Thursday, June 22, 2023

U.S. Navy SEALs training alongside Hellenic SOF

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Vid of Zelensky warning of terror attack

 

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Khrizantema-S anti-tank vehicle enters fight in Ukraine

 
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Russian gas flows through Ukraine could stop next year, according to kyiv.

 

How many of you knew that Russian gas was still flowing to Europe thru Ukraine? I didn't. I assumed that because of the war the Russians would have long ago shut that off. Certainly after the attack on the pipeline. Now I know why Europe wasn't in a hurt locker this last winter. Weird war. After all the economic games in public apparently business is being conducted out of sight. We're all being played. This is not a normal war. I don't know what the objectives are but its becoming clear that even a Russian withdrawal won't turn it off now. Negotiations are needed. The longer this goes the worse its gonna get.
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Zelensky claims Russia considering terror attack at Zaporizhzhia nuke plant.

Zelensky is warning of a terror attack.

I'm in the land of mirrors and if you're being honest (and looking at this clearly) you are too.

If we had followed my counsel and stayed the hell outta this fight then this would simply be a quick talking point and we'd be on to the next episode.

As things stand I worry (AND YOU SHOULD TOO) that the Ukrainians will do anything to drag the West and most importantly the United States into this fight.

Having said that I don't put it past Zelensky and his cronies to launch an attack on that plant, blame it on the Russians and use the passions of the sheeple to drag us into their fight.
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Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Lots of vehicle accident happen in war. This Ukrainian mashup is unusual

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KA-52 is becoming a "problem" for the counter offensive...

 

I find this hyper interesting. I always thought that the Mi-29N would be the armor blaster with the KA-52 being simply the multi-role star that could do the naval attack, recon and general battlefield task. Seems like I was wrong. The KA-52 is demonstrating some impressive survivability (did anyone else see the story of one flying back to base after having its tail boom blown off) and we all know its fast and can carry a huge load. I asked if the attack helicopter was dead. With what we're seeing now obviously not. One thing is certain. Deep strike is off the plate for them though.
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Our Sec Of State does not present a "proper appearance" when engaging with foreign leaders

 


Maybe this is nitpicking and a small thing.  But in the Pacific image is everything.  Appearance matters.

Oh and this is the second time when Blinken just looked overwhelmed by the other side's representative/leader.  It happened with the Russians and now we're seeing it here.

WTF am I talking about?

Look at the pic.  The Chinese leader is standing tall.  His suit is plain but he's wearing it well.

Now look at our guy.  Disheveled.  Pants legs crimpled and sloppy looking.  He's bent over as if he can't decide to bow or to shake hands.  He has a smirk on this face that displays anything but confidence.  Can't tell for sure but he seems flustered and has ruddy cheeks as if he's embarrassed.

Dude is in over his head.

Oh and before you say it I'm no body language expert.  I do know how to pick up on fight or flight cues.  Can pick up on attempts at deception.  Can recognize pre-fight cues.

But you can bet there ARE body language experts that are analyzing pics like this and more to see what his mindset might be.  I'd love to see an analysis of their findings.  My hope?  My hope is that I'm wrong as two left feet and that the State Dept actually has a plan and isn't just winging it.

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More Ukrainian order of battle info...

Thanks to Maria Zakharovka for the link!

Read the entire Twitter thread. 

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How are we losing our grip on the Middle East so fast?

 

WTF happened? The middle east just a few short years ago was a US playground. Everyone wanted to work with us. Now? Now even former friends aren't friends. At best acquaintances that keep you at arms length.

If Jordan is welcoming normalization with Iran/Syria that is a HUGE DEAL!

Read about the King Of Jordan.  That dude is a stud and gets after it.  He went to Sandhurst.  Graduated from the US Naval Post Graduate Course.  Dude commanded an armored battalion.  Has jump wings...real deal jump wings not the jewelry jump wings so many leaders get around the world.  He was a helicopter pilot and led a special ops team hunting bandits.

Even better he had the Jordanian economy booming till the great recession hit in the US along with the Arab Spring (which many in the region still blame on the US/CIA).

He is a moderate, small "p" progressive leader that we should love to have on our side and if he's moving away then we're truly fucked in the region.

Educated in the West.  Has personally relationships with MANY of our military leaders (especially in the US and UK).  Believes in a MODERATE form of Islam.

We need to do a serious assessment of where we're at with our foreign policy and get it right real quick.  What we're doing now is OBVIOUSLY not working.
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Ukrainian counter offensive order of battle.

 via Asia Times

116th Brigade:

90 x BMP (Polish/Czech), already delivered.

13 x T-64 (Ukrainian), on hand.

17 x Unspecified tanks, TBD.

12 x AS-90 (British 155mm howitzer), April delivery. —these are 155mm howitzers equivalent to Krab, M109, PhZ2000 etc.


47th Brigade:

99 x M2 Bradley, delivery in late March.

28 x T-55S (Slovakia), on hand.

12 x M109 (American 155mm SPG), on hand.

12 x D-30 (old Soviet towed artillery), on hand.


33th Brigade:

90 x MaxxPro (American MRAPS), 20 on hand, the rest by late March.

14 x Leopard 2A6 (German), delivery estimated in April.

4 x Leopard 2A4 (Canadian), delivery April.

14 x Leopard 2A4 (Polish), delivery March.

12 x M119 (US light 105mm old howitzer), on hand.


21st Brigade:

20 x CVRT (old British Scorpion with 76mm gun), delivery in April.

30 x Senator (Canadian IMV, equivalent to Humvee, etc., only light machine guns), on hand.

20 x Bulldog, 21 x Husky (British light APC, akin to M113), x 10 M113’s, on hand.

30 x T-64 (Ukrainian), on hand.

10 x FH70 (old Italian towed 155mm howitzer from 1960’s), on hand.


32nd Brigade:

90 x MaxxPro (American MRAP), on hand.

10 x T-72 (Netherlands), delivery by April.

20 x Unspecified tanks (wishful thinking), TBD.

12 x D-30 (old Soviet howitzers), on hand.


37th Brigade:

30 x Mastiff/Husky (British MRAP w/ light weapons), delivery in April.

30 x Mastiff/Wolf (same thing), delivery expected.

30 x Senator (Canadian IMV, equivalent to Humvee), delivery TBD.

14 x AMX-10 (French wheeled “tank” with small 105mm gun), delivery in March.

16 x Unspecified tanks (wishful thinking), TBD.

12 x D-30 (Soviet howitzers again), delivery TBD.


118th Brigade:

90 x M113’s (American Vietnam-era APC tin-can), on hand.

28 x T-72 (Polish), by April.

6 x M109 (American 155mm SPG artillery), delivery in March.

8 x FH70 (old Italian towed howitzer), expected in April.

xxxx – Something unreadable but appears possibly more Senator IMV’s.


117th Brigade:

28 x Viking (Netherlands small APC), on hand.

10/20 x XA185 (Finnish APC equivalent to BTR-82a, etc.), estimated by April.

10 x Senators (Canadian Hummer), delivery TBD.

31 x PT-91 (upgraded Polish T-72’s), delivery in April.

12 x D-30 (Soviet artillery), on hand.

(xxxx – Something illegible).


82nd Brigade:

90 x Strykers (American IFV), expected March.

40 x Marders (German IFV), expected April.

14 x Challenger-2 (British MBT), expected April.

24 x M119 (U.S. light towed howitzer 105mm), on hand.

Its kinda obvious that certain brigades are designed to be breakthrough units and others are biased toward exploiting the breakthrough and pushing fast towards whatever objective they had in mind.

All this brings me to the action we saw with the Leopard MBT and Bradley IFVs that were attempting to breach a minefield.

Either this has been reconfigured or they're mixing up units.

This is a little service bias I guess but I wonder why they standardize on Brigades instead of Battalions.  A battalion (at least in the Marine Corps) seems to be a much more flexible and agile force.  The Command & Control to maneuver and fight Brigade sized units is probably beyond the Ukrainians ability.

Coordinating supporting fires from rockets, artillery, attack helicopters and whatever aircraft they have left has got to be a bear for them

The Ukrainian military was CRAZY to push this counteroffensive now.  If they had waited and built up combat strength then MAYBE next summer they could have pulled it off.

Now?

Now they're further weakened, the allies, to include the US are reaching the limits of their ability to support them militarily and the civilian population in Western countries are looking more and more at domestic issues.

This was a bad idea and poorly executed. 

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The offensive is largely the brainchild of US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.

From the Asia Times article.
Nuland has a long history with Ukraine. In the Obama administration, she supported the Maidan protestors and the overthrow of the legally elected, but pro-Russia, government of Ukraine.

There are secret recordings of her conversations with the US ambassador to Ukraine at the time, deciding who would be best to replace Viktor Yanukovych, who was then president of Ukraine. Yanukovych was elected in 2010 in a runoff between himself and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Yanukovych originally came from Donetsk; he is now in exile in Russia.

The US backed the coup in Ukraine, even though it was illegal and undemocratic. Since then most of the Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine have not participated in Ukrainian elections, including Zelensky’s election in 2019. 

Now, after Russian annexations, participation is foreclosed as the Donbas region “republics” in eastern Ukraine (Donetsk and Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea now are, in the view of the Russian government, part of Russia.

The planned counteroffensive, despite US and NATO support, faces some significant obstacles. The nine US-NATO-equipped brigades have less armor than promised by NATO.

Here 

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Colonel Lieutenant of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Services, Desyatnik - Maybe Ukraine gives up the territories Donbass, Luhansk

If this dude is saying it on TV then its not an isolated discussion. The warrior class sees the writing. Ain't no propaganda in the mud, just pain and Ukraine's soldiers have been feeling it. Only two questions. Will this guy been "neutralized" for stating this on television? Some might consider it traitorous. The next is I wonder how widespread this thinking is in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Zelensky might be a rock star on the world stage but I bet the feelings inside Ukraine are at best mixed. I predict an escape flight before our presidential elections.
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The Ukrainian offensive has bogged down..."it's really hard to watch & they haven't even reached the Russians first defensive belt"

 

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Tuesday, June 20, 2023

The Russia-Ukraine war. It didn't have to be this way.

 

How will this war be remembered? Our treasure. There blood. No attempt at settlement. Even the UN sat on its hands while fighting raged in the heart of Europe.

Yet for some unknown reason many average men and women cheered on the violence.  Many seemed to "get off" (with all the sexual innuendo that implies) on war porn.

Can't put my finger on it but this war is filthy.  Can't prove it but I SENSE massive fraud/corruption.  I sense politics trumping military judgement.
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Major defense firm says decoupling impossible.

Interesting.

It might be price prohibitive but it isn't impossible.  This ladies and gentlemen is the weak underbelly of our defenses.

We have corporations that are not interested in a possible conflict but only interested in profit and the bottom line.

Maybe that is how it should be.

But considering the public/private partnership that many of these firms have with the DoD, a little strong arming might be necessary and even called for.

The reality?

If our domestic firms refuse to play by our rules then we should open it up to the S. Koreans, Japanese, and EU countries.  If they're willing to play by our rules of the road then they should be given access.

Is it possible that the "buy America" act is actually hamstringing us now?
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The Turks are gonna rage about this.

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Open Comment Post. Ukraine-Russia War. 20 June 23

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YUSHAN 1401

 

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Open Comment Post. 20 June 23

 


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