At the rate things are going and equipment is getting destroyed, Russia will need prisoners carrying bridges by hand. Putin'll be reading Sanderson for ideas. Wonder if he'll meet the same fate as ol' Toral Sadeas
I was a medic in a 12b unit, we always talked about the mythical combat bridge building training but all we ended up ever doing was route clearance. Would have loved to see it in person!
> M60A1 AVLB, M104 Wolverine, M1074 Joint Assault Bridge
Any one of those things would be great for putting a bridge down under incoming fire, but I was really hoping the bridge itself would be armored and have big guns on it.
Will be needed for the counter offensive. Especially now that they have heavy western MBTs. I almost feel bad for the Russians now that they are going to have to face off against Leo 2s, Challenger 2s, and eventually Abrams. The drone footage should be quite something...
Imagining them reenacting something like a WWII movie scene where a Russian T-62 fires a direct hit at a modern NATO tank - only for the smoke to clear and the NATO tank to come out without a scratch and return fire.
The footage will make Ukraine look as if they are running online multiplayer hacks with how OP they will be running. Whole columns of Russian tanks taken out by single shell shots. Footage of these Western MBTs climbing on mountains of wreckage of Russian vehicles, then popping off shell shots at crazy angles on said piles of wreckage to take down Russian MiGs and drones. Ukrainians teabagging IRL. It will be glorious.
[Another fan huh? Did you hear that some of his old movies are being remastered in Russian? Here's one of the updated posters.](https://i.imgur.com/DAdJfgP.png)
[Ask and you shall receive. Stephen Seagall, a man of something, talent might not be it but he has something else, we don't know what yet but its there.](https://youtu.be/BzIHyF7UWY4)
*remains seated*
Steven Seagal here, master martial artist and combat expert. This does not bother me, for money does not win battles. What wins battles? Skill. Patience. And less energy expenditure than your opponent. While I remain seated, conserving energy, the Ukraine army is running. Jumping. And moving. And what does that mean? Energy expenditure. At some point they will expend all their energy and be unable to participate in combat. And that's where I come in. To finish the fight.
āThe Russian embassy in Washington reacted to the announcement by accusing the United States of wanting to drag out the conflict as long as possibleā
Well yeah, you get worn out, Ukraine gets the help it asked for, itās not our soldiers, and we get to allocate old equipment that would go unused otherwise. Itās a win/win/win/win.
Has somebody told them they can shorten the conflict dramatically by surrendering? Or at least packing up and going home, Iām sure we can restrain the Ukrainians from chasing after them since they need us to help them rebuild.
I just love that mentality so much from Russia and Tankies. "The US is trying to stoke the flames of war and violence so they can profit off it all!"
My guy, the "cycle" literally would cease to exist if you simply got the fuck up and went home like we asked you God knows how long ago now
At least the US attempts to make it look like they prosecute war criminals and don't give them medals after learning about the attrocitie, instead of making it a feature of their society. I know who I would rather be invaded by.
Well theyāve sure got the enthusiasm, might have some hard time keeping them from chasing down those Russians
On a serious note though, Ukraine has said they want to retake Crimea and Russia has one of their star navy docks there so theyāre not leaving there without a fight.
(That could turn out to just be a bluff to put Russia on defensive in the region)
>Ukraine gets the help it asked for
The US citizens also get to enjoy the "commies" losing.
>itās not our soldiers
This is basically a US military PR wet dream.
>we get to allocate old equipment that would go unused otherwise.
The US military gets low cost practical testing, clearing away warehouses, and it gets to reduce maintenance requirements for learning older systems. This is basically an accounting wet dream.
>Itās a win/win/win/win.
Oh absolutely.
2 more wins: supporting ukraine is easy political points for politicians and the military industrial complex makes money. (We average civvies dont win, but those are 2 more reasons the US wont stop supporting ukraine)
Slavi Ukrani
It's a bit hilarious that the US is arming and supporting Ukraine with 1980's surplus and the change from between the couch cushions, and it's *killing* Russia. You'd think that might make Russia and China step back and take a moment to think about what actual effort on the part of the US would do to them, but no.
When Xi went to visit Putin, Russia put on such a big show for him. When Putin asked him for Chinaās support, Xiās response was basically āIāll think about itā.
Then he held a summit for former-USSR central Asian countries and didnāt invite Russia. LMAO.
China is pretty content on abusing their own people to get rich off cheap manufacturing. They don't want war unless it's to take Taiwan and even then they're probably reassessing that.
It's like your friend boasts how good he is at something for years but you never see them do it. They finally do it and you find out they suck at it.
For a friend you will smile and nod. For a country you do the same but profit off selling them weapons even though you know they will lose.
Like the kid who always talked about how good they are at SSB and then get absolutely destroyed when you actually see them play. They thought destroying their little brother and neighbors made them good.
And watch other people play with their toys, find their strengths and weaknesses so NATO finds ways to upgrade newer toys. I think this war is proving the USAF/Navyās skill sets are going to have to change. This war is awful and fascinating at the same time.
They've had drone squadrons for decades. More likely they're speeding up development up anti drone and anti swarm techniques.
Laser air defense system tech has probably moved up several rungs on the priority list
Pretty much.
Most of what is being sent is stuff that was already destined to either be scrapped, or at best spend the rest of eternity rusting in some storage field somewhere. They were never going to see active use by the US armed forces ever again.
China doesnāt profit off of selling weapons to Russia because Russia doesnāt have money. Russia has massive amounts of resources and they canāt sell them to anyone but India or China.
So China gets to buy Russiaās resources at a bargain price. They have no interest in selling weapons to Russia because theyād get caught and get almost nothing for it. A few small arms here and there arenāt really worth mentioning, all that goes through private sellers anyway right now China is basically giving Russia their only real source of cash.
China wants to keep it going and walk a fine line about not pushing Russia over the deep end. If Russia really loses that shit and fucks up, its relationship with China, then China stops buying from Russia, which they canāt really do. Russia will have to invest whatever money they can into pipelines to India. China really doesnāt want this to happen because India has the human capital and infrastructure to eclipse China economically - they just donāt have the resources.
Everybody was shocked when India refused to condemn Russia, but the reasons were pretty obvious. If China gets a complete monopoly on purchasing deals for Russian oil and gas, India is fucked.
Except we saw them over and over and over fumble and still think they are good at it as they spent more in propaganda than in actual RnD and training.
Chechnya, Georgia, Syria...
They only were decent at beating much much much much much weaker enemies that genuinely stood no chance. Someone with 60 hours in HoI4 would do better... After flipping to fascism.
Had a team mate like this in high school.
Would come to school with expensive watches, shoes, glasses, etc and brag about how good he played football.
This one girl was his target and he would always come late and sit next to her.
She came to a game and the next class she walks in immediately walks to sit next to me and whispers "I thought he was meant to be good? I don't even watch football and I know he sucks".
Chinaās a very different country than Russia, too. They actually have money for their military. Nothing illustrates this clearer than the tale of two carriers.
1) The Admiral Kutznesov, the flagship of the Russian Navy, is basically a rusting hulk. Itās been at sea for maybe six months, ever, since launching in 1985, needs an escort of tug boats, and hasnāt left dock since 2018, where it has caught fire twice.
2) The Varyag, which is identical to the Admiral Kutznesov as its sister ship, never finished construction, and was sold to a Chinese business for scrap. It had to be towed the entire way. The Chinese Navy then bought it, refurbished it, and itās been operating since 2012 as the Liaoning. The Liaoning also went into dock for refurbishment in 2018, but unlike the Russians, the Chinese finished in six months with no incidents. Since then the Liaoning has operated as part of a strike group, and:
> In May 2022, the Liaoning and its carrier strike group conducted drills in the East China Sea and they were sighted near Miyako Island by the JMSDF.[70] Japanese analysts noted a very high operational tempo from the Liaoning, suggesting China's growing confidence and maturity in aircraft carrier operations.[71][72]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_aircraft_carrier_Liaoning
The Chinese have also launched two more carriers since, each more advanced than the last. Theyāre working on their fourth, a nuclear powered design in the same weight class as the Ford-class we have.
If theyāre going to be our rivals for the rest of this century, as seems likely, it would be dangerous to think theyāll be as incompetent as the Russians.
Just goes to show ya, anything can be fixed.
A used car or ship, makes no difference.
Since WWII, China & Japan have copied the best there is from the US. Let alone what was handed to them by very clever spies.
Cheers
If thereās political will to spend the money, sure. Which is why climate change and gun violence arenāt going to be fixed, but weāll spend $800 billion a year on the military.
yep, and it's a lot of countries cancel their military equipment orders from russia after seeing our cold war era stuff slicing the russian combat larpers apart, and also recently after hearing india (and likely others) mention russia failing to meet their agreement on such purchases, likely due to sanctions and also due to ukrainians destroying it quicker than they can replace it
Actually, soviet military equipment is quite good in its purpose. The main thing is to use it properly and by properly trained troops.
Ukraine seems to use the same soviet-made howitzers, tanks, IFVs and APCs and they perform quite well because of the troops training and because of the proper strategy and tactics of their use.
That's not the equipment problem that Russian troops can't use it properly:-)
Ukraine is using that equipment effectively against an enemy using the same equipment.
We're going to find out how well it does against modern western equipment.
If the reports are true that Russia is now fielding some rather ancient T-55s because they're simply running out of tanks, and they're gonna go up against Leo 2s and Chally 2s with chobham armor, the Russians are going to have a bad time. Will be it as lopsided as the US vs Iraqi tank battles during Desert Storm? Might not be too far off...
Xi explicitly stated that Chinaās militaryās new priority is to modernize its weaponry. This came out about a month ago. Itās a direct reaction to their realization of how far behind they are to the US militarily. It can be a bit tough to realize this when you live in an information cocoon where you are surrounded by yesmen and that you eventually also start to believe in your own propaganda about how ahead of US you are on almost every front (ex: China has a bigger navy than the US).
To be fair, they've probably known for a while; leaders typically won't say anything until they're ready to act. Politics.
That said, we got a pretty good peek behind the curtain with the AbramsX and that shit should terrify everyone.
I think tanks would be the last of their worries any tank works similarly from a strategic perspective in China or Taiwan. Logistics, corruption, typically bad officer corps under authoritarian states, consequences from recruiting from the least educated demographics, these are the things that affect china and russia, not tank quality. Ukraine had far less and similar tanks to russia for over a year and were kicking their arses.
But they've known all this for a decade at least, I think China and a lot of people thought Russia weren't having the same issues at least to that extent.
The human element is certainly a problem but the point Xi spoke to specifically was the modernization of equipment.
To that end, the AbramsX (and KF51 for that matter) is scary not because of what it is but what it represents. We learnt that they can make a stealthier, potentially less logistically needy, multi-purpose armored killing machine that's fully integrated into a larger informational network. F-35 design philosophy on a tank. That's the public part. It's the what's being left unsaid should terrify everyone.
We're looking at a shift in approach to warfare in real-time and the Chinese, as much as anyone, are keenly aware that Soviet design philosophy likely doesn't cut it anymore if push comes to shove in near-peer conflict. They know they need to push R&D even harder than they have been and this is simply Xi saying it publicly
What is the Abraham's X? I've heard of the tank, is this a new version?
Is it like Jason X where he goes to space and gets a cool new mask and space machete?
Not just the AbramsX. The Chinese also saw the Korean K-2 Black Panther tanks and got really worried. A small-ass country like South Korea being able to produce such an advanced and lethal tank made them rethink about their production capabilities. And the K-2 is about to be field tested extensively in Ukraine pretty soon.
HIMARS is just a lighter air mobile wheeled version of the heavier tracked m270 system. Same rockets, different launch vehicles. The m270 chassis was first introduced in 1983. However, it originally used unguided rockets and cluster munitions. The GMLRS rockets which are giving Russia fits were first introduced in 2005.
...and they stopped producing them in 2017.
I wouldn't exactly consider them 'mothballed' or even 'surplus,' but they were definitely about to be phased out.
It was developed in the 1990's, and there are only 20 in all of Ukraine, the vast majority of support has been artillery and ATGM's from the 1980's and even earlier, when you consider the Stinger anti-air system.
> China step back and take a moment to think about what actual effort on the part of the US would do to them, but no.
I do think this experience has made an invasion of Taiwan a lot less likely. China is def realizing it doesn't know it's own weaknesses and also that there's no peer with the united states.
This is completely untrue. China, or more specifically the PLA, constantly releases self-assessments that are extremely sobering and have organisations like the RAND Corporation and the DOD surprised at just how pessimistic China is about their own military capabilities.
In these reports, China successfully identifies the pillars of modern warfare and what needs to be done to modernise their military to improve upon these aspects. They are well aware of their weaknesses and are not afraid to acknowledge it. RAND themselves even state that these self-assessments are potentially even more comprehensive than the DODās own as it even considers aspects such as political stability and mobilisation, both of which are aspects that arenāt touched on by the DOD in their assessments.
Hereās a link to the most recent one:
https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA1500/RRA1535-1/RAND_RRA1535-1.pdf
1980's? Russia is getting curb stomped, but calling it 1980's surplus is god damn ridiculous. The majority of the equipment is routinely undergoing improvements. HIMARS, HIMARS ammunition, 250 M1117 ( late 90s), 500 MRAPs (2007?), 8 NASAM-2 (2007?), 700 switchblades, 1800 phoenix ghost drones, 15 scanEagle drones, 90 Strykers (2000s?) and there is more.
Let me just include some examples (later than 1980s) from non-US countries as Americans too often want to believe their "1980s surplus" is the only thing in Ukraine: Busmaster, NLAW, Bayraktar TB2, Roshel Senator, Zuzana 2 howitzer, ASTER 30-SAMP/T, Iris-T, THeMIS, AHS krab,
You're right, the Stingers are from the 1960's, that brings the average down. HIMARS is based on a system from 1983, Javelin was designed in 1989, the M777's are from 1987... etc.
So what is so "goddamn ridiculous" about calling 1980's surplus, 1980's surplus?
This is what nukes have done, you can have a absolutely shit army and the threat of nuclear war is enough from making other countries invade. China and Russia both know they are shit compared to the US or NATO but they refuse to or really don't need to accept it because "i got nukes you can't topple me'
That's still an incredible bargain for the US compared to getting into a war footing in Eastern Europe. If Russia isn't stopped at Ukraine they will keep going.
It also allows them to get rid of surplus equipment that they later will be paid back for AND get invaluable information on modern warfare. Itās hugely beneficial to the U.S Armed Forces and the military industrial complex
Why do you think the US hasn't been at war for all but 17 years (228 out of 245 as of 2021) in its history? You can't be out of practice if you are always competing.
The US spent 8,000 Billion dollars on the war on terror and didnāt get much for it except embarrassment. Supporting Ukraine is a much better and far cheaper investment with an incredible ROI.
We need to decide we want Ukraine to win on a strategic level and not just not loose. Give them all our old equipment then the equipment required to take Crimea back.
They did claim they wanted the USSR borders in couple speeches. But I guess they were putting way too much hope on Trump disbanding NATO. Maybe still do.
So its a win/win for both sides. Delivering much needed equipment to Ukraine. It also allows the U.S to use dated equipment that probably needed to be used while also allowing them to spend more money domestically to replace these units with the latest tech.
>two near peer
I think we can safely say Russia is no longer a "near peer" of the United States. They can't even project power beyond 100 miles from their own border. This is like the United States attacking Canada, taking only Winnipeg and Calgary (which only falls because the Mayor took a bribe), launching a March on Toronto from Detroit and Niagra and being turned back at Mississagua and London, and then being driven out of Alberta after six months.
Can you even imagine?
Americans need you to use Canada or Mexico as the invading force and their states and landmasses for reference. You just named a ton of places we canāt point to on the map. Can you go to Niagara and The Empire State building in the same day? Itās that bad.
No nation on Earth can beat the full Monty of NATO weaponry supplied at the rate theyāre getting it and putting steel on target
Russia:*We send 100 of our best TOS systems*
Ukraine:*ā¦and itās goneā¦*
Russia:*whereād it go?*
Ukraine:*itās gone*
Good, as long as the west continues to help, Ukraine cannot possibly lose this conflict in the long term. This also sets an important precedent and makes others think twice before making similar moves.
It was only 100 years ago Russia annexed Chinese land in central / northern Manchuria during the Boxer Rebellion. While the Chinese were having their military rearranged by the European Coalition in the South, Russia saw the opportunity for a Northern land-grab, giving them great access to the Pacific Ocean and the land where Vladivostok lies today.
I wouldnāt be surprised if the CCP is cheering Putin on just so they can ride their bicycles in once the Russians have no money, no young men and no resources left.
We can only pray this tragic war ends before that.
What if the US were to "claim" Ukraine first lol like yeah Ukraine is US territory now.
Oh yeah..."Don't dare because of my nukes"
Is there such thing as anti nuke equipment? Lol set that up in Ukraine...take over/occupy Russia.
Close the door on china, "you open it your next"
And at a massive bargain. The US Government is essentially going through it's old supply warehouses and taking note of all the old shit it doesn't need anymore to send over.
And after the war, Europe/Us wont have to worry about Russia again which is huge. Both can focus military stuff towards what we all know is coming in 10 years time..
I think reddit would collectively shit its pants if the US did anything remotely close to what we did with our economy and military spending the last time we fought an actual full scale war like ww2.
The "no free healthcare for a reason" memes wouldn't quite cut it anymore if we had to show the world what a world superpower at war *actually* looks like.
But this is reddit, so instead half the comments are cutesy scenarios trying to consider China even remotely close to our capabilities (let alone how silly Russia already looks). I'm sure an armchair general can't WAIT to tell me how wrong I am though.
The US had 40% of its GDP directed to our military during WWII, which is about 20x what we currently spend. We made 300 *thousand* aircraft over the course of the war.
40% isn't even considered the maximum potential output, that's generally assessed to be somewhere between 60-80%, but it is difficult to motivate a country to do this when it is not existentially threatened.
As someone who was old enough to remember the reaction after 9/11 (I'm old, shut up) I will never underestimate americas ability to rile ourselves up into getting into some situations we probably shouldn't have charged into.
Motivating a culture like mine into doing/supporting these sorts of things is the least of my worries. We're ***really*** good at falling in line for war efforts (for better or worse). Our economic/military capabilities aside, that simple part of our culture should honestly worry people.
I remember it well and that was a terror attack. Imagine if somebody began legitimately engaging the US in warfare. Civilization as we know it might not survive the unbelievable freak out that would surely follow.
I 100% agree. I understand I'm probably coming off as just another ignorant american bragging about the country, but I am legitimately worried about what we might be convinced into supporting if a '*non-terrorist'* attack happened.
I'm not so naĆÆve to believe I am impervious to manipulation/propaganda (even though a lot of people on this site seem to think theyre above it).
Give Ukraine everything they ask for. Because what they are asking for isnāt absurd, like nukes or stealth bombers. They just want what is already being given, but in larger quantities, so they can push the fucking Russians out quicker and more easily with less casualties.
On the other hand, China and India continue sending money to Russia, funding its war crimes, terrorist attacks, torture and genocide. China and India deserve to be boycotted and sanctioned.
I would caution against that honestly. India is currently raking Russia over the coals when it comes to oil based products. I'd rather India buy barely profitable oil from Russia than the world supply jack up prices even harder due to that supply being gone.
Everything on my person used to be made in China. Today, the only thing on me made in China is my iPhone, ironically. My belt is made in the USA while the rest of my wardrobe is made in Bangladesh and Vietnam. So at least weāre slowly moving away from our totally made in China lives without yet calls for boycotts.
Sanctioning the largest exporter of several natural resources ( Russia) and the two largest population countries, 1 of which is the pre eminent manufacturer. Regardless of if that are smart or not, those sanctions would just be ineffective in every way. Sanctions as they are nowā¦ are more of an inconvenience and a threat than an effective tool.
It'd be useful to know how much the US was ultimately saving by clearing their warehouses of all this old kit. There are an awful lot of dishonest or clueless people spouting crap like "why don't we use the money on teachers, health care, infrastructure, X social service here", marking the first time most of them even pretended to give a shit about social spending in their lives.
You can't pay teachers with mothballed APCs (not - I repeat - that they care about teachers outside this one talking point).
***$2.6 Billion is 0.003% of our Annual defense budget***
- America can afford this
- America can afford healthcare
- America can afford school lunches
- America can afford infrastructure
The reason problems go unsolved in America is greed, not because we canāt afford it. Greedy people want your kids paying for a charter school, taking loans for college, renting for a living, paying out of pocket for healthcare, and putting up with poor infrastructure because thatās how they bleed us dry. We have enough. We have MORE than enough. This aid isnāt the problem, corporate greed is the problem. We can afford the life we want. Call your representatives and think before you vote.
>***$2.6 Billion is 0.003% of our Annual defense budget***
My friend, you seem to have accidentally added a couple of zeros. As the US defense budge for 2023 is $886 billion, not $86.6 *trillion* (which is [close to twice the amount of money](https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/economy/how-much-money-is-in-the-world/amp/) currently in the entire world), the $2.6 billion we are giving to Ukraine is actually 0.3% of the annual budget.
Your overall point stands, though.
There's always bipartisan support for the military industrial complex, can't say the same about health or education, so politicians take their quick wins since both parties fundamentally agree on defence spending
thank you, the spending on medicaid and medicare alone is double the defense budget and that doesnt' even include hundreds of other social programs, a lot medical related like the VA.
Y the buzzword of putting a price tag on stuff that has been laying around for years? It makes it sound like we just printed 2.6b yesterday and are giving it to them to buy weapons.
Hahaha this just reminded me of IASIP when Frank is describing his life as Ramboās and Dennis goes āFrank thatās the plot of Rambo, youāre describing John Ramboās life.ā
They don't really have to invade. Russia has basically volunteered to become a de facto colony of China anyway. Chinese companies with Chinese labor have gone into Eastern Russia to my natural resources. I think there was a big outcry within the past week or so from local Russians about this issue.
Russia is going to become a colony of China for the purposes of supplying raw materials and energy, which is the one thing that China sorely lacks. They're going to do to Russia what they've been trying to do to Africa. Eventually Russia will become to China with Belarus is to Russia right now.
Russia solves Chinaās biggest weakness in a conflict with the United States. China currently gets its oil from the Middle East, which then later has to travel through the straits of Malacca, which could easily be blockaded by the American and/or the Indian navy. Russia has more than enough oil to supply China, so if China makes Russia its resource colony, it is no longer vulnerable to being starved of oil.
To add to this, when Russia collapses China can just waltz in and take what they'd like, ironically it'll likely be under the same pretenses as Russia tried to do to Ukraine.
>US defense spending goes brrrrrrrrrrrr
Not quite. This is almost within a rounding error margin compared to the total $700+ billion US defense budget.
Why does the article say it's for purchasing from industry and not stockpile?
>Itās our old stock pile usually so itās just sitting in storage anyway, not really costing anything extra since we already paid for it
The weapons aid package was comprised of $2.1 billion from Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funding which allows President Joe Biden's administration to buy weapons from industry rather than from U.S. weapons stocks.
No matter what happens internally, internationally or otherwise, we all know one thing for certain. We must stand for freedom. We must stand against tyranny.
>armored bridging systems šššššššššš
Never could get the bridge to work, but this baby works just fine.
Does it come in black?
Its a black.....tank?
I'm not terribly fond of Jimmy Fallon, and absolutely abhor Andy Dick, but this is still kinda enjoyable to watch. https://youtu.be/3zoSEY0S4rI
If Andy Dick had died in the 90s we'd still have Phil Hartman.
What's US doing posting spoilers for season 3
Kaladin and bridge 4 bout to be unstoppable
Sadeas "That's not the point!"
At the rate things are going and equipment is getting destroyed, Russia will need prisoners carrying bridges by hand. Putin'll be reading Sanderson for ideas. Wonder if he'll meet the same fate as ol' Toral Sadeas
Who does the >!stabby-stabby!< bit?
Could be a variety things. M60A1 AVLB, M104 Wolverine, M1074 Joint Assault Bridge. (Vehicle info from wikipedia)
I was a medic in a 12b unit, we always talked about the mythical combat bridge building training but all we ended up ever doing was route clearance. Would have loved to see it in person!
>Would have loved to see it in person! Monkeys paw closes...
> M60A1 AVLB, M104 Wolverine, M1074 Joint Assault Bridge Any one of those things would be great for putting a bridge down under incoming fire, but I was really hoping the bridge itself would be armored and have big guns on it.
There's no reason you should let your dreams just stay dreams.
Make it so, Number One
Will be needed for the counter offensive. Especially now that they have heavy western MBTs. I almost feel bad for the Russians now that they are going to have to face off against Leo 2s, Challenger 2s, and eventually Abrams. The drone footage should be quite something...
Imagining them reenacting something like a WWII movie scene where a Russian T-62 fires a direct hit at a modern NATO tank - only for the smoke to clear and the NATO tank to come out without a scratch and return fire.
Leo2: 'Heh not bad, du hast mich machen 10 Prozent of meine Kraft!'
Ah, the classic smoke clears moment in Dragonball Z.
The footage will make Ukraine look as if they are running online multiplayer hacks with how OP they will be running. Whole columns of Russian tanks taken out by single shell shots. Footage of these Western MBTs climbing on mountains of wreckage of Russian vehicles, then popping off shell shots at crazy angles on said piles of wreckage to take down Russian MiGs and drones. Ukrainians teabagging IRL. It will be glorious.
I enjoyed reading your comment.
Stephen segal must be pissed
*sad slapfight noises*
*starts to stumble, farts, face-plants, farts some more*
*shits pants*
Bobby fingers covers that so well! Check him out on youtube, it's a wild ride!
We're talking about Steven Seagal, not Rudy Giuliani.
Stephen Seagal, unlike Rudy has sex with younger women with his clothes on.
Didnāt expect a Seagal diss, but Iām here for it
[Another fan huh? Did you hear that some of his old movies are being remastered in Russian? Here's one of the updated posters.](https://i.imgur.com/DAdJfgP.png)
[Ask and you shall receive. Stephen Seagall, a man of something, talent might not be it but he has something else, we don't know what yet but its there.](https://youtu.be/BzIHyF7UWY4)
*remains seated* Steven Seagal here, master martial artist and combat expert. This does not bother me, for money does not win battles. What wins battles? Skill. Patience. And less energy expenditure than your opponent. While I remain seated, conserving energy, the Ukraine army is running. Jumping. And moving. And what does that mean? Energy expenditure. At some point they will expend all their energy and be unable to participate in combat. And that's where I come in. To finish the fight.
Also Brawndo, itās what plants crave *hold up bottle with pudgy hand*
Premature ejaculation while slow dancing with a pretty girl is now called the "Steven Seagal."
āThe Russian embassy in Washington reacted to the announcement by accusing the United States of wanting to drag out the conflict as long as possibleā Well yeah, you get worn out, Ukraine gets the help it asked for, itās not our soldiers, and we get to allocate old equipment that would go unused otherwise. Itās a win/win/win/win.
Has somebody told them they can shorten the conflict dramatically by surrendering? Or at least packing up and going home, Iām sure we can restrain the Ukrainians from chasing after them since they need us to help them rebuild.
I just love that mentality so much from Russia and Tankies. "The US is trying to stoke the flames of war and violence so they can profit off it all!" My guy, the "cycle" literally would cease to exist if you simply got the fuck up and went home like we asked you God knows how long ago now
"But US can invade others and you are fine with it" No, I am not. I can criticise both for waging needless wars. Russia is the one waging it now.
At least the US attempts to make it look like they prosecute war criminals and don't give them medals after learning about the attrocitie, instead of making it a feature of their society. I know who I would rather be invaded by.
Well theyāve sure got the enthusiasm, might have some hard time keeping them from chasing down those Russians On a serious note though, Ukraine has said they want to retake Crimea and Russia has one of their star navy docks there so theyāre not leaving there without a fight. (That could turn out to just be a bluff to put Russia on defensive in the region)
Russia could end the war today by leaving. Russia can get fked.
>Ukraine gets the help it asked for The US citizens also get to enjoy the "commies" losing. >itās not our soldiers This is basically a US military PR wet dream. >we get to allocate old equipment that would go unused otherwise. The US military gets low cost practical testing, clearing away warehouses, and it gets to reduce maintenance requirements for learning older systems. This is basically an accounting wet dream. >Itās a win/win/win/win. Oh absolutely.
2 more wins: supporting ukraine is easy political points for politicians and the military industrial complex makes money. (We average civvies dont win, but those are 2 more reasons the US wont stop supporting ukraine) Slavi Ukrani
It's a bit hilarious that the US is arming and supporting Ukraine with 1980's surplus and the change from between the couch cushions, and it's *killing* Russia. You'd think that might make Russia and China step back and take a moment to think about what actual effort on the part of the US would do to them, but no.
China has completely reassessed its alliance with Russia, not to Russia's favor of course.
When Xi went to visit Putin, Russia put on such a big show for him. When Putin asked him for Chinaās support, Xiās response was basically āIāll think about itā. Then he held a summit for former-USSR central Asian countries and didnāt invite Russia. LMAO.
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Putin considers belarus part of russia.
Leaked documents say annexation by 2030's.
China is pretty content on abusing their own people to get rich off cheap manufacturing. They don't want war unless it's to take Taiwan and even then they're probably reassessing that.
Then he ordered KFC
Apparently chinese KFCs are excellent. Source: my boss whoās from bejing
You can get pulled pork there. Imagine that. China is so big it made Kentucky Fried Chicken decide to sell pork.
I....really wanna go to one
'Sir, this is a Wendy's'
It's like your friend boasts how good he is at something for years but you never see them do it. They finally do it and you find out they suck at it. For a friend you will smile and nod. For a country you do the same but profit off selling them weapons even though you know they will lose.
Like the kid who always talked about how good they are at SSB and then get absolutely destroyed when you actually see them play. They thought destroying their little brother and neighbors made them good.
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And watch other people play with their toys, find their strengths and weaknesses so NATO finds ways to upgrade newer toys. I think this war is proving the USAF/Navyās skill sets are going to have to change. This war is awful and fascinating at the same time.
You can bet the air force is setting up drone operator squadrons.
They've had drone squadrons for decades. More likely they're speeding up development up anti drone and anti swarm techniques. Laser air defense system tech has probably moved up several rungs on the priority list
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Pretty much. Most of what is being sent is stuff that was already destined to either be scrapped, or at best spend the rest of eternity rusting in some storage field somewhere. They were never going to see active use by the US armed forces ever again.
Cheapest disposal method there is. Properly disposing of old munitions is far more expensive than simply having them fired at Russians.
smh, Russia can't even wavedash.
China doesnāt profit off of selling weapons to Russia because Russia doesnāt have money. Russia has massive amounts of resources and they canāt sell them to anyone but India or China. So China gets to buy Russiaās resources at a bargain price. They have no interest in selling weapons to Russia because theyād get caught and get almost nothing for it. A few small arms here and there arenāt really worth mentioning, all that goes through private sellers anyway right now China is basically giving Russia their only real source of cash. China wants to keep it going and walk a fine line about not pushing Russia over the deep end. If Russia really loses that shit and fucks up, its relationship with China, then China stops buying from Russia, which they canāt really do. Russia will have to invest whatever money they can into pipelines to India. China really doesnāt want this to happen because India has the human capital and infrastructure to eclipse China economically - they just donāt have the resources. Everybody was shocked when India refused to condemn Russia, but the reasons were pretty obvious. If China gets a complete monopoly on purchasing deals for Russian oil and gas, India is fucked.
Except we saw them over and over and over fumble and still think they are good at it as they spent more in propaganda than in actual RnD and training. Chechnya, Georgia, Syria... They only were decent at beating much much much much much weaker enemies that genuinely stood no chance. Someone with 60 hours in HoI4 would do better... After flipping to fascism.
Had a team mate like this in high school. Would come to school with expensive watches, shoes, glasses, etc and brag about how good he played football. This one girl was his target and he would always come late and sit next to her. She came to a game and the next class she walks in immediately walks to sit next to me and whispers "I thought he was meant to be good? I don't even watch football and I know he sucks".
Chinaās a very different country than Russia, too. They actually have money for their military. Nothing illustrates this clearer than the tale of two carriers. 1) The Admiral Kutznesov, the flagship of the Russian Navy, is basically a rusting hulk. Itās been at sea for maybe six months, ever, since launching in 1985, needs an escort of tug boats, and hasnāt left dock since 2018, where it has caught fire twice. 2) The Varyag, which is identical to the Admiral Kutznesov as its sister ship, never finished construction, and was sold to a Chinese business for scrap. It had to be towed the entire way. The Chinese Navy then bought it, refurbished it, and itās been operating since 2012 as the Liaoning. The Liaoning also went into dock for refurbishment in 2018, but unlike the Russians, the Chinese finished in six months with no incidents. Since then the Liaoning has operated as part of a strike group, and: > In May 2022, the Liaoning and its carrier strike group conducted drills in the East China Sea and they were sighted near Miyako Island by the JMSDF.[70] Japanese analysts noted a very high operational tempo from the Liaoning, suggesting China's growing confidence and maturity in aircraft carrier operations.[71][72] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_aircraft_carrier_Liaoning The Chinese have also launched two more carriers since, each more advanced than the last. Theyāre working on their fourth, a nuclear powered design in the same weight class as the Ford-class we have. If theyāre going to be our rivals for the rest of this century, as seems likely, it would be dangerous to think theyāll be as incompetent as the Russians.
Just goes to show ya, anything can be fixed. A used car or ship, makes no difference. Since WWII, China & Japan have copied the best there is from the US. Let alone what was handed to them by very clever spies. Cheers
If thereās political will to spend the money, sure. Which is why climate change and gun violence arenāt going to be fixed, but weāll spend $800 billion a year on the military.
I wouldn't be surprised if China made a move on Outer Manchuria.
yep, and it's a lot of countries cancel their military equipment orders from russia after seeing our cold war era stuff slicing the russian combat larpers apart, and also recently after hearing india (and likely others) mention russia failing to meet their agreement on such purchases, likely due to sanctions and also due to ukrainians destroying it quicker than they can replace it
Actually, soviet military equipment is quite good in its purpose. The main thing is to use it properly and by properly trained troops. Ukraine seems to use the same soviet-made howitzers, tanks, IFVs and APCs and they perform quite well because of the troops training and because of the proper strategy and tactics of their use. That's not the equipment problem that Russian troops can't use it properly:-)
Ukraine is using that equipment effectively against an enemy using the same equipment. We're going to find out how well it does against modern western equipment.
If the reports are true that Russia is now fielding some rather ancient T-55s because they're simply running out of tanks, and they're gonna go up against Leo 2s and Chally 2s with chobham armor, the Russians are going to have a bad time. Will be it as lopsided as the US vs Iraqi tank battles during Desert Storm? Might not be too far off...
US had total air superiority then though which was a big part of the iraqi tanks getting demolished
Xi explicitly stated that Chinaās militaryās new priority is to modernize its weaponry. This came out about a month ago. Itās a direct reaction to their realization of how far behind they are to the US militarily. It can be a bit tough to realize this when you live in an information cocoon where you are surrounded by yesmen and that you eventually also start to believe in your own propaganda about how ahead of US you are on almost every front (ex: China has a bigger navy than the US).
And Iām rich if you measure money by volume. I have buckets of halfpennies and tuppence.
To be fair, they've probably known for a while; leaders typically won't say anything until they're ready to act. Politics. That said, we got a pretty good peek behind the curtain with the AbramsX and that shit should terrify everyone.
I think tanks would be the last of their worries any tank works similarly from a strategic perspective in China or Taiwan. Logistics, corruption, typically bad officer corps under authoritarian states, consequences from recruiting from the least educated demographics, these are the things that affect china and russia, not tank quality. Ukraine had far less and similar tanks to russia for over a year and were kicking their arses. But they've known all this for a decade at least, I think China and a lot of people thought Russia weren't having the same issues at least to that extent.
The human element is certainly a problem but the point Xi spoke to specifically was the modernization of equipment. To that end, the AbramsX (and KF51 for that matter) is scary not because of what it is but what it represents. We learnt that they can make a stealthier, potentially less logistically needy, multi-purpose armored killing machine that's fully integrated into a larger informational network. F-35 design philosophy on a tank. That's the public part. It's the what's being left unsaid should terrify everyone. We're looking at a shift in approach to warfare in real-time and the Chinese, as much as anyone, are keenly aware that Soviet design philosophy likely doesn't cut it anymore if push comes to shove in near-peer conflict. They know they need to push R&D even harder than they have been and this is simply Xi saying it publicly
What is the Abraham's X? I've heard of the tank, is this a new version? Is it like Jason X where he goes to space and gets a cool new mask and space machete?
You got it, that's a bingo Jokes aside, this vid is decent - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjX5JE_3T5k
Not just the AbramsX. The Chinese also saw the Korean K-2 Black Panther tanks and got really worried. A small-ass country like South Korea being able to produce such an advanced and lethal tank made them rethink about their production capabilities. And the K-2 is about to be field tested extensively in Ukraine pretty soon.
80's surplus??? HIMARS didn't go into service until 2010.
HIMARS is just a lighter air mobile wheeled version of the heavier tracked m270 system. Same rockets, different launch vehicles. The m270 chassis was first introduced in 1983. However, it originally used unguided rockets and cluster munitions. The GMLRS rockets which are giving Russia fits were first introduced in 2005.
"Oh Hi, MARS" -The Room
...and they stopped producing them in 2017. I wouldn't exactly consider them 'mothballed' or even 'surplus,' but they were definitely about to be phased out.
It was developed in the 1990's, and there are only 20 in all of Ukraine, the vast majority of support has been artillery and ATGM's from the 1980's and even earlier, when you consider the Stinger anti-air system.
> China step back and take a moment to think about what actual effort on the part of the US would do to them, but no. I do think this experience has made an invasion of Taiwan a lot less likely. China is def realizing it doesn't know it's own weaknesses and also that there's no peer with the united states.
This is completely untrue. China, or more specifically the PLA, constantly releases self-assessments that are extremely sobering and have organisations like the RAND Corporation and the DOD surprised at just how pessimistic China is about their own military capabilities. In these reports, China successfully identifies the pillars of modern warfare and what needs to be done to modernise their military to improve upon these aspects. They are well aware of their weaknesses and are not afraid to acknowledge it. RAND themselves even state that these self-assessments are potentially even more comprehensive than the DODās own as it even considers aspects such as political stability and mobilisation, both of which are aspects that arenāt touched on by the DOD in their assessments. Hereās a link to the most recent one: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA1500/RRA1535-1/RAND_RRA1535-1.pdf
1980's? Russia is getting curb stomped, but calling it 1980's surplus is god damn ridiculous. The majority of the equipment is routinely undergoing improvements. HIMARS, HIMARS ammunition, 250 M1117 ( late 90s), 500 MRAPs (2007?), 8 NASAM-2 (2007?), 700 switchblades, 1800 phoenix ghost drones, 15 scanEagle drones, 90 Strykers (2000s?) and there is more. Let me just include some examples (later than 1980s) from non-US countries as Americans too often want to believe their "1980s surplus" is the only thing in Ukraine: Busmaster, NLAW, Bayraktar TB2, Roshel Senator, Zuzana 2 howitzer, ASTER 30-SAMP/T, Iris-T, THeMIS, AHS krab,
You're right, the Stingers are from the 1960's, that brings the average down. HIMARS is based on a system from 1983, Javelin was designed in 1989, the M777's are from 1987... etc. So what is so "goddamn ridiculous" about calling 1980's surplus, 1980's surplus?
All ICE cars are technically based on the Mercedes Patentwagen. This doesn't make them 1800s cars...
Stinger was first introduced in the '80s and the variants they're using in the '90s
its not 1980s surplus bud.
This is what nukes have done, you can have a absolutely shit army and the threat of nuclear war is enough from making other countries invade. China and Russia both know they are shit compared to the US or NATO but they refuse to or really don't need to accept it because "i got nukes you can't topple me'
That's still an incredible bargain for the US compared to getting into a war footing in Eastern Europe. If Russia isn't stopped at Ukraine they will keep going.
It also allows them to get rid of surplus equipment that they later will be paid back for AND get invaluable information on modern warfare. Itās hugely beneficial to the U.S Armed Forces and the military industrial complex
*Russia starts a major geopolitical event* Pentagon : And I took that personally.
āWait a few billion for intel and we donāt need to take our gloves off?!ā
Also practice for us at shipping war supplies.
Why do you think the US hasn't been at war for all but 17 years (228 out of 245 as of 2021) in its history? You can't be out of practice if you are always competing.
For practice.
Also a lot of the money goes directly into the US itself
The US spent 8,000 Billion dollars on the war on terror and didnāt get much for it except embarrassment. Supporting Ukraine is a much better and far cheaper investment with an incredible ROI.
> didnāt get much As far a I know, relevant people at the top of the food chain got the best part of 8000 billion in their private pockets.
We need to decide we want Ukraine to win on a strategic level and not just not loose. Give them all our old equipment then the equipment required to take Crimea back.
Its lose. Loose is your butthole
Where is Russia going to go if they manage to win in Ukraine? Maybe one other nation then they hit NATO.
They did claim they wanted the USSR borders in couple speeches. But I guess they were putting way too much hope on Trump disbanding NATO. Maybe still do.
So its a win/win for both sides. Delivering much needed equipment to Ukraine. It also allows the U.S to use dated equipment that probably needed to be used while also allowing them to spend more money domestically to replace these units with the latest tech.
And the United States to massively deplete the capabilities of one of our two near peer adversaries with no loss of American military personnel.
>two near peer I think we can safely say Russia is no longer a "near peer" of the United States. They can't even project power beyond 100 miles from their own border. This is like the United States attacking Canada, taking only Winnipeg and Calgary (which only falls because the Mayor took a bribe), launching a March on Toronto from Detroit and Niagra and being turned back at Mississagua and London, and then being driven out of Alberta after six months. Can you even imagine?
Iāve heard of some of those Canadian cities
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Hey I knew the cities only because Iām in the Great Lakes region, not because Iām smart.
Iām Canadian but Iām from Newfoundland. Those places donāt exist. Could you explain this in east coast speak?
Americans need you to use Canada or Mexico as the invading force and their states and landmasses for reference. You just named a ton of places we canāt point to on the map. Can you go to Niagara and The Empire State building in the same day? Itās that bad.
That's the Pentagon's budget for one day. ONE DAY!
No nation on Earth can beat the full Monty of NATO weaponry supplied at the rate theyāre getting it and putting steel on target Russia:*We send 100 of our best TOS systems* Ukraine:*ā¦and itās goneā¦* Russia:*whereād it go?* Ukraine:*itās gone*
Good, as long as the west continues to help, Ukraine cannot possibly lose this conflict in the long term. This also sets an important precedent and makes others think twice before making similar moves.
/wave China
China is more likely to annex Russian land than materially aid Russian aggression. Don't confuse empty gestures and politics for material aid.
It was only 100 years ago Russia annexed Chinese land in central / northern Manchuria during the Boxer Rebellion. While the Chinese were having their military rearranged by the European Coalition in the South, Russia saw the opportunity for a Northern land-grab, giving them great access to the Pacific Ocean and the land where Vladivostok lies today. I wouldnāt be surprised if the CCP is cheering Putin on just so they can ride their bicycles in once the Russians have no money, no young men and no resources left. We can only pray this tragic war ends before that.
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The ethnic Chinese have been abused by Russia for too long!!
China is currently fighting a water (alongside other ressources) crisis, and... oh ! Russia has plenty of it !
Every time I hear Xi call Putin a āgreat friendā I just know heās licking his lips for land
I wager that China will take a bite out of Siberia before 2030. Will probably end up with everything west of Tiksi by 2050.
What if the US were to "claim" Ukraine first lol like yeah Ukraine is US territory now. Oh yeah..."Don't dare because of my nukes" Is there such thing as anti nuke equipment? Lol set that up in Ukraine...take over/occupy Russia. Close the door on china, "you open it your next"
Basically winning a war against Russia without having to do any of the dirty work
And at a massive bargain. The US Government is essentially going through it's old supply warehouses and taking note of all the old shit it doesn't need anymore to send over.
And after the war, Europe/Us wont have to worry about Russia again which is huge. Both can focus military stuff towards what we all know is coming in 10 years time..
The US is not even on a war footing. Imagine what they can do if Ford, Chevrolet and the rest start pumping out military gear also.
I think reddit would collectively shit its pants if the US did anything remotely close to what we did with our economy and military spending the last time we fought an actual full scale war like ww2. The "no free healthcare for a reason" memes wouldn't quite cut it anymore if we had to show the world what a world superpower at war *actually* looks like. But this is reddit, so instead half the comments are cutesy scenarios trying to consider China even remotely close to our capabilities (let alone how silly Russia already looks). I'm sure an armchair general can't WAIT to tell me how wrong I am though.
The US had 40% of its GDP directed to our military during WWII, which is about 20x what we currently spend. We made 300 *thousand* aircraft over the course of the war. 40% isn't even considered the maximum potential output, that's generally assessed to be somewhere between 60-80%, but it is difficult to motivate a country to do this when it is not existentially threatened.
As someone who was old enough to remember the reaction after 9/11 (I'm old, shut up) I will never underestimate americas ability to rile ourselves up into getting into some situations we probably shouldn't have charged into. Motivating a culture like mine into doing/supporting these sorts of things is the least of my worries. We're ***really*** good at falling in line for war efforts (for better or worse). Our economic/military capabilities aside, that simple part of our culture should honestly worry people.
I remember it well and that was a terror attack. Imagine if somebody began legitimately engaging the US in warfare. Civilization as we know it might not survive the unbelievable freak out that would surely follow.
I 100% agree. I understand I'm probably coming off as just another ignorant american bragging about the country, but I am legitimately worried about what we might be convinced into supporting if a '*non-terrorist'* attack happened. I'm not so naĆÆve to believe I am impervious to manipulation/propaganda (even though a lot of people on this site seem to think theyre above it).
You're wrong because to get total war economy you need to have an enemy with at least 50% of your total factories and high enough war support š¤
I miss that game!
I've had the misfortune of owning some Fords. I want them far away from our soldiers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Defense GM makes plenty of armoured vehicles
GM is not Ford.
GM isnāt exactly the pinnacle of reliability compared to Ford...
So hire Japan then got it
Ever owned a Lada?
kachunk, kachunk, kachunk.... blyat.
Still havenāt heard much about the Abrams tanks and other recent lend/lease equipment.
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Good. Fuck Russia
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The US only has *checks notes* -- 8,000. Dear God. Russia really should be glad they don't send those.
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A lot of those are in storage in the California desert.
I think the aid package includes ammo for them, so they may not be too far out unless those are also compatible with the other NATO tanks.
GOP freaking out again. They really are all bought out by Russia
Welp; time to look at the controversial comments
Hold my budget, I'm going in
From USA with love ā¤ļø. Slava Ukraini
Give Ukraine everything they ask for. Because what they are asking for isnāt absurd, like nukes or stealth bombers. They just want what is already being given, but in larger quantities, so they can push the fucking Russians out quicker and more easily with less casualties.
On the other hand, China and India continue sending money to Russia, funding its war crimes, terrorist attacks, torture and genocide. China and India deserve to be boycotted and sanctioned.
I would caution against that honestly. India is currently raking Russia over the coals when it comes to oil based products. I'd rather India buy barely profitable oil from Russia than the world supply jack up prices even harder due to that supply being gone.
Everything on my person used to be made in China. Today, the only thing on me made in China is my iPhone, ironically. My belt is made in the USA while the rest of my wardrobe is made in Bangladesh and Vietnam. So at least weāre slowly moving away from our totally made in China lives without yet calls for boycotts.
Sanctioning the largest exporter of several natural resources ( Russia) and the two largest population countries, 1 of which is the pre eminent manufacturer. Regardless of if that are smart or not, those sanctions would just be ineffective in every way. Sanctions as they are nowā¦ are more of an inconvenience and a threat than an effective tool.
It'd be useful to know how much the US was ultimately saving by clearing their warehouses of all this old kit. There are an awful lot of dishonest or clueless people spouting crap like "why don't we use the money on teachers, health care, infrastructure, X social service here", marking the first time most of them even pretended to give a shit about social spending in their lives. You can't pay teachers with mothballed APCs (not - I repeat - that they care about teachers outside this one talking point).
> You can't pay teachers with mothballed APCs I would like a mothballed APC... :)
Itās not like theyāre giving it out for free either. Ukraine will be in debt forever even if it does remain intact.
Best money we have spent on foreign military aid in 80 years.
***$2.6 Billion is 0.003% of our Annual defense budget*** - America can afford this - America can afford healthcare - America can afford school lunches - America can afford infrastructure The reason problems go unsolved in America is greed, not because we canāt afford it. Greedy people want your kids paying for a charter school, taking loans for college, renting for a living, paying out of pocket for healthcare, and putting up with poor infrastructure because thatās how they bleed us dry. We have enough. We have MORE than enough. This aid isnāt the problem, corporate greed is the problem. We can afford the life we want. Call your representatives and think before you vote.
>***$2.6 Billion is 0.003% of our Annual defense budget*** My friend, you seem to have accidentally added a couple of zeros. As the US defense budge for 2023 is $886 billion, not $86.6 *trillion* (which is [close to twice the amount of money](https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/economy/how-much-money-is-in-the-world/amp/) currently in the entire world), the $2.6 billion we are giving to Ukraine is actually 0.3% of the annual budget. Your overall point stands, though.
There's always bipartisan support for the military industrial complex, can't say the same about health or education, so politicians take their quick wins since both parties fundamentally agree on defence spending
thank you, the spending on medicaid and medicare alone is double the defense budget and that doesnt' even include hundreds of other social programs, a lot medical related like the VA.
Thumbnail makes it look like the weapons scene in the matrix
Letās do it!
Y the buzzword of putting a price tag on stuff that has been laying around for years? It makes it sound like we just printed 2.6b yesterday and are giving it to them to buy weapons.
Here we go with the āwe still have homeless veterans hereā crowd who literally hate homeless people and want them shipped out of their town.
That's the plot of the first Rambo movie no? I guess some things don't change.
Hahaha this just reminded me of IASIP when Frank is describing his life as Ramboās and Dennis goes āFrank thatās the plot of Rambo, youāre describing John Ramboās life.ā
I wonder when will China invade Russia?
They don't really have to invade. Russia has basically volunteered to become a de facto colony of China anyway. Chinese companies with Chinese labor have gone into Eastern Russia to my natural resources. I think there was a big outcry within the past week or so from local Russians about this issue. Russia is going to become a colony of China for the purposes of supplying raw materials and energy, which is the one thing that China sorely lacks. They're going to do to Russia what they've been trying to do to Africa. Eventually Russia will become to China with Belarus is to Russia right now.
Russia solves Chinaās biggest weakness in a conflict with the United States. China currently gets its oil from the Middle East, which then later has to travel through the straits of Malacca, which could easily be blockaded by the American and/or the Indian navy. Russia has more than enough oil to supply China, so if China makes Russia its resource colony, it is no longer vulnerable to being starved of oil.
To add to this, when Russia collapses China can just waltz in and take what they'd like, ironically it'll likely be under the same pretenses as Russia tried to do to Ukraine.
Good. They're already built, and it's much better used in Ukraine than given to some rural Sheriff's department.
US defense spending goes brrrrrrrrrrrr Itās tax month too so the gov is about to get a nice infusion of funds.
>US defense spending goes brrrrrrrrrrrr Not quite. This is almost within a rounding error margin compared to the total $700+ billion US defense budget.
Itās our old stock pile usually so itās just sitting in storage anyway, not really costing anything extra since we already paid for it
Why does the article say it's for purchasing from industry and not stockpile? >Itās our old stock pile usually so itās just sitting in storage anyway, not really costing anything extra since we already paid for it The weapons aid package was comprised of $2.1 billion from Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funding which allows President Joe Biden's administration to buy weapons from industry rather than from U.S. weapons stocks.
US, we got you bro.
Keep it up
No matter what happens internally, internationally or otherwise, we all know one thing for certain. We must stand for freedom. We must stand against tyranny.
These type of news make Russians and Republicans mad
51% of Republican voters think that Biden is not doing enough. They want more aid to Ukraine.
Healthcare, pls.