NATO vs Russia

[ORAC]

According to Business Insider (Germany), German intel services are now speculating on overt Russian military action against NATO as early as 2026. If govts in Europe trust these assessments they should embark on rapid military & industrial expansion.

According to Business Insider (Germany), German intel services are now speculating on overt Russian military action against NATO as early as 2026.

If govts in Europe trust these assessments they should embark on rapid military & industrial expansion….

https://www.businessinsider.de/polit...to-laender-an/

https://x.com/front_ukrainian/status...HhlFHGKbTPQr_A

​​​​​​​

[ORAC]

[ORAC]

Consequences…

Romania going out to procure maritime drones for their Black Sea fleet, as well as naval strike missiles.

Bit of a translation issue - what they refer to as “priority zero” we would refer to as “priority one”…..

https://x.com/realdaciandraco/status...HhlFHGKbTPQr_A

BREAKING: Romania starts an ambitious purchase: Maritime surface drones and submarine drones. Lessons taught by Ukraine in the Black Sea, learned. Maritime drones - priority zero

https://www-defenseromania-ro.transl..._x_tr_pto=wapp

[ORAC]

Consequences….

https://x.com/realdaciandraco/status...HhlFHGKbTPQr_A

It will be 17% larger than Ramstein. Romania builds the largest base in NATO Europe, $2.5 billion project, an unsinkable carrier at the Black Sea. Two! sister base is built in the middle of a mountain plateau, that will be the control centre of S-E Europe.

Centre is the watch tower, at the sea is the aircraft carrier….

https://www.euronews.ro/articole/cea...hail-kogalnice

​​​​​​​https://x.com/realdaciandraco/status...HhlFHGKbTPQr_A

English translated article.

​​​​​​​https://www-euronews-ro.translate.go...x_tr_hist=true

[ORAC]

Consequences….. works just as well against Russia…

https://x.com/indopac_info/status/17...HhlFHGKbTPQr_A

Pentagon Plans Sea Drone Fleet for Possible China War

The Pentagon is embarking on a $1 billion program to build an armada of remote-controlled killer sea drones.

The effort is the first phase of the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) Replicator Initiative to build thousands of autonomous war-ready vehicles as tools to "deter conflict and, if deterrence fails, to fight and win the war," Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said last month.

The announcement comes amid concerns in Washington, D.C., over a potential future attack against Taiwan by China, which the DoD considers a "pacing challenge."

The U.S. is the self-ruled island's main arms supplier, but it maintains a longstanding policy of "strategic ambiguity" to keep China guessing on whether Washington would commit American forces to Taiwan's defense.

Hicks said Monday that the department will ask lawmakers to allocate $500 million for Replicator this fiscal year, possibly as a reprogramming request, and another half billion dollars in the budget the DoD has submitted for fiscal year 2025, U.S. Naval Institute News reported.

In addition to the sea-skimming drones, the DoD's Defense Innovation Unit is working on software to enable swarms of surface and airborne drones to seek out targets on their own, with the decision to attack resting with human coordinators…..

[T28B]

If the Americans are going to do that, won't the Chinese do the same?
Asking for a friend.

[jolihokistix]

"Replicator". Hmmm...isn't the language growing a little too predictably, terrifyingly Terminator robotic futuristic?

[DogTailRed2]

Originally Posted by ORAC

Consequences….


It will be 17% larger than Ramstein. Romania builds the largest base in NATO Europe, $2.5 billion project, an unsinkable carrier at the Black Sea. Two! sister base is built in the middle of a mountain plateau, that will be the control centre of S-E Europe.

Centre is the watch tower, at the sea is the aircraft carrier….

https://www.euronews.ro/articole/cea...hail-kogalnice

English translated article.

https://www-euronews-ro.translate.go...x_tr_hist=true

I find it fascinating comparing modern numbers against WW2 numbers. UK 6 Typhoons? That would have been two flights in WW2. I guess we will never again see the large aerial armadas we used to.

[Ninthace]

Originally Posted by DogTailRed2

I find it fascinating comparing modern numbers against WW2 numbers. UK 6 Typhoons? That would have been two flights in WW2. I guess we will never again see the large aerial armadas we used to.

A bit like land warfare, we don’t form squares or fire volleys at serried ranks any more either.

[jolihokistix]

Originally Posted by DogTailRed2

I find it fascinating comparing modern numbers against WW2 numbers. UK 6 Typhoons? That would have been two flights in WW2. I guess we will never again see the large aerial armadas we used to.

Just large aerial drone armadas.

[Video Mixdown]

Originally Posted by DogTailRed2

I find it fascinating comparing modern numbers against WW2 numbers. UK 6 Typhoons? That would have been two flights in WW2. I guess we will never again see the large aerial armadas we used to.

WWII: Hundreds of bombers, thousands of bombs, nearly all missing the target.
Now: One Typhoon/F-35/UAV, one bomb, target destroyed.

[hunterboy]

Won’t we run out of bombs and Typhoons before we run out of targets though?

[Video Mixdown]

Originally Posted by hunterboy

Won’t we run out of bombs and Typhoons before we run out of targets though?

The whole of NATO? Unlikely.

[DogTailRed2]

Originally Posted by Ninthace

A bit like land warfare, we don’t form squares or fire volleys at serried ranks any more either.

Not really a fair comparison. Ukraine and Russia are still fighting WW1 tactics. Trench warfare and all that.

[DogTailRed2]

Originally Posted by hunterboy

Won’t we run out of bombs and Typhoons before we run out of targets though?

Which is kind of why I made the original comment. While 1000's of aircraft is no longer a reality perhaps 6 is also a bit low.

[pax britanica]

Russia of late has tended to focus on rebuilding the Soviet Union rather than expanding/invading non traditional Soviet countries . That probably works quite well with some elements of Russian society, attacking NATO might be seen very differently unless the Orange one wins the election and abandons NATO which might be too tempting for Moscow

[ORAC]

Consequences….

https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/177008...HhlFHGKbTPQr_A

​​​​​​​NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrived in Armenia for the first time in his position, which he holds for the tenth year

Stoltenberg held a meeting with Prime Minister Pashinyan, where issues of strengthening Armenia-NATO cooperation were discussed.

"We're interested in deepening our cooperation with #NATO, and I hope that the individually-tailored program for #Armenia will be accepted as soon as possible," said Pashinyan.

[Beamr]

Originally Posted by DogTailRed2

Not really a fair comparison. Ukraine and Russia are still fighting WW1 tactics. Trench warfare and all that.

Trenches and mud yes, but mobility, drones, IR spectrums, EW, eyes in the sky etc are really making things very different. You need to shoot and scoot, be very mobile. In WW1 you were safe 5km behind the lines. Now you aren't safe 500km behind the lines. That doesn't comfort mobiks without proper training or gear and without any means to survive. In essence all they can do is turn into meat waves with lots of losses.

A sniper serving for Ukraine said that you can shoot twice but then you'll have to change positions or you'll start attracting FPV's, mortar fire or artillery fire.

[Lonewolf_50]

Originally Posted by Beamr

A sniper serving for Ukraine said that you can shoot twice but then you'll have to change positions or you'll start attracting FPV's, mortar fire or artillery fire.

Way back in the 1970's while getting some squad and platoon level training from infantry vets in a place called Quantico, we were advised that a sniper usually planned multiple positions and after one shot typically moved ... this was an overview, though.
Since I wasn't trained as a sniper I am not sure how that art has progressed. Sounds like some of the fundamentals are still the same. .
(Gunny Hathcock/Carlos was pretty good at it. His biography is a good read).

[Lonewolf_50]

Interesting map/figure I saw this evening.

Source = https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GI0chZCW...jpg&name=large

The AGM-158 JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile)

Spoiler

 

 

is a low detection standoffair-launched cruise missile developed by Lockheed Martin for the United States Armed Forces. It is a large, stealthy long-range weapon with a 1,000-pound (450 kg) armor piercing warhead. It completed testing and entered service with the U.S. Air Force in 2009, and has entered foreign service in Australia, Finland, and Poland as of 2014.
An extended range version of the missile, the AGM-158B JASSM-ER (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range), entered service in 2014 as well as an anti-ship derivative, the AGM-158C LRASM (Long Range Anti-Ship Missile), in 2018. By September 2016, Lockheed Martin had delivered 2,000 total JASSMs comprising both variants to the USAF.