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.
China creates anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) zones off their coast. America and Taiwan create them inside China. Well, China has options.
In case you missed it on Substack: Russia Wages War on the West.
In case you missed it on Substack: Subcontracting SLOC Security.
In case you missed it on Substack: Putin Eases Into the New Belgium.
In case you missed it on Substack: Will Old Designs Inspire a New Tank?
Undersea drones for America's four aging SSGNs. But new Virginia SSNs are getting VLS cells. And if money and interest is there, I imagine future Columbia SSBNs converted to SSGNs could be built.
Britain to produce 5,000 LMM for Ukraine. They can hit different types of targets, including UAVs. But they are not air defense missiles.
Look, it's a good thing that military regional unified command commanders who are authorized to kill terrorists don't have the Oval Office micromanaging their operations. We're at war with them or we aren't, eh?
"China’s Defense Ministry spox warns Taiwan: 'We will come and get you, sooner or later.'" It's almost as if China is determined to conquer their most core of core interests.
Japan is creating its own A2/AD line in the sea on Yonaguni Island near Taiwan.
If a retired PLA senior colonel inside China is saying to The Guardian that Trump is weakening Taiwan's resolve to resist China, I think it is safe to say it is the opposite.
Russia moves nukes into Belarus and threatens to strike Britain. America will move nukes back to Britain.
The Air Force will look at landing pads in the Pacific to test their Rocket Cargo program. FFS. Peak Stupid is on a ballistic arc.
The U.S. is looking at Black Sea experience to guide integrating unmanned sea vessels with manned ships. Good. Just don't throw panties at the USVs.
Air Force F-16s could get Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The more, the merrier.
The U.S. should not legally recognize Russia's conquest of Ukrainian territory. Correct. America never recognized the Soviet conquest of the Baltic States, recall. Which that author correctly notes.
Could China build A2/AD bases in the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea to threaten American shipping and ports? Time for The SOUTHCOM Queen?
The U.S. chopped apart a top al Qaeda-affiliated leader in northwest Syria.
Was firing CJCS Brown "misguided"? The author doesn't think Caine has the experience. Hmmm. Remember, the CJCS is the president's top military advisor. It isn't a command position for combat or for reforming the Pentagon.
Expanding American fossil fuels exports to Europe should help Europeans scale back financing Russia's war on Ukraine, no? Via Instapundit.
Ending socialist dictatorships in Cuba and Venezuela would be nice. Making sure we don't subsidize the regimes will be helpful.
If Euro fanboys (and girls) are wondering if U.S.-Ukraine relations can be "repaired" (and I wonder if the spat was staged), you can be sure that the EU wants to exploit a faux crisis to increase its power.
Changing personnel is perfectly acceptable: "Military attorneys at our highest levels are not as independent and neutral as we may like to believe."
Fort Moore is going back to being Fort Benning--not that Benning. Welp, time to change the link to my Infantry magazine article. Again.
The Marines stood up their second MLR combat team in Japan. Wow. A "reinforced" infantry battalion with a whole anti-ship battery. But not reinforced with tanks and tube artillery. Just what can they do?
Russia's Baltic Sea anti-undersea cable campaign. It's war. Low level. But a war. The U.S. is less destructive in its war.
Via Instapundit: Despite regional tensions, Abraham Accords ties remain strong." The "Arab Street" no longer deems the Palestinians the Queen of the Victim Prom.
Egypt makes a proposal to rebuild Gaza. It's a start. But it just goes over the familiar path that leads to renewed war. Maybe change course.
Are Trump's political opponents here and in Europe trying to engineer Ukraine's defeat by hyper-ventilating over select Trump utterance to demoralize Ukrainians? Who did Zelensky listen to before temporarily sabotaging the rare earths deal at the White House last week? If it wasn't staged.
Do the Russians even listen to the nonsense that comes out of their mouths? "Russia offered to mediate between the United States and Iran, according to unspecified sources speaking to Bloomberg."
The U.S. is not planning to abandon NATO.
Keeping up with the Kims: "A Boeing-led team has finished building 20 new silos for the homeland missile defense system at Fort Greely, Alaska[.]" Now we have 60 silos.
Just saying "howdy" to Iran's mullahs.
Huh: "Philippine and U.S. Navy SEALs secured a gas and oil platform in the South China Sea in the latest joint combined exchange training[.]"
New networked USVs under development. What the LCS could have been in terms of quick reconfiguration and cheapness?
Russia has serious problems because of its invasion of Ukraine. I believe Russia has erected a Potemkin Bulldozer to convince us he can keep up this pace forever. If he was truly that impervious to casualties, he wouldn't wage a subliminal war on NATO and risk escalation.
The rise of small, cheap drones. I believe drones have a temporary advantage much as Germany exploited fast tanks for a couple years until new weapons and tactics turned them into a (vital) part of a combined arms effort. Also, drones would not be so lethal if not for other assets in the fight.
The Houthi are again designated as terrorists by the United States. China-friendly terrorists.
Can America revive its shipbuilding industry with an "office of shipbuilding" for warships and the logistics backbone of power projection?
Via Instapundit, European conservatives are not like American conservatives at all. I've addressed that before. Which is why Vance's freedoms speech to Europeans was so needed. We don't need European models. What part of shining city upon a hill is unclear?
So the way forward in Islamist-ruled Syria is for the Islamists to act like Western rule-of-law democrats rather than Islamist on a mission from God? Nice work if you can get it, as the saying goes.
Sh*t got real in the South China Sea.
Exposing China's subliminal war against the Philippines.
Replicating human-operated air defense sound detection systems with massive numbers of cell phones in Ukraine.
I'd have preferred JDAM justice for a planner of the Abbey Gate bombing during the Afghanistan Skedaddle Debacle.
Air Force officials "downplay any talk of doing more to physically harden existing bases [in INDOPACOM]." FFS.
Putin mocked Macron as "Micron." I'd laugh, but business before pleasure.
Guided anti-tank artillery shells. When drone counter-measures mature, will such shells largely replace FPV drones on the battlefield?
Recall what I wrote about the Trump-Vance-Zelensky blowup possibly being staged? Well:
China still wants Taiwan: "Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday China would 'firmly advance' the push for 'reunification' with Taiwan while opposing external interference, and strive to work with regular Taiwanese to realize the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." But will it invade?
Will Venezuela's dictatorial nutballs attack Guyana to gin up domestic support?
North Korean assaults by a small military force that are as ineffective as Russian assault in Kursk province are challenging Western views of North Korea's military as obsolete and ineffective. Seriously?
The EU has a "rearmament" plan. Don't be fooled. The EU was never armed. Sovereign European states were armed within the NATO military alliance. The EU always makes plans to erase the sovereignty.
Rejecting the complaints from five former SECDEFs who condemned firing FOGOs. I concur. And hope it is a start.
Vehicle-mounted non-GPS, MAPS land navigation devices. Recall the impact in 1991 when vehicle-mounted GPS devices allowed Coalition forces to execute the "left hook" through the deserts of Iraq.
Firings begin in the Pentagon bureaucracy. The Pentagon is not immune to the bad effects of bureaucracy. It might be worse due to the scale of the money involved.
Macron offers to extend its nuclear umbrella over more Europeans. Well, that was always implicit. But Macron has other reasons. Perhaps he knows things.
As America puts pressure on Mexico to control the flow of problems across our border into America, recall the early Obama era.
Sh*t got real. Declaring certain weapons bad is a luxury for when no invaders loom.
I don't think I've ever seen a number: "Over 50,000 Russian servicemembers are reportedly listed as having abandoned their units and are absent without leave (AWOL) between February 2022 and mid-December 2024."
Special forces in support of conventional operations. This would be useful in a Narva situation, which I outlined in Army magazine, including stay-behind forces.
All? How about most come from Iran?! "The U.S. remains puzzled about how many weapons the Houthis have or where they get them all[.]"
Will the use embrace AI for its nuclear deterrent? I'll admit I don't know much. And I'd probably be horrified if I saw how humans manage it. But I have worries about AI.
Ukraine claims that training its FPV drones with AI makes them far more accurate.
I think it would be insane for America to pull back from NATO and abandon the tradition of an American as SACEUR.
Doubts are cast on America's commitment to NATO even after NATO invoked Article V after we were attacked on September 11, 2001? What? Few NATO countries fought in Afghanistan, although many suffered casualties. Which is actually perfectly in line with Article V.
Good: "France’s defense minister said the country is sharing intelligence resources with Ukraine[.]"
US Transportation Command wants to buy ten used cargo ships. It's a start.
Taiwan denies it was pressured by the U.S. to invest in U.S. computer chip fabrication. To be fair, the pressure is from China.
Good enough for government work on "controlling" the Panama Canal.
Turkey is willing to send peacekeepers to Ukraine. Turkey backed out of a pledge to send troops to Iraq for occupation duties in 2003.
Proto-insurgency or dead-enders? "Small-scale insurgent cells have started to emerge and attack Syrian interim government forces in certain areas of Syria." Will Russia end up bombing Alawite towns?
China discovers oil and natural gas in the Beibu Gulf Basin. It may actually be in China's territorial waters/EEZ. But in related news, some elbow throwing.
Hegseth denies America's military has ended cyber operations against Russia. If you dig into the Definitions Section I could see a suspension of certain purely "offensive" categories separate from stopping Russian attacks being justified as an act of confidence building.
Alliance solidarity and sales expo.
Only "threatened"? "In 2025 the United States threatened to halt $336 million is aid to the Palestinian Authority/PA if the Palestinians did not halt their Pay for Slay payments."
Terrorists hijack humanitarian aid for Gaza.
Don't think Putin is anything but a brutal aggressor.We may get peace but we can't impose justice. Although honestly, I can't predict with confidence who falters from exhaustion first or how.
CRS report to Congress on the Marine ferry to destruction. IMO.
My pucker factor isn't currently elevated, but be careful about hauling out that Reset Button for Russia unless the reset involves Russia pivoting from Europe to Asia to face the threats China poses.
Is the Pentagon engaging in "malicious compliance"? Or is this just a broad key word slash that is being subject to review for proper restoration?
India's corrupt bureaucracy continues to thwart a domestic defense industry.
After three years of invasion and war crimes there are still more sanctions on Russia to impose?
Is the Sunni Islamist government in Syria attempting genocide against Christians, Druze, and Alawites? Is that what is fueling increased armed resistance in the west near the coast?
I saw a video of Ukrainian troops practicing moving through enemy trenches spraying what looked like silly string. Is that to find tripwires?
Should the West offer "tightly conditioned" aid to the so-called "Islamism in one country" HTS government to fight Assad regime resistance? I'll need some persuading. Why should we take sides? Let Turkey cope with their pet attack dog, HTS.
Yeah, I don't assume that Ukraine's military will break first. I've gone into that issue.
I guess if the Marines have abandoned island-hopping capabilities that the Army will try to replicate that with long-range air mobile assaults. But that won't occur to the Chinese?
"Black Jack Pershing, there is a call for you at the white courtesy phone. "Black Jack" Pershing. I hope it doesn't come to that.
Iraq used a French-modified Dassault Falcon 50 business jet that accidentally targeted and crippled the American frigate Stark during the Iran-Iraq War "tanker war." Saddam sent the plane to Iran for safety during the Persian Gulf War. Iran never gave it back.
Seriously, is the new Sunni ("we're the mellow kind of Islamists") majority killing minorities? Sure, Christians and Druze sided with Assad's Alawite minority. But they sided with Assad to avoid being oppressed by the Sunni majority.
Reviving the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas refineries. I assume this will be part of the talks to resolve trade disputes. North American energy security would be helpful.
A Space Force X-37 returns to Earth.
China supplies components: "A major military expenditure in Ukraine is for drones. Several million are being built this year. The total for 2024 was 1.5 million drones." Suicide fighter drones are new.
Bravo. Yet Crimea is not cut off: "Ukraine has been systematically destroying all military facilities in Crimea as well as blocking Russian supply routes to the peninsula." I have problems saying Ukraine controls the Black Sea.
More on apparent armed Assad loyalist resistance to HTS in Syria.
Seems legit: "Russia intends to test Western unity, especially with regard to NATO's
collective defence clause, according to Bruno Kahl, the head of
Germany's BND intelligence service." Here's one place, as I discussed in Army.
"Early Bird Brief" by Defense News has noticeably shifted left in recent years. It still has useful information and I check every email brief. But I wish they'd stick to defense news. Surely there's enough of that to choose from.
