prepares to go to war against Starlink: "China must acquire the capability to track, monitor, and, if required, kill all Starlink satellites in orbit around the Earth, reported SCMP, citing a study published last month." Waging war against a private company? Interesting. Has China considered that if Starlink has thousands of disrupted satellites in orbit that a significant number may be maneuverable and useful only on anti-satellite weapons to counter-attack Chinese space assets?
Navy sailor morale is shaky. So this makes sense in what alternative world? "The service has now approved 1,074 separations for sailors who will not get vaccinated against COVID-19 and do not have a waiver, according to the sea service’s weekly update." Getting rid of sailors who may be refusing to obey an unlawful order. Makes perfect sense.
The big guns of the Winter War of 2022. Ukraine started with plenty. So I assume Western guns are a big deal because of barrel wear and combat losses.
Well there's your problem right there! "In a country with a functioning media system, this would have been a huge story." Lock her up. And until then, ban her from social media platforms. Hasn't she done enough damage?
Well I'll be darned, there are neo-Nazis fighting in Ukraine.
Using an unknown number of suicide quadcopter drones, a "drone strike this week targeted a highly sensitive military site outside Tehran where Iran develops missile, nuclear and drone technology, according to three Iranians with knowledge of the attack and to a U.S. official." The target was at Parchin. The likely attacker rhymes with Sizreal.
It's a damned shame Seth Smith wasn't important to any of the people who decide what is and isn't a subject for a "national conversation." Tip to Instapundit.
There is a civil war over the mission of the Marine Corps: "The war is over Berger’s decision to overhaul the Corps to function as an adjunct of the Navy, focused primarily on anti-shipping operations against China." I'm not sure why there needs to be one. Let Pacific Marines support the Navy and let the Atlantic Marines retain the combined arms ground combat capabilities being abandoned in the Pacific.
The Army signed a contract to replace Stinger air defense missiles sent to Ukraine--by 2026. This is part of the $40+ billion package for Ukraine recently signed. Only part is for Ukraine directly.
To be fair, Kissinger plied his diplomatic trade in the era when our elites believed their job was to manage America's inevitable decline without too much damage: "In both [the Ukraine and Taiwan] cases, Kissinger believes it is in Washington’s interest to
accommodate its adversary. He’s arguing that America’s utmost concern
should be global stability, which requires accommodating the interests
of nations that want to shift the regional balance of power. In other
words, the stability of the former Soviet Union, including the political
survival of Putin, will stabilize the region and increase global
stability. Likewise, ceding Taiwan to China would stabilize the Western
Pacific and increase global stability." Kissinger's foundational belief was wrong then and wrong now.
We should be disturbed by this Moqtada al-Sadr-backed law: "The Biden administration says it is 'deeply disturbed' by a new Iraqi law that criminalizes a range of 'normalization' interactions with Israel." The battle against Iran inside Iraq continues.
At this point China's "Zero Covid" cure is worse than the disease: "[The West shows the virus can be managed.] But the Chinese government insists on maintaining policies that are unsustainable and have little grounding in science. In doing so, it has shown an increasing willingness to put China’s economy, and even its social stability, at risk." What do you expect from dictatorial control freaks? So much for "reasonably enlightened" rulers, eh? Couldn't happen to a nicer group of evil communist bastards. May the Chinese Communist Party pay a steep price for this assault on their subjects.
I watched the Ricky Gervais comedy special on Netflix. Honestly, it wasn't that good. It perhaps suffered from his time spent explaining Comedy 101 and reassuring the audience he wasn't a hater. Still, the willingness of Netflix to stiff-arm the woke Red Guards pulled Netflix back from the cusp of deciding my money is best spent elsewhere.
We're from the government and we're here to ... [checks notes] ... burn this whole place down. Via Instapundit.
This is a welcome idea for defending NATO: "There is increasing discussion of 'multinationality', of joint training and learning how to operate together." Although joint training and knowing how to operate together should have been an ongoing feature of the alliance.
Poland--long occupied by the Russians both before and after the Bolshevik Revolution--is leaning forward on helping Ukraine defeat Russia. With both Belarus and Ukraine under Russian control, Poland would get higher on Putin's list of imperial territory to recover.
I find this developing NATO attitude in the wake of Russia's initial stumbles in Ukraine dangerous: "the old paradigm used to be that NATO would mobilise in event of a
crisis. The emerging one is to strengthen national armed forces to be
prepared to defend every inch of NATO territory." Don't count on Russia being this awful in the future. NATO could pay a heavy price with that emerging paradigm.
