I post at The Dignified Rant: Evolved on Substack. Help me out by subscribing and by liking and sharing posts. I continue posting here on TDR seven days a week, including Weekend Data Dump and Winter War of 2022. I occasionally post short data dump-type items on my Substack "Notes" section.
In case you missed it on Substack: Starship Troopers.
In case you missed it on Substack: Don't Dismiss Russian Power.
In case you missed it on Substack: Fighter Drones!
In case you missed it on Substack: Negotiations For a US-China-Russia Strategic Nuclear Arms Deal Will Be Fascinating.
Canada will replace its aging frigates and now-retired destroyers with new destroyers.
Australia plans to invest in its ability to operate nuclear-powered attack submarines.
The Air National Guard gets F-35s. You want a place where retiring/exiting Air Force pilots can land. Reservist pilots often get really good over time.
The Army selected a contractor for its robotic combat vehicle.
Small drone recon gets a lot of credit for battlefield transparency. The American pause in intelligence from expensive planes, drones, and satellites demonstrates their value compared to the cheap assets.
Recalling my defense of the F-35. It does things cheap drones--or 4th generation fighters--can't do.
Russian drones. And peacetime America effs up Ukraine's wartime drone designs to comply with our peacetime procurement practices.
Via Instapundit, Saudi Arabia's fantasy city meets reality. I wasn't sure what to make of Neom.
Russia's military culture repeatedly leads to military failure. When it can't rely on mass and indifference to casualties, its problems become decisive.
How many of duty, honor, country is West Point hitting?
Good: "The Trump administration has revoked a sanctions waiver that allowed Iraq to buy gas and electricity from Iran[.]" But this must be part of supporting Iraq against Iran in Phase IX of the Iraq War.
No! No! No! "The United States remains an ally for Europe, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen insisted on Sunday[.]" America is allied with sovereign European states via NATO--not with "Europe", which means the proto-imperial EU.
Twelve years ago, the KC-46 refueling tanker/cargo plane was one of three Air Force modernization priorities. So how's the KC-46 going?
Iraq's plan to be a transportation hub rather than relying on oil exports. Protecting the routes from terrorism, extortion, and corruption will be a major problem. I suspect Iran would use it to sustain proxies.
The (so far) low level organized terrorism in America. Tip to Instapundit.
The first stage of the "accident-coincidence-enemy action" continuum? "A cargo ship hit a tanker carrying jet fuel for the U.S. military off eastern England on Monday, setting both vessels ablaze and sending fuel pouring into the North Sea."
It didn't work out, but I give the Russians credit for thinking of this infiltration method.
Ukraine launched a huge wave of suicide drones into Russia. A reminder that Russia would benefit from a Ukrainian proposal for a ceasefire on strategic attacks from the air and in the Black Sea.
I support Musk's efforts to slash waste and abuse from the federal budget and put humanity into space. But I strongly disagree with his call for America to withdraw from NATO. Europe is our Atlantic shield.
The HTS-led government has a deal with the Kurds to unify. How deep does unification go? Sure, it may help keep Turkey off the Kurds' backs given Turkey backs HTS. But it doesn't seem wise to rely on others for ultimate security.
The Internet of Things is infiltrated by Chinese chips that enable Bluetooth and WiFi connections. Over a billion units as of 2023. Tip to Instapundit.
Should MAGA conservatives "embrace" a stronger Europe? If "Europe" means the European Union, then Hell no. Don't be suckers for the EU ploy. That would undermine Vance's warnings to Europeans about their eroding freedom.
Will Iran lose its influence in Iraq as an effect of its 2024 defeats? That won't be as likely if America doesn't wage Phase IX of the Iraq War against Iran.
China is building legal justifications for invading Taiwan. That's old news. In retrospect we should have recognized Taiwan's independence in 1996.
Iran already effectively has nuclear weapons. It might be much worse.
My hope is that DOGE can slash waste in the huge defense budget with new methods that overcome bureaucratic evasion. What BS in there supports our meeting of the NATO defense spending target? We need better defense but simply pushing more money into the bureaucracy is unaffordable now.
CDR Salamander brings some attention to the UAE at the southern exit from the Red Sea. Endorsed.
France's state-owned media says it is natural to compare Trump to Hitler. We know that is nonsense because if Trump was like Hitler, the French would love Trump. Tip to PJ Media.
As a rule I don't like tariffs. I like being competitive. But using them as tools to equalize tariffs is fine. Even higher tariffs that "protect" key American industries or sectors should be temporary to allow those industries or sectors to become competitive. Otherwise, protected industries get fat and lazy--and fail.
Still not the poster child for revising "colonial" borders: "The United States has ordered all its non-emergency staff in South Sudan to leave, amid rising tensions in the country."
I don't want Russia to conquer that: "Ukraine has deposits containing 22 of 34 critical minerals identified by the European Union as essential for energy security.
The U.S. continues to participate in NATO exercises despite "media reports."
Germany is rearming but personnel shortages remain.
Rebuilding World War II Pacific island runways. Yes!
China's dominance of the global shipbuilding industry is a national security risk.
They should be taught to see green soldiers, only. I don't understand how it is a free speech issue. I didn't have free speech while in uniform. And my career limited my free speech.
Would Iran mining the Strait of Hormuz cut off Iranian as well as Gulf Arab state oil exports? I thought Iran was building export facilities outside of the strait. And the Gulf states have some capacity to bypass the strait, But yeah, it would overall be an economic doomsday device.
Iranians are growing weary of their economically advantaged clerical class.
Congo and Nigeria flail in misery.
China is preparing to invade Taiwan, including drafting civilian assets and stockpiling to outlast American-led sanctions or a blockade. Using all its assets, I think China can throw an army across the Taiwan Strait. And once ashore, who will remove it?
The Army is the backbone of the joint force in INDOPACOM, citing the Guadalcanal campaign. Okay, it's true that Army logistics for all services is a core capability. But I wondered in Military Review if the Army is the backbone of land power there? And yeah, I wrote about Guadalcanal, too.
The Marines to get small armed reconnaissance boats.
My philosophy on our ... militarily problematic ... ally, Canada, is to speak softly and beat Trudeau with a stealth stick.
American B-52s dropping JDAMs on a target range while escorted by Finnish F-18s was a warning to Russian bases not far from the border. Indeed.
While I worry CONUS is no longer a sanctuary, Britain hasn't been a sanctuary since Zeppelins bombed the island.
The Houthi remind us they exist and have missiles.
The Dutch navy is putting Tomahawk cruise missiles in their arsenal. That could come in handy. Many years ago the Dutch contemplated getting the missiles but didn't follow through. I had wrongly assumed they bought them.
Not your grandfather's barrage balloons.
Reducing the load infantry must carry is the Army's goal. And always will be.
Until small drone design matures, stockpiling them in peacetime is futile because they need to be updated frequently.
The sometimes controversial modern naming practices for American ships and subs.
Is America fortifying the Western Hemisphere as a foundation for American power projection? We've done that with North America, more narrowly. Is our objective broader and deeper? Are we seeing the dawn of the Age of SOUTHCOM?
The illegal immigration flow is drying up from the border to the Darien Gap (via Instapundit) without the "comprehensive immigration 'reform'" that so many falsely claimed was necessary to achieve. Border defense is a foundation of our national security. Not having that security was a choice.
Every time I see a European story that claims American democracy is under threat now, I want to tell Europeans "good luck on your own." But then I restrain my anger and remember that's what the Euro elites want.
Russia put nuclear missiles in Belarus (although do they really have nuclear warheads?); and now Poland asks America to deploy nukes to Poland.
As if a mission from Allah can have a deadline! "Syria’s interim president on Thursday signed a temporary constitution that leaves the country under Islamist rule while promising to protect the rights of all Syrians for five years during a transitional phase."
American and allied artillery needs assets to keep enemies from degrading its GPS-guided shells.
Non-American NATO allies get a bigger role in the alliance's annual Allied Spirit exercise.
Report to Congress on the designation of the Houthi as a foreign terrorist organization. The Houthi backer, Iran, is the real source of the problem, of course.
Notwithstanding being poor: "Pakistan is one of the top ten military powers on the planet and the only Moslem majority country with nuclear weapons. Pakistan’s primary foe is India, which has more than six times the population and a much stronger economy and military[.]"
Reviewing Chinese technology. Be careful. Don't panic.
Can HTS build a national army? Well, with a Sunni majority and cooperative Kurds, it would be close enough. Then the Alawites, Druze, and dwindling Christians may not matter.
Arguing that Trump is loyal to formal and unofficial allies--like Taiwan, Israel, NATO, and Ukraine--as long as they are a provider and not just a consumer of alliance security. Like I said some time ago.
The rise and fall of NATO? With maps and a chart. I think NATO still has a (revised) role in American national security.
NATO wants its members to provide more capabilities rather than only relying on numbers and spending goals. In Army magazine I proposed one means of getting ground capabilities.
More on China's "invasion barge", including photos. The capability adds more grains of sand that add up to a beachhead on Taiwan.
The EU defense proposal is just a means to increase EU power through debt sharing. Please don't tell me you are shocked.
I suspect Trudeau wants a (perfectly safe) foreign "war" to rally voters behind his party.
Iceland has long been important to NATO given that it sits in the middle of the G-I-UK Gap. And important to block threats crossing the Atlantic to America.
Will Ethiopia go to war (again) with Eritrea? The Horn region seems tense.
America is not turning away from the defense of the NATO Baltic States. America is demanding that our NATO allies stand at our side rather than behind us. The Baltic States are doing that.
Hybrid war against the West. The main feature is that the West can decline to confront the subliminal wars by declining to admit it. But that seems to be changing.
Turkey builds a navy. How far will it extend its reach in former Ottoman Empire waters?
The U.S. has filled the vacuum left by Russia's military retreat in Syria in the anti-ISIL fight. Is this a new role or is it knocking ISIL back to get a "decent interval" after withdrawing?
I think Russia has constructed a facade of confidence over its invasion of Ukraine. Is Russia's oil industry the most important Potemkin Village in that false bravado?
Georgia bravely resisted Russia's 2008 invasion with substantial American help. But now Russian influence operations seem to be eroding the will to resist Russian domination.
Russia wants to build a pretext to take the Svalbard archipelago from Norway. I wonder if the 340 Russian residents in their settlements are all military-age males with short hair?
Accumulating pain: "The cost of the Ukraine War and the subsequent economic sanctions have imposed strains on Russia’s economy."
The Axis of Mayhem benefits from the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. Could North Korea sell nuclear missiles to Iran via the route?
Some fear Israel's air strike in the West Bank could make it the next Gaza. Perhaps Palestinians should learn that lesson right now rather than die for Iran, eh?
Zelensky maneuvers to make sure Putin is ID'd as the perp who killed the peace initiative: "Right now, we have a good chance to end this war quickly and secure peace."
Comment behavior amuses me. On Substack I commented on some issue on another author's page. Someone attacked me. It was really stupid, so I didn't defend myself. He attacked again, bigger and stupider. It was obvious he was trolling for hits on his page. I did not cooperate. I'm just not that insecure.
