SNAFU!

Where should loitering UAVs live? Tanks/IFVs or Artillery on dedicated vehicles?

(16/n) UVision Air Hero loitering munitions integrated with Boxer and Lynx. Hero has a 60min endurance, 60km range and a 4.5kg warhead pic.twitter.com/zE8S60ndJX
— Jon Hawkes (@JonHawkes275) June 13, 2022

I totally disagree with this concept. As BlackTail said, properly fighting your vehicle while directing a UAV (even with a dedicated crewmen) is a waste of an asset. Loitering UAVs of the type above have such great distance that they should live with artillery.

Additionally a dedicated vehicle capable of launching at least 12 should be developed. As part of a combined arms team it would be a TERRIFIC asset.

Push it down to Tanks/IFVs, hell even infantry is a waste. Those units fight close (from my seat close in the modern era is about ... 5 miles and in?). Artillery is for the deep fight. 60km? That's getting deep....isn't that further than a standard 155mm round can fly?

Biden officials privately express concern that rather than dissuade the Kremlin as intended, US sanctions have instead exacerbated inflation, worsened food insecurity and punished ordinary Russians more than Putin

Say it with me.

The sanctions as applied by the US/EU was STUPID! Hammers were used when scapels were necessary!

NEW: Some Biden officials privately express concern that rather than dissuade the Kremlin as intended, US sanctions have instead exacerbated inflation, worsened food insecurity and punished ordinary Russians more than Putin or his allies

w/ @DanielPFlatley + @nwadhams https://t.co/n72fPni7p3
— Saleha Mohsin (@SalehaMohsin) June 14, 2022

Hearing reports that a couple of Americans have been captured in Ukraine...this Tweet is unconfirmed though...

OFFICIAL STATEMENT : A week ago our team ended up isolated in the middle of a Russian Offensive. Bama and Hate, 2 of our American brothers, were captured.

We have not since heard anything about their well being. The information was confirmed by the Ukrainian intelligence.
— Task Force Baguette (@TFBaguette) June 15, 2022

I've changed my mind. We need the A400M Grizzly

NOTE! I have a couple of clowns deriding this airplane because armored vehicles have grown in weight. To those individuals YOU DO REALIZE that carrying armored vehicles is a beyond small amount of the gear that they carry. Even the C-17 and C-5 carry armored vehicles only on a limited basis. Its a bragging point, not a feature of modern cargo aircraft. If carrying armored vehicles was the main job of these airplanes then we'd have nothing but C-5s and C-17s in inventory! To claim that the A400M is no longer viable because it can't carry modern IFVs is a joke not worthy of discussion. Grow The F*ck Up!

I've changed my mind. We need the A400M Grizzly.

Why? Because we have a kinda glaring hole in our airlift. Since the retirement of the C-141, we don't have a true medium lifter.

Having finally seen the A400M in person, comparing it to the C-17 and C-130 I'm more than convinced that its what our airlift force is missing.

Sauce for the dish that helped change my mind? Confidence is not high that the KC-46 will be able to successfully flex into the refuel & limited lift role. It was a great idea but I'm not sure its worked out the way many hoped.

Its past time to get ready for the next big one. I'm pretty damn sure that we're in the interwar period before the big one. We need to make sure that when that war comes (probably not on our timeline either), we're ready to go with what we've got.

Time to stack it high and deep. The A400M should be part of our national preps (along with plenty of missiles, tanks, aircraft, bombs, etc...).

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A post shared by Airbus Defence (@airbus_defence)

Well this is a bit ominous...

JUST IN - China ready to back Russia on "sovereignty and security" matters, Xi assures Putin in phone call. pic.twitter.com/gpuycGGvRo
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) June 15, 2022

Wow.

The dream was to ally with Russia...or at least have them neutral when the fight with China roles around.

Now?

Now they're gonna be damn near allied. Xi scratches Putin's back in Ukraine and Putin scratches Xi's back against Taiwan.

Serious strategic error.

Even worse? This is gonna open up the flood gates to Chinese trade with Russia. Those sanctions are soon gonna be meaningless to both countries.

Russia's Gazprom throttles gas supplies to Germany

Russia's Gazprom throttles gas supplies to Germany again. pic.twitter.com/cpHGMvUEhz
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) June 15, 2022

The Pope gets what I've been saying...

https://www.politico.eu/article/pope-francis-says-war-in-ukraine-perhaps-provoked-or-unprevented/

Open Comments Post. 15 June 22

The Biden Admin just woke up to the food issue with the war in Ukraine...

The full details of Biden's announcement of US collaboration with Europe on alleviating the food insecurity consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine pic.twitter.com/F4z18pkGJ3
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) June 15, 2022

Jesus! This administration is consistent! They're ALWAYS LATE TO ISSUES! This has been talked about for the last two months (or more) and they're just now spinning over to it? Amazing! The hubris is breathtaking. The lack of critical thinking astonishing. The inability to plan ahead/prepare contingencies unsurprising.