Don't Show This ...

 ... to Hegseth and Pentagon. From September 1 through October 15 (45 days) 2026 just long-range drones. 

In blue are Jet-powered drones, which are effectively cruise missiles. In all 13,000 + of drones with overwhelming majority being mass-produced cruise missiles. Add here hundreds of Iskanders, Zircons, Kalibers and Kh-101 flying in daily. Make your own conclusions and laugh at FM 4-0 aka Sustainment Operations. Russian military science emphasizes a sustainment and INCREASE  (Naraschivanie) of effort. 

It Is In Russian ...

 ... but it shows you what modern war looks like. These guys shouldn't be driving tanks anymore, because the weight of their balls of steel will make those tanks really immobile and there is no new engine yet which would be able to move such a tank.

Also shows what T-90s really made of, as well as counter-drone support from the troops of the unmanned systems. That's REAL war.

Mearsheimer, As Always ...

 ... has no clue. 

His ideas about "two conditions", especially about drones, are those of the amateur in warfare and its specific field of Air Defense. But then again, where can he get his data from? Of course from same amateurs as he is and they take it from visuals and 404 propaganda. Yet, this guy remains in continuous rotation in every media and delivers platitudes time after time. He was wrong about Russia so consistently, so outlandishly bad for the last 10+ years, that I don't even know how to explain to him what REAL air defense is and how it operates. He will not grasp it. He will not listen anyway. 

For Mearsheimer it is advised to get acquainted with Russia's Military Doctrine and to look up real situation on the battlefield and then try to figure out what are the objectives of Russia in SMO, and not from merely statements of Russian officials but based on verifiable data. I have news for him--and videos and testimonies, such as deputy commander of the 4th Brigade of the 6th Motor Rifle Division responsible for UAV systems and their operations (among many others) who actually implement daily what amounts to anti-drone measures, effectively UAV air-to-air combat in the tactical zone.

While REAL number of UAV leakers into Russia is expressed in SINGLE digits, but Mearsheimer knows nothing about. For the US those things are beyond the grasp, including this thing: 

MOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/. The number of FPV drones in the Russian troops has increased dramatically, now about 4 thousand are delivered per day, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said.

This was in 2024, since then the production increased a number of times. Russia outproduces whole of combined West (NATO and shit) by an order of magnitude in all types of drones. Now let's get to 2026. This is Mr. Manturov:

The Russian military-industrial complex (MIC) has the ability to produce more than 15 thousand FPV drones per day. This was announced on June 3 by the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov. "Domestic enterprises can already ensure the supply of over 15 thousand pieces per day of FPV drones alone, and in 2023 such a number was produced per month," he said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper.

For arithmetically challenged (forget about combat models used for planning of operations against NATO's aerial terrorism) this means: 365 x 15,000 = 5,475,000 drones per year. Combined West's economies will choke trying to match this. But then again, one must be situationally aware--a novelty thing for Pentagon, CIA and so called "analysts" such as Mearsheimer. And so he continues with platitudes. 

Now to the crux of the matter--Russia MAY strike Europe, and among targets could be some of those UAVs-producing facilities, but if it happens, it is going to be NOT the main consideration, and NATO's UAVs could be used MERELY as casus belli. Already now Russia blunted and mitigated all this "wall of drones"--yet another pathetic moniker for NATO's military impotence--if Russia will be striking Europe she will come in hard and main targets will be the remnants of NATO's industrial plant, thus solving a strategic task of a complete demilitarization of Europe. But here we enter the sphere of a strategic ambiguity which plays extremely well for Russia, who knows about herself and combined West orders of magnitude more than Mr. Mearsheimer. 

P.S. You all know that 404 "struck" today ... drum roll ... 46 "Russian tankers" in the Sea of Azov. I was incensed--why such a low number? There should have been at least 250 tankers hit and another 50,000 Russians killed around Moscow, which is about to fall. This "quick victory" thing becomes nauseating. 

Some Tactical Thingy.

This is for those fanboys who continue to imagine the war in terms of drones. 

And this:

And here is what they say:

🔥 The tankers of "Vostok" broke through the enemy's defenses on the Zaporizhia direction — a complex network of Ukrainian Armed Forces strongholds in the area of Verkhniaya Tersa fell, reports our correspondent Anna Tsepaeva. Tanks are no longer a ram, but a high-precision tool — they operate from concealed firing positions in close contact with drone operators. This is more complicated than direct aiming, so the preparation of each position begins long before the start of combat duty. 💥The tankers have to repel attacks every meter of the way. For the crew of the "Aza" tank — named after its commander — enemy kamikaze drones have long ceased to be a critical threat. Often, the crew operates as a living shield and distracts the main forces of the enemy. "Kamikazes" are no longer relevant for the tank. We have very good armor, we hardly feel them. I counted 22 "EFPs" on my tank. We reached the task, completed it, and even returned. We take all the fire on ourselves," — shared the commander.

Tanks can take now drone strikes and, indeed, begin to work as a shield for advancing infantry, thus effectively "resetting" tank warfare to its original purpose but under new technological conditions. How? Well, you have to be Russian tank both in protection, weapons and, most importantly, crews. 

Finland Is Now On Notice.

And this is a "party line" now. 

Finland, in fact, allowing Ukrainian drones flying to Russia through its territory, joined the war with the Russian Federation. Moscow has reason to shoot down drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine right over Finland. The same applies to the Baltic countries. About this "Gazeta. Ru" said the First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov. "The fact is that Finland allows drones that fly to Russia through its territory. In fact, it thereby joined the war with Russia. Yes, indirectly, but nevertheless, when letting these drones pass, it must understand that they can cause damage to our country. People can die, so Russia has every reason to shoot down these drones on the territory of Finland," he stressed. According to Dzhabarov, this issue is very serious, but Helsinki does not understand this. "This applies not only to Finland, it applies to all three Baltic states too," he said.

Yep, the preparation has started. This is from the upper chamber of Federal Assembly and senators are usually very reserved in their statements. Well, especially when one considers Dzhabarov's background and his FSB counter-intel rank. Newly reconstituted Leningrad Military District has all means to "correct" the behavior of nutjobs in Helsinki and those who they protect on their territory. Russia knows that Finland allows launches of 404 drones from its territory. NATO? There is no NATO anymore--it is all fiction. 

For Your ...

 ... "entertainment"

KA-52, two sorties, 25 downed 404 drones. Front aviation in action. 

And What Did They Expect?

To fight Iraqi Army with "monkey models" T-72s which Iraqis couldn't even dig in properly? 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine has sidelined U.S.-provided Abrams M1A1 battle tanks for now in its fight against Russia, in part because Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult for them to operate without detection or coming under attack, two U.S. military officials told The Associated Press. The U.S. agreed to send 31 Abrams to Ukraine in January 2023 after an aggressive months long campaign by Kyiv arguing that the tanks, which cost about $10 million apiece, were vital to its ability to breach Russian lines. But the battlefield has changed substantially since then, notably by the ubiquitous use of Russian surveillance drones and hunter-killer drones. Those weapons have made it more difficult for Ukraine to protect the tanks when they are quickly detected and hunted by Russian drones or rounds. Five of the 31 tanks have already been lost to Russian attacks. 

In the end, it is the question of reputation--one can push this "Gulf War--The Greatest Thing Ever" only so far, but eventually even the fanboys get the whiff of desperation. Caveats like "we didn't send the latest models because Russians may get the secrets" also work only to a certain extent, after that it becomes a lame excuse, which it is, and the tank warfare undergoes a dramatic overhaul in SMO, with tanks increasingly carrying anti-drone screens and now EW complexes, as Russian Tsar Tank has demonstrated:

And this is just the start of it. I mean evolution of the technical requirements for armored forces which far from getting obsolete, as many fanboys from media rushed to conclude, are getting a serious upgrade and are not going anywhere. You just need to make them good enough for modern warfare, which no Western tank, even their super-duper versions are. That explains also the issue of NATO's AD. We saw what Iran did to Israel and its servants from NATO. Meanwhile--Moscow's Park of Victory is getting ready its exhibition of NATO armor finally making it to Moscow:

   

The exhibition will open for general public on May 1st, it is free. 

They are still adding the exhibits.

For Mine and Underwater Diversionary Activity.

As you all know, I hate speculations. But, this is one of those cases where I want  to give some context. It is JUST the context, nothing more. It shows the area where RKR Moskva, near Zmeinyi Island, was prior to the event and it shows the range to both Ukraine and Romania's shores. 

It goes without saying that the range between 20 to 50 nautical miles from the shore is the exact range at which underwater diversionary forces (aka Frogs or, in Russian, PDSS) operate with ease assisted today by a variety of underwater drones capable both of mining and mine-hunting. So, this is just to keep in mind as a context, I imply nothing.