Is Ukraine about to have a war?
???What exactly does re-arming mean? The German Armed Forces are among the biggest in Western Europe. At least quantitatively. Most Fighter Aircraft. Most MBT, AFV. Much less than during cold war but still slightly bigger than British and French Armed Forces in many areas.
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???What exactly does re-arming mean? The German Armed Forces are among the biggest in Western Europe. At least quantitatively. Most Fighter Aircraft. Most MBT, AFV. Much less than during cold war but still slightly bigger than British and French Armed Forces in many areas.
Isn’t serviceability an issue?
I wonder if the U.K. will think again about the Challenger MBT reductions and upgrade them all.
Keep what is left of BAOR.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Things not improving…
https://www.militarytimes.com/flashp...-leaders-warn/
Russia can now attack Ukraine with ‘very little warning,’ Pentagon leaders warn
https://www.defensenews.com/global/e...e-crises-loom/
US military readies to ‘walk and chew gum’ as multiple crises loom
https://www.militarytimes.com/flashp...-leaders-warn/
Russia can now attack Ukraine with ‘very little warning,’ Pentagon leaders warn
https://www.defensenews.com/global/e...e-crises-loom/
US military readies to ‘walk and chew gum’ as multiple crises loom
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/u...rink-b5dsglg3l
Defence secretary warns that Russia ‘plans flood of kompromat’ to throw West off guard
Boris Johnson will tell President Putin to step back from the brink of conflict in a phone call next week as he prepares to bolster defences in eastern Europe. The prime minister will visit the region in the coming days as he seeks to spearhead diplomatic efforts to avert war in Ukraine and prepare a tough response if necessary.
The PM’s moves come as his defence secretary warned that Russia could release compromising or damaging information about western allies as part of a “multi-domain” operation launched around the invasion of Ukraine….
Earlier this week, Ben Wallace warned that “kompromat is in the tool box” as he discussed ways Russia could carry out attacks in the so-called grey zone area between peace and war.
Wallace referred to an incident in 2017 when a top aide to Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of trying to hack into his campaign’s computer systems and spreading disinformation about him via Kremlin-backed media. He said: “Their operations are multi-domain… I would expect anything like a Russian offensive would be accompanied in cyberspace in the same way as the physical… Kompromat is in the tool box.”
A senior defence source added: “We can expect Russia to deploy huge amounts of cyber attacks and Kompromat against the West.” Such methods could be deployed to “destabilise” the west, “knock us off our guard” and spread confusion as tens of thousands of troops and tanks invade the country, said a Whitehall source.
Western allies are also preparing for Russia to carry out “sub-threshold” attacks such as spreading disinformation, flooding social media sites with fake news, and generally stepping up its use of bots to try and divide the West.
Russia has a long history of using compromising material, or kompromat, as a weapon against political opponents or foreign diplomats. Straight from the old Soviet playbook, it has previously involved photographs and videos — real or fake. It is unclear what information Russia’s military and foreign intelligence agencies could be harvesting to use in the event of a conflict.
However, James Rogers, director of research at the Council on Geostrategy think tank, said that “with the Russians I wouldn’t take anything off the table”.
“This is something that was ongoing throughout the Cold War as well. It is what happens. They’re probably gathering information on all sorts of leaders, or even they will fabricate it and push it out, forcing everyone to respond. The drumbeat of this kind of thing will probably intensify over the next few days or weeks if they are going to make a move on Ukraine”, he said.
Earlier this week aviation experts spotted what appeared to be a deception operation involving fake signals that made it look like warplanes were taking off to attack Ukraine. Military aircraft radar transponders were apparently put on vehicles at four different airports in an apparent ruse to create confusion.
Large numbers of Russian military aircraft appeared on FlightRadar24 at airports in southwest Russia. The aircraft — numbering as many as 50 and using call signs in the series RA23131 — were circuiting around and along airfields, which is not a recognised manoeuvre. They stopped in an unusual formation.
A leading aviation expert said: “None of these serials apply to known aircraft tail numbers, unless Russian aircraft are now flying around with old transponders or scrambled hex codes.”
Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow on the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, said that deception and information operations had always been an “integral part of Russian planning for combat”. “Russia has embraced new technologies available for confusing and misleading their adversaries.…
Defence secretary warns that Russia ‘plans flood of kompromat’ to throw West off guard
Boris Johnson will tell President Putin to step back from the brink of conflict in a phone call next week as he prepares to bolster defences in eastern Europe. The prime minister will visit the region in the coming days as he seeks to spearhead diplomatic efforts to avert war in Ukraine and prepare a tough response if necessary.
The PM’s moves come as his defence secretary warned that Russia could release compromising or damaging information about western allies as part of a “multi-domain” operation launched around the invasion of Ukraine….
Earlier this week, Ben Wallace warned that “kompromat is in the tool box” as he discussed ways Russia could carry out attacks in the so-called grey zone area between peace and war.
Wallace referred to an incident in 2017 when a top aide to Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of trying to hack into his campaign’s computer systems and spreading disinformation about him via Kremlin-backed media. He said: “Their operations are multi-domain… I would expect anything like a Russian offensive would be accompanied in cyberspace in the same way as the physical… Kompromat is in the tool box.”
A senior defence source added: “We can expect Russia to deploy huge amounts of cyber attacks and Kompromat against the West.” Such methods could be deployed to “destabilise” the west, “knock us off our guard” and spread confusion as tens of thousands of troops and tanks invade the country, said a Whitehall source.
Western allies are also preparing for Russia to carry out “sub-threshold” attacks such as spreading disinformation, flooding social media sites with fake news, and generally stepping up its use of bots to try and divide the West.
Russia has a long history of using compromising material, or kompromat, as a weapon against political opponents or foreign diplomats. Straight from the old Soviet playbook, it has previously involved photographs and videos — real or fake. It is unclear what information Russia’s military and foreign intelligence agencies could be harvesting to use in the event of a conflict.
However, James Rogers, director of research at the Council on Geostrategy think tank, said that “with the Russians I wouldn’t take anything off the table”.
“This is something that was ongoing throughout the Cold War as well. It is what happens. They’re probably gathering information on all sorts of leaders, or even they will fabricate it and push it out, forcing everyone to respond. The drumbeat of this kind of thing will probably intensify over the next few days or weeks if they are going to make a move on Ukraine”, he said.
Earlier this week aviation experts spotted what appeared to be a deception operation involving fake signals that made it look like warplanes were taking off to attack Ukraine. Military aircraft radar transponders were apparently put on vehicles at four different airports in an apparent ruse to create confusion.
Large numbers of Russian military aircraft appeared on FlightRadar24 at airports in southwest Russia. The aircraft — numbering as many as 50 and using call signs in the series RA23131 — were circuiting around and along airfields, which is not a recognised manoeuvre. They stopped in an unusual formation.
A leading aviation expert said: “None of these serials apply to known aircraft tail numbers, unless Russian aircraft are now flying around with old transponders or scrambled hex codes.”
Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow on the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, said that deception and information operations had always been an “integral part of Russian planning for combat”. “Russia has embraced new technologies available for confusing and misleading their adversaries.…
As many here have anticipated, it has turned against Putin and his demands of NATO leaving eastern european partners: Romania is probably getting the base they are asking for, led by the French. Emphasizing the fact that Romania is asking for the base to shield from Russian threat vs Russian claims of US forcing these bases to threaten Russia.
https://m.dw.com/en/natos-on-notice-...ext/a-60594487
https://m.dw.com/en/natos-on-notice-...ext/a-60594487
Even France is now moving closer to NATO.
Sure they claim a special role but who wouldn't understand this better than the Brits?
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Sobering thread…
…./ Hard for Westerners to understand and accept, but this means there is no brighter future to look forward to, there is no sunlit upland to get to after going through a rough patch with the Kremlin, the opposition is permanent, and the conflict is permanent, already now….
…./ Hard for Westerners to understand and accept, but this means there is no brighter future to look forward to, there is no sunlit upland to get to after going through a rough patch with the Kremlin, the opposition is permanent, and the conflict is permanent, already now….
Sobering thread…
https://twitter.com/warmatters/statu...513094146?s=21
…./ Hard for Westerners to understand and accept, but this means there is no brighter future to look forward to, there is no sunlit upland to get to after going through a rough patch with the Kremlin, the opposition is permanent, and the conflict is permanent, already now….
https://twitter.com/warmatters/statu...513094146?s=21
…./ Hard for Westerners to understand and accept, but this means there is no brighter future to look forward to, there is no sunlit upland to get to after going through a rough patch with the Kremlin, the opposition is permanent, and the conflict is permanent, already now….
100K+ troops in front of the border are actual real war not some abstract permanent war. Easy to understand even for the West.
I have come across this video of the Chicago University professor, John Meersheimer, giving a lecture to the SOAS about American policy and the spread of liberal hegemony. I would very much appreciate the views of other posters on this thread.
His basic argument is that American liberal democracy does not suit every country - something which I believe to be true. It works in the United States, the United Kingdom, Western Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and some others because it has had time to develop the necessary institutions and public understanding. But in Russia, China, the Middle East, most of Africa, SE Asia and Latin America, to varying degrees this concept, just won't work. And the idea of imposing it by force is naive.
He is also very forthright on why Russia is not willing to accept NATO on its borders. Is he correct in this?
I await the counter arguments with much interest.
His basic argument is that American liberal democracy does not suit every country - something which I believe to be true. It works in the United States, the United Kingdom, Western Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and some others because it has had time to develop the necessary institutions and public understanding. But in Russia, China, the Middle East, most of Africa, SE Asia and Latin America, to varying degrees this concept, just won't work. And the idea of imposing it by force is naive.
He is also very forthright on why Russia is not willing to accept NATO on its borders. Is he correct in this?
I await the counter arguments with much interest.
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His basic argument is that American liberal democracy does not suit every country