HNY From the 5th Brigade.

Kurakhovo is taken. 

About Maneuverable Warfare.

You can maneuver in the XXI century ONLY if you fight a third-rate opponent. In reality, you will be detected, and targeting will be provided and after that--well, the fate of the whole Ukie (US) column of HIMARS MLRS battery. You end up dead. Same goes for any armor. RUK/ROK. 

This is the demonstration from Kherson today. Do not maneuver if you fight Russian Army and want to live. 

Yes, Yes and Again ...

 ... Yes! Larry nails it. 

The death of former President Jimmy Carter at the age of 100, does not mark the end of an era. Actually, his death is an exclamation point for the disastrous US foreign policy of the last 45 years, especially with respect to the threat from Islamic extremism and the troubled relations with Russia. Jimmy Carter’s reign set the stage for much of the current unrest and turmoil in west Asia and Ukraine. While it is true that Mr. Carter worked diligently after leaving Washington, DC to burnish his image as a humanitarian, his policies towards Russia and Iran became festering sores on the American political body that linger, still suppurating, until today.

For those who still have lingering doubts, here is from my latest book about sheer ignorance of the American "strategists":

Brzezinski stands here as a special figure not just because of his fanatical Russophobia, but because of his very prominent position as a foreign policy adviser to the Obama Administration and later, before his death, to Joe Biden and, in general, to the Democratic Party establishment going back to the times of Lyndon Johnson. In this respect this professional political scientist, who distinguished himself as a National Security Adviser in the Carter Administration, was a classic product of America’s humanities academe in a sense that most of its “products” never had any serious understanding of either real scientific-technological developments or, as is the case even today, had any clear idea of the tsarist/Soviet or contemporary Russian history, economy, cultural idiosyncrasies and, especially, its military history. Remarkably, these very same people have very little understanding of their own country, the United States, precisely because modern American higher education does not provide a required tool kit for proper connection to that reality. The only tool this education provides is the ability to juxtapose accurately selected facts which serve politically expedient narratives, but not to engage with an objective picture.

In layman’s terms, Brzezinski would have been described as a military amateur, as would be the majority of America’s geopolitical thinkers, who have never had a systemic military and technological education and never served a day in military officer uniform. In other words, most American geopolitical thinkers who emerged in 1970s through the 1990s elucidated their views on geopolitics founded on an anecdotal image of military power—a defining tool of geopolitics. 

The United States, akin to an acute appendicitis patient being rolled into the operations room, allowed appendectomy to be performed on itself by a random illiterate fanatic from the street who wouldn't pass a simple elementary school exam in arithmetic. Yet, here we are today. Brzezinski wanted Poland to be "free", and in pursuing this objective, as is expected from most "political scientists" and consistently low intelligence US National Security Advisers, he laid the bomb under America's future, including by manipulating an intellectually mediocre POTUS such as late Carter into insane foreign policy. 

Culture (as Art) Is a Very Complex Thing ...

 ... here is one of the greatest Russian piano players who ever walked this earth, Denis Matsuev,  giving an incredible classic music concert in ... jazz and blues tones. When you have the whole orchestra ... rocking. What can I say, enjoy. Including the conclusion with Sviridov's Time Forward going into the Christmas Tree. Blues and Jazz, which are purely American art forms, are immortal ... 

Yes, remember these guys saying to Bethoven to roll over ...

It is universal ... 

2024 Summary.

The issue of the roots and the tops. 

Ania, Scott, Larry ...

 ... and yours truly, live. 

RT Continues on Course ...

China has shown some technology demonstrators which most military porn masturbators called "6th generation" whatever. Those are not 6th generation anything, nor are they fifth generation, whatever they are--for that one must have 5th generation (forget about sixth generation) engine to start with. China doesn't have one. But guess what, RT invited an "expert" to comment on this. 

The images of China’s brand new warplanes, which appeared online this week, is a bold “invitation” to an arms race for a next-generation fighter, Dmitry Stefanovich,  a military researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has told RT.  

The whole assertion here about "invitation to an arms race" which HAS never stopped and in which (as far as the combat air is concerned) China lags doesn't bother either RT crew or Stefanovich who is pivotal for the whole drivel in article about "arms race" in RT. But guess what, if that hasn't been enough, Stefanovich produces a wowser of a statement in the end: 

Beijing will have to compete with American next-generation fighter programs, Stefanovich said. “While there are no game-changers on the horizon, China is explicitly inviting to participate in an arms race, at least in terms of quality,” he said. “We should not forget, however, that the US is the only country with an advanced-stage program for a new strategic bomber – the B-21 – which can be adapted for some of what we would call sixth-generation capabilities. The Chinese and Russian planes of comparable type have not taken off the ground yet,” Stefanovich said.  

So, who is Mr. Stefanovich? I guess you already know where it all goes. Let's review the pedigree of this "military expert". 

But, of course, he is a good ol' boy from MGIMO with humanities degree and zero STEM and military background. He is a classic representative of an unemployable class of people who are not suited for any serious productive labor (per Schumpeter) be it physical or intellectual one. Yet, somehow, the guy who wouldn't understand the first thing about anything serious military goes to state that B-21 is a "new strategic bomber". Well, should Stefanovich or his employer Vatfor (a collection of journos and likes) have been around real military professionals, they would have learned that B-21 is something what real US naval aviators with immense carrier and aggressor squadron experience wrote about US naval (and in general) combat aviation 24 years ago:

"Money spent furthering manned aircraft technologies and programs—the CVNX (proposed Nimitz-class carrier replacement) being one of them—is like polishing cannonballs so they will fly a little farther."

It applies broadly to B-21 which may have one-two of the so-called "6th generation" features such as being capable of unmanned missions and allegedly "stealthier" than its parent B-2 while featuring ... 4th generation weapons which the US is simply incapable to develop and is stuck with legacy systems such as TLAM and, at best, 1,900 km range AGM-158 B2 JASSM-ER. This is pathetic compared with 3rd-4th generation of Russian bomber platforms capable of carrying and launching Kh-101 with the range of 5,500 km and Kh-BD with 8,000 + km range. But here we ran immediately into operational matters which are not easily understood by people with zero military background and who, like Stefanovich, will not even understand what they are looking at right in a front of their faces. 

It is a bomber conundrum today, because of the immense range of stand-off weaponry those (only Russian) bombers carry, it seems that the priority is given to TU-160M which is supersonic, fully netcentric and has state-of-the-art avionics (navigation-targeting complex). Every one of these weapons can be launched without leaving the safety of Russia's air space and imposes a completely different technological requirements on Russian bomber force. In this case, B-21 actually looks like an anachronism birthed within the obsolete US combat air doctrine which no insanely expensive and dubiously effective bomber such as B-21 can save. In the end, this "6th generation" weaponry and systems have seen a real combat already in SMO, including the use of drones (one of the S-70 Okhotniks malfunctioned and was shot down by the Su-57 pilot), including swarms (Su-35S has similar netcentric and swarm control capabilities as Su-57 and now latest Su-30SM2s). And we know that Tu-160Ms have full similar capability. 

Per "new strategic bomber"--it seems like it is almost impossible to explain to pseudo-experts that in the end it is a COMPLEX, or weapon SYSTEM, which consists of a platform and weapons it carries--one doesn't exist without another. The United States has lost missile arms race (well, the arms race, period) by a knockout and we may only guess what a truly new strategic bomber Russia works on currently will be and what weapons it will carry. One can extrapolate the strike capability which will include new generation of hypersonic weapons with enormous range, as well as other stand-off weapons which will have a truly global reach. As per "game-changers", Stefanovich needs to try harder, because hypersonic weapons and weapons such as R-37 AAM and Russian AD changed the air war completely, they didn't just change the game, they created a completely new one, making the whole USAF obsolete. But Stefanovich wouldn't know that--one must be a professional and even that is not a guarantee against continuing playing a Hollywoodesque shell game by believing military porn. But then again ... unemployable. 

When even these morons started to suspect something ... 

Open Thread.

Go at it. 

Even WITH the US ...

 ... no chance. But you cannot explain this to some dumbass from BI who repeats a drivel from Washington. 

Without the US, NATO allies in Europe largely lack a key capability needed to fight Russia. If President-elect Donald Trump cuts US military cooperation with Europe, its NATO allies there would lose a key capability needed to resist Russian aggression.

The United States didn't have this capability either for at least a decade and now it is simply in a much lower league in terms of combined arms operations, and the only "war" the US can conduct is terrorism and nuclear. Moreover, why would rich and getting richer Russia which sits on at least the third of all world's natural resources and which increasingly begins to make Europe look like a technological backwater and a shithole which it increasingly becomes attack it? To get what? A bunch of freeloaders? What a load of malarkey. Europe is a used condom thrown into garbage can, the only thing Russia needs to worry about is (not if) when Europeans will be driven into real poverty and economic destitution (they already progressed far) that they are not brainwashed into yet another march on Russia. It will be the final one for Europe, and majority of Russians would prefer the Europe to cease to exist as it exists today completely. It could be done without nukes, and the trophy teams will make sure that real European treasures of the past are secured. Russians will allow what will be left of London to enjoy gay Swan Lake though--that is appropriate for London's elite, and it is their cultural level anyway.     

Larry gets it. 

... they blame Ukraine’s impending defeat on the tardy delivery of weapons and Ukraine’s dependence on the West. That is not why Ukraine is losing and destined for defeat. Not only did Russia’s Special Military Operation (SMO) shred three different iterations of Ukraine’s NATO-trained-and-supplied army, it also exposed the West’s hollowed-out defense industry, which proved unable to produce and supply war-time quantities of artillery shells, artillery, Patriot missiles, HIMARS and ATACMS. Once the first Ukrainian army was eviscerated, Ukraine entered a downward spiral of having to rush untrained reserves to that front. Without having adequate training for new recruits and newly-formed units before they were thrust into battle, Ukraine lost its ability to field a force capable of maneuver and one qualified to effectively use the NATO weapons that were flooding Ukrainian supply bases. 

Moreover, Mr. Vershinin goes full Captain Obvious))

No shit, pardon my French. But to understand the nature of REAL war, of which yours truly writes non-stop for more than a decade, one must study REAL war, not Hollywood crap about such mediocrities as Patton or the tandem of sweet darlings such as Churchill and Monty who talked up a rather merely good Rommel to such heights that it became a meme already in Soviet military circles. One has to rephrase famous Clausewitzian truism that the main object of any war is to compel the enemy to do our will into Gerasimov's stratagem, especially as related to blood-soaked West: the main object of any war is to physically annihilate the enemy and then dictate our will. The main question remains--what are you going to do about this, when your bluff has been called, and operational and especially strategic amateurism has been exposed completely? 

But that is the issue of the continental standing armies of scale and the culture they generate of which most in Pentagon have no clue and readily believe any kind of a-historic BS and propaganda to cover up own military and economic impotence spurred by the "hyena appetite" of ignorant, uncultured, uneducated and greedy class of West's rentiers, all of who are past their expiration date and their legions turned out to be fit only for policing backward fringes of the crumbling empire. And even that they cannot do properly. They never could. So, The Enemy at The Gates 2 is in order, make it a mandatory viewing in history classes in Ivy League and Oxford ... together with gay Swan Lake. 

Joseph Does A Wonderful Interview ...

 ... it is also profound. It also explains partially why I still can live in the US, while I will never be able to live in Europe. 

Putin Will Not Issue Full Apology ...

... until all circumstances of tragic AZAL flight are studied and final report issued. NATO AD is a joke, and losers are prepping their ISIS stooges in Syria. 

This Is NATO's So Called ...

 ... air defense. You can see one of the AD missiles missing and exploding on the ground, while the real "show" of Russian missiles continues uninterrupted in destroying Dnepropetrovsk's power plant. 

I speak about this issue in my latest video (coming up shortly). NATO's AD is an expensive joke capable against only of anti-aircraft and slow medium to high elevation flying drones and missiles defense. They are butt-hurt in MI6 and Langley because at least some of them understand ramifications of NATO's military humiliation by Russia. They are not even in the same league and they either accept the reality or they will be destroyed one way or another with only one caveat--will they dare to unleash the REAL WW III. In this case the combined West will cease to exist physically, them included. Still waiting for Yuzhmash photos. 

Two And A Half Hours ...

 ... of Tchaikovsky. Russian service dogs are very cultured, Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic is wonderful))

It is Friday, after all. 

This Is How They Teach ...

 ... the history of WW II Eastern Front in the West. Judging by the utter a-historic trash which still circulates among many US military professionals as a genuine history, you know some of those names, it is not surprising that they still cannot understand what hit them. When your world view is formed by fairy tales about WW II written by what amounts to Wehrmacht and SS "sources" and how NKVD "executed" 1 million Red Army soldiers--what do you expect? Here is a good tearing apart of a Hollywood BS whose scenario was "written" by the same people (or rather their ideas) who only read Solzhenitsyn and Soviet dissidents and believe that it was the US which defeated Hitler and that the Red Army was nothing but kettle prodded into the battle by evil commissars and NKVD. Luckily, there are still some diligent people out there who cannot tolerate BS and do something about it. 

Only two weeks old. Excellent job and a good overall discussion in the comments. 

Archangelsk Joins the Fleet ...

 ... and I don't mean the city. 

Another state-of-the-art carrier of 32 missiles of 3M22 Zircon and Kalibr variety joined the fleet today. Speaking of which. Here is the transformation of the city of Archangelsk in the last 15 years. 

As you can see yourself--the regime of bloody tyrant Putin continues to destroy Russia by means of building modern cities, highways, hospitals, schools, sports objects. Russians are dying from hunger in the supermarkets while trying to decide what sort of meat or avocado are they going to buy. So, as you can see yourself--sanctions are working and Putin's regime is about to fall, any minute now. 

What They Fail To Report ...

 ... is that Medvedev expresses the opinion and a sentiment of the overwhelming majority of Russians. As I repeat ad nauseam--never in my life (and I am a Cold Warrior 1.0) did I encounter so much contempt, resentment and hatred towards Europe on part of Russian society. 

“Looking at the Old World today, the only thing I feel is deep revulsion. It is Europe, now a mad old hag, which became the world’s stronghold of Russophobia.”

As you might expect, all kinds of "clarifications" started to be issued by Norway. And those may have some credence to them. But here is the text by Medvedev, which is generally correct, situation with Ursa Major crew rescue notwithstanding. 

More than 20 years ago, one of my American colleagues made a curious statement about the events in Iraq: “Punish France, ignore Germany, forgive Russia.” Why did I remember this? Here's why: this linguistic triad is perfectly suited to the situation that will arise (and it will definitely arise someday) in connection with the end of the West's hybrid war against Russia. And then our country may well:

a) forgive those weak countries that succumbed to the pressure of the Anglo-Saxons and took at least a passive part in the anti-Russian Western trash (mainly these are a number of countries in Asia and Latin America);

b) ignore the USA. It's simple: we don't expect any friendship in the next 100 years, and fighting with America is expensive - a direct conflict will obviously develop into a global nuclear war;

c) punish Europe. I will say more here, because the current Old World does not evoke any emotions in me except the deepest disgust. It is Europe, which has turned into an evil, half-witted old woman, that has become the main stronghold of Russophobia in the world. It is lying Europe that is to blame for the breakdown of the Istanbul negotiations. It is brainless Europe that frantically promoted the incompetent sanctions campaign, which brought its citizens colossal losses. It is bloodthirsty Europe that fed all the most rabid demons of war, without regard for the losses of the parties to the conflict.

And therefore, Europe must be punished by all means available to us: political, economic and all sorts of hybrid. And therefore, we must help any destructive processes in Europe. Long live the aggressive pogromists on its historical streets! Glory to the crowds of migrants committing atrocities and hatred destroying the rainbow European values! Let all the vile mugs of European bureaucrats disappear in the stream of future civil conflicts! Why so harshly? How else, given the facts? The Norwegian-flagged Oslo Carrier 3 refused to take on board the Russian sailors from the Ursa Major who were drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. Do you need any more explanations? This cannot be forgiven! Let us act, for it is said: “The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked” (Psalm 58:11).

This is exactly what Russians think and feel. The hull of sunk Ursa Major will be inspected (Russians have the technology to inspect it at the great depth) and the report will be issued on which country (we already have an idea) was responsible for the state terrorism which sent a civilian vessel to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. As I state ad nauseam--Russia has no business with Europe, with the US she has to talk. Per AZAL flight--things are more complicated. 

Why Terrorism.

Look at Pokrovsk. 

Nima And Yours Truly.

Live at 11:00 AM PDT. 

Ursa Major Was Sunk ...

 ... and it was not a simple terrorist act--it was, likely, an attack by an unknown sub. 

МОСКВА, 25 дек — РИА Новости. Причиной крушения российского сухогруза "Урса Майор" в Средиземном море стал теракт, заявил РИА Новости судовладелец, группа компаний "Оборонлогистика". "Оборонлогистика" полагает, что 23 декабря 2024 года была совершена целенаправленная террористическая атака на судно "Урса Майор", принадлежащее компании. По показаниям членов экипажа судна, 23 декабря 2024-го, в 13:50 (по московскому времени), произошли три последовательных взрыва с правого борта, в районе кормовой части", — сказали в пресс-службе.

Translation: MOSCOW, December 25 — RIA Novosti. The cause of the sinking of the Russian dry cargo ship Ursa Mayor in the Mediterranean Sea was a terrorist attack, the ship owner, the Oboronlogistics group of companies, told RIA Novosti. "Oboronlogistics believes that on December 23, 2024, a targeted terrorist attack was carried out on the Ursa Mayor vessel, which belongs to the company. According to the testimony of the ship's crew, on December 23, 2024, at 13:50 (Moscow time), three successive explosions occurred on the starboard side, near the stern," the press service said.

It is too early to speculate on who could have done it, but Ursa Major is a large vessel and what is described sounds like torpedo attack at the screw-rudder group (винто-рулевая группа). We still have to wait for information though.

But here, there is no doubt that it was a terrorist act with Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer jet.

These are holes from the elements of the explosive device on board. These are not birds' impact holes. We all can easily arrive to the conclusion of who could be the "beneficiary" of these atrocities but still--let's wait for more detailed information.

Open Thread.

 Go at it. 

As Was Expected ...

 ... Trump's BS about Putin wanting to meet him was called by Russia. Time has come to start calling outright butt-hurt BS about serious operational matters. This time SEAD. SMO is the largest and most comprehensive SEAD operation in modern history which provides an astonishing combat record by Russian Air Force and stand-off weaponry in demolishing de facto NATO AD in 404, while providing 95% effectiveness of own AD. I give some historical introspective. 

I Pleased My Lord ...

 ... the so-called AI, LOL))) Went to check my numbers on Amazon and ran into this:

Customers find the writing style clear, intelligent, and thoughtful. They describe the book as readable and well worth reading. AI-generated from the text of customer reviews 

You see, I am a good good boy, computer loves me. Next step, make this thing write a new book for me and I will be set)). 

The Best Comment.

This is why I keep my comments 99% unmoderated except for some trolls and nutjobs. 

Nutcracker cancellation reignites heated debate in EU stat. The policy in Lithuania of “mental quarantine” from Russia has been questioned after a minister admitted to actually liking Tchaikovsky 

I happen to agree with Lithuania. I also suggest for EU in general to introduce "mental quarantine" from Russia.  While at it--as one commenter noted:

Russia should challenge them to remove all the math/statistics formulas by Markov, Kolmogorov, and Chebyshev from their textbooks.

Correct, they should also remove Mendeleev's Periodic Table (of course, most in the West nowadays do not even know who created it). Works of Basov or Landau should also go. Europe is being primed for "suicide by Russia" anyway and its propaganda inevitably will succeed overwhelmingly--the trend is highly pronounced--in convincing most of population that Russians are subhumans (CERN, as an example, already banned Russian scientists), so there is no reason to subject sensitive and enlightened minds of Europe to crude art and science of those who refuse to submit. Let Nutcracker die, nor should Russians performers (most of them banned in the West) expose combined West to Rachmaninoff,  Tolstoy, Dostoevsky or Russian painters. West loves Solzhenitsyn anyway--he fits profile well. So, let's do it...

S-500, Personally.

M=13+  77N6-N1--anti-satellite capable. 

Larry Is 100% Correct.

And agony exactly looks like this--terrorism as the only way. 

The recent spate of drone and ATACM and Storm Shadow missile attacks inside Russia on civilian targets — the latest in Kursk and Kazan — are a sign of Ukraine’s declining military capability and desperation. But these are not just Ukrainian attacks. The United States and the United Kingdom also are complicit. Ukraine could not have launched these attacks, including the drone hits in Kazan, without the US and the UK providing intelligence for targeting. The attacks in Russia this week, including the assassination of General Kirillov, do nothing to advance Ukraine’s strategic or tactical capabilities in its war against Russia. Attacking oil and gas pipelines, oil refineries or power stations, although civilian in nature, are legitimate military targets. Yet, Ukraine is avoiding those, probably because Zelensky and company realize that those sites are protected by robust air defense. 

Terrorism (state-sponsored by UK and the US) is a euphemism for throwing tantrum by the state. Watch also excellent round-table by Nima with Larry and Scott.

Lying Is A Requirement.

In the US politics. Trump is doing what he does best--BS. 

Putin could never have said anything like this because he knows who Trump is and he has no intention whatsoever to "stop" the war in "24 hours". This is a pathological narcissism which breaks all limits of propriety and allows the guy to lie and sincerely believe his own lies. Obviously, Russians have no illusions about the US intentions whatsoever. Russians are also very good at math and they know US manufacturing capabilities of critical weapon systems as well as the starting levels of resources. 

Remarkably, Trump, in some ironic sense, continues to reap what he and his admin, of which he had no control whatsoever, have sown--arming and training Kiev regime in earnest. Russians have a very good memory. Meanwhile--US tax dollars at work or rather not working. 

МОСКВА, 22 дек — РИА Новости. Вооруженные силы России за время спецоперации на Украине поразили минимум 30 пусковых установок зенитно-ракетного комплекса Patriot производства США, свидетельствует подсчет РИА Новости на основе официальных данных Минобороны. Один из последних и самых результативных ударов упоминается в сводке за 15 декабря: тогда были уничтожены четыре пусковые установки, а также машина боевого управления и радиолокационная станция AN/MPQ-65. 

Translation: MOSCOW, December 22 — RIA Novosti. During a special operation in Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces destroyed at least 30 launchers of the U.S.-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system, according to RIA Novosti’s calculations based on official data from the Defense Ministry. One of the most recent and most effective strikes is mentioned in the December 15 report: four launchers were destroyed, as well as a combat control vehicle and an AN/MPQ-65 radar station.

 

And that's just Patriots--around $30 billion gone--there are many other types from NASAMS to Iris-T to what have you which have been destroyed. Make no mistake, Russian AD also loses some AD systems here and there, but nowhere near (two orders of magnitude fewer) what 404 and its NATO "friends" lost in what is now the largest SEAD operation in the last half-a-century and which makes all previous anti-AD operations look like a backwater. NATO AD is designed for wars with inferior forces and is NOT capable to fight modern delivery systems from tactical level up. The gap between Russian and NATO AD systems continues to widen and it cannot be closed any time soon, if ever.

Never Saw Anything Like This...

... and I am a Cold Warrior. A sheer circus of the imploding West. 

 

Answering Satellite (Alleged) Photos Of Yuzhmash...

People continue to post satellite photos from some guy's blog (Amerikanets, no less) of Yuzhmash. Mind you, somebody allegedly "bought" these photos and now, after three weeks since the event analyses it. Immediately, deferral to Ted Postol and his "analysis" should raise the red flag in terms of any validity of speculations on the physical nature of Oreshnik. So, here are some photos. One:

And two: 

Now, for those people who still don't get it, let me remind you what was this all about and I quote myself in the immediate wake of strike at Yuzhmash. 

TSIPSO and butt-hurt fanboys from the West are already in full arms on all forums declaring that they have seen satellite photos of Yuzhmash and that... ranging from "we saw 6 charred entrances" to "nothing was really damaged". Totally expected. For those, just in case, who still didn't get the message--MAIN activity of Yuzhmash was UNDERGROUND, as it would be in Soviet times if, God forbids, USSR and the US would go to war. Those underground facilities are gone, together with production and research facilities for NATO-404 joint missile programs. They are gone together with the shift and those NATO military and civilians present there. That is why SBU immediately classified the whole thing (showing some decrepit hut with broken roof as "real evidence") and some "debris" of allegedly Oreshnik.

But many people, with the memory span of a guppy fish still continue to ignore what was told to them from the get go. Moreover, read the whole post, which also partially explains that charred remnants of obvious fuel tank for some missile have nothing to do with Oreshnik. Anyone, like Ted Postol and a bunch of Western media cretins aka "journalists", who bought this BS from 404 have no understanding of the physical principles on which hypersonic weapons with maneuvering blocks operate. For starters, small Oreshnik MIRVs do not have this type of fuel tank, if any. Secondly, the boost phase and cut off (burn out) of the booster launched on suppressed trajectory from Kapustin Yar and separation of the bus with MIRVS which begin to travel completely on their own and maneuver highly likely happened over the territory of Russia which completely precludes Ukies getting their hands on anything Oreshnik related. Ukie exposed merely a dug out remnants of whatever the shit (Grom ballistic missile) they have been working on underground with NATO's technical specialists. All that infrastructure is not there anymore--it is all gone. 

Above is the range representation--launch from Kapustin Yar to Dnepropetrovsk. Slashed red line is approximately the territory of former 404 controlled by Russia. By then, the boost phase of hypersonic MIRVs would have been over and all remnants of a booster would have landed on Russian territory. In other words, what Ukies have shown as Oreshnik are the remnants of their own missile program. Moreover, anyone who posts photos of RSD 10 Pioner missile system telling that it is Oreshnik are full of shit. Oreshnik is a completely new thing and likely incorporates in itself many technological finds from many weapon systems. So, here it is--my last attempt to shake some sense into people, who continue to see things which are not there.

Another One Goes To Sea...

I mean Talwar-class (pr. 11356 FFG) for the Indian Navy. 

It is a powerful strike package with 800 km range supersonic BrahMos (Russian-Indian derivative of P-800 Onyx) missiles and Shtil (navalized version of Buk-M2) AD system with indigenous Indian comm suite. Considering the fact that Russian-Indian Joint Venture BrahMos was working on hypersonic anti-shipping missile, it is conceivable that Indian frigates of this class will be able to carry hypersonic variants of 3M22 Zircon. Recall, that Zircon is based on P-800 Onyx and fits into 3C14 VLS installed on Talwars. 

Now per strikes on Kiev--Luch Design Bureau and SBU operations center have been hit, but this is not what matters. This--does. 

Депутаты Верховной рады Украины почти в полном составе пропустили заседание после ударов ВС России по пункту управления СБУ, сообщил нардеп Алексей Гончаренко (внесен в России в список террористов и экстремистов). По словам Гончаренко, на заседание явилось всего 10% депутатов, передает «Российская газета». «Из 450 мест в парламенте было занято только 45. Мощно», – с иронией написал Гончаренко в своем Telegram-канале.

Translation: Almost all of the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine missed the meeting after the Russian Armed Forces struck the SBU command post, said MP Oleksiy Goncharenko (included in the Russian list of terrorists and extremists). According to Goncharenko, only 10% of the deputies showed up for the meeting, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports. "Out of 450 seats in parliament, only 45 were occupied. Powerful," Goncharenko wrote ironically on his Telegram channel.

Correct. This is how it is going to be now and each of them should learn the hard way that Russia changed the MO. NATO's people already know this.

This Is Fiorentina Calcio...

A rather exciting early version of football, which explains also why Europeans are not keen on American Football, because even in its much-much calmer modern FIFA version--it still takes an enormous physical fitness. But here--enjoy the beauty and tactical sophistication of the game. Will Neymar play it;))

Garland, Scott And Me.

Live in 20 minutes. 

 

Was Putin Really Joking?

Well, not really. Ask NATO to respond in substance to any real challenge, be that in combined arms or in the air, or Oreshnik--we all know they will respond with terrorism and pathos-ridden propaganda BS. 

Didn't Help Much.

Tony Blinken is a typical product of Ivy League degree mill. He thinks that US Dollar numbers in war matter--they don't, when you are dealing with the country with comparable industrial (real economy that is) output. 

Washington has provided around $100 billion in financial aid and military assistance to Kiev since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. The bulk of the money was spent inside the US on defense manufacturing, he told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday. This comes amid recent efforts by the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden to spend every dollar allocated by Congress before leaving office in January. “We’ve spent a lot of money on Ukraine and defending Ukraine, about $100 billion. Our allies and partners, they’ve spent about $150 billion doing it,” the secretary of state said. Financial assistance to Kiev, according to Blinken, represents “the best example of burden sharing” between NATO members.

It is akin to feeding a proxy with 9 mm bullets against the enemy which operates long-range artillery. But you cannot explain these realities to any high positioned bureaucrat in Washington across the board: economic, political, intel or military. This result of the US losing any remnants of cognitive faculties was long in the making. I want to stress again--some people in the US military understood that:

But the time has been lost and purely political class in the West needs only credentials. Real knowledge and serious skills--come on, who needs them in the West. Vladimir Putin is semi-joking when inviting NATO to a duel with Oreshnik today. Those few in NATO who have a serious intel and military-technological background know they are defenseless. I talk about this in my today's video.

Nima And Me...

 ... live. 

 

OK, And Don't Tell Me...

 .... that I do not look like him now. LOL)))

 

When Even People Like Kellogg...

 ... get it, should we continue this useless discussion about "non-terrorism"? 

Terrorism is a weapon of the weak. And it was terrorism pure and simple--totally expected from Washington, London and their tools from Kiev's regime. Rules of war? Nah, not for lowlifes from London.

British "Elite"...

 ... especially its media-(pseudo)intellectual complex is a collection of lowlifes who have no normal human qualities. Sociopathy is essentially a lack of consciousness. The only "military" capability the UK has is that of terrorism and so the most UK media are supporters of terrorism and should be viewed as such. Hence...

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday slammed British daily The Times for justifying the assassination of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who headed Russia’s Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces. Medvedev criticized the editors as “lousy jackals” who are part of a hybrid war against Russia. In an article on Tuesday, the UK outlet claimed that its sources within Ukraine’s security services admitted responsibility for the general's assassination. It went on to describe the incident as “a legitimate act of defense by a threatened nation.” “The assassination is a discriminate strike against an aggressor,” The Times wrote. The paper further characterized Kirillov’s killing as an “eminently defensible” act that should be seen as “a warning and deterrent to other plenipotentiaries of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin.”

I am still puzzled why BBC, as an example, this pedophile central, is present in Russia, as are other representatives of British propaganda, such as degenerate Rosenberg. And Medvedev has a point: 

“It’s impossible to ignore the editorial published in The Times, where the bastards called the terrorist attack on Igor Kirillov and his assistant a ‘legitimate act of defense’,” Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy head of the Russian Security Council, said in a Telegram post. He stated that according to the logic employed by The Times, its entire management could now be considered “legitimate military targets” for Russia, along with all Western decision-makers. “All NATO decision-makers from countries that provided military assistance to Bandera Ukraine are participating in a hybrid or conventional war against Russia… All these individuals can and should be considered legitimate military targets for the Russian state,” Medvedev said, adding that the people “who committed crimes against Russia” always have accomplices, including in the media.

Correct, London is a filthy degenerate place, the ball of freaks and, unlike the US, with which Russia has to have some kind of relations, I see no reason for Russia maintaining any diplomatic relations with this Euro chihuahua which still thinks herself a great geopolitical player. The only thing the average UK politician and media creeps understand is fear, and fear they should have.

To understand what these imbeciles think about themselves, get the load of this:

Применение баллистической ракеты средней дальности «Орешник» на территории Украины заставило Лондон занять более взвешенную позицию в отношении ударов дальнобойным вооружением вглубь России, заявил посол РФ в Британии Андрей Келин. Хотя британцы и не испугались, они осознали, что возник новый фактор – ответ России на использование ракет Storm Shadow, заявил Келин в интервью телеканалу «Россия 24», передает ТАСС. В результате в Лондоне стали осторожнее относиться к этой теме и внимательно следят за развитием событий, добавил он. Келин отметил, что официальная реакция Британии на запуск «Орешника» была невнятной, однако в экспертных кругах изучались возможности и способности этой ракеты. Посол подчеркнул, что из Белоруссии, где планируется развернуть «Орешник», достижима каждая точка в Европе.

Translation: The use of the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile in Ukraine forced London to take a more balanced position regarding long-range strikes deep into Russia, said Russian Ambassador to Britain Andrei Kelin. Although the British were not scared, they realized that a new factor had emerged – Russia’s response to the use of Storm Shadow missiles, Kelin said in an interview with the Russia 24 TV channel, TASS reports. As a result, London has become more cautious about this topic and is closely monitoring developments, he added. Kelin noted that Britain’s official reaction to the launch of the Oreshnik was unclear, but expert circles were studying the capabilities and abilities of this missile. The ambassador emphasized that every point in Europe is accessible from Belarus, where the Oreshnik is planned to be deployed.

No, moron, that IS the definition of being scared. In fact shitting own pants. Because the first candidate for direct demonstration to NATO of what will happen to it in case of continuous terrorism is highly likely Royal Navy and whatever the shit it tries to put to sea. As is the air base Akrotiry. And yes, every point in Europe is accessible from ANYWHERE in European part of Russia.

Even In Tragedy...

 ... there is a place for humor, however dark)) Let's put it this way--the title is somewhat misleading, LOL)) 

Larry, I'll do my best to engage everyone I know in Russia to convey to them that you didn't kill Russian General. Nor did Colonel Davis--one of the honorable men who do the US Army proud.

Dmitry Orlov Came Up With A Hypothesis...

 ... about the nature of Oreshnik. He makes only one debatable assumption about the mass of MIRV--it is most likely not 1.5 ton but less, but since the last time I did anything electrodynamics related was about 30 years ago, LOL, I still think that it is very interesting to see this POV. 

Around a century ago it was noticed that when a fast-flying lead bullet or shell hits steel armor, it releases an amount of heat many times greater than the kinetic energy of the projectile (which is half the mass times its velocity squared, E_k=1/2 mv^2) — enough heat to burn a hole right through a steel plate. The reason for this anomaly is the same: electron inertia.

 

The binding energy in the crystal lattice of metals is approximately twice as large as that released during the explosive oxidation of TNT. At first glance, the explosion should not be much larger than that produced by a conventional explosive — about twice as large. The difference is that the time it takes to release this energy is hundreds of times shorter than during the chemical oxidation reaction in TNT and the energy from it is much more concentrated. Because of this, the destructive power of a Coulomb explosion can be 1000 times greater than that of a conventional explosive. Of course, this is not a nuclear explosion: no atomic nuclei are in any way damaged during this experiment. But it is comparable in its effects, which are much greater than what can be achieved using TNT.

 

For a bit of perspective, consider that 1 kg of uranium-235 can in theory (if every single atom of it undergoes nuclear fission) result in an explosion equivalent to 20 million kg of TNT. In reality, uranium is never enriched to 100% U-235 (anything above 90% is considered weapons-grade) and only a few percent of the U-235 have time to participate in a nuclear chain reaction before the whole contraption blows up. More realistically, a 1 kg nuclear charge is equivalent to about a million kg of TNT (or 1 kiloton). Meanwhile, 1 kg of metal in a Coulomb explosion will release energy equivalent to about a thousand kg of TNT (or 1 tonne). Nevertheless, these are still huge numbers.

And now we can address the question of what Oreshnik most likely is. Here is what has been publicly announced about it:

Warhead temperature: 4000ºC

Speed: Mach 10 (2.5–3 km/s)

Mass of warhead: ~1.5 tonnes

Perusing Dmitry Mendeleev's Periodic Table of Elements we find just one candidate for warhead metal: tungsten. It melts at 3422ºC and boils at 5555ºC. Taking the mass of the warhead (which, we assume for the sake of simplicity, consists entirely of a single shaped piece of tungsten) at 1,500 kg, it produces the equivalent of 1,500,000 kg of TNT or 1,5 kilotons — a respectable amount for a small tactical nuke.

It is behind the paywall, but Dmitry gave me permission to quote him, so here it is. Join Dmitry's Boosty account. 

About General Kirillov, Facts of SMO...

 ... and other things. While at it--not in video, the Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces informed yesterday that there are OTHER systems in works, not just already serial Avangard and Oreshnik. Keep this in mind. 

Open Thread.

Go at it.

Every Other Person In There Is A Piece Of Shit (c)

I think the percentage is higher than 50, possibly 80% but Tucker definitely knows better than me about US media.  

US "top schools" produce mostly brainwashed activists.

About Power Projection.

And why it is done. Starting from 22:40 in otherwise excellent conversation between Larry and Alex Christophorou (of Duran), Alex makes an astonishing claim that in Mediterranean everything is lost for Russia and talks about sway and about Med being NATO and US lake.

For all my deep respect for Alex, here are some important points one has to consider and I will be blunt. 

1. Russians don't give a flying coitus about having sway anywhere--Greece, Germany or the US. Russia is not USSR and is not interested in the International Worker's Movement or International Socialist (and Communist) Movement. Russians don't give a fuck about being loved or respected in EU. Europe is Russia's existential enemy. Russia is strictly transactional--wanna do business? Fine. If you don't, well, feel free to find better deals elsewhere. Russians DO NOT buy all this crap about cultural "closeness", or common "Orthodox root" and shit like that--everybody has their price, look what $5 billion buys one in 404. Tsipras government demonstrated to Russians everything they needed to know about Greece. Tourism and a few Russophile clubs here and there in the EU are just that--clubs with negligible impact. 

2. As Paul Atreidis stated in Dune: "He who can destroy a thing, has the real control of it". Soviet/Russian projection of power was always NOT about bombing the shit out of locals--this is the American idea of "projection of power". Russian idea in Med since post WW II was about a) Shipping Lanes Of Communication (SLOC) and free movement of commodities between USSR/Russia and her clients, b) to prevent the Med's flank from resupplying NATO forces in case of WW III. And here is the issue:

3. Alex speaks from the POV of how NATO people think, that is the problem, because--this is the thinking from the XX century school of geopolitics, which ignores completely a simple XXI century fact that Russia can sink ANY combination of the NATO Fleets, including any number of the US Navy's Carrier Battle Groups from Gibraltar to Bosporus and NATO can do nothing about it. Zero, zilch. Combined West is simply stuck in the 1980-90s military thinking and technology. 

A single frigate of Gorshkov-class with a single pr. 885 Yasen-class SSGN can, in a single salvo of 4 3M22Zircon each destroy two US Navy Carrier Battle Groups--none of those CBGs will know what hit them. Moreover, what is also missing from this outdated POV is the fact of a term which Vladimir Putin and Russian military professionals saying about Oreshnik--read attentively--it is a HIGH PRECISION weapons. That means that Oreshnik's hypersonic maneuvering blocks with the range of 5,500 kilometers can hit any types of targets on the land or in the sea. NATO navies, including US Navy's CBG can huff and puff, can simulate Alfa-strikes but all this is for naught because since roughly 2018 there is no NATO "lake" in Med with or without Russian bases there, because all of those navies are nothing more than fat prestigious defenseless targets. What matters the most, those who are not completely brainwashed in NATO navies know this. And this is why any attempt to sabotage Russian commercial activity supported by Russian Armed Forces can start with the demonstration of sinking some Euro-chihuahua ship, say French or Spanish FFG as a warning. 

Too bad Royal Navy's ships do not go to sea anymore--no, really and, yes, I am being facetious about sinking those. So, in this case, after Syrians (or whatever they consider themselves now) made their choice. Now they, ahem... LOL))

The new Syrian authorities are calling on the international community to intervene and help it stop Israeli strikes, the head of the Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, has said. In an interview on Saturday on the Istanbul-based Syria TV channel, Ahmad al-Sharaa, who is better known by his nom de guerre, spoke about Israel for the first time since taking over the country. Militant groups led by HTS launched an offensive against Syrian troops in November, capturing major cities and advancing towards Damascus. After the collapse of the Syrian military, Former President Bashar Assad fled the country and was granted asylum in Russia. Al-Julani said that “the Israeli arguments have become flimsy” and “do not justify their recent violations.” The HTS leader stressed that West Jerusalem has “crossed the lines of engagement” in the country, which might threaten an escalation in the region.

Don't you love it? Meanwhile Russia relocates a few assets to Libya, which is a critical location for expanding Russia's Saharan and sub-Saharan commercial and military activity. Just to demonstrate what Oreshnik's reach is in relation to Med...

Now, let's talk about whose lake the Mediterranean is. Remember: "He who can destroy a thing, has the real control of it"(c). Wise words.