I post at The Dignified Rant: Evolved on Substack. Help me out by subscribing and by liking and sharing posts. I also post 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: China's Future is Opaque
In case you missed it on Substack: Army Warriors
In case you missed it on Substack: Distributed Maritime Operations Isn't Happening
In case you missed it on Substack: Chinese Troops in Russia?
In case your pucker factor is hanging out and chillin': "The multifaceted challenges facing U.S. shipbuilding include workforce shortages, overly bureaucratic procurement processes, inconsistent funding, design instability, and a limited industrial base."
In the face of violent anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles and the refusal of local officials to rein them in, the U.S. has mobilized 2,000 National Guard troops to protect federal officials and property. Nip it in the bud or this will be (another) long, hot, fiery and significantly non-peaceful summer.
Murderers gotta murder: "A resurgence of Boko Haram attacks is shaking Nigeria’s northeast, as Islamic extremists have repeatedly overrun military outposts, mined roads with bombs and raided civilian communities since the start of the year[.]"
NATO is testing USVs in the Baltic Sea.
Trump wants to keep American troops in Germany.
A Chinese militia "fishing ship" ran aground off of the Philippines' Thitu Island.
I keep waiting to hear what is planned for the Army. Don't minimize the importance of the Army's role in INDOPACOM.
This is the foundation of a real pivot to all of the Pacific: "Multiple logistics exercises this summer will test and enhance U.S. forces’ airlift and sealift capabilities across the Indo-Pacific, the head of U.S. Transportation Command said Friday."
It is fully appropriate and legal for the federal government to use the Army National Guard to put down ANSWER-affiliated riots (the cause changes but the Commies are constant) that state and local governments can't or won't suppress. Heck, even my signal unit had training in riot control tactics.
Britain will buy F-35A fighters to contribute to the NATO nuclear strike capability.
A Chinese aircraft carrier entered Japans eastern Exclusive Economic Zone. While an EEZ is not the same as territorial waters, China does claim Japanese territory in the East China Sea.
The Army put the SMASH aiming aid on a carbine for anti-drone work. This proposal pre-dates the Winter War of 2022 and has broader implications for infantry.
I was listening to a British historian say that America was losing the respect of its allies by treating them badly. Has he paid attention to what our European allies have done the last seventy years? But then, he claimed the Treaty of Versailles was extremely harsh. Hogwash.
European censorship is the canary in the coal mine, telegraphing a return to European autocracy with the risk of an EU empire becoming the Atlantic threat to America arising from within Europe rather than from Russia.
Russian popular opinion is making the classic mistake of putting pleasure before business. Background.
Sh*t got real in L.A. as anti-deportation looting begins.
I keep Early Bird Brief from Defense News weekday email news in my rotation, but it dilutes its usefulness with its pointless leftward slant.
A full panic has been thrown up after Ukraine's Spider's Web drone attack wave. But the special forces are the weapon. Such attacks with direct assaults, mortars or rockets, or satchel charges have long been a threat. And shoulder-fired SAMs or even RPGs around the perimeter have raised alarms. Breathe, people.
The U.S. is adding the capability to support USVs at a Philippine naval base.
Not wanting Canada to stink on ice, I think this is good: "Canada eyes major military investments, more non-U.S. defense partnerships " But spite is leading Ottawa to rely on logistics from overseas.
Poland questions helicopter survivability over the battlefield. I have my doubts, too, without dramatic changes in weapons, tactics, and protection.
PPP is only one reason: "The United States accounts for over a third of the annual defense spending worldwide. But the Americans do not possess a third of all combat power worldwide." Geography and unwillingness to spend lives factor in, too.
Not So Easy Rider: "The large-scale use of the motorbikes ceased after one such attack was caught by Ukrainian artillery and many drones. At least seventy motorbikes were lost and over a hundred Russian troops killed or wounded." It did seem insane. But thinly held lines provide small-scale opportunities.
Using civilian vehicles on the battlefield is not new. Recall the Toyota War.
This is past already, but information on the Army's 250th birthday parade and celebration in WDC.
Mighty sporting of the Chinese air force to reveal the PLA isn't ready to invade Taiwan. The PLA could be lying. Or it is concealing that notwithstanding shortcomings it's still good enough for CCP work. Or maybe 2027 isn't Y-Year. Also, Hegseth only said an invasion is could be imminent.
Chinese container ships in American ports could be the source of massive numbers of suicide drones to attack American ships and infrastructure. Indeed.
HIMARS gets all the press, but the new tracked M270A2 gives the Army significant range for fires.
As a matter of history and territorial integrity, it is sadly humorous that some rioters and protesters claim California was originally Mexican territory. Hernando Cortes was unavailable for comment. Native Americans shouldn't expect land acknowledgments from their Mexican settler-colonist rulers.
The president should not have invited troops to voice partisanship during his speech. I recall sergeants moving around as we prepared to listen to a Democratic governor's speech using tired troops on a hot day at Camp Grayling as a prop reminding us to refrain from booing.
Can space platforms really suffice without new E-7 AWACS planes?
That's new: "Israel’s navy attacked docks in Yemen’s rebel-held port city of Hodeida on Tuesday[.]" Throwing an elbow for the Egyptians? Or for somebody to occupy the port.
To be fair, the Palestinians clearly value murdering Jews more than they value running a state: "the US ambassador to Israel, has said that the US is no longer pursuing the goal of an independent Palestinian state[.]"
Showing the flag: "Two Chinese aircraft carriers were spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time[.]" Sometimes I think the Chinese are trying to lure the Navy into their SINKEX. Tip to Instapundit.
Yes, the ruler of Syria is in danger of assassination. That's why opening up ties through him is probably going to fail. If he's faking being moderate, he will stop pretending lest radicals kill him. If he's truly moderate, radicals will kill him or radicalize him as he tries to not be killed.
Our government declined to provide that management: "That immigration is essential to America is true. That the rate at which immigration must take place and be managed is also true. ... No nation can simply open its borders to migrants and remain stable."
CENTCOM has provided the president with strike options against Iran. As Iran is supposed to know. SO THAT HAPPENED.
War by other means: "An avowedly Communist revolutionary group with ties to a China-linked Marxist funding network has been at the forefront of organizing nationwide protests opposing illegal immigration crackdowns[.]"
When defense money is not limitless, you must choose between force size, modernization, or readiness. In peacetime, as a rule, I weight readiness first, then force size, then modernization--but research to have prototypes for expansion is that category's priority. And have plans for rapid force size mobilization.
An Army whack-in-a-box. The AFRICOM Queen, anybody?
DNI Gabbard should restrict herself to reforming the intelligence apparatus. Is that not enough of a task? Or did she fix that and I just didn't hear about it. FFS.
Will immigration riots come to Europe, too? Will they? WTAF? And that's without any effort to eject criminal migrants.
Is Iran following the path of late Soviet collapse? I refuse to get my hopes up. But just because hopes have risen before doesn't mean things can't change.
The Alawite insurgency in coastal Syria remains low level. Iraqi Baath Party officials planned their insurgency. Syrian Baathists never even imagined they'd lose power.
Hezbollah is focusing on building its own drones rather than relying on imported Iranian rockets.
Huh: "The United States is preparing a partial evacuation of its Iraqi embassy and will allow military dependents to leave locations around the Middle East due to heightened security risks in the region, U.S. and Iraqi sources said on Wednesday." SO THAT HAPPENED.
Russia is relying on China to improve and sustain its drone force.
Saying America will reduce its purchase of weapons for Ukraine in 2026 is not a halt. Combined with European production and foreign purchase of American weapons, could mean Ukraine will never notice the technical decrease in American appropriations.
Yellow protest signs with black letters is in the signature look of the ANSWER communists who style themselves Leninists ready to guide any protest on any subject toward violence and attempt to exert leadership over it as the vanguard of the proletariat.
Nine nations participated in a large amphibious warfare exercise on the British coast.
The Air Force proposes slashing F-35 purchases while it funds F-47 development.
The F**k-Up Fairy maneuvers to be a plank owner of the Constellation frigate class.
An Air India flight crashed and exploded shortly after taking off from an India airport. Until proof to the contrary is shown, I'm assuming Pakistan-backed jihadis were involved. I hope not. Because nukes on both sides are involved.
A new, tiny Chinese combat drone. It is always tempting to just give up and say, "Fine, drones change everything!" But I still think the pattern of counter-measures will continue and dramatically reduce the ability of cheap drones to wreak havoc.
Could China island hop in the Taiwan Strait to move S-300 air defense batteries close enough to cover Taiwan itself? Hmmm. That takes time. Time Taiwan's allies need to help Taiwan. And isn't China's air force strong enough to achieve that?
Speculation that Israel may strike Iran's nuke infrastructure. American preparations could be to ride out Iranian retaliation/threaten to join Israel's campaign if hit by Iran. SO THAT HAPPENED.
Sure, a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be hard and face Taiwanese and allied counter-measures. Those arguments existed before Russia invaded Ukraine. But if China invades, they obviously think they have answers to those counter-measures. It will take a war to determine who is right.
Breathe, people. America isn't going to invade Greenland and Denmark is an ally. Unless China takes control first.
The birth of the United States Army--the graphic novel.
The Air Force proposes slashing F-35 purchases to fund F-47 development.
The UN says parts of South Sudan is on the brink of starvation. Are there Palestinians there? No? Then Greta Thunberg can't be bothered to care.
I have long followed Denys Davydov who comments on Russia's invasion of his country on YouTube. But his severe TDS is so counter-productive for Ukraine that if I was a paranoid man I'd suspect him of being under the influence of the FSB. Just saying. Stupidity or insanity are alternative explanations.
Was DNI Tulsi Gabbard's seemingly odd nuclear war scare video that I noted in an earlier entry part of an administration plan to justify an Israeli and/or American strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure? Or it is as batsh*t crazy as it sounds.
It sounds like the outline of a U.S.-China trade deal is based on our mutual assured destruction from export bans. Who finds alternatives to the other first?
It is insane for a lower level judge to rule that the president mobilizing National Guard troops without the permission of a governor is unconstitutional. That ruling can't--and won't--stand.
Trying to counter fiber optic-controlled FPV drones.
Hamas says it killed 12 Gazan combatants. Israel says they were aid workers.
NATO is now "the central structure for coordinating military aid and training efforts, with over 60% of last year’s €50 billion in assistance now provided by European Allies and Canada."
Some of the Slavs got too good a look at what a promised Russian "rescue" looks like: "Southeastern European countries reiterated their support for Ukraine on June 11, including Serbia signaling its willingness to improve bilateral relations with Ukraine."
Inflation is easing. What I said a month ago: "Imports are a fraction of the economy. And tariffs take place at the port of entry at their import price. I think most of the retail price comes from the supply chain leading from the port to the point of sale. A tariff is inflationary. It just isn't 1:1."
I don't want to hear one damn word from Ben Rhodes complaining about Israel's strikes on Iran:
But are they accurate details? "China recently did something unusual, they revealed details of their 8,000-ton Type 094 nuclear powered SSBN."
Just going to note that if Iran has agents or proxies in America, that widespread protests/riots will provide cover for operations.
As the Song of ICE and Fire drama rages, let's recall the foundation of the effort, okay?
Europe is getting dangerously authoritarian with recent law enforcement: "It is a consistent pattern of European states, on a national and supranational level, to destroy any pretence to free speech." Yet Vance was out of line?
When I listen to the Russian representative to the UN Security Council berate Israel for violating norms and laws by striking Iran's nuclear facilities, I want to drop a nuke on the Kremlin. Figuratively, of course.
For NATO states in Europe worried America won't help them, take heed that America helps allies who help themselves.
FFS, we learned this from the eve of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, but forgot the lesson in operational security: "About an hour before Iranian state TV first reported loud explosions in Tehran, pizza orders around the Pentagon went through the roof[.]"
Mercenaries. Although the cited Russian and Turkish mercenary groups are really a foreign legion. Others are certainly aligned. We aren't to the point where mercenaries work for anybody with the gold to pay. They've long supported American troops at war.
Unmanned sea vessels, from search and rescue to relentlessly hunting submarines.
It's 250 years of the Army--and its Infantry branch.
The Army is planning to begin producing the XM30 replacement for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle in late 2027. Confident of funding?
Colombia is falling apart. How shocking when your "peace" deal with Marxist insurgents/gangsters after a multi-decade war is inviting them into the government.
Distant countries forge a strategic partnership through China's trade route initiatives.
Battling Mexican drug cartels using drones to ship drugs into America across the southern border.
Honor the Army by funding them? Hogwash. Fund the Army because America needs it--even in the Pacific. To be fair, that initial author does argue the value, too.
As Israel fights to prevent a fanatical Iran from nuking it, don't pretend the awful and toothless Iran nuclear deal could have prevented that threat.
How we got to the Iran-Israel War of 2025. The bizarre love for the mullahs by some in America led to this.
