LongLeftFlank

Then they came for der Mittelstand.... I keep posting energy tech stuff because the modular/miniature/precision armaments revolution is absolutely experiencing the exact same dynamics, just not so well documented (yet). The West will innovate, but the Chinese will beat us to mass market, every time. With quality more than adequate for purpose. As innovative firms and their ecosystems starve and die, so too will innovation. Solar panels are now used as fences in Germany because they are more affordable than the usual fencing. The market standard for solar panels is now moving to Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (#TOPCon) technology, which improves solar cell architecture to reduce efficiency losses. The technology was developed by Germany's Fraunhofer Institute in 2013, but large-scale manufacturing takes place mostly in China. "European manufacturers have no money to change to the new technology. So now there is no competitive advantage anymore and they have to sell old technology." https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/squeeze-on-european-solar-manufacturers-curbs-innovation-cementing-china-s-lead-81072375

By the waters of Willow Run, we lay down and wept, remembering thee.... China Already Makes As Many Batteries As the Entire World Wants (BBG) BYD electric cars waiting to be loaded onto a ship at the international container terminal of Taicang Port in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. (There are showrooms all over Manila and Singapore)

(Allegory, not history... perhaps) One famous King who played the game of 'King', of chess, was the Persian Pad-Shah Shapur II, who was taught it by his wazir. The wazir was the better chess player, but the King was always the winner of the game. The King attained victory by the ingenious device of overturning the chessboard at a crucial point of the game and declaring himself winner. This showed an imagination of the sort that the wazir did not have; and it was for this reason that Shapur was the King, and the wazir would never be anything but wazir. - R.A. Lafferty

Actual, actual.... FSRU Marshal Portovyy out of Kaliningrad (whose pipeline has not been cut off) offloads its cargo at sea to LNG tanker Cool Rover. Which ships the contraband gas to buyers who care less about its provenance than its price. If [unnnamed Formites] want to act 'wised up' (woke?) about 'strategic global resources', perhaps focus on the stuff that actually moves the needle on balance of trade today. That would (still) be stuff the belligerents can put in a pipe or a ship or a train and send where it gets the highest price. Los!

As much as I would love this all to be true, due to the Western innovators' need to raise funds, the Chinese are now able to beat (and undercut) any newly commercialised Western product into mass production by stealing all the required IC under a guise of investor due diligence. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/owners-china-based-company-charged-conspiracy-send-trade-secrets-belonging-leading-us-based And this is not the TU-144 'Concordski' or Yak-36 'Forget'er' we are talking about any longer. The 'knockoff' products of companies like Xiaomi (which I can get out here in Asia, as well as in Europe) are increasingly comparable to their Western originals in reliable functionality, if not always in service life. Again, as much as I'd like for that not to be true, we must be realistic about this.....

Can we please lay off beating on our brother Erwin at this point? I think people made their points on the merits, let's turn down the ad homs. ...For those who forgot life before Feb 2022, he's put a *gigantic* amount of effort into this community.

Yup, and these comments further point up that the key currency in this phase of warfare remains human flesh and blood ('soft ware'). ...So short of intercepting, neutralising or 'decontrolling' the drones themselves, the critical path to me is to 'harden' those targets and staunch the bleeding by any means possible (and preferably at mass scale), whether it's decoys, camo, armour, fortification, physical distancing, whatever.

Link please? (and preferably from an industry publication that studies resource flows, not just some guy making sh&the up). ...Regarding essential resources, I share the fear expressed by others above that the essential and non-substitutable resource that is going to run out first is Ukrainian frontline infantry strength. They've done a good job of hiding it and so it's impossible to prove, but I am extremely worried.... ***** Meanwhile, waxis of weasels: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/05/trump-ukraine-secret-plan/ .... https://montelnews.com/news/06cb4e7c-081a-4bad-ac16-3eed780d4e04/russian-gas-exit-should-be-gradual-french-minister

https://archive.is/cvVoD

(source: The trained agent controlled an off-the-shelf Robotis OP3 humanoid robot, which costs around $14,000) (Robots are 20" tall. Some assembly required. Batteries not included)

...sorry Vet, I named the wrong guy and can't edit for some reason. No intent to call you out, and you are quite right on free speech, although it's also important to stay OT (I am as guilty as others of straying).

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/white-house-open-ending-lng-export-pause-push-ukraine-aid-sources-say-2024-04-02/ Let the horse trading commence! Forget the talking heads, my old friend @Vet 0369, 'follow the money' crosses all partisan lines, everywhere and at all times!

One of my faves! Commander Powell would have named it.

Talk to the @SFHand.

I dunno, @SFHand has been a BFC forum regular for quite a while, so try to be kind. (And I too have no love for clan Biden) ...OTOH, the kneejerk: 'whatever USSA supports -> support the opposite' gets a little tiresome, especially when it's a dog whistle like this.

Yes, they definitely should (and it seems, do). Remember, one of the gambits the Tucker wing is (ingenuously) pulling is basically: "what dog does America have in this fight? they're both corrupt Slavic oligarchies. Screw 'em both." Ukrainians killing foreign citizens by the hundred feeds that BS meme, sadly. Fine, they shouldn't be in Russia, blah blah blah, wevs.

Days of rage, baby. Gotta get down to it / soldiers are gunning us down / shoulda been done long ago....

Igor Strelkov, is that you? (jk) But yes, you are in theory correct. However, this is said to be a fully autonomous system, with no human in the loop after it goes behind the lines. To err is inhuman?

Well, the 'Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan' was ultimately forced out when their air supplied FOBs became untenable. The biggest kick in the ntz will come though when Ivan's rail network goes down. Shoulda been done long ago, IMHO, by any means necessary, but as the pros remind us, easier said than done.

One ray of light, and this is *strictly* barroom RUMINT, FWIW: I won't talk specifics here (and I don't know that much anyway), but it seems all air transport throughout European Russia at below mach speed will shortly become extremely unsafe. And even supersonic jets need to take off and land.... As rumoured, the necessary system is already in Uke hands, but they're trying hard to find a way not to have it splash RU civilian airliners by mistake. That wouldn't be a great look, given MH17. And you can absolutely expect the Russians to dangle airliners full of foreigners, especially Turks or Middle Easterners, in harms way. ...At a guess, when foreign carriers (looking at you, Turkish Airlines and Emirates) begin canceling routes to Russia with scant explanation, that will be proof that this is not just BS.

So we must then solve for that finely trained, well equipped soldier.... Do you think he was important? Well, if he was, then we won't have to wait long to find out.

Dmitri is getting kind of whiny at this point though, not a great sign....

Never thought you'd miss Sarah P, right? At least she could see Russia from her house. Plus, those awesome cheekbones (#MCP).

IIRC, that's of WW2 RAF origin, and derives from a poem 'Can a butterfly again become a caterpillar?' (author unknown) A USAF pilot I knew in the 90s was restricted to T38s once the F4s retired, since he was 6'5" (I had no idea that was even allowed), and punching out of any other modern jet would cost him his kneecaps.... He said the worst thing about being groundbound ('Chair Force' lol) was having to give up wearing coveralls (unwritten code). His wife says he walked differently.

Moscow death count 133. ...So ISIS has basically killed the personnel of a VDV rifle company (in the theoretical event of a full mobilisation). Largely military aged males, and likely above the mean for education and patriotic fervour.