... today.
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
What!?
Seriously?)))
“The United States successfully shot down a hypersonic missile in a recent test, showcasing its missile defense capabilities. On 24 March, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the U.S. Navy conducted the ‘Stellar Banshee’ test off Hawaii’s coast. A Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) with a Hypersonic Target Vehicle (HTV) was tracked and virtually intercepted by the USS Pinckney. The test, part of ongoing efforts to counter hypersonic threats, also involved the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellite. MDA Director Lt. Gen. Heath Collins highlighted the importance of defeating hypersonic missiles for national defense.”
In related news, I am a virtual millionaire and this thing is called ... ahem, PR. It is also called "electronic launch" against mockups of the target, in other words--you allow your AD complex to electronically develop firing solution without launching anything. Here, this is how it looks like:
Sometimes it is better to keep silent than parade oneself desperate and, frankly, stupid.
FYI About The So Called Rybar.
In reality crypto asset of 404 who developed a following among some of the journos (euphemism for uneducated hacks) both in Russia and in the West and is defrauding public on "donations" for SMO. The guy is a coward (he lurks at this blog too) and he is the military interpreter, but unlike people the scale of Colonel Lester Grau who is a superb military professional, Mikhail Zvinchuk (aka Rybar) is a shyster with no serious military education. And here we are today ...
Михаил Звинчук: Всю тактику ведения боевых действий необходимо пересматривать. - Сейчас абсолютно всю тактику ведения боевых действий необходимо пересматривать. Нам в действительности нужны землеройные войска с какими-то подземными подводными лодками, которые закапываются щитами для прокладки тоннелей, проходят под укрепрайонами противника и минными полями и где-то в неожиданном месте всплывают. Это действительно изменило бы ход боевых действий, но пока это всего лишь фантастика. Потому что зачастую самая главная проблема - это преодолеть серую зону, передний край и пару линий обороны, потому что в условиях доминирования что с одной, что с другой стороны на определенных участках дронов и повального минирования всего и вся зачастую сделать это крайне сложно.
Translation: Mikhail Zvinchuk: All combat tactics need to be revised. - Now absolutely all combat tactics need to be revised. We really need earthmoving troops with some underground submarines that bury themselves with shields to lay tunnels, pass under enemy fortified areas and minefields and surface somewhere unexpectedly. This would really change the course of combat, but for now it is just fantasy. Because often the most important problem is to overcome the gray zone, the front line and a couple of lines of defense, because in conditions of dominance on both sides in certain areas of drones and the widespread mining of everything and everyone, it is often extremely difficult to do this.
Quote from a speech at the New Media Workshop
No, this is not April 1st joke. This is who and most of "military bloggers" from Russia are--military hacks in it for money. BS sells, this one, however, is on another level.
Monday, April 7, 2025
He Died A Few Days Ago ...
... one of those huge Hollywood figures. Just wanted to remember him ...
Why THE Great One ... Says This ...
... because being Russian is not cool nowadays, but it is what it is. Russians found out who Wayne is. He is Russian in his grandfather's bloodline...
So, Gretskieys have been in Russian Empire from the get-go, so when Wayne says that his grandfather was Russian--yep, looks like)). And again, Wayne was nothing but a class act and truly The Great One.
He Is No "Nemesis" ...
... he is an illiterate shyster with zero background in anything. For Russians it is easy to understand who he is by referring to Gavriliada and Nikifor Lyapis-Trubetskoi from the immortal 12 Chairs. These types only know how to defraud already fraudulent media such as Forbes, and no--he is not my "nemesis". To be a nemesis you have to have a proper "weight" in the field, to be a competitor. My circle is the circle which this creep simply cannot grasp nor approach. My military background is beyond his grasp.
Tariffs Are Meant To Bankrupt Europe ...
... which is the "source" for globalism and totalitarianism. That is why I am willing to give Trump the benefit of a doubt. Just that--a benefit--I don't know the endgame as it relates to Washington and London. Ah, yes--Wall Street has nothing to do with real economy, only with speculation which kills one.
Sunday, April 6, 2025
895!
No, not factorial--just 895)) He did it.
This news was backed by images shared on a military-focused Telegram channel called BTVT.INFO. The photos showed a train moving at least eight of these powerful weapons across the country. This happened in February, and it signaled something important: Russia’s weapons factories are not slowing down, even under heavy international sanctions. These sanctions, mainly placed by the United States and NATO allies, were meant to weaken Russia’s military industry. But the picture of those Malva howitzers on the train tells a different story. Instead of shrinking, Russia’s artillery output appears to be growing. This raises serious questions about how effective the sanctions really are.
I can tell you immediately (again)--not very effective at all. What has been sanctioned by the West Russia simply substitutes domestically. It is like explaining to all kinds of nanometer fanboys that the fact that Russia created own 350 nm lithography means only one thing--next year it is going to be (getting ready) --130 nm and 90 nm (overwhelming majority of the industrial and military applications) and then onto 65, 12 etc. It is akin to explaining to fanboys why serial production (ongoing as I type this) of MS-21 was delayed--Russians completely russified this plane. Many people still cannot grasp global (yes, global) significance of all that. And PD-35 is coming ...
Saturday, April 5, 2025
You Don't Have To Be ...
... an intel professional to recognize that National Security Adviser Waltz is a neocon and not very good at national security advising. WSJ (this other neocon globalist central) laments:
Americans are trying to absorb President Trump’s tariff assault on world trade, so few may notice this week’s White House firings at the National Security Council. The impetus appears to be fear of disloyalty, but the bigger worry should be the risk that Mr. Trump surrounds himself with yes-men.
It has to be noted that if there is a "yes-men" phenomenon in the so-called national security circles than it is certainly not people like this dude, who was removed among others.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who sits on both the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, said it “raises eyebrows” when “there is a firing of people on the National Security Council or their staff, particularly people that we have respect for, who were part of the Intel community to begin with here in the Senate,” according to The Associated Press. Particularly strong criticism has been aired over the firing of Haugh, who had led the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command since 2023. Haugh oversaw the agencies’ significant roles in U.S. cybersecurity — the NSA collects and analyzes huge amounts of information to support the military and other federal national security agencies, while U.S. Cyber Command plans offensive operations against enemies and defends U.S. networks.
US presstitudes blame those firings on the activity of the "far-right activist" Laura Loomer, and that even may be so, if not for, indeed, interesting background of Haugh who increasingly looks like a globalist (a euphemism for DNC) asset from his appointment by Mark Milley (a real yes-man for Biden) and then such details about this NSA guy as this quip from WaPo:
He ran Cyber Command’s half of the “Russia Small Group,” a joint effort with the NSA to defend the 2018 midterm elections from Russian interference. The NSA portion was led by Anne Neuberger, who went on to serve in the Biden administration as a deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies. During the election defense effort in 2018, Haugh led offensive operations against Russian trolls and launched initiatives to disclose publicly Russian spy agency malware and to conduct “Hunt Forward” missions to boot Russian intelligence from Eastern European government networks, recalled Jason Kikta, who was at the time lead defensive cyber operations planner for Cyber Command.
Ah, you see--he "fought" those proverbial Russian trolls, who, as we all know, are the "real threat" to the American democracy. Well, I guess if I were Trump, I also would have had serious questions to this cabal's (Sullivan's leftovers) loyalty and actual work in defending the US against real threats. The removal of DNC assets continues. Russian trolls exhale in relief.
Give Wayne The Credit ...
... where the credit is due. Yes, he made some statements at the start of SMO which do not do him the honor, however, throughout the whole affair he was magnanimous and a class act. Nobody disputes Wayne's status as The Great One, he surely is, but for a moment--enjoy two legends being ... legends. In other news, Ovi did for Russian-American relations so much that I cannot even put it in words. Think about it--he is the Captain of the US Capital's team. He is also a vocal supporter of Putin--let it sink.
RAND Gives A Decent Primer ...
... on Russian view on COFM (Correlation of Forces and Means) --it is not horrendously difficult to understand--and COFM has a good correlation with combat losses. Well, evidently Mr. Cavoli and US Army discovered a new math in which Russia is both winning and losing to NATO (and their 404 thugs) simultaneously. Great Alexander Svechin's truism that the plan should be based exclusively on reality is simply disposed of in favor of kindergarten level BS designed to cover up a catastrophic defeat of NATO.
Krivoy Rog ...
... yesterday. One of the targets hit--a restaurant with 80+ NATO and VSU officers.
Friday, April 4, 2025
Thursday, April 3, 2025
About This Cavoli Statement ...
... which everyone discusses. It is for Senate Armed Services Committee, and it is filled with 404 propaganda.
Russian forces on the frontlines of Ukraine are now at over 600,000, the highest level over the course of the war and almost double the size of the initial invasion force. Russia is not just reconstituting service members but is also replacing combat vehicles and munitions at an unprecedented pace. Russian ground forces in Ukraine have lost an estimated 3,000 tanks, 9,000 armored vehicles, 13,000 artillery systems, and over 400 air defense systems in the past year—but is on pace to replace them all. Russia has expanded its industrial production, opened new manufacturing facilities, and converted commercial production lines for military purposes. As a result, the Russian defense industrial base is expected to roll out 1,500 tanks, 3,000 armored vehicles, and 200 Iskander ballistic and cruise missiles this year. (Comparatively, the United States only produces about 135 tanks per year and no longer produces new Bradley Fighting Vehicles.) Additionally, we anticipate Russia to produce 250,000 artillery shells per month, which puts it on track to build a stockpile three times greater than the United States and Europe combined. Not all of Russia’s military capability has been degraded by the war.
I have news for those who read this. There was never any doubt that Russia outproduces a whole NATO combined, but Russia didn't lose "400 air defense systems" or "13, 000" artillery pieces. Combat math simply doesn't support these fictitious numbers. Russia surely did lose some AD systems and a number of artillery pieces, but those numbers are nowhere near this fantasy. Well, at least he admitted the other part. Numbers of tanks and armored vehicles are also extremely exaggerated. Especially when considering COFM.
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Nothing New Here ...
... and it was discussed on so many occasions.
The US military would be unprepared for a protracted war with China due to shortcomings in the defense industrial base, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said. In his written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday – part of the confirmation process – retired Lieutenant General John Caine stressed that rivalry with China remains one of the most pressing issues facing the US. ”The threat posed by China to American interests in the Indo-Pacific is real and growing. The US needs to work with allies and partners to deter China’s aggression in this region,” he claimed.
Let's rewind a little bit. It is 1971 and Nixon jumps off the ship of the Gold Standard. Behind all "investment" and monetary psychobabble hiding the reason for that was, of course, Vietnam War, which towers as the main reason for Nixon Shock. The US of 1971 industry-wise would make modern US look like a third world country but even then, the US couldn't sustain it.
John Caine is correct, however, when pointing this out:
He added, however, that Beijing “still has deficiencies in commander proficiency, long-distance logistics, urban warfare, and… modern warfare experience writ large.”
What he forgets to say is that the US also lacks such an experience and in terms of combined arms of scale the US, largely self-proclaimed, "lead" is gone forever--continental warfare imposes a completely different set of conditions and requirements on the nation-state with which the US is simply unfamiliar. Not to be outdone, however, are these guys:
FIRST ON FOX: A group of influential conservatives and lawmakers is warning the Trump administration that the U.S. does not have the tactical nuclear weapons to fight China if war breaks out in the Indo-Pacific. A 13-minute video obtained by Fox News Digital and set for release Thursday by the Heritage Foundation argues the U.S. nuclear arsenal is outdated, with the newest weapons nearly 40 years old – about as modern as a grandpa's vintage Corvette. Military experts across Washington have begun gaming out the potential scenario if China invades Taiwan and the U.S. comes to the island democracy’s aid.
They are also not wrong when stating that the US nuclear arsenal is outdated. No, these are not physical nukes which are outdated, these are delivery systems which are nothing more than classic ballistic ICBMs which are facing their greatest challenge of preserving the credibility against the background of (primarily Russian) fast developing anti-ballistic and anti-hypersonic capabilities. But whenever the term "democracy" is used--I laugh. So, popcorn, popcorn ... bring it on))
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
At First I Thought It Was A Joke ...
But then, it was not:
Сербская армия самостоятельно освободила свою страну от немецко-фашистских захватчиков во время Второй мировой войны, помощь Красной Армии была ограничена, заявил президент Сербии Александр Вучич в интервью блогеру Марио Науфалу. «Да, мы получили помощь Красной Армии, но в основном это была наша армия. Помощь была ограниченная», — сказал он.
Translation: The Serbian army liberated its country from Nazi invaders on its own during World War II, and the Red Army's assistance was limited, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview with blogger Mario Naufal. "Yes, we received help from the Red Army, but it was mostly our army. The assistance was limited," he said.
Well, Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin and 300, 000 of his men of the Third Ukrainian Front, including legendary 4th Armored Stalingrad Guards Corps and 17th Air Army, are spinning today in their graves. Yes, the guys who conducted Belgrade Strategic Offensive Operation. But ... but ... let's rewind back to 1877 ...
How prescient ...
When You See This ...
... thing--don't despair)) This is merely a representation of the kill chain, as well as the decision (Probabilities) tree.
All this is in the foundation of C2 (Command and Control), and I explain why it is easy to spot weakness on the battlefield operationally.
The Best Comment ...
... of the day)) She looks like what I imagined she would look like.
Monday, March 31, 2025
Why They Are Not Bright.
The US is a fractured nation (or using Huntington's lingo--a torn one) and against the background of a precipitous (always not very high) decline of cognitive abilities of the best of the best the US "elite machine" produces, be them politicians or military, one has to question motives of those so called "elites". Going back to this NYT piece (of shit), Larry did a good write up about it yesterday:
I can summarize the massive story in one sentence — Ukraine would have destroyed the weak, incompetent Russians if only the Ukrainian generals had followed the guidance from the US military. If you’re looking for a signal that the war in Ukraine is on its last legs, this article is it. This is a ridiculous attempt to burnish the image of the Pentagon and US European Command as strategic and tactical geniuses who could have beaten the Russians if only those damn Ukrainians had followed their advice.
But here is the critical point which is very interesting for Russian General Staff and military academies where, now confirmed by the NYT, intellectual impotence of Pentagon will be studied in astonishment for years to come. Here is this phrase.
One European intelligence chief recalled being taken aback to learn how deeply enmeshed his N.A.T.O. counterparts had become in Ukrainian operations. “They are part of the kill chain now,” he said.
Let me translate it to you: using one of many definitions (all of them very similar) we define the Kill Chain as: kill chain is the ability of an organization to rapidly and accurately execute all the steps from locating to killing an enemy target. It represents the essential contest in modern warfare. In other words, cretins from NYT confirmed what Russians knew all along--the US was in full command and control of VSU top-bottom. Well, apart from the moral aspect of the story that the US military excelled primarily in attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure, the conclusion is not only warranted but inescapable--US military knows very little about modern warfare, especially in the C2 (Command and Control) field where even modern Comms, Computers and ISR are no match to a much more experienced and technologically advanced opponent with an immense advantage in kinetic means.
For those who still do not understand the depth of this loss for--now we can openly state it--the US Armed Forces in 404, I want to remind you one thing which has been repeated by Russian military non-stop--Russian Army never lost operational initiative. American generals, however, have been looking, as it is now a pattern, in all the wrong places for planning and, as is always the case, descended into the tactical minutiae and PR-based assessment of the battlefield. The fact that they also bought 404's propaganda about casualties also tells everything you need to know about Pentagon. By the time they started to suspect something--it was too late. And then there was a "counter-offensive". It was planned by the US generals and, naturally, it ended in catastrophe for them and those unlucky 160,000+ VSU who have never reached even the first line of Russian defense and have been slaughtered in the forefield (security zone). This is what I wrote about this disaster for NATO and, naturally, strategic victory for Russia.
The most stunning factor in this whole situation was the fact of not classifying the so-called “counter-offensive” by AFU, while classifying the assessment which, correctly, forecasted some serious issues for the AFU. This assessment was definitely driven by a common military sense and basic understanding of what is called the Correlation of Forces and Means (COFM). Of course, the problem for the West was that the Russian side was preparing to turn those “shortfalls” into unmitigated military catastrophe for Ukraine and the Biden Administration, who had pushed for this amateurishly planned adventure. But even this “classified” assessment—a marked departure from the Biden administration’s public pronouncements about the vitality of Ukraine’s army—should have given the planners in the White House, State Department and Pentagon a serious pause. But it didn’t. The reason it didn’t lies in both the U.S. military’s lack of expertise with real modern warfare of the 21st century across the board and in a precipitous intellectual decline of the fully “echo-chambered” Washington elite, whose insulation from reality and lack of serious competencies in any matters of military strategies and national governance reached grotesque and deadly proportions for both the remnants of Ukraine and for the United States itself.
I can go off on a tangent of sorts here (again) while describing a dramatic cultural and institutional difference between American "way" of war and Russian one, but that is just the part of problem--the problem is in incompetence of American elites who are the products of a completely confabulated history and of fragile insecure view of themselves. The US is not the "finest fighting force" and it never has been and because of that, as Michael Brenner astutely noted:
Americanism provides a Unified Field Theory of self-identity, collective enterprise, and the Republic’s enduring meaning. When one element is felt to be in jeopardy, the integrity of the whole edifice becomes vulnerable. In the past, American mythology energized the country in ways that helped it to thrive. Today, it is a dangerous hallucinogen that traps Americans in a time warp more and more distant from reality. There is a muted reflection of this strained condition in the evident truth that Americans have become an insecure people. They grow increasingly anxious about who they are, what they are worth and what life will be like down the road.
By getting involved with 404 and trying to destroy Russia, the US and its chihuahuas from European NATO collapsed this edifice and exposed a rather unimpressive structure which convinced itself that it can fight and win a conventional war against military superpower of Russia which has been such a superpower longer than the United States existed as a nation. A few good (and competent) men cannot fix the mechanism which was broken for decades and the SMO confirmed it fully. NYT, however, gave us an ample confirmation that the US ran the whole damn thing from military standpoint, and this is a critical admission. Or as they say on the street--FAFO. I thank you, NYT, for not being bright and exposing, accidently, the truth.
Sunday, March 30, 2025
Well, Too Bad.
I can sense the frustration, but Trump needs to understand the game--warfare, real one, not some BS from Afghanistan and Iraq.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he was “very angry” and “pissed off” when Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s leadership, adding that the comments were “not going in the right location.” Agence France-Presse reported that Putin on Friday called for a transitional government to be put in place in Ukraine, which could effectively push out Zelenskyy. “If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said in an early-morning phone call with NBC News on Sunday.
Well, I get his frustration, but he seems to not understand the reality still, despite obviously better (sort of) intel he begins to get. Nobody in Russia cares who Trump assigns the blame to--Russians have a very good understanding of the workings of American politics and military. That is why most of the comments in Russian social media as a reaction to NYT piece about US involvement in 404 was met with laughter and even mockery. Trump's time on SMO is running out--he, the US that is, in no position to dictate conditions, Russians are.
Trump now begins to come across as this "tough guy" who never fought in real war with real enemies.
Speaking of history. 211 years ago, Russian Army entered Paris:
Napoleon abdicated.Trying To Run ...
... interference by whitewashing a catastrophic defeat and trying to blame it on VSU and, maybe, Trump. US military incompetence is on parade. But we knew it all along.
I Guess They Will Have To ...
... make ships and tanks out of papier mache and ... capitalization of banks.
Well, what can I say ...
British Steel will consult on the closure of its two blast furnaces, steelmaking operations and a reduction of steel rolling mill capacity in Scunthorpe. British Steel will consult on the closure of its two blast furnaces, steelmaking operations and a reduction of steel rolling mill capacity in Scunthorpe. Since 2020 the shareholder of British Steel, Jingye, has invested more than £1.2bn to maintain operations amid ongoing production instability and significant financial losses of around £700k a day.
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Now, This Is What To Expect ...
... especially for Europe which begins to be taught some lessons about its position. Not a very good position, considering the number of PTSD and outright nutjob cases they imported from 404 and serious weaponry which is streaming to Europe (and not only--Mexican cartels anyone?). Kudos to British tourist.
Dutch police have revealed the identity of the suspect who seriously injured five people with knives in Amsterdam. Local media reported on Friday, citing security sources, that the suspect is 30-year-old Ukraininan citizen Roman D. He is originally from Donetsk Region – a former part of Ukraine that voted to join Russia in 2022. On Thursday, five people were stabbed in the Dutch capital, when a man armed with several knives attacked passers-by in the historic city center. The suspect was stopped by an unnamed tourist, reportedly from the UK, who chased the man and restrained him.
Now, those who are sensitive--a warning.
Friday, March 28, 2025
And Again ...
... for those who still do not get nuances. Here is official from Russian Foreign Ministry. Zakharova verbatim.
Translation: Question: According to the Russian Defense Ministry, on the morning of March 28, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a double strike using, according to preliminary information, HIMARS rockets at the Sudzha GIS. How could you comment on this?
Thursday, March 27, 2025
A Superb Review ...
... from Larry.
Following up on my critique of the current US intelligence community’s conclusions in the current Annual Threat Assessment regarding Russian losses, this is not an aberration or departure from standard operating procedure. Instead, it is the natural result of political pressure and bureaucratic cowardice preventing analysts from telling hard truths to political masters.
These are professional's insights.
Garland and Yours Truly ...
... are going to talk about military toys.
In Russian, But Important.
First fully domestic Russia-Belarus 350 nm lithography machine already works in Moscow.
130 nm is next. Rumor has it--next year.Only Sublime Would Doubt It.
This is also about hysterical posts elsewhere on this blog, that Russia talking (mind you--just talking with the US) about hypothetical relaunch of NS-2 somehow will contribute to "rearming" EU. It will not, due to the fact that EU, even if to imagine that NS-2 (2 out 4 pipes) will be relaunched, will continue to buy gas at a market price--that is very expensive. And here we are.
Minister of Defense Boris Pistorious shut down suggestions that Germany could reverse its decision to buy the F-35A Lightning II following recent tensions between Europe and the United States. Speaking to German media, Pistorious said “The United States is and will remain an important ally for us – also for the Bundeswehr’s equipment. This applies not only to the F-35, but also to our other projects”. Proposals to cancel Germany’s order for 35 F-35A Lightning IIs have come while the current defense and security relationship between the United States and Europe faces criticism from high ranking members of the new U.S. administration.
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
For Each Measure ...
... there is always a counter.