Kind of looking like Putin threw a rock at a hornet’s nest not only pissing off the hornets in the nest but also attracting the ire of various nests in the neighborhood.
Defence secretaries and other leaders from 50 countries have been meeting today in the US Ramstein airbase in Germany to coordinate military aid to Ukraine and all everyone can speak about is Germany’s reluctance to approve the sending of tanks. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is looking increasingly isolated.
Polish defence spokesperson:
We are very shocked because of the position of Germany, which is preventing anything from happening.
Estonia’s Defence Minister:
I am more than sure that Germany will not stop any other country who is ready to contribute with the tanks, that they have to approve.
I’m starting to think that Germany’s fear of poking the Russian bear will just embolden Russia to react more sternly if and when German made tanks are finally given the green light to be supplied to Ukraine.
But apparently the Germans do not want to send tanks until the US has done so first. However the US don’t want to send their tanks because the support required to keep them operational in the field makes them unsuitable. Perhaps that’s why the UK supplied a limited number of Challenger 2 tanks which are also tricky to support but not as much as the American tanks.
Seems that UK’s lead is not enough for Germany. Pressure is being piled on today though. Germany may be forced to shift their position in the next few days.
This makes sense. What immediate threat on the ground looms over the borders of Denmark? Far and away the biggest threat to western European security is Russia. And the fight with them is currently underway in Ukraine. The west should give Ukraine all the tools we can now and not give Russia any respite.
I was thinking the same thing. Unless the Danes know something about the Swedes we don’t, those guns would be better in Ukraine. The Union of Kalmar was a long time ago, dudes. Let it go.
Looking more carefully: Those 19 SPGs the Danes are donating? That’s every SPG the Danes have. The military aid just given by Estonia? That’s 1% of their GDP. Not 1% of their Defense budget - 1% of GDP. That’s what we call Stepping Up!
Countries like Estonia would be next up on Putin’s menu if the world allowed Russia to roll through Ukraine.
Chief propagandist Solovyov prepares Russian soldiers for their upcoming deaths:
“When you eliminate all thoughts about life and death, you will be able to totally disregard your earthly life.”
- Excerpt from a Japanese kamikaze pilots’ manual
Latest Presidential Drawdown for Ukraine. Drawdown is from excess DoD stocks vs. the Ukrainian production funding:
Biden Administration Announces Additional Security Assistance for Ukraine
Jan. 19, 2023 |
Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announces the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance to meet Ukraine’s critical security and defense needs. This authorization, which is valued at up to $2.5 billion, is the Biden Administration’s thirtieth drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021. It contains hundreds of armored vehicles, critical support for Ukraine’s air defense, and other important capabilities including:
- Additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS); AIM-120 missiles.
- Eight Avenger air defense systems; Stinger missile vehicle mounted launchers.
- 59 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) with 590 TOW anti-tank missiles and 295,000 rounds of 25mm ammunition; in addition to previous 50 vehicles.
- 90 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) with 20 mine rollers; the infantry carrier versions are armed with a .50 cal MG or 40mm Mk19 grenade launcher.
- 53 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs); excess to US needs.
- 350 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs);
- 20,000 155mm artillery rounds; slow production ramp up. This is in addition to the 300,000 rounds from US prepositioned stocks in Israel.
- Approximately 600 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds; Excalibur gps/ins rds.
- 95,000 105mm artillery rounds; still valuable, the howitzers are very reliable.
- Approximately 11,800 120mm mortar rounds; HE and maybe some Illum rds.
- Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); either unitary HE or billion BB rounds.
- 12 ammunition support vehicles; Type not specified.
- 6 command post vehicles;
- 22 tactical vehicles to tow weapons; Type not specified, could be for 105mm or 155mm howitzers.
- High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs); Doing good work against Russian radar.
- Approximately 2,000 anti-armor rockets; Probably AT4s or later LAW rounds.
- Over 3,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition;
- Demolition equipment for obstacle clearing;
- Claymore anti-personnel munitions;
- Night vision devices; Increase UKR advantage against Russia (fewer, worse NVGs).
- Spare parts and other field equipment.
The Kremlin’s most recent air attacks against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure again demonstrate the devastating impact of Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine. This package provides additional NASAMS munitions and Avenger air defense systems to help Ukraine counter a range of short and medium range threats and bolster Ukraine’s layered air defense. The 59 Bradley IFVs included in this package, together with the 50 Bradleys previously committed on January 6, and the 90 Stryker APCs will provide Ukraine with two brigades of armored capability.
Is it just me, or do they look like Star Wars storm troopers?
One can’t help but notice that NATO seems to be able to actually produce all the armaments they said they had, as opposed to Russia, who have produced pretty much nothing but empty warehouses and embarrassed (and dead) quartermasters.
If I’m reading this correctly, this means we’ll soon be sending 109 Bradley IFV’s. If used intelligently, that’s enough to make the difference between success and failure in an offensive.
in the field, they are a bit like imperial stormtroopers
“I miss my family.”
“You’re an Imperial Stormtrooper, Lance, you miss everything.”
Correct. These aren’t random drawdowns. The mine clearance rollers and obstacle clearance demolition material relate to an attack at a weak point. Bradleys and tanks (I’ve come to favor the Leopard 2s due to infrastructure weight limits) to flow through the created gap(s); Strikers, Marders, CV90s to transport infantry supporting the armor in the breakthrough. Similar to the advances on the northern front last year.
Actually apparently inspections of retrieved cruise missile remains appears to have shown a couple of recent (this past year) manufacture. This isn’t necessarily awesome for Russia because it probably is an indication of stock draw down. It is also may just indicate munitions that were already in the pipeline before sanctions started biting. But it does show they aren’t completely paralyzed.
Russia’s main bottleneck for missile production in particular is mostly (money aside) in microchips and they don’t seem to need very sophisticated versions for most of their weapons. It has been claimed that even chips removed from e-waste like old microwaves and washing machines can do the job. Acquisition of that kind of stuff on the black market is not difficult.
What Russia does lack (really all nations do these days) is the capacity to massively ramp up production. It’s going to keep trickling out regular ammunition, tanks, limited numbers of guided munitions and maybe even a few aircraft. But they can’t do it rapidly or build up like Ukraine is doing with the support of most of Europe/US. It definitely helps to have allies and not be hamstrung by sanctions.
A-HA!!
When I first saw that blurry shot, I thought he was addressing a line of Star Wars Stormtroopers.
When assistance like this is announced, what’s the typical timeframe for them to be delivered and on the battlefield? Weeks? Months?
I also wonder how they are shipped to Europe. Are they sent on USN cargo ships with emergency priority for port logistics or does the Pentagon invite bids from Hapag-Lloyd and Evergreen and risk the long delays inherent in the current state of transoceanic shipping.
IIRC most of the past bang-bang-stuff was airlifted and arrived pretty soon in Ukr.
so, you are pondering getting rid of your old gas-guzzler and instead sending the money to ol’ Elon you consider upgrading to a russian Pantsir Anti-Air-System?
it seems they are getting a lot of 1-star reviews lately …
