Canada's military is unready for war. Don't be silly, it is fully capable of taking on existential threats such as peacefully protesting Canadian truckers.
New and safer Navy uniforms. And the merciful death of aquaflage.
The B-52 evolves to the B-52K on the way to a century of service. With a digression into AMARC.
Iranian protests continue, with explosions and gunfire in a Kurdish city in western Iran. There may be 185 or more killed so far.
It does seem clear that the Democratic-Media Complex has accepted that Biden must go.
Our troops in Syria were hit with a harassing rocket. No injuries or damage. Single-rocket 107mm launchers are made for this rather than for battle.
Obama was right: "On issue after issue, the instructions that Biden gave at the outset of his presidency have made America less prosperous, less independent, and less secure."
Is Belarus thinking of joining Putin's war? Or just saying words to avoid joining the war? I guess it depends on whether Lukashenko thinks his fate is completely tied to Putin's fate.
The Pentagon said of Russia's precision missiles, "'they’re still launching a lot of missiles,' but Russia was experiencing 'a significant amount of [missile] failure' including 'failure to actually launch or failure to hit the target.'" Russian pre-war boasts have proven incorrect. Naturally.
Army modernization priorities.
BAE may reopen the production line for the M777 155mm howitzer. While mostly to supply Ukraine, BAE could capitalize on its positive media coverage to sell it more widely, too.
Firing tactical nukes wouldn't help Russia much if the objective is winning on the battlefield. Unless using them compels Ukraine to surrender, the non-battlefield blowback around the world and within Russia's power structure could be more damaging to Russia or Putin.
President Biden alters drone usage guidance to ensure that jihadis keep civilians close to them. That's the effect and it is silly to deny it. Plus LBJ's micromanagement of military operations. God help us.
Somebody sabotaged Germany's trains and left some routes out of service for three hours. Tip to Instapundit.
White Democrats supporting "defund the police" policies in cities don't even think about minorities who suffer from lack of police protection, all to ease their feelings of guilt. Even when the white Democrats suffer from lack of police protection, too. Via Instapundit.
Lukashenko said a thousand Russian troops will deploy to Belarus to help guard Belarus. From imaginary Ukrainian invasion plans, or something. Probably to make up for Belarus donations of weapons to Russia, I imagine.
As Russia flails in Ukraine and demonstrates how much it wants former Soviet territory back, ex-Soviet countries that count on Russia for protection are looking for alternative protectors (via Instapundit). That seems like a serious problem for Russia.
Well isn't that all kinds of interesting: "The Iran oil industry — the Mullah regime’s chief source of income — faces potentially crippling strikes as workers join in the nationwide protest against the regime."
Ukraine says Belarus will send ammunition and supplies to Russia; and that "Russian leadership is negotiating with other countries for the procurement of further artillery shells, mortar shells, and components for rocket launcher systems."
I read stories that Europe is ready for winter and stories that energy shortages loom. This is one of the latter. Although even that article relies on not using back-up coal-fired electric plants. Tip to Instapundit.
If existing insurgencies join up with Iranian protests, that will be interesting. Iranian security is not preventing the resistance from growing, with signs that the regime bully boys aren't as reliable. Iran is a rump empire of a lot of non-Persians within its borders. Significantly, Islamic faith itself is faltering under mullah rule. Is the regime faltering? The mullah regime has suppressed past protest movements. The safest bet is that the regime will do so again. Events tend to continue on the same course--until they don't. Even if this isn't the moment. But I have no idea.
I hope that Russian attacks on Ukraine's electricity grid alarm us enough to make sure we have the replacement equipment to restore our own grid if damaged. Whether from enemies or natural causes.
The Ukrainian "thunder runs" that spearheaded the Kharkov front offensives a month ago. I thought this was old stuff, including the Soviet "operational maneuver groups" (if memory serves me) that any level of formation was supposed to send deep through enemy lines. And the idea of bypassing resistance is hardly new. I mean, doing it is harder than planning it. So all due respect.
Tulsi Gabbard left the Democratic Party. Great. But conservatives who hail her resistance to the Democratic Party will eventually discover her views that make her a RINO if she aligns with Republicans.
I'm calling BS on this take: "President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw some US troops from an area they had been operating in since 2014 led to an invasion by Ankara." Turkey was going to invade. What America did was decide not to trigger a war with NATO ally Turkey--no matter how shaky that alliance is under Erdogan.
Here we go: "General Dynamics Land Systems will start manufacturing in November the
U.S. Army’s Mobile Protected Firepower system, the first new combat
vehicle to enter the force in nearly four decades." All hail the FBOH!
Notwithstanding Ukraine war tensions, American and Russian forces had a calm and cordial encounter in Syria. I don't excessively worry about Russian-American war. We were grownups in past wars where we supported or even fought on opposite sides. The rhetoric is meant to deter and not signal looming war. That said, shit occasionally happens.
I remember when Trump being wrong or even disagreeing with Democrats made him a "liar". But Biden is a "storyteller" who "spins yarns", and "President Biden has been unable to break himself of the habit of embellishing narratives to weave a political identity." I look forward to one of those "embellishment-a-day" calendars! But alas, all the media "fact checkers" learned to code after Biden was sworn in.
Collateral damage in the quest for Putin's glory.
Iran's efforts to suppress protesters in Iran's Kurdish region ramped up.
The Army is trying to stay out of the "culture wars" and the right is blamed? FFS, the Army seems to have joined the culture war on the side of the people on the left who hate the military (I mean, really?) and would replace it with Peace Corps volunteers if they could. But they'll settle for making the Army incapable of fighting. Yet somehow the people on the right who want an effective military are at fault.
The West has been slow to provide Ukraine with tanks. But Russia stepped up in a big way.
The ISW also has updates on Iran coming out now.
The Army is not abandoning tanks and armored vehicles. But you know what I think of our new light tanks.
The Army's six objectives over the next decade: persistent surveillance at ranges greater than the enemy, at all echelons; converge dispersed and concealed forces to strike the enemy; win the fires fight with precision and range (including electronic and cyber); protect the shooters; a communications/data network; and protracted logistics, including post-combat operations, for itself and other services.
The German IRIS-T and Norwegian NASAM air defense systems.
Russia and China have little "soft power" appeal? I don't know about that. Russia seems to attract some Western conservatives who see him as defending traditional values. And China has famously inspired some liberals who have swooned over being "China for a day" on Green policies. Neither appeal to me. But I'm not so focused on a narrow range of issues that I can ignore or celebrate the broader oppression and aggression. But I'm not everyone. Tip to Instapundit.
Even if Lukashenko is interested in joining the war, Belarus has a poor military that would be unlikely to have a decisive effect. Belarus is more important to Russia for geography and as a source of weapons and ammunition. And who protects Lukashenko if his army is decimated?
Last week I mentioned AbramsX. It's a technology demonstrator rather than a proposed model.
I hope there is robust overwatch to keep enemies from capturing them: "The United States and its allies want a force of 100 unmanned surface vessels patrolling waters from the Red Sea into the Persian Gulf by next summer, the commander of U.S. 5th Fleet said on Tuesday."
Protests aren't massive yet, but are spreading to areas traditionally supportive of the mullah regime: "Evidence is accumulating that protests in Iran, now in their fourth week, may be seriously undermining the regime." This will make it harder for the Biden administration to save the mullah regime.
After Saudi Arabia refused Biden's request to increase oil production, the U.S. will continue to evaluate the relationship. I'd say the Saudis already did some evaluating after Biden demonized the Saudi government, undermined its war against Iran in Yemen, and seeks a new deal with Iran that opens up trade and paves the way for mullah nukes. The Saudis reached out to China decades ago as a hedge. The Saudis might also want nukes if it thinks America won't back them. The Saudis aren't very pleasant. But let's be adults. They could be worse.
Partisan and corrupt. Civil servants, indeed.
As much as I think Belarus won't join Putin's war, could Putin pressure Lukashenko into falling in line by threatening to replace Lukashenko with a coup?
A Stryker brigade rotated into South Korea to replace an armored brigade. The latter left its equipment in South Korea, if memory serves me.
Without a NATO-like organization in Asia, the Army is exercising with a number of Asian militaries to increase the ability to operate together. It includes using the first "mobile National Combat Training Center." Good. Army SFAB's are involved. My view of Army large-scale combat operations in Asia to thwart China is mostly at the side of larger local armies, as I outlined in Military Review.
Explain to me again how only white men can be racists. LOL.
Question: If Biden is justified in punishing Saudi Arabia for refusing to increase energy production when it can, would Europe be justified in punishing America for refusing to increase energy production when we can?
This is the second time I've read that Russian casualties are actually higher than we think. Which means Russia's people aren't as casualty averse as I believed. I'm not comfortable defending my position by saying the Russians don't know their casualties. They must know enough. Unless Putin falls, I'm just wrong. But even if he does fall, I thought public aversion to casualties would deter Russian leaders from starting a war. Although Putin thought he was launching a military parade--which unexpectedly became a war. I suppose that's an excuse, too.
Why I always say "check the definitions section." The media and their Democratic allies knew exactly what the definitions were. But didn't care. Hey, it worked, didn't it? Total douche bag.
The failure of Russia's battalion tactical groups. Two per brigade, one with contract soldiers and one with conscripts, for a total of 170. I was never impressed.
Question: if Trump was guilty of "quid pro quo" for delaying weapons to Ukraine to pressure them for information on Biden corruption, isn't Biden guilty of the same for trying to get the Saudis to increase oil production or at least (via Instapundit) delay reductions until after the election? With Biden threatening consequences to the Saudis for not going along? I don't think either are illegal just because they'd help the president. Everything helps or hurts the president. Still, the media flip is fascinating, no?
I'll ask again, does Russia want to risk exposing their nuclear weapons as problem-ridden as their conventional forces by using a nuke against Ukraine? "Officially Russia ceased to consider Chinese ground forces a threat, as Russian nuclear weapons are supposed to stop a Chinese ground assault. ... Low troop morale remained a problem. It was not surprising that the government gave priority to keeping nuclear weapons, and the missiles that deliver them, in good shape." Before invading Ukraine, the Russian government thought a lot of things they paid for existed.
Russia's order to mobilize civilians (and drive many abroad to avoid serving) is exacerbating the effects of Western sanctions. The Fuck-Up Fairy has been busy.
I see the climate faithful will begin their children's crusade in 2023. Sorry, Greta. You got too old. Buh bye. Now go and emit no more.
Government corruption will wreck a government and then a country. In Mexico, of course. What did you think I was talking about?
Ukrainian eggs and green omelets (via Instapundit): "Politico argues that the war in Ukraine has been great for the environment because it 'forced Europe to finally break its fossil fuel addiction' and helped speed up the continent's 'green revolution.'" But let's not pretend this is the first time leftists have been happy to sacrifice Ukraine on the Green altar. Just ... fuck them.
NORAD isn't really equipped to protect us from cruise missile attacks. We're no longer a sanctuary, you know.
The Army wants a layered defense against massed aerial drone assaults. I think that must include fighter drones to shoot them down, as I proposed in Army magazine.
Ukraine could win. It needs Western weapons to do so. Ukraine could win on the battlefield. And I don't assume it will take a couple more years. It could. But armies can break.
So, our vaunted public health bureaucracy is unprepared for a cholera epidemic. Well, participating in some random "social justice" protest movement will clear that right up.
Don't get your hopes up: "The Iran nuclear deal is 'not our focus right now,' US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Wednesday, noting the administration was instead focusing on supporting the protesters in Iran as efforts to restore the nuclear deal have hit yet another impasse." The problem is that the Iranians are busy suppressing dissent. Biden will patiently wait.
Wake-up call: "The United States is set to face a raft of consequences if urgent measures are not taken to expand its production capacity for military munitions." Yes. And for allies who rely on America need to stop relying on American resupply.
Well: "The US military’s joint command for defending the homeland is not adequately postured to rapidly launch operations in the Arctic should it need to meet ever-increasing threats from Russia and China, according to the chief of Northern Command." One, if we can't cut China off from reaching the Arctic we have bigger military problems. But two, POLARCOM?
A large group of European NATO countries--and Finland--intend to cooperate on air defense. Good. Strengthening NATO is better than European Union strategic autonomy.
The Palestinian "president" told Putin he doesn't trust America as a peace partner. That's okay. The Palestinian rulers don't want peace any more than Putin does. They're both just upset the Palestinians are no longer the queen of the victim prom.
Russia is kidnapping Ukrainian children to raise them as Russians. Monsters.
Costa Rica doesn't have a military. Just police. But most countries that have formal armies really just have guys in uniform capable of fighting poorly armed civilians only. Costa Rica just made it formal.
Perhaps Dr. Oz shouldn't be running for the Senate in Pennsylvania because he recently lived in neighboring New Jersey. That's for the voters to decide. I'll just say that Hillary!'s journey from Arkansas to a New York Senate seat logged a lot more miles.
If Iran has supplied Russia with perhaps thousands of Shahed-136 suicide drones, just what kind of assault on Arab oil facilities would Iran like to wage?
Unless the Russian army is in way better condition than I think, I believe this author's claim that Ukraine can't successfully conduct a winter offensive is wrong. I don't know the scale of it. It would likely be on a narrow portion of the front. And it assumes the West provides Ukraine with winter clothing and gear. But I think Ukraine should not allow the Russians time to recover morale and capacity over the winter.
Is a second Iranian revolution gathering pace? I'd like it to be true. But it has not come true many times since the first revolution despite my hopes. Inertia is strong. Until it isn't.
Via Instapundit, "Average scores on the ACT college admissions test dropped to their
lowest in 30 years, revealing more evidence of the pandemic's alarming
impact on American education." For many employers there will be an asterisk when judging college grads admitted to college during and after the pandemic. I remain grateful that my son and even daughter--who got early admission before the Xi Jinping Flu hit--got in on full merit without that damning footnote.
Saudi Arabia is a highly flawed ally, but it is so clear (tip to Instapundit) that Democrats prefer the hideous Iran as a partner. Also, I'm not sure how much military "aid" we provide as opposed to the Saudis buying our weapons.
SpaceX can't afford to pay for Starlink communications for Ukraine any more and would like American support. Ideally, Europeans and others who can't provide the scale of weaponry and ammo that America can step up to this job.
Russian soldiers may be exhausted and demoralized, but Ukrainian soldiers are also exhausted. I wonder if we are helping Ukraine count actual days in combat for their troops. That is the way to measure exhaustion and PTSD onset rather than simply how long they have been in the military at war. Otherwise every American soldier would have gotten PTSD well before their first tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan was over.
The Army wants to get back into the navy game.
The Army is pursuing a long-range air assault craft.
The Ketch Strait bridge will not be repaired for a while. If military road traffic is prioritized I'm not sure this is critical for supplying Russian forces in southern Ukraine at an adequate level. I doubt they needed 24/7 road and rail bridge traffic to sustain their needs. The effect on civilians in Crimea is another issue.
So, I think the technical term for these people is "assholes." How are these "Western" barbarians different from these Taliban barbarians?
I'm not happy that Trump seemingly "ordered" a complete evacuation from Afghanistan after he lost the election. I thought his plan was to leave some support troops there. I wasn't happy with even that. But it doesn't even sound like he really issued an "order." And even if true, would it have been worse than what actually happened? At least on Trump's purported timetable during the winter the Taliban would not have had the planning time or good weather to exploit our withdrawal in the summer of 2021. And funny that our military leadership resisted Trump out of honor yet went ahead under worse circumstances less than a year later. Honor, indeed.
Is the Chinese Communist Party losing control of the media? If so, does it matter if the CCP still controls the secret police, police, and army? It would be more interesting if the media was fragmenting between Xi and rivals. Perhaps their media coverage of the National Party Congress that is supposed to extend Xi's rule will be interesting.
Okay, one more. LOL!
Russia's mobilization will end to allow the delayed fall conscription to go forward. Are the mobilization troops intended to buy time on the front to allow the conscript troops to be trained? Will the conscripts appreciate the legal change that allows them to be sent to fight in Russia's conquered territories in Ukraine?
I don't believe we are on the brink of nuclear war. If that means nukes flying both ways. I assume General Milley is in contact with the Russians to reassure them that we won't use nukes. And I doubt Putin will launch any at Ukraine. Perhaps he'll detonate a small one in the Sea of Azov for the headlines.
Will China be more cautious about invading Taiwan from the Ukraine example and recognized problems with using so many civilian ships for an invasion of Taiwan? Unless special forces capture the ports on H-Hour minus 4 and China can throw an air defense bubble over the ports?
Iranian protests over the murder of Mahsa Amini in the hands of regime morality police are not subsiding. “Bloody Friday” for the minority Baluchi in mullah-run Iran two weeks ago. If all the non-Persians join the angry Persians, will the mullahs have enough bully boys willing to slaughter civilians to keep the regime in power?
Another round of American military aid for Ukraine, seemingly mostly ammunition.
This article says the Russians are pulling old T-62s out of storage. But other than repeating an early war case of 30 being sent to the front in the south, offers no new usage of them. So I don't think it is true.
I assume that UFO incidents with American warships off the American coast are secret drone tests, perhaps by DARPA. And overseas? We have enemies, you know. So no need to call Scully and Mulder.
NATO countries have promised weapons in response to Ukraine's request for modern air defense systems.
I don't even like Greenwald's general politics, but he is spot on with the media issue. But they've long had my contempt.
Always check the "definitions" section when our moral superiors lecture us.
When will Shamilton go from video to the must see stage play for Democrats to see?
I find it amazing that the Russian state is apparently this weak: "The Wagner Group Private Military Company is likely continuing efforts to assert its supremacy over the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) and conventional Russian ground forces." WTF?
Elon Musk announced he will continue to provide Starlink service to Ukraine for free.
I wonder if the deployment of 9,000 Russian troops to Belarus is Putin's payment for Belarus military equipment. If so, that must be a coveted assignment in the Russian army.
I'm not sure how we negotiate an end of the Winter War of 2022 given that Russia has annexed the four Ukrainian provinces it holds parts of. Will Putin really reverse that? Can he without being driven out?
The Army's new light tank can fight immediately upon rolling off the transport plane (via Instapundit)! If I may be so bold, if we have to fight our way down the ramp we shouldn't be there. And as if the Air Force considers moving FBOHs a priority! But other than that little problem, the MPF concept is insane. Perhaps some nice OPFOR units at the National Training Center will end any delusions about it.
