The United States government has spent decades fostering events that serve its interests, in doing so it has gradually lost any moral compass it once had. The danger to the world of this corruptive decay is obvious, with officials in the Biden administration attempting to convince themselves they can engineer victory, in attempting to do so they just might miscalculate and bring the world to a fuller acquaintance with the nuclear option. The grip this stupidity has on those leading western governments is hard to grasp, they are certifiable lunatics.

Posted by: Barry Sheridan | Jan 3 2023 17:58 utc | 4

Cabe@#1
Cabe, have you given consideration to the kinetic (non nuclear) power of hypersonic missiles? Their impact is not merely the explosion force. It is multiplied by the speed of the vehicle, combined with the gravity effect of their extremely high altitude, while protected from enemy countermeasures by their ability to maneuver, rather than the standard and solid arc of trajectory common to ordinary ballistic missiles.
Russia has a long stated policy of no first nukes. Hypersonic missiles relieve them from even considering what amounts to a multiplicatively inferior resolution in using the brash alternative.

Posted by: aristodemos | Jan 3 2023 18:07 utc | 6

Posted by: Barry Sheridan | Jan 3 2023 17:58 utc | 4
The biggest myth of them all is that the United States – that is the highest echelons of government as selected and directed by private capital – ever had a moral compass at all. Maybe in the pre-Constitution days.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 3 2023 18:14 utc | 8

Posted by: aristodemos | Jan 3 2023 18:07 utc | 6
E = m/2*(v^2)
At, say, 3000 m/s (mach 9), E = 4.5MJ/kg
Energy in high explosive ~ 4.5 MJ/kg
So at mach 9, you would be mostly indifferent to adding more explosive vs increasing impact speed. Stylistic choice between penetrating mass and more explosive at that point. But still in the realm of a normal missile. The relevant attributes are inability to target, radar invisibility (plasma sheath), ability to penetrate e.g. underground, and reaction time.
Nukes are an entirely different ballgame. But who’s to say the hypersonic missile doesn’t have a nuke warhead? All the Russian ones can take one.

Posted by: dask | Jan 3 2023 18:17 utc | 10

@ Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 3 2023 18:14 utc | 8
. . .US ever had a moral compass at all. Maybe in the pre-Constitution days.
No, it was busy eradicating native Americans in those days.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 3 2023 18:25 utc | 12

re: ThusspakeZarathustra | Jan 3 2023 17:57 utc | 2
you ask “Does anyone really believe there is such a thing as a tactical nuclear weapon?!
The B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb (that the US has deployed at 5 NATO member states in Europe) is a variable yield weapon, with the low end of the explosive power at 0.3 kilotons, i.e. 300 tons of TNT. The largest US conventional non-nuclear weapon has an explosive power of 11 tons of TNT.
The B61-12 was developed to pose a “credible threat”, meaning it is a “usable” nuclear weapon.

Posted by: Steven Starr | Jan 3 2023 18:31 utc | 14

RE ThusspakeZarathustra | Jan 3 2023 17:57 utc | 2
“Does anyone really believe there is such a thing as a tactical nuclear weapon?!”
Rational people do not – there has been a taboo against nuclear weapon use since 1945 – unfortunately there are many Western Politicians who are not rational and believe in a limited nuclear war
These people do not believe that they are at personal risk from nuclear weapons – when I was a teenager in the 1980’s there was plenty of public fear of a nuclear war e.g. The Day after , Threads and When the Wind blows – now nuclear war has faded from public perception
This is way more scary than the Cold War – when politicians wanted to avoid Armageddon
As an aside – interesting video of Colonel MacGregor speaking with Godfrey Bloom – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D23V6UzS3P4

Posted by: Aslangeo | Jan 3 2023 18:33 utc | 16

Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Jan 3 2023 17:57 utc | 2
The only one who has a policy of “using a single nuke here, a single nuke there” is the USA. IIRC Pentagon or some think tank made a report maybe 5-6 years ago where they were envisioning in using “low yield nukes” to defeat Iran. It’s plausible, that they still envision the same policy today.
In reality, Nukes are either you use them all at once, or non at all.

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 3 2023 18:39 utc | 18

The B61-12 was developed to pose a “credible threat”, meaning it is a “usable” nuclear weapon.
Japan used anthrax against 11 Chinese cities……….
US produced 5000 anthrax bombs Churchill intended to use against German cities…….but did not

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Jan 3 2023 18:41 utc | 20

@21 that’s the propaganda to convince the people they’re free, when in fact the state considers them property.
They doubt the propaganda because they’re told they’re above it now.
It’s truly funny.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Jan 3 2023 18:49 utc | 22

From a previous post:
«New York Times some former British diplomat, now working for a pro-war think tank»
That’s nothing: that is pretty mild by the standards of other “Washington Consensus” think-tankers and columnists (e.g. Simon Tisdall at zealous “The Guardian”), who usually advocate no-fly zones over Ukraine or bombings of Russian Federation targets (I think to move the “Overton Window” to the right.
https://www.theguardian.com/profile/simontisdall?page=1
And here are some quotes from “The Economist” and “Strategy Page” that are also amazing:
“>https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/08/17/stay-cool-on-kherson>
«In the years to come, nato armed forces will queue at the door of Ukraine’s general staff to learn from the commanders who halted the Russian army’s march on Kyiv and Odessa and inflicted more than 60,000 casualties in six months of war.»
“>https://www.economist.com/the-world-this-week/2022/12/20/the-world-this-year>
«Vladimir Putin’s excuse for this unprovoked act of aggression was that he wanted to “de-Nazify” the country, a democracy with a Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky. The invasion, which Mr Putin thought would end in a quick and easy victory, proved spectacularly incompetent. Russia failed to take Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. Its vehicles and kit broke down. Ukrainians fought hard, picking off Russian fuel and ammunition supplies and pushing the invaders back. America and Europe supplied Ukraine with weapons, cash and intelligence. Russia shelled civilians, tortured captives, kidnapped children and made thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons.»
“>http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/russia/articles/20221230.aspx>
«The current state of the Russian military cannot support any Russian military objectives in Ukraine, or anywhere else. What Russia lost in Ukraine will take years to replace. For example, most of the infantry officers the army had in 2021 have already been killed, captured or disabled in Ukraine. There were no replacements for the lost infantry officers so Russia tried calling up retired officers and transferring non-infantry officers to lead infantry units. That did not work. Another problem is the lack of NCOs. These have been a staple of Western armies for centuries and are often capable of replacing infantry officers lost in combat. Russia abolished NCOs a century ago and has not been able to rebuild that after more than a decade of trying.
Russia is currently crippled by severe economic sanctions imposed because of their Ukraine invasion. According to Ukraine and its NATO supporters, the Ukraine war won’t end until all Russian troops are gone. Any New Russian Army will take years to create and currently the loss of officers and experienced soldiers has Russia depending on Belarussian instructors to train new Russian troops. This is done in Belarus to the extent possible because Belarus’s tiny army has much smaller training capability than the pre-2022 Russian army. Almost all new troops in Russia get no training at all and are just given uniforms, assault rifles and transportation to Ukraine where they find few officers to lead them and not much in the way of supplies, especially food, to sustain them.»

Posted by: Blissex | Jan 3 2023 19:04 utc | 24

СВИДЕТЕЛЬСТВА ОБВИНЕНИЯ
https://putnik1.livejournal.com/9224008.html
About the rapid polarization of the active public into “lawyers” who are ready to justify anything and “prosecutors” who have indictments in advance, the author is certainly right. He is also right about the fact that the “legal profession” is mostly “simply unable to tolerate a higher level of anxiety” and therefore often tends to turn a blind eye to reality.
No, of course, there are clinical cases of pathological immorality in the line of duty, but let’s not take those into account. Fuck them. Much more complicated is the question with motivation of “prosecutors”, most of whom have become such following the results of the last 10 months, having formed their accusations on the basis of what we all see. And what do we see? And what we see is:
(a) in the diplomatic sphere, the Russian Federation has failed in every way possible. She has ceased to be feared and even respected. The traditional sphere of influence (“near abroad”) is practically lost and goes under other “roofs”, the many years of work on the “western azimuth” turned out to be a zilch, incongruously explained as “we were deceived!
(b) the “second world army” turned out to be, to put it mildly, not entirely combat-ready; the Defense Ministry is impotent, worse, drowned in theft and cronyism; commanders are mostly untalented; and the super-cool military industry (Armats, drones, etc.), it turns out, existed mainly on pretty slides;
(c) Russian propaganda is incapable of countering enemy propaganda (in the full sense of the word: ni-nothing!), except for the stupid ramblings of boring people who are very hard to believe, scolding of any critics and constant 70s-style nonsense that has become a sad, routine routine;
(d) The political leadership of the Russian Federation has gone into the shadows. It is disintegrated. For ten months it has failed to formulate clear objectives for the war, it clearly avoids taking responsibility for itself, it is unable to make the necessary personnel rotations, and it constantly arranges murky “contractual arrangements” in favor of the enemy.
All of this is obvious, objective, indisputable – and no wonder that the number of “prosecutors” is growing. And of course – here the author is absolutely right – “this situation is being skillfully used by our opponents to polarize and split society. In fact they don’t deny that, on the contrary, they openly admit that any failure of the Russian authorities is used to undermine society. But here is the question…
Suppose the “prosecutors”, in order to avoid polarization and schism, will roll up their mitts and stop analyzing and discussing the obvious with an accusatory slant, shifting to re-broadcasting officiousness. That is, they will stop doing the only thing that today – when it is impossible to silence inconvenient facts – forces the authorities to somehow react, and then what? Then, of course, it will become much easier for the perpetrators of all the tragedies. And Russia?

Posted by: Kareem | Jan 3 2023 19:05 utc | 26

Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 3 2023 18:52 utc | 23
The kinetic energy at impact comes from the propulsion thrust during flight, except for whatever speed it has been launched at (e.g. air launched). In effect a part the amount of rocket fuel it carries at the start is converted in kinetic energy at impact (the other goes to friction during flight which I suspect is very dominant at these speeds). So add up that to the warhead in kg if you like.
That plasma cloud seems to me to be the hot gas from friction which at hypersonic speeds may have some interesting physics happening. It is comparable to the reentry of the shuttle (where equivalently part of the energy of the launching fuel tanks must be dissipated).

Posted by: alek_a | Jan 3 2023 19:09 utc | 28

From secured comms to missile systems to modern tanks, the capitalist regime in Moscow went full-spectrum bluff with the “trusted partners”.
https://topwar.ru/207749-armaty-ne-budet-mozhno-rashoditsja.html
«Арматы» не будет. Можно расходиться
“There will be no Armata. We can split up.
30 December 2022
Today “Armata” has really become a nickname, denoting either a long construction or fruitless attempts to do something from scratch. Just like the “Coalition”, “Kurganets”, “Burevestnik” and other “unparalleled” products.
Let’s try to answer an elementary question: can the Russian Army have at its disposal, say, two hundred? That’s two tank regiments, that is, practically a tank division. A strike force, because these breakthrough vehicles could try to have a significant impact on the situation in the SSR.
The whole problem is that mass production of the Armata is now impossible for many reasons. The situation is such that there is no … however, it is easier to say what there is for the tank.
Engine
Here I will allow myself a little historical digression. In 1931, within the walls of the Kharkov Locomotive Plant, a galaxy of talented and brilliant Soviet engineers K.F. Chelpan, T.P. Chupakhin, Y.E. Vikhman, and I.Y. Trashutin created the V-2 tank diesel engine. Yes, the same engine that became the heart of T-34, KV-1, KV-2 and IS-1.
The V-2 has turned out so successful that ALL diesel engines of the Russian armored vehicles from V-84 (T-72), V-92S2F (T-72B3, T-90) to UTD-20 (BMP-1 and BMP-2) and UTD-29 (BMP-3) represents a further upgrade of this engine. And you can long praise the V-2 or vice versa, doubt its capabilities as a modern engine, but the fact is that almost all Russian armored vehicles are moved by this engine. Simple, but reliable and mastered to the screws

Posted by: Kareem | Jan 3 2023 19:17 utc | 30

Posted by: Klutch Kargo | Jan 3 2023 19:11 utc | 29
«Reserve status of the U$D is based on history and history of gold holdings, and convenience, nothing more.»
Oh please enough with the silly, currencies are “backed” by two things, neither of which are gold or history etc.:
* The desirable goods and assets that can be purchased from abroad using that currency. Post WW2 the dollar dominated because the only source of large amounts of goods and raw materials was the USA, undamaged by war and with much expanded production. This created what at the time was called “dollar shortage”.
Currently there are still plenty of things that can be purchased with dollars, from Hollywood movies to Florida mansions.
* The fiscal capacity of a government to pay back to foreign creditors its debt denominated in its currency. The USA government will squeeze its lower classes as hard as it takes to have the necessary fiscal capacity.
The switchover from sterling to dollars as global preferred currency was very fast after WW2, because after the UK’s defeat it could not produce much that was purchasing by foreign importers, and its government’s ability to squeeze their lower class was already to the limit (and its middle and upper class assets had been already mostly confiscated to pay for USA supplies during the early phase of the war).

Posted by: Blissex | Jan 3 2023 19:20 utc | 32

@ Blissex & Kareem
Why are you tag-teaming to fill the thread with spam ?

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 3 2023 19:24 utc | 34

Barry Sheridan (4)
When you think about it, the USA, and possibly Nato countries though I think some of the latter have been dragged along, rather than cheerleading, have been building up to this conflict since 1945, though Nato wasn’t formed until 1949, the UK (Westminster) has had some sort of grudge against Russian for centuries (Read articles on The Great Game to learn more) this would explain their constant hostility towards Russia, but there are also many grey areas as well such as UK PM Tony Blair, who dined with Putin and went to the opera in St Petersburg, whilst Russia was quelling Chechnya.
I think in order to economically break China, the US must first deal with Russia, the 2014 coup in Ukraine, and the eventual intervention in the Donbas by Russia has given the US the impetus to increase the intensity of hostilities towards Russia using Ukraine as a proxy. Once Russia is dealt with the surrounding of China can be completed or there abouts.
Ultimately those madmen in the Pentagon will eventually call for some sort of plan that involves attacks against Russia, but Russia isn’t Libya, Afghanistan or Syria, and that could be a fatal mistake.
For me the key to peace is Europe, without the compliance of European nations the US and the UK cannot continue to effectively wage war against Russia via Ukraine, and the only way to turn Europe away from the war is for the citizens of Europe to protest and revolt against their governments, if the cost of living crisis gets worse, and the price of energy rises the people of Europe might act, afterall any war fought between the US/UK and Russia will probably be fought in Europe, it will once again be the Europeans who feel the effects of war.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Jan 3 2023 19:24 utc | 36

I very much doubt that the conflict in Ukraine will lead to the use of nuclear weapons, firstly any nuclear weapon fired at Russia, would probably see nuclear weapons fired back at that country, and Russia has a strong protocol on when it can use these weapons of mass destruction.
If the USA or the UK fired nuclear weapons at Russia those that gave the order would know fine well that nuclear weapons would be coming back their way, with (MAD) Mutually Assured Destruction no one wins, no this war even if it does spill over the borders of Ukraine will in my opinion be one of intelligence (and who has it first) combined with precise missile and drone strikes, with the human element bringing up the rear.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Jan 3 2023 19:32 utc | 38

This sounds like total fantasyland to me, but I’m interested to hear what you guys think.
While there is no doubt that there are ‘secret’ agreements between Israel and Russia (otherwise Israel would have lost many, many aircraft by now), I sincerely doubt that Netanyahu is as influential where Putin is concerned as the author of that piece seems to think he is.
https://www.indianpunchline.com/with-eye-on-iran-netanyahu-wades-into-ukraine-war/

Posted by: Bob Jenkins | Jan 3 2023 19:33 utc | 40

Posted by: alek_a | Jan 3 2023 19:09 utc | 28
It’s a misconception that it’s friction… it’s non-adiabatic compression of the air in front. At sufficient velocity vs air density, it is enough to ionize the air (the plasma sheath).
Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 3 2023 18:52 utc | 23
The issue with hypersonics is that you have to imagine how explosives and kinetic warheads work with respect to where the energy is ‘released’. The very same thing as heat vs sabot rounds in tanks. The warheads are interchangeable per target.
But imagine that you had instead of an explosive warhead, it was a tungsten dart at half the weight. Final velocity is say +15% = +22.5% kinetic energy. So ~65% the delivered energy (high explosive still carries energy, but increase in kinetic partially makes it up.).
But where is the energy dissipated? With a high explosive warhead, it would still mainly be on the surface, but at those speeds there would still be penetration. With a tungsten (or better but unethical imho, DU) penetrator, it can go a very long way depending on geometery.
Compare to a tank sabot at 18 kg and 2000 m/s muzzle velocity. Can penetrate ~0.5 m of custom steel at 2 km (way less than muzzle velocity). The hypersonic warhead will be ~200 kg and hit at 3500+ m/s. For napkin math, imagine ~40x the kinetic energy at impact.
I don’t think it was 60m of bedrock (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sergiy-Stovba/publication/346745650_Geological_structure_and_tectonic_evolution_of_the_Ukrainian_sector_of_the_Black_Sea/links/5fd6332c45851553a0b1c698/Geological-structure-and-tectonic-evolution-of-the-Ukrainian-sector-of-the-Black-Sea.pdf). But all of those soil/rock types are significantly more ‘permeable’ than granite.
If it was 60m of bedrock, I would have my doubts, but, especially if it was DU (pyrophoric), then yep. That’s how you would get through.

Posted by: dask | Jan 3 2023 19:41 utc | 42

Posted by: Kareem | Jan 3 2023 19:04 utc | 25
«The expected result from 30 years of masdivr deindustrialization, theft and self-hatred from russian capitalist ruling class: a debilitated military, a tiny shadow of the Red Army»
Perhaps of the Red Army of old, before it became the Soviet Army, because there is this report I reckon credible:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2022/03/the-universal-boosting-of-putin/
«Back in the days when I was one of the British state’s more efficient functionaries, I spoke with British officers who had been in Russia during the Yeltsin period, when they had been able to get up close and effectively inventory the Russian armed forces. (For those who don’t know, I was First Secretary at the British Embassy in Warsaw, I was British Ambassador in Tashkent, and I was taught to be fluent in both Polish and Russian, which included living in St Petersburg as a language student while Ambassador designate).
What we (as I was then a cog in this machine) found was that the strength of the Soviet Union’s Red Army had been massively exaggerated in all our intelligence estimates, on which defence strategy had been based for decades. We had over-estimated the numbers, the mobility and above all the capability of Soviet weapons systems. Much of it was barely functional; the problems with both quality and maintenance were not just the product of the disintegration of the Soviet system, they evidently went back decades.»

Posted by: Blissex | Jan 3 2023 19:44 utc | 44

I totally agree that the serious war is on the economic front. Reserve status of the U$D is based on history and history of gold holdings, and convenience, nothing more. Holding a dollar that can and will be canceled greatly reduces it attractiveness to everyone. The U$D is toast, but it will take awhile. You left out the huge markets, liquidity, and financial instruments (hedges) available. You’re a Kuwaiti and you need $1 Billion and are invested in treasuries. They have a narrow bid/ask spread and a large order stack on either side. That’s liquidity and your trade clears in 30 seconds. Need to hedge your holdings against the Yen? Future FED moves? Easy.
There’s no real competition right now. The problem was the suicide of the US via sanctions. Competition will emerge because the idiots just created a demand for it. But it will take some time.

Posted by: JackG | Jan 3 2023 19:47 utc | 46

Posted by: Cabe | Jan 3 2023 17:41 utc | 1
“Since Little Boy was dropped onto innocent Japanese civilians in 1945, how many people have been murdered globally by the US?”
A few years ago a group of historians got together to try to answer that question. Their best estimate turned out to be some 20 million.

Posted by: AntiSpin | Jan 3 2023 19:47 utc | 48

Posted by: Blissex | January 03, 2023 at 19:44
«“We had over-estimated the numbers, the mobility and above all the capability of Soviet weapons systems.»
The obvious reason for this:
George Kennan “At a Century’s Ending: Reflections 1982-1995” “Part II: Cold War in Full Bloom” page 118 (1997) ISBN 0-393-31609-2
“Were the Soviet Union to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrial establishment would have to go on, substantially unchanged, until some other adversary could be invented. Anything else would be an unacceptable shock to the American economy.”
«Much of it was barely functional; the problems with both quality and maintenance were not just the product of the disintegration of the Soviet system, they evidently went back decades.”»
There was actually some defensible reasons (as well as poverty and poor organization) for this:
* Contrarily to “Washington Consensus” propaganda the USSR had zero intention to attack and conquer Europe down to the Urals.
* For a purely defensive policy, the USSR reckoned (as do most NATO governments since 1991) that producing in advance arms that had proven good in the previous war and that probably would be obsolete in a new war was a bad investment, and that what was needed was an “ablative” layer of conventional defense that slowed down attacks enough to give the time to start producing new arms for the new war situation.
* For a purely defensive policy, the USSR relied mostly (as does the RF government today) on strategic nuclear missiles anyhow.
The difficulty is that proxy-wars and similar regime-change operations don’t fit that reasoning.

Posted by: Blissex | Jan 3 2023 19:53 utc | 50

@ Patrick Armstrong | Jan 3 2023 19:47 utc | 47
Feeble, agreed. Consider the voxpop with the two women must have been the ‘worst’ they could find re their loaded questions. LOL

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 3 2023 20:02 utc | 52

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 3 2023 19:24 utc | 34
«@ Blissex & Kareem
Why are you tag-teaming to fill the thread with spam ?»
Ha! Busted already, you are too intelligent!
“Kareem” is actually my good friend Annalena Baerbock, and I am her manager, Richard Moore. We were having such good fun.
🙂

Posted by: Blissex | Jan 3 2023 20:14 utc | 54

JackG @ 46
The weaponized dollar cries out for competition. Liquidity and large pools of capital are a separate and more interesting thing.
My favorite Ukrainian Sergey Glazyev argues that capital for building things in Russia should come from Moscow and not NYC or London. He has written a few papers and articles that I wish I had kept better track of.
I think he would regard some of the most hurtful western sanctions as good medicine for a healthier Russia. It is as though the State Dept and Treasury are intent on “self goals”accrding to his viewpoint. The presumed tension between the Bank of Russia (Elvia N.) and Sergey is the show worth watching.
Not as much blood either.

Posted by: Klutch Kargo | Jan 3 2023 20:16 utc | 56

From my school days, tactical nuclear weapons were as dangerous to own as to enemy troops – because they are used in tactical level, eg. too close.
Be it a ridiculous https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device) nuclear reconciles rifle, nuclear torpedoes that sink launching sub if it is closer 10 miles from detonation or even tactical nuclear artillery shells that spread too much radiation and complicate things too much.
For what it’s worth, they were developed in time when weapons were not accurate enough so they needed bigger bang. This is not case any more, Russia officially declared their conventional precision weapons (Kalibrs, Iskanders etc.) are accurate enough that they are replacing concept of tactical nukes are obsolete.
So, only practical value nukes have left are operational/strategic level, ad least for regular armies.
“Tactical”, dirty and other methods have value only for terrorist attacks.

Posted by: Abe | Jan 3 2023 20:22 utc | 58

Rybar again reports that Russia’s stocks of artillery shells are nearly spent. “millions of shells are needed, only tens of thousands are produced” Rybar also reports that the Ukrainians are planning a massive offensive on Kreminna. This is disappointing news, that they are able to launch an offensive on another front while still successfully holding ground on the Donbass front and everywhere else. These have been difficult months for Russia supporters.

Posted by: catdog | Jan 3 2023 20:26 utc | 60

Posted by: Klutch Kargo | Jan 3 2023 20:16 utc | 56
«My favorite Ukrainian Sergey Glazyev argues that capital for building things in Russia should come from Moscow and not NYC or London.»
To be clearer: what’s less good than getting lots of USA/Germany/… capital to build very useful stuff under your own sovereign power is to put lots of your own capital in USA/UK/… banks or investments which are under their sovereign power.

Posted by: Blissex | Jan 3 2023 20:33 utc | 62

A question for you, b.
Would the war or western response/strategy be looking any different if the US & NATO were still in Afghanistan?
Thank you.

Posted by: Splash of Bourbon | Jan 3 2023 20:38 utc | 64

@ james | Jan 3 2023 20:22 utc | 57
You are most welcome. Cheers & prost! 🙂
…

Summary of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine (03.01.2023)
◽️ In the Kupyansk direction, more than 40 Ukrainian servicemen, three armored combat vehicles and three pickup trucks were destroyed as a result of the shelling of AFU units in the areas of Sinkovka, Ivanovka and Berestovoye of the Kharkiv region.
◽️ In addition, two sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the Ukrainian armed forces were destroyed in the areas of Novoselovskoye and Tabaevka, Kharkiv region.
◽️ In the Krasno-Limansky direction, Russian artillery and heavy flamethrower systems struck four AFU assault groups in the areas of Chervonaya Dibrova of the Luhansk People’s Republic, Novosadovoye, Serebryanka and Hryhorovka of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The losses of the enemy amounted to more than 120 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, four armored fighting vehicles, three pickup trucks and two vehicles. A sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Ukrainian armed forces was destroyed near the settlement of Stelmakhovka in the Luhansk People’s Republic.
◽️ In the Donetsk direction, Russian forces continued their offensive. As a result of a complex fire attack on the enemy in the areas of Krasnoye, Petrovskoye, Nevelskoye, Georgievka and Pobeda settlements of the Donetsk People’s Republic, up to 90 Ukrainian servicemen, two tanks, five armored fighting vehicles and seven vehicles were destroyed.
◽️ In the South Donetsk direction, artillery strikes on AFU units near Prechistovka, Zolotaya Niva and Novodonetskoye settlements of the Donetsk People’s Republic destroyed over 30 Ukrainian servicemen, two armored combat vehicles and three pickup trucks.
✈️ In addition, Russian air force high-precision strikes on temporary deployment points of “foreign legion” units in the areas of Masliakovka and Kramatorsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic destroyed over 130 foreign mercenaries.
💥 Missile troops and artillery of groups of troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation hit 72 artillery units of the AFU in firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 104 areas during the day.
💥 Four artillery ammunition and military equipment depots of the AFU were destroyed near the settlements of Gulyaypole and Chervonoye, Zaporizhzhia region. In the area of Tyaginka, Kherson region, a warehouse of weapons and military equipment of the AFU was destroyed.
💥 As a result of missile and air strikes against a cluster of military equipment near the Druzhkivka railway station in the Donetsk People’s Republic, two US-made HIMARS multiple rocket launchers; four Czech-made RM-70 Vampire multiple rocket launcher vehicles; over 800 multiple rocket launchers; six vehicles, as well as up to 120 Ukrainian servicemen were destroyed.
💥 In the course of counter-battery warfare near Kramatorsk, two US-made HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, which had been used to shell populated areas of the Donetsk People’s Republic, were uncovered and destroyed.
◽️ Three US-made M-777 artillery systems were destroyed at firing positions near the city of Artemivsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the village of Chervonaya Dibrova in the Luhansk People’s Republic. Two Ukrainian Grad MLRS vehicles were destroyed in the areas of Volchansk (Kharkiv region) and Serebryanka (Donetsk people’s republic). Two D-30 howitzers were destroyed in the areas of Kamenskoye and Gulyaypole of Zaporizhzhia region.
💥 Anti-aircraft defense forces shot down 13 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the areas of Svistunovka, Chervonopopovka of the Luhansk People’s Republic, Kirillovka of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Trudovoye and Berdyansk of the Zaporizhzhia region during the day.
◽️ In addition, nine HIMARS rockets were intercepted in the areas of Chervonopopovka of the Luhansk People’s Republic and Novaya Kakhovka of the Kherson region.

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 3 2023 20:49 utc | 66

Does anyone really believe there is such a thing as a tactical nuclear weapon?!
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Jan 3 2023 17:57 utc | 2

Probably the same audience that believes in the veracity of the American lunar landing, that a bunch of randoms with box cutters took down the Twin Towers, and that COVID rationally necessitated global lockdowns and massive wealth transfers.
To anyone who does believe in nuclear mythology (the lifeblood of endless Hollywood thrillers about ‘nuclear suitcases’ and doomsday scenarios by ‘bad guys’), please go look at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, 20 years after the bombing. Do those look like nuclear wastelands to you? Do they look like they are unlivable? Contaminated for decades?
All of that hiding under my desk at school during Cold War drills … It’s almost comical now.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jan 3 2023 20:52 utc | 68

@60.
A kreminna offensive has been on deck for a while and presents a terrific opportunity for a successful russian counter offensive. Keep the troops in defensive positions and trap them against a river or urban area.
Like wise a russian retreat from strategic centers in luhansk is a recipe for defeat.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Jan 3 2023 20:57 utc | 70

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jan 3 2023 20:52 utc | 68
«please go look at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, 20 years after the bombing. Do those look like nuclear wastelands to you? Do they look like they are unlivable? Contaminated for decades? All of that hiding under my desk at school during Cold War drills … It’s almost comical now.»
And here I think there is a confirmed case of delusionism unfortunately: it depends a lot on the type of bomb and how high it is set to explode. The early bombs were puny and set to explode very high, typical for massacring civilians in cities. When the bombs are set to explode near ground level or at impact, to take out missile silos or military installations, things are very different.

Posted by: Blissex | Jan 3 2023 21:22 utc | 72

Followup to MOD Summary (03.01.2023)

📊 In total, since the beginning of the special military operation destroyed ((+?) over preceding 24hrs):
355 airplanes,
199 helicopters,
2,807(+15) unmanned aerial vehicles,
399 air defense missile systems, (Note, each AD Radar destroyed, no (soviet pre ’91) spares/replacements, is effectively: Unclaimed Kills)
7,382(+16) tanks and other armored combat vehicles,
967(+10) combat vehicles equipped with MRLS,
3,768(+5) field artillery cannons and mortars,
7,900(+24) units of special military equipment.

Comment:
Very significant quantities of AFVs, Arty/Mortars/MBLRS & logistics vehicles were again destroyed over preceding 24 hrs. This rate of materiel attrition has now been elevated for 11 days straight. Significantly higher rates than the norm of AFU casualties will therefore also parallel this elevated attrition re KIA/WIA since Dec2322.
Significant numbers of missiles & drones are now (last 72 hrs) specifically targeting actual AFU military assets. AFU formations, entrenched positions, military stores/materiel & armaments/reinforcements at embarkation/unloading & forming-up/assembly. Lesser numbers allocated to Ukraine infrastructure targets. This indicates probable RF ongoing post strike Damage Assessments considers AFU infrastructure (electrical grid/railway assets) sufficiently neutralized(diminishing returns), only requiring periodic further destruction re modest repair/recovery rates.
Overall comment & assessment: No Change. See: ‘Ukraine Open Thread 2023-02’ – Outraged | Jan 1 2023 15:02 utc | 11

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 3 2023 21:27 utc | 74

All of that hiding under my desk at school during Cold War drills … It’s almost comical now.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jan 3 2023 20:52 utc | 68
A Circus is a place where there usually is comedy. 🙂
But notice, the usage of masks caught on rather well. One news broadcast and they will be on the faces in a blink.
Much is being hidden about those mushroom events in Japan. The same rinse job will be done on the Pandemic That Almost Ended The World. Fauci is guaranteed to be a Super Hero in the future comics.

Posted by: Tom_12 | Jan 3 2023 21:32 utc | 76

I remember playing a massive game online once, where our team built up resources and military and could barely hold the line. The enemy army seemed endless.
But we did hold the line. And then they broke. Because they put so much on the attack, they didn’t have as many supplies as we did.
That point right before the breaking point is where we see Ukraine now. “Wow, it seems they can just keep filling the trenches!” No.
Or a more adult simile: The man who has a lot of money, until suddenly he doesn’t, because he had to sell all he had to get that money.

Posted by: Tenet | Jan 3 2023 21:44 utc | 78

Outraged @66
Are you/the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation saying that today, 4 HIMARS – Launchers were destroyed by the Russian army near Donezk? That would amount to – what? Half of the HIMARS – Launchers left from the 15-20 that were delivered over the summer?
If so – was that pure luck, or has Russia found a way to locate and destroy them systematically?

Posted by: Marvin | Jan 3 2023 21:53 utc | 80

Blissex @24
Thank you for revealing these terroristic but well-funded and positioned sites from the enemies of humanity.

Posted by: aristodemos | Jan 3 2023 22:13 utc | 82

Blissex@27
When you forward these screeds from the Guardian, please make it clear to the readers that “Guardian” was totally compromised and taken over by MI6 several years ago. Thus, in bald contrast to their former level of integrity; that publication has devolved into nothing more than a propaganda medium controlled by MI6 and ultimately the Rottenchild Bank in city of London.

Posted by: aristodemos | Jan 3 2023 22:18 utc | 84

uncle tungsten @83
“Right On”, as we declared back in the resistance movements in the latter ’60’s. There are, indeed, various posters who invade MoA on a regular basis who serve as propaganda broadsheets for the control mechanisms. Those intel agencies and suchlike also have posters who pop in only on occasion to spread doubt and uncertainty amongst those of us who constitute a center of resistance to the agendas of those who work for the chosen ones from among the elites who would be total world masters.
In other words, these bought and paid-for bass-turds are ubiquitous and what’s more, they are everywhere.

Posted by: aristodemos | Jan 3 2023 22:23 utc | 86

@ Hermit | Jan 3 2023 22:31 utc | 87
lol.. that’s pretty good hermit and funny too…

Posted by: james | Jan 3 2023 22:38 utc | 88

@Marvin 80
Russia has perfected the use of seismic analysis to precisely locate and automatically aim – and correct – counter battery fire.
From a Ukrainian weapon being fired to return fire is under two minutes, which is less than the minimum time required to move an artillery piece or rocket launcher far enough to be out of the POK for the incoming Russian fire.
The real beauty of this passive system is that it cannot be jammed and has no emissions, and so, unlike US radar and radio based fire detection systems, is not susceptible to jamming or anti-radiation measures (HARM missiles).

Posted by: Hermit | Jan 3 2023 22:44 utc | 90

“The Cold War was one long campaign to make the Soviet Union spend more of its sparse resources (after WW II) on the wasteful capital destructive Permanent Arms Economy.”
Posted by: bevin | Jan 3 2023 21:22 utc | 73
***
This is pretty much imperialism’s global strategy against socialism in any form, from the USSR to China, Cuba, Venezuela. To “make the economy scream”, as Kissinger put it of Chile.
When people think of what Lenin wrote in The State and Revolution, almost everyone fixates on the first chapters defining the state as organized, armed force wielded by a ruling class. Far more important are the later sections on the economic basis for the withering away of the state—developing the forces of production to the point of true abundance. Capitalism is all about scarcity and its currencies are measures of relative scarcity; with abundance not only will the state no longer be necessary but money too will wither away.
Economic warfare, sabotage, arms races and often enough outright invasion—capitalism, even when it can’t destroy socialist societies seeks to delay and distort their development of productive forces (building socialism) and mire them in scarcity. This also prolongs conditions favorable for subversion (scarcity means markets and money) but also allows capitalist propaganda to proclaim to many who unrealistically expect instant utopias, “Look, where has a socialist state ever withered away?”
It took capitalism several attempts over a few centuries to become dominant globally, with lots of organized, armed force along the way. The USSR survived long enough to pass the revolutionary torch to China. The Communist Party of China, learning from Soviet strengths and weaknesses both, is forcing capitalism to adhere to its historical mission of building up the forces of production to abundance rather than be hijacked to neoliberal financialization as in the West. And the BRI is taking this building of abundance global, continent by continent pulling the rug out from Euro-US colonialism as we breathe.
We are at a historical turning point. We are already seeing the US be the one to suffer from sparse resources due to its Permanent Arms Economy. One way or another the Empire will crack, perhaps sooner than many of us think.

Posted by: Vintage Red | Jan 3 2023 22:45 utc | 92

Must have been a slow day in the war, not many links to interesting actual military engagements or developments. Well, I have 12+ inches of new snow to deal with, some of it drifted into nearly meter high piles so I should do some work instead of perusing the verbiage here…

Posted by: DakotaRog | Jan 3 2023 22:53 utc | 94

Paddy@45
“Biden may not be rational”…not to worry about that state of affairs, as Biden is kept extremely far from the nuclear football and has absolutely no agency, beyond protecting his wayward son and his own many corrupt manifestations from over the decades. The U$$A has had no president with actual agency since the Agency assassinated JFK on 11-22-63. The primarily Khazarians and various Yankee elites who create a net around Biden, themselves have very little actual agency.
Most decision-making emanates from the Rottenchild Bank in City of London. However, their level of control is likely not absolute within the U.$.
Though, superficially in the Pentagon Matrix, it is not unlikely that there are highly trusted staffers, likely mostly Colonels and Brigadier Generals, who remain loyal to the Constitution at some level or another. They serve as braking mechanisms on the higher ranking Brown-Nosers who achieved political pinnacles due to their propensity to follow unlawful orders spewing out of the White House. My suspicion is also that even though the Agency mostly works for the elite agenda, there are individuals within that hall of mirrors who are clearheaded and thus unwilling to be part of what would be a nuclear holocaust, for at least the Northern Hemisphere.
So my take is that there are cool heads within those two powerful institutions and that elementary survival instincts are urging them towards infusing basic caution within their respective institutions. One can dismiss any agency being held by the Department of $tate in the U.$. That may be quite fortunate for the fate of humanity, as $tate is under total domination by NeoCons and other Talmudist agenda trash .

Posted by: aristodemos | Jan 3 2023 22:58 utc | 96

@ Peter AU1 | Jan 3 2023 22:48 utc | 93
Indeed.
The passive ‘Penicillin’ system & others have been committed over past fortnight, previously along with other first rate systems held in reserve re potential US/NATO ground commitment(IMV). Also were held back to avoid ISR Elint collection whilst in operation by Empire.
The counter battery destructive Fires are held ready,’on call’, until precise co-ordinates of detected tubes/launchers are determined. The barrage is a follow-up to the immediately prior Live feed & Lancet suicidal strike. Effectively instant kills or at least neutralization as if the targets new positions had been pre-registered for on-call Fires. Devastating. Without functional AD nor aviation assets, AFU has no counter.

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 3 2023 23:06 utc | 98

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 3 2023 22:44 utc | 91
The MoD claims that the the HIMARs and czechen Grad clones were destroyed while unloading from a train, so it is unlikely that counterbattery systems had anything to do with it.

Posted by: catdog | Jan 3 2023 23:12 utc | 100