I don't know if I am supremely overjoyed that Germany is going to be spending a lot more on its military.
I would be happy for the UK to spend more, if we do so primarily on sea power. That's where success lies for us. Always has been, always will be. We should support our allies by Naval means, not getting bogged down in continental conflicts.
For the past 100 years the go to approach for land battles was the tank yet they can now be destroyed by a single $20,000 missile.
The idea that the sea is any better off in the 21st century May be equally false.
Yes. Look what’s happening to Russian armour against ‘cheap’ Turkish drones. How long can big lumbering ships remain relevant? They are just tanks at sea
AI, cyberwarfare, robot soldiers, drones of all sizes, hypersonic missiles - that’s the future.
And intelligence. One of the ‘heartening’ aspects of this awful nightmare is that US/UK intel has been bang on
I recall reading somewhere that towards the end of the (First) Cold War the US Navy refused to participate in wargaming all-out conventional war scenarios as they consistently resulted in the entire American (and everyone else’s) surface fleet being sunk within the first couple of days.
Similarly a few years back the Americans held an exercise in the Gulf simulating war with Iran where a US Marine Corps general was assigned as “red” commander and used known Revolutionary Guard tactics to “swarm” warships and take them out. The US Navy promptly suspended the exercise and demanded it be restarted with the USMC tactics disallowed.
That's not what happened at Millennium Challenge 2002. Lt Gen Van Riper simulated the sinking of a CVN with a mass cruise misslie attack that oversaturated the CSG's AD capacity.
That has somehow mutated into in the Internet truism that you can sink carriers with a 'swarm' of pedalos.
In the real world nobody has damaged a carrier in combat since 1945. The end of the age of the carriers will come as it did for battleships but not yet and not soon.
Don’t carriers need lots of other ships protecting them though? So you are not just committing to cost of each carrier, but to growing size of navy to protect the carrier?
Yes. A USN CSG has the CVN, 8 or 9 squadrons of aircraft in the CVW, 2 x Tico CG, 3 x Arleigh Burke DDG, 2 x Virginia SSN. Also an oiler and solid support ships though these are USNS not USN.
That's why carriers are a poor choice for the RN at its current size. To deploy a CSG we need just about every escort vessel that float plus (a lot) of help from allies. It's a grotesquely imbalanced force structure that has been driven primarily by reasons of national prestige rather than a matching of defence capabilities to strategic needs.
Thank you 👍🏻
From a very non-expert standpoint I never saw the point of our 2 big carriers. I was in favour of giving one of them to the EU to sweeten the Brexit deal. Let it be their white elephant - nothing the EU loves more than a white elephant. I am in favour of smaller helicopter/vertical take off carriers, but that's probably a terrible solecism too.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
English speakers would use "in" Mexico. You would say "on" if you're talking about an island. That's the kind of low-level grammatical slip that is only made by speakers of non-Germanic languages make (seeing as the same distinction is found in other Germanic languages).
See, we can't dick about with this man. I suspect he is genuinely pissed at being stripped of his Judo title. We are playing to Marquis of Queensbury rules and he's acting like a nuclear empowered cage fighter. The EU and NATO seem to have gone all Jeremy Corbyn.
Without wishing to sound like @Leon this isn't going to end happily. The sooner we act to put down the current Russian regime the better How do we do it? I haven't a clue.
Anything that buys time is good I imagine, though what would Putin accept that Zelensky can reasonably concede?
The problem for both Putin and Zelenskyy is that, after deaths have been incurred, people are initially less willing to compromise - because they want the losses to have some meaning. So it would be impossible for Zelenskyy to recognise Russian sovereignty over Crimea, for example, without the Ukrainian people seeing that as a betrayal.
It's only later, after many more losses are experienced, that people generally become more willing to accept a compromise.
Perhaps Zelenskyy will be more willing to concede on formal membership of NATO, when his armed forces seem to have done better than expected with training and equipment from NATO members.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
English speakers would use "in" Mexico. You would say "on" if you're talking about an island. That's the kind of low-level grammatical slip that is only made by speakers of non-Germanic languages make (seeing as the same distinction is found in other Germanic languages).
You may be right, but playing devil's advocate the letters are right next to each other. I'm conscious of my own slips since I often type on my phone and don't proofread much.
Kharkiv now totally controlled by Ukraine again, acc to local administration. Local head Oleg Sinegubov says Russian soldiers "abandoning vehicles and surrendering in groups"
Took a little drive round Kharkiv. Current situation: - streets deserted - some kind of fight/operation still going on around Shevchenko avenue/Hidropark. - city in Ukrainian hands
The Ukrainian crisis is good news for Britain's relationship with the EU. We've shown ourselves to be a reliable security partner, and earned brownie points with many of the states for our robust response.
How funny if a second order effect of Putin's invasion was to improve UK-EU relations.
Thinking about it, Putin has probably managed to not only improve UK-EU relations, but also to ensure the reelection of Macron.
Funny old world.
And funny how we see some people as master tacticians, and actually they're just idiots like the rest of us.
I certainly got him wrong. I've always considered him essentially a gangster with motives of personal wealth and power. It now appears there's a lot of fruitcake in the mix too with all of this "spiritual Russia" business and deep-seated Cold War butt-hurt. He looks to be acting illogically, driven by his "urges", which is common and can be especially dangerous in powerful old men. This invasion makes no sense as far as I can see in the rational sphere.
A very good move the world needs peace...we need a good negotiated settlement fair to both sides and that recognises russias concerns
Fuck off. Your boy has just escalated to nuclear war.
We give nothing to the maniac.
I think that's hyperbole...we may not like putin but he is trying to defend russias interests....
Vlad, seriously, please. You've more important things to be doing than posting on PB.com. You've a strongly worded letter to the International Judo Federation to write, and it seems those Ukrainians haven't surrendered yet.
I mean, we always say on PB, how do you get time to do work and post, but in this case we really do mean it. Plenty for you to do in the Kremlin.
A very good move the world needs peace...we need a good negotiated settlement fair to both sides and that recognises russias concerns
Fuck off. Your boy has just escalated to nuclear war.
We give nothing to the maniac.
I think that's hyperbole...we may not like putin but he is trying to defend russias interests....
Which reside inside the Russian borders. Illigal war aggression against a state that voluntarily disbanded its nuclear weapons, invasion and murder are protecting Russian interests in what way?
I don't know if I am supremely overjoyed that Germany is going to be spending a lot more on its military.
I would be happy for the UK to spend more, if we do so primarily on sea power. That's where success lies for us. Always has been, always will be. We should support our allies by Naval means, not getting bogged down in continental conflicts.
For the past 100 years the go to approach for land battles was the tank yet they can now be destroyed by a single $20,000 missile.
The idea that the sea is any better off in the 21st century May be equally false.
Yes. Look what’s happening to Russian armour against ‘cheap’ Turkish drones. How long can big lumbering ships remain relevant? They are just tanks at sea
AI, cyberwarfare, robot soldiers, drones of all sizes, hypersonic missiles - that’s the future.
And intelligence. One of the ‘heartening’ aspects of this awful nightmare is that US/UK intel has been bang on
I recall reading somewhere that towards the end of the (First) Cold War the US Navy refused to participate in wargaming all-out conventional war scenarios as they consistently resulted in the entire American (and everyone else’s) surface fleet being sunk within the first couple of days.
Similarly a few years back the Americans held an exercise in the Gulf simulating war with Iran where a US Marine Corps general was assigned as “red” commander and used known Revolutionary Guard tactics to “swarm” warships and take them out. The US Navy promptly suspended the exercise and demanded it be restarted with the USMC tactics disallowed.
That's not what happened at Millennium Challenge 2002. Lt Gen Van Riper simulated the sinking of a CVN with a mass cruise misslie attack that oversaturated the CSG's AD capacity.
That has somehow mutated into in the Internet truism that you can sink carriers with a 'swarm' of pedalos.
In the real world nobody has damaged a carrier in combat since 1945. The end of the age of the carriers will come as it did for battleships but not yet and not soon.
Don’t carriers need lots of other ships protecting them though? So you are not just committing to cost of each carrier, but to growing size of navy to protect the carrier?
Yes. A USN CSG has the CVN, 8 or 9 squadrons of aircraft in the CVW, 2 x Tico CG, 3 x Arleigh Burke DDG, 2 x Virginia SSN. Also an oiler and solid support ships though these are USNS not USN.
That's why carriers are a poor choice for the RN at its current size. To deploy a CSG we need just about every escort vessel that float plus (a lot) of help from allies. It's a grotesquely imbalanced force structure that has been driven primarily by reasons of national prestige rather than a matching of defence capabilities to strategic needs.
Thank you 👍🏻
From a very non-expert standpoint I never saw the point of our 2 big carriers. I was in favour of giving one of them to the EU to sweeten the Brexit deal. Let it be their white elephant - nothing the EU loves more than a white elephant. I am in favour of smaller helicopter/vertical take off carriers, but that's probably a terrible solecism too.
Helicopter carriers like the Japanese Izumo class would have been a great fit for the RN.
The French defence establishment like your idea. Their latest wheeze for reducing the cost of the CdG replacement (PANG) is to build a second one for the EU. German/Dutch/Belgian crew with Italian/Spanish air wing.
Zelensky’s starting point is going to be a Russian withdrawal to the pre-2014 borders, giving up Donbass and Crimea.
Zelensky can’t negotiate away the international sanctions, that are about to tank the markets and cause bank runs in Moscow tomorrow morning.
Oh, and by the way, he has another few thousand NATO-spec anti-tank weapons, and a few hundred NATO-spec anti-aircraft weapons, ready for the next few thousand tanks and few hundred aircraft that try and get to Kiev.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
Totally OT, I despair at the lack of quality of football analysis from pundits.
Clinton Morrison laying into Bielsa as a man without any Plan B.... one of the foremost football thinkers in the modern game, who vast numbers of the those thought of the world best coaches have been trained by and the likes of Pep Guardiola credit as forming the basis of his whole approach, and Clinton f##king Morrison on Sky saying well he's a bit tactically crap isn't he.
Nah, that is a fair enough criticism to a TV audience. Bielsa is a tactical genius but also overly stubborn and less able to do the continual re-invention and adaptation that Guardiola does. It is a criticism of sticking to the plan, not of the plan not being sophisticated. Eventually other better funded and resourced teams will deal with even a sophisticated plan that does not change much from season to season, as Leeds are finding out.
A very good move the world needs peace...we need a good negotiated settlement fair to both sides and that recognises russias concerns
Fuck off. Your boy has just escalated to nuclear war.
We give nothing to the maniac.
I think that's hyperbole...we may not like putin but he is trying to defend russias interests....
Which reside inside the Russian borders. Illigal war aggression against a state that voluntarily disbanded its nuclear weapons, invasion and murder are protecting Russian interests in what way?
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Peter Hitchens in The Mail - that's The Daily Fail squared or something?
Does Peter Hitchens actually believe that? 🤭. Or is it he’s a hack with bills to pay, because seriously if RT published that there would be calls in parliament to shut Putin’s mouthpiece down
I think he is actually serious, enabled and supported by the fact that he gets a tribe of fools who clap at his utterances. That and lots of money.
If someone paid you 6 figures a year to spout obnoxious crap, part time, and lots of people giving you likes.... well, you'd be tempted right?
I'd never shill for fascism, not for all the tiramisu money could buy
I could only write as fair and balanced as I could about this. In this case we are talking about the biggest crime in history, so Hitchens column should reflect that if it was looking for balance. To be fair, this will be looked at after for lessons to be learnt. It has to be. But today it’s not Russia responsible with blood on it’s hands, but Putin. He has his own peoples blood on his hands too in fact. Putin and his top team, like Lavrov. And the idiot medvedev. Etc.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
Ukraine is virtually the only country ever to voluntarily give up nuclear weapons. They had nukes. They gave them up. In return for a pledge for their borders to be respected by the West and by Russia.
Stupid bloody thing to say, and totally ignorant of fairly recent history.
Only other country I can think of was South Africa following the end of Apartheid.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
The Ukrainian crisis is good news for Britain's relationship with the EU. We've shown ourselves to be a reliable security partner, and earned brownie points with many of the states for our robust response.
How funny if a second order effect of Putin's invasion was to improve UK-EU relations.
Thinking about it, Putin has probably managed to not only improve UK-EU relations, but also to ensure the reelection of Macron.
Funny old world.
And funny how we see some people as master tacticians, and actually they're just idiots like the rest of us.
As I keep banging on... Herman Kahn warned against this kind of thinking - to spend all your efforts trying to discover the brilliant master plan of your opponent.
Many of us well remember the weeks we wasted trying to speculate about what might be Mrs May’s cunning Brexit plan….
See, we can't dick about with this man. I suspect he is genuinely pissed at being stripped of his Judo title. We are playing to Marquis of Queensbury rules and he's acting like a nuclear empowered cage fighter. The EU and NATO seem to have gone all Jeremy Corbyn.
Without wishing to sound like @Leon this isn't going to end happily. The sooner we act to put down the current Russian regime the better How do we do it? I haven't a clue.
A very good move the world needs peace...we need a good negotiated settlement fair to both sides and that recognises russias concerns
Fuck off. Your boy has just escalated to nuclear war.
We give nothing to the maniac.
I think that's hyperbole...we may not like putin but he is trying to defend russias interests....
Which reside inside the Russian borders. Illigal war aggression against a state that voluntarily disbanded its nuclear weapons, invasion and murder are protecting Russian interests in what way?
I think putin saw war as a last resort...
Bollox - what else was he planning sending 100,000 soldiers to the Ukraine border including part of the border that isn’t even between the Ukraine and Russia.
Wow - Chancellor Scholz has just announced that Germany will be spending 2% plus of its GDP on defence every year from now on. That is huge news. It means that the German defence budget becomes the biggest in Europe in purely monetary terms.
If Europe is to tool up instead of relying on America it makes it all the more important imo that the EU survives and prospers rather than fractures into competing nationalistic countries all thinking they're special and trying to make themselves great.
I'm a fan of the EU for various reasons, and I think it's a net benefit, but this take is wrong.
Look at how the UK has been willing and able to help and to cooperate with other countries, inside and outside the EU, in response to the Ukraine crisis. It is possible for democratic countries to organise their mutual defence - they only have to have the will to do so, and it is that willingness that is the key thing, not whether they are part of a loose federation.
The reaction to this crisis is one thing but I'm talking about the overall situation that could emerge if America is on its way out (as guarantor of peace in Europe) and Europe itself has to step up. In that event, in which of the following would a great big dollop of new European military might be best managed -
Under a common European foreign & defence policy with a strong EU?
Or with the EU collapsing as countries go parochial and decide to "take back control"?
For me it's a no-brainer and the pitfalls and dangers of the second are obvious.
It worked fine for the entire Cold War, when everyone in Europe was spending a far higher percentage of GDP than 2% on the military.
2% would just mean that Germany would have an airforce with more than a couple of planes that actually fly.
The Cold War was with America dwarfing and leading. Different scenario if you remove that.
Off topic: Just to confirm (and I am so disappointed) I won't be at the PB do because I am still lying in a hospital bed with 2 broken legs.
So pissed off. Broke on Wednesday. X-ray shows 4 breaks. Op scheduled for next day but want CT first which didn't happen. Now scheduled for next week so was being sent home Having seen scan now won't let me leave.
Bored rigid.
What have you been up to? Nonetheless, get well soon
Nothing. In my life I have taken part in some pretty dangerous sports. In my old age l wield power tools while up ladders and use an axe on a regular basis. I have never had a serious injury. It appears that walking in a straight line is far more dangerous.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
Comments
Without wishing to sound like @Leon this isn't going to end happily. The sooner we act to put down the current Russian regime the better How do we do it? I haven't a clue.
It's only later, after many more losses are experienced, that people generally become more willing to accept a compromise.
Perhaps Zelenskyy will be more willing to concede on formal membership of NATO, when his armed forces seem to have done better than expected with training and equipment from NATO members.
NEW THREAD
Like Hitler?
You've a strongly worded letter to the International Judo Federation to write, and it seems those Ukrainians haven't surrendered yet.
I mean, we always say on PB, how do you get time to do work and post, but in this case we really do mean it. Plenty for you to do in the Kremlin.
Illigal war aggression against a state that voluntarily disbanded its nuclear weapons, invasion and murder are protecting Russian interests in what way?
The French defence establishment like your idea. Their latest wheeze for reducing the cost of the CdG replacement (PANG) is to build a second one for the EU. German/Dutch/Belgian crew with Italian/Spanish air wing.
Zelensky can’t negotiate away the international sanctions, that are about to tank the markets and cause bank runs in Moscow tomorrow morning.
Oh, and by the way, he has another few thousand NATO-spec anti-tank weapons, and a few hundred NATO-spec anti-aircraft weapons, ready for the next few thousand tanks and few hundred aircraft that try and get to Kiev.