poesel

I was also wondering what happened to this anti-javelin cooking grates they had on their tanks a year ago. Didn't do much against the javelin, but would probably work against a free-falling grenade. That is very interesting. The ICC indictment seems to (finally) hit a nerve with the higher ups in Moscow, which the actual war didn't. If the ICC would even hint at continuing this from the top down, I guess we would see some more defenestrations in that sector. Hopefully from the top window. Not very surprising, but these hypocrites only got worried when the war affects themselves. I guess they thought they could sit it out and, in a few years when everything has cooled down, dig up their foreign assets, and live a happy live somewhere under the sun. Assholes.

Even longer article (of course in German, though this time Swiss) about a guy from Poland delivering supplies to the front. Very interesting. If you don't read it all (and you won't), read at least chapter one about a Ukrainian officer talking about Donbass. Spoiler: he could live without it https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/ukraine-krieg-szczepan-twardoch-bringt-hilfsgueter-an-die-front-ld.1730385

Good and long (!) article in German about the situation of mobiks during their 'training' in Russia. I expected something like this, but to read in detail why these guys are so ****ed up in every possible meaning of the word removes any doubt. https://www.dekoder.org/de/article/ukraine-krieg-mobilisierung-alkoholismus

Helmut Schmidt was defense minister from '69-'72 and then chancellor from '74-'82 - AFAIK the only one. Strauss tried...

Just for the record: that is a fake (and a year old, btw)

With that game, the correct way to phrase it is: 'my daughter and her 2 former friends...'

FWIW the news about the NS explosions didn't make a big splash here in Germany. It was reported and clearly stated that we still don't know who was behind it. Even the rainbow press refrained from finger pointing. That is all.

Japan and Kamchatka is an angle I hadn't thought of. But that would collide with China's interest in having unrestricted access to the Pacific. China could occupy or vassalize Siberia. Occupying it would put China in the club of Arctic Sea neighbors, which might create opposition from the other club members. No matter in which way China controls Siberia, it would have the same problem as Russia: how to get the resources south. But then China is good at long term planning, so they may have the patience to build a pipeline. And they could do another thing: there is only one railway north that ends in Yakutsk. If that were to be extended to the arctic sea, China could finally have a port with unrestricted access to the Atlantic. By the time this is finished, the Arctic Sea would be ice free most of the time. I'm not sure how much all of that is an incentive for China not to support Russia too hard.

What is China's plan if the Russian Federation disintegrates?

Going back to the beginning of this argument: you can do everything in a corrupt system, but to deprive the boss from being corrupt. Without the nukes, this conflict and regime would be over quite fast (and I don't think we have an argument that the US wouldn't know, that the nukes weren't working). Functioning nukes are the linchpin of this regime. The Russians know that, we know that. Underfunding the army is no problem. Exhibit A being the continuing existence of the Russian Federation. But the nukes? No way.

I think this point is about Austria modernizing their Leo2s. Not about sending them to Ukraine. This: https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/fuer-panther-produktion-rheinmetall-will-panzer-fabrik-in-der-ukraine-aufbauen-a-8c1a27cf-9be8-42ad-ba51-d0b526c05719 is about Rheinmetall wanting to build a tank factory in Ukraine for producing KF51 Panthers. But this is still in discussion and I will believe it when the contracts are signed. Although Medvedev already promised to bomb the factory to smithereens with Kalibrs... A bit of ironic that Russia may have enabled the production of Panthers in Ukraine Or maybe the Russkies were right with those Ukronazis?

Agree and agree. And you both have given the solution to those problems: money. And since this is the Russian state that wants that problem solved, money is of no concern. Again, I'm not saying it's easy. I'm saying it is possible. And I believe it has and will be done for the Russian nukes.

But then you were building and flying new planes in the US, didn't you? You didn't just keep the ones from the 60s and 70s? The comparison falls short as the missiles are not actually used. But you could have put a DC-9 in storage in 1970, do maintenance and replace parts meticulously. After 50 years, you roll it out of the hangar and 9 out of 10 would fly. Obviously, no one would do that, but if money is of no concern, you could. Since you continuously order spare parts over 50 years, the knowledge to make those parts will be kept alive. Even if the original designers are long dead. Edit: just checked - according to Wikipedia, 31 DC-9s are still flying...

If you build something and test it and document it and write extensive maintenance manuals, then you don't need anyone clever anymore to maintain and use the thing. Russians can read and are very good at following explicit orders. I'm pretty sure, the Soviets have written very, very extensive manuals when they built their nukes. You can laugh all you want about Russian equipment. The engineers I've met were well-educated and resourceful, and quite clever in making things work with the (limited) stuff they had at hand.

In a corrupt system, you know what you can touch and what not. If you don't, you do not survive very long. The nukes were/are THE safety net for the USSR and Russia. These are important for the boss, and you don't touch that. To think that those nukes might not work and somebody wouldn't have leaked that information by now is silly on both accounts.

Longish good thread on the state of repair of the Kerch Bridge. TL;DR: the rail bridge is substantially damaged, and one section needs to be replaced. ETA is July. IIRC we guessed that back then.

I think nobody here did. This myth was dispelled for the German public in the mid 90s with this exhibition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht_exhibition Better late than never. Caused quite a bit of hubbub here but managed to bring this into public attention.

CEO of Rheinmetall claims that two Skynex systems are already in Ukraine. At about 11:00 (audio only in German) https://www.thepioneer.de/originals/thepioneer-briefing-economy-edition/podcasts/rheinmetall-ceo-armin-papperger-ueber-krieg-und-frieden That is this system: Son of Gepard Would love to see an in action video.

Isn't this an offer that some ethnics would like to take? A dangerous and careless offer. Bonus question: isn't there some AI program that can verify if it is really Putin who talks? I can put Putin's head and voice on any body (digitally). Then the reverse should also be possible???

Historically, China has been the number one country wrt to industrial production. They took over from Rome in about 500 AD and lost the spot in about 1750 to the UK, respective to the West. The last 270 years happened only because China missed out the industrial revolution, and now things just move back to normal. Of course, the US became a player in just about the same time frame and tips off the balance a bit. But still, China becoming the biggest economy in the world is just what you have to expect.

The G7 have a GDP of about 34 trillion US$ while BRICS has about 25 trillion US$ which puts it just ahead of the USA alone. I have worked in all the BRICS countries and in 4 of the G7. Of course, it depends a bit on where you are, but there is literally a world between these two groups. A world of wealth.

Sorry, but I think this will be appreciated here...

Medvedev talks about Russia falling apart if they don't win the SMO. I could not find the original source, but have it from other media, too. That is an interesting statement to make. It makes sense if your people actually don't want that to happen. But not a very good argument if they don't.

Video of a failed HIMARS missile. A bit into the video it shows the missile path through the roof, 3 levels and down into the cellar!

I'm following the MSC in Munich and I have to admit that it is a bit sobering. This war is a thing between the West and Russia, while the rest of the world is standing by and being annoyed by the disruption caused. Sobering for me in so far as all the wars I have 'experienced' used to be 'somewhere else' (Yugoslavia being the exception) and I wasn't emotionally involved. Sure, dead bodies, fleeing civilians, atrocities etc... But this was on TV - you get used to it after a while. Now there is a war close by and the South and Far East tell us, that this is our war, and we'd better get it fixed fast because it causes trouble at (their) home. Unfortunately, quite understandable for them to say. The Wests track record of keeping peace and making sure that people live well isn't that good. Oh yes, the standard of living has been going up everywhere after WWII, but mainly as a side effect of us making a profit, not because of altruistic intentions. Sorry for this bit of incoherent rambling.