steadypeanutcollection-blog

[bikerpoliticalreport]

Biden’s Bling-Bling Diplomacy: Ships 500 Million Dollars Worth of Metal Monsters to Ukraine!

  The Biden government confirmed its decision to deploy up to $500 million in military assistance to Ukraine this Tuesday, a move set to include over 50 heavily fortified vehicles and an impressive supply of air defense system missiles. This support follows an unexpected insurrection in Russia over the weekend. It is seen as an effort to encourage Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which, until now, has been sluggish in its initial phases.

   This marks the 41st occasion since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that the United States, under the authorization of the President, has made substantial provisions of military equipment and weaponry from its reserves for Ukraine. The expedited delivery process under this program underscores the U.S.’s unwavering commitment to its Eastern European ally.

   Though these aid packages typically follow a premeditated design and have recently comprised several essential armaments for frontline combat, it is unlikely that the choice of contents was influenced by the recent uprising led by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenary group. The question remains whether the Ukrainian forces can capitalize on the resulting chaos in the Russian ranks post this fleeting revolt.

   Nonetheless, the incoming shipment of missiles and heavy-duty vehicles could potentially be leveraged by Ukraine as it attempts to exploit the escalating rift between the head of the Wagner Group and the Russian military hierarchy. The extent to which Prigozhin’s mercenaries might withdraw from the conflict remains a topic of speculation.

   Interestingly, these mercenaries had withdrawn from Ukraine to overtake a military headquarters in a southern Russian city. They journeyed hundreds of miles towards Moscow, only to retreat after a mere 24 hours last Saturday.

   A statement from the Pentagon has detailed that the U.S. plans to dispatch 30 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and 25 armored Stryker vehicles to Ukraine. Additional military support includes missiles for the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and the Patriot air defense systems, Javelin and high-speed anti-radiation (HARM) missiles, demolition weaponry, and other artillery rounds and ammunition varieties.

   The White House principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton stated that the new package contains “key capabilities” to enhance Ukraine’s counteroffensive operations and fortify its air defenses.

   The Pentagon reported that since the Russian invasion, the U.S. had delivered over $15 billion worth of weaponry and equipment to Ukraine, with an additional $6.2 billion in unidentified supplies yet to be sent. The extra amount of over $6 billion resulted from an accounting mistake, as the military had overestimated the worth of the weaponry it shipped to Ukraine during the past year.

   Beyond this immediate support, the U.S. has also committed to providing over $16.7 billion in long-term funding for various weapons, training, and other equipment through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and nearly $2 billion more in foreign military financing.

   The U.S. still holds $1.2 billion in uncommitted drawdown authority, which will lapse at the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30. Meanwhile, the remaining $1.9 billion in USAI funds is set to expire only at the end of the next fiscal year, in September 2024.

[anastasiamaru]

❄️Holiday HIMARS delights us with its festive look❄️

[xtruss]

Reverse Engineering in Action: Russia Finds HIMARS’ Weak Spot

© Photo: Directory of US Military Rockets and Missiles

President Putin has indicated that Russia wouldn’t rule out the reverse engineering of sophisticated Western military equipment captured by Russian forces in Ukraine. Russia has already amassed quite a bit of success in this area, says retired Russian military intelligence officer Anatoliy Matviychuk.

"The enemy also produces modern equipment. And if there's an opportunity to look inside and see if there's something there that we can use, well, why not?" Putin said in an interview with Russian media on Sunday.

The United States and its allies have poured over $94.5 billion in military equipment into Ukraine over the past 18 months, draining their own armories to send everything from the latest modifications of Leopard 2 tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to HIMARS precision rocket launchers, Storm Shadow cruise missiles, Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems, and Caesar howitzers.

As the conflict progressed, Russian Army troops and Donbass People’s Militia militiamen began capturing this equipment, with reams of footage emerging online showing troops strutting around near trophy Leopards and Bradleys, or engaging in training using seized Javelin and Stinger missile systems. Earlier this month, Russian troops got their hands on an intact Storm Shadow missile, dismantling it and taking it away in a truck to a rear area for further analysis.

"Any trophy equipment we capture on the field of battle is valuable in terms of its design features, certain design solutions for some of its components," retired military intelligence officer and military analyst Anatoliy Matviychuk told Sputnik.

“Take for example the Leopard tank, which is interesting to us in terms of the components of its armor, and the fire control system of its tank gun. The Bradley IFV is also of interest, in terms of the projectiles used by its 25 mm cannon,” the retired colonel, whose military record includes service in the Soviet Group of Forces in East Germany, Afghanistan and Syria, said.

"All the equipment we capture is carefully studied by our military engineers. We compare it to our own equipment and immediately make methodological recommendations about the means to combat this equipment on the battlefield. And, in the future, it's possible that some elements can even be introduced in our own equipment," Matviychuk explained.

Successes of Reverse Engineering

Matviychuk says there’s plenty of evidence showing that Russian forces are already taking advantage of the analysis of captured NATO equipment, particularly in the field of missiles.

"The HIMARS we’ve captured were once able to evade our Pantsir air defense systems quite well. Not anymore. We have found their weak spot, found their control system’s frequencies, and our air defenses systems now destroy them superbly. As for the Storm Shadow missile we’ve captured, we also see now in reports from the Defense Ministry that nearly 90 percent of these missiles are shot out of the skies by our air defense systems," the observer said.

Anti-aircraft missile and artillery complex "Pantsir-S1" at the anti-terrorist exercises of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) "Peace Mission - 2021" at the Donguzsky training ground in the Orenburg Region. © Sputnik/Alexey Kudenko/Go to the mediabank

Russian air defense troops in the field confirmed in January that their Pantsir platforms had been outfitted with a new thermal imager and software update to dramatically increase the interception rate of HIMARS rockets.

Last week, a senior executive from Russian technology giant Rostec said the effectiveness of upgraded Pantsir missile/gun systems had reached "100 percent" effectiveness against HIMARS rockets on the battlefield in some cases.

"Any weapon is modernized and improved based on the results of its combat employment. This is a continuous process. For example, after the enemy received HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, specialists at High Precision Systems upgraded the Pantsir to intercept these rockets. Today we see examples of HIMARS strikes successfully countered by our surface-to-air missile/gun system. There are precedents when all 12 rockets launched from an American MLRS were shot down," the official said.

Now, the issue is getting enough upgraded air defense systems to the 1,000 km front line, given Ukrainian forces’ tendency to use their Western-provided equipment to attack not only Russian forces, but to deliberately target civilian areas, particularly in the Donbass.

— Ilya Tsukanov | Monday 17 July, 2023 | Sputnik International

[politicoscope]

Russian New Air Defense Easily Detects, Destroys US HIMARS

Russian New Air Defense Easily Detects, Destroys US HIMARS

Russian air defense systems will now have no problem detecting and destroying missiles fired from US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) due to new software, RIA Novosti reported on Friday, citing an unnamed Russian military commander. According to the officer, who is serving in Russia’s Zaporozhye Region, Ukrainian forces initially used Soviet-era weapons, but have now switched…

[empresa-journal]

Can Lockheed Martin (LMT) make Money from the HIMARS?

Can Lockheed Martin (LMT) make Money from the HIMARS?

Vladimir Putin is boosting American defense contractor Lockheed Martin (LMT). Observers credit Lockheed Martin’s HIMARS for winning the Ukraine War. For example, The Telegraph claims the HIMARS drove Russian forces out of the strategic city of Kherson. Retired US Lieutenant General Ben Hodges thinks HIMARS could soon drive Russian forces out of the Crimea, Ukrinform claims. So what is HIMARS…

[demiurgeua]

Всі українські M142 HIMARS успішно знищують рашистів та їхні обладунки

Всі українські M142 HIMARS успішно знищують рашистів та їхні обладунки

Міністерство оборони України оприлюднило інформацію про надані Україні ракетні системи високої мобільності M142 (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, HIMARS): «З початку повномасштабного вторгнення Україна не втратила жодного HIMARS, але росія втратила людяність і гідність. Не кажучи вже про сотні тисяч тонн боєприпасів і тисячі солдатів, яких вони відправили на неминучу смерть» HIMARS втратила…

[zvaigzdelasas]

21 Oct 23

President Joe Biden is making a new case to the American public for shipping arms, ammunition and other military supplies to the wars in Ukraine and Israel. His argument: many of those supplies are made in America — and that’s good for American jobs.[...]

That argument — which namechecked 2024 battleground states Pennsylvania and Arizona — comes as Biden makes a reelection pitch centered on his efforts to create jobs and revitalize domestic manufacturing in sectors such as clean energy and semiconductor fabrication. [...] And now that message includes arms manufacturing. The administration is pushing to ramp up the defense industrial base to pump out more artillery shells, missiles and other weapons for the U.S. and allies. The newest aid proposal, released Friday, includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine, of which $30 billion is for direct Ukrainian military aid.[...]

For Democrats who have been eager to see Biden more actively selling the war supply effort to weary voters, the made-in-America angle is a welcome sign of political vigor. They acknowledge, though, that it is not a sure-thing political wager. “To anybody that actually wants to, in good faith, make the decision, it’s certainly a really important and, I think, persuasive argument that this is about American jobs. It’s about helping actually bolster our entire defense manufacturing enterprise,” said Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.). “But I fear, and past behavior has shown, the MAGA extremists aren’t actually making this decision in good faith. They’re making it based on Russian propaganda that’s been propagated by Trump and everybody else.”[...]

While Biden’s message might resonate with some voters, it’s not getting much traction with House Republicans who oppose more aid [to Ukraine] at least not yet. Interviews with House GOP lawmakers on Friday showed that even those who feel Ukraine aid is justified aren’t buying Biden’s argument.[...]

Ukraine has been striking Russian logistics hubs using Lockheed Martin’s Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, or GMLRS, that are partially made in Lufkin, Texas — a city of 34,000 people that saw its paper mill and foundry close over the last two decades.

It’s represented by Republican Rep. Pete Sessions, a Ukraine aid supporter, who said Friday that the U.S. has an obligation to protect Ukraine under its post-Cold War security commitments. [...]

The U.S. has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers that fire GMLRS and are made in Camden, Ark., a town of about 10,000 people that’s 100 miles south of Little Rock. Republican Rep. Bruce Westerman, who represents Camden, said critics of government spending can be surprised to know some of that spending is going back to communities like his. “I actually had some constituents text me last night and say $100 billion is a lot of money to give away, and I made the point that a lot of that equipment is made in my district,” Westerman said. [...]

A bigger driver for House Republicans to back Ukraine aid may ultimately be whether they can extract border security concessions from Biden and Senate Democrats. Biden’s supplemental request includes $13.6 billion for security efforts at the U.S.-Mexico border. Republicans are also seeking border policy changes from the administration, and see a Ukraine funding request as an opportunity for leverage. “I’d be really surprised if Republicans wanted to let Russia win more than they wanted our own border secure,” Crenshaw said. “So I think that is the grand bargain that needs to happen.”

[samueldays]

Sam Reviews: Factorio Space Exploration

That's Space Exploration the factorio mod (played v0.6), not Space Age the factorio expansion coming soon. I have finally completed SE with the cooperation of two friends across 300+ hours, I don't think I would have bothered to finish on my own, but it was a fine reason to hang out and chat. I had fun, but it was very irregular fun between good bits (spaceships!!) and facepalm bits.

It's A Scale Challenge

Space Exploration is a scale challenge, and I lead with this because I find the documentation misleading. On the Getting Started SE wiki page, which is also linked from the SE mod page, it says:

Space Exploration is mostly a complexity challenge and not a scale challenge. It's completely possible to beat the game with only 20SPM, unless you play with a science multiplier. But it'll still be hard!

Similar descriptions abound. However, Space Exploration has individual technologies mandatory for victory that cost more to research than the entire tech tree of the base game up to and including the Rocket victory research.

It's even worse than that sounds.

"Cost more" can be calculated in a quick and dirty way that vanilla Factorio's Rocket Silo victory tech costs 1000 sets of science packs to research.

Its prerequisite Rocket Control Unit costs 300, and so on back down to basic Automation technology costing merely 10, all of which add up to 5750 in total.

Space Exploration has a mandatory 6400-cost tech, some 5000s, a 4000 and a 3200, several 2000-cost techs used as filler in an already overpriced and bloated tech tree, and a 8000-cost (max spaceship size) that's theoretically optional but avoiding it requires you to play Tetris with your size-constrained spaceship layout.

But the numbers are not directly comparable, and the more detailed count makes Space Exploration look even worse. "5750 sets" vanilla includes several early technologies where the set is a subset, even one single science pack, it costs 50 of [Automation Science] for basic technology and gradually fills out to the Rocket Silo costing 1000 of [Automation, Logistics, Chemical, Utility, Production Science] which is a set of 5.

Space Exploration, meanwhile:

Which is 5000 of a set that's twice as large as the largest in basegame, so more like a 10K victory tech compared to the 1K victory tech in basegame.

But that number still isn't a direct comparison, because the multi-striped science packs in there are high tier packs whose ingredients include lower tier science packs that also need to be produced. Deep Space Science 4 (the black stripes) is made with various input resources + a DSS3 pack, which is made with more input resources + a DSS2 pack, and so on. If you count the fifteen intermediate science packs, it's something like a 25K victory tech compared to the 1K in basegame.

There's numerous techs like this. If you ever play Space Exploration, I advise you to slice a zero off everything. Set the tech cost multiplier to one-tenth. It is severely padded.

Pretty Cool Spaceships

Spaceships are of course the big draw of Space Exploration, though they come pretty late in the game, and before them there's two other methods of moving stuff between planets: Cargo rockets and railguns.

The rockets are very fuel-hungry to launch and also "consume" most of their ingredient parts as stages. The delivery railguns can't move fragile objects or players, and are same-solar-system only. (They double as expensive interplanetary weapons!) Spaceships are reusable as long as you keep them refueled, and much more fuel-efficient, as well as being able to mount laser/gun turrets for defense if landing on a hostile planet. You can even put artillery in a spaceship, which my team used to create a very short-distance-hop spaceship that was more like a suborbital bomber/mobile artillery platform for clearing the hostile fauna off our home planet.

Eventually you get spaceships to transport stuff at custom speed and scale between planets, with the ability to build and design your own. Then, the ability to set spaceship automation with docking clamps and the circuit network, and can give a spaceship instructions amounting to "go to planet X and wait until your onboard storage has 40K Cryonite, go to planet Y and wait until your onboard storage has 0 Cryonite and your fuel tank is refilled". It's the Factorio experience of automating stuff you were manually handling before, but at the much larger scale of interplanetary transport.

Here is my mini-spaceship for personal transport between planets, used to go over and tinker with things, has a few chests but doesn't take bulk cargo:

The side notch is to help me align the refueling underground pipes.

The Mod Maker Is A Control Freak

In the base game you have the opportunity to research Logistics Robots, small flying drones that carry items around for you, making automated transport more convenient so you no longer have to weave together transport belts, underground belts, railroad tracks and other physically connected means of item movement in the infamous "belt spaghetti".

Space Exploration comes with a mandatory dependency on the Robot Attrition mod, which makes logistics robots randomly collide and explode destructively if you're using more than 50 of them. (There's more than 50 item types in SE, so you will want far more than 50 logistics robots.) You can't not include this other mod when playing Space Exploration. There is a game setting which looks like it disables robot attrition, but it actually only disables robot attrition in the starting zone.

"Surely there's another mod which restores robot functionality?" you might ask, since Factorio has a lot of mods. Not that I could find, possibly because Space Exploration is distributed under a "no modding my mod any further" licence, formally the Factorio Mod Limited Distribution Only Licence.

You may make alterations for your own private personal use only. You are not allowed to distribute any content from the mod, or anything altered or derived from this mod with the following exception: You may post partial modified sections of this mod in Earendel's discord https://discord.gg/ymjUVMv for the purpose of providing bug fixes or enhancements.

Binding or not, I think that's an amazingly dick move for your Cool Spaceships mod to degrade some unrelated basegame functionality and tell people they aren't allowed to post a modmod which restores that functionality.

In other control freakery, Space Exploration is flagged as incompatible with infinite resource supply/non-depleting ore patch mods for Factorio, because the SE modder feels it would ruin the intended balance of his mod. It's flagged as incompatible with teleportation mods, to force you to use rocket/spaceship transport. It's flagged as incompatible with waterfill mods to prevent you digging wells where the modder wants to enforce a logistic challenge of delivering water in barrels. It's even flagged as incompatible with some mods that change the stack size of some items, because the modder wants to ensure you are inventory-constrained and pay for logistics.

Bizarrely contrary to the spirit of modding, if you ask me, trying to enforce that the mod is played the specific way one person wants you to play it.

Padding, Filler, and Bloat

It's not just the tech tree that suffers this, it's many aspects of the mod, and I'm going to list enough of them to make this post feel ironically padded.

In regular Factorio, when you put a drill on an iron ore patch, it produces iron ore, which you put in a Furnace to smelt into iron plates.

In Space Exploration, when you put a drill on an iridite ore patch, it produces iridite ore, which you put in a Pulverizer to crush into... a random mix of crushed iridium, stone (waste byproduct), and iridite ore that you have to feed back into the pulverizer and try to crush again.

To me this is something I shouldn't have to interact with in Factorio, it should be pre-automated below my notice. If an input ore is not properly crushed in the crushing machine, the crushing machine should keep crushing it until it's crushed, rather than demanding extra player attention to its one job. Reeeee. I have no interest in my factory's machines having what is effectively a random failure chance at doing their job. There is no upgrade tech or better machine which gets rid of that random failure chance.

It might have been interesting with one processing step whose unique gimmick is a failure chance and a need to filter-loop the output back onto the input, but Space Exploration recycles this recycle gimmick over and over again to pad out different processing steps with "do it again".

-

Speaking of random failure chances...

In regular Factorio, the "science packs" are kinda high-level abstractions. You put together a pair of engines, several electronic circuits, and a handful of sulphur to create "Chemical science", which could be taken to vaguely represent a process of destructively testing or consuming something and measuring it.

In Space Exploration, the advanced sciences are data-driven, which is a cool idea. For example you put together plates of iron, copper, stone, plastic, concrete and iridite with a blank data card to create "Tensile strength data" and recycleable scrap, then you use the data card in another recipe to create "Material science" and also outputs "Junk data card" representing data you've already analyzed and can't learn more from, and then you put the junk data card into a spacecomputer to erase the contents and get back a blank data card again.

It's a neat abstract representation of science involving data collection and material testing, with a reusable computer component and am expended material component, and it's undermined by the fact that erasing junk data has a 30% failure rate. That's the chance that the Super-Engineer Protagonist, with nuclear reactors and supercooled computers, will somehow fail to turn a Junk Data Card into a Blank Data Card and will instead break the card. So the data cards are in practice still expended consumables; you'll need to produce millions of them.

-

In regular Factorio, the various grades and kinds of steel (high carbon, low carbon, stainless, etc) are abstracted into a single "Steel plate" item which has many different uses. Storage chests, trains, power poles, handgrenades, armorplating, automation robots all use the same Steel Plate as ingredient.

This design holds true across the game: items represent broad classes of a material, also machines are multipurpose and an "Assembler" machine can be set to make gears, wire, pipes, or other stuff by configuration. One Assembler turns iron plates into gears. The next Assembler combines gears and more plates into engines. The next Assembler combines engines and more gears into transport belts.

In Space Exploration, there's several machines which only have one use, and there's even items which have less than one use.

The only thing the Xray Observation Telescope does is produce Xray Observation Frame items, the only use for Xray Observation Frame is processing into Xray Observation Data, and the only use for Xray Observation Data is combining it with Microwave Observation Data, Infrared Observation Data etc. to produce Astrometric Science. That's also the sole use for those other Observation Datas. All the different wavelength telescopes, the different observation data items, and the different observation data frame items collectively serve one purpose when put together, so I count them as having a fractional use each. Someone call an editor, fucking cut these.

-

In regular Factorio, drills on a copper patch produce 1 Copper Ore per production cycle, which smelts into 1 Copper Plate.

In Space Exploration, drills on a beryl patch produce 1 Beryl Ore per production cycle, and 20 Beryl Ore smelts into 1 Beryllium plate.

(both ratios can be improved somewhat with Productivity Modules in your furnaces)

Which brings me back to the extremely overcosted science packs, because that blue-striped Astronomic Science Pack that you need 5000 of for the rocket victory? Its cost in raw materials for a set of 8 looks like this:

displaying 580 beryl plates instead of the 5800 ore needed, 725 per pack, plus some more for the data cards that don't calculate raw material correctly, adding yet another multiplier layer of bloated tech cost. I am infuriated by whoever wrote "not a scale challenge" on the Scale Challenge Mod which asks you to mine millions of ore to research a single technology.

Arcospheres

I have another post on these, so I'll keep it short: There is a type of special item necessary to win the game, which are only available in limited supply, which you can permanently lose by accident or bad luck.

The available supply is several times larger than what's needed to win, so I wasn't actually threatened by this, but I dislike it on principle.

Also, they're spoiler-enforced by the control freak modder who keeps the helpful information off the official discord, wiki, and mod page.

Verdict: Thumbs Down

I was suckered into this partly because I believed the "not a scale challenge" advertisement when my friend group was considering what to play next, and I regret it. Halfway through we felt it starting to drag, but we were having fun and community and spite so we powered through. This is a reason I have emphasised the bloat so much in my review. This mod really, really needs an editor to cut down numbers and cut out items and simplify processes so you can get to the Fun Spaceships part without so many Mine Literally Million Ore part.

[follow-up-news]

The United States is expected to announce an additional $275 million in military aid for Ukraine on Friday as Kyiv struggles to hold off advances by Russian troops in the Kharkiv region, two U.S. officials say. This will be the fourth installment of military aid for Ukraine since Congress passed a long-delayed foreign aid bill late last month and comes as the Biden administration has pledged to keep weapons flowing regularly and to get them to the front lines as quickly as possible. The package includes high mobility artillery rocket systems, or HIMARS, munitions as well 155 mm and 105 mm high-demand artillery rounds, according to the two U.S. officials. Additional items in the aid package include Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems; anti-tank mines, tactical vehicles, small arms and ammunition for those weapons, one of the officials said. Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details of the aid package before the public announcement. It follows a monthly gathering Monday of about 50 defense leaders from Europe and elsewhere who meet regularly to coordinate getting more military aid to Ukraine. At this latest meeting, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Ukraine was in a “moment of challenge” due to Russia’s new onslaught on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. He pledged to keep weapons moving “week after week.”

[robinsonprojection]

--- NESENCorp IX "Ixion" Class Long-Range Tactical Warform ---

Originally created for the Lord Protectorate of The Core's army during the failed 9th succession war, the Ixion is an artillery mech which uses oversized arms mounted on rails to fling extremely heavy javelin like rockets at the then popular heavily shielded Warforms. Traditionally these Warforms would charge en-mass towards the enemy, relying on the sheer number of projectiles to take care of the majority of the enemy.

Remaining Warforms of this class belong largely to high-class mercenary pilots, some of which are veterans of the wars fought by these Warforms surviving with expensive de-aging surgeries, or more rarely being processed into a MindCore to be placed within the Warform to allow more junior pilots to effectively use the it.

STATS ---

Power --- A+ --- Boasting some of the highest in class point damage by any known Warform, anything hit by an Ixion's javelin is going to feel it.

Range --- B --- Lacking any particular option for bombardment of fortified positions, the rule of thumb is that if you can see it on the horizon from the cockpit of the Warform, you can hit it with a Javelin.

Durability --- C --- Although it has quite a high blast resistance, its joints in particular are very open, leaving it vulnerable to stray critical hits, especially when under heavy fire.

Repair --- D- --- Notoriously difficult to repair, in particular the rail mechanism for its arms. A common tactic is to permanently scuttle one of the Warform's arms and replace it to let its parts be used to maintain the other.

Mobility --- C+ --- It's four legged stance lends it stability and greater straight-line speed, but it is hampered by vertical movement, preferring wide open battlefields.

NOTABLE VARIANTS ---

Type A "Veteran" --- The kind driven by veteran pilots, both arms are likely to work and to be supplied with Javelins.

Type B "Mercenary" --- Less likely to be repaired properly, but still in possesion of its arms, oftentimes the more problematic joints in the neck and arms will have been armored up to allow them to engage in heavy fighting.

Type C "Platform" --- Used as a weapons and supply platform rather than as a combat Warform, usually as a result of the upper segment being destroyed and replaced with a less complex driving system to use the durable, high speed lower body.

Individual "Throne" --- Belonging originally to a veteran before being captured by the West Rim Bandit Lord, this Warform was modified to act as a throne for the Lord's personal LRA III "Screech Owl" Class Light Patrol Warform, with its head angled at a 90 degree angle upwards and reinforced with incredible amounts of armor.

Individual "SilverFist" --- A dueling warform belonging to the late Heir Protectorate, attaching a modified Ixion head to a more traditional bipedal Warform. It's name derives from its propensity to strip the top layer of paint and metal off of its fist when using the Ixion's rail mechanism to fire a punch.

[mariacallous]

After months of attrition warfare, Russia is once again on the march in Ukraine, this time targeting Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, which is just a stone’s throw from the border with Russia. 

The attack, currently focused on breaching defenses north of the city, has already picked up steam as Ukrainian troops still wait for Western weapons to arrive en masse. Ukraine has evacuated 8,000 people from the Kharkiv region during the five-day assault, according to the national emergency services. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has canceled his foreign trips. And Ukrainian troops appear to be backing off the city of Vovchansk, a central front-line defensive position near Kharkiv.

Outgunned and outmanned, frustration is mounting in Kyiv. Ukrainian officials say Russia has succeeded in making tactically significant gains around Kharkiv in recent days in part because the Biden administration has forbidden Ukrainian troops from using U.S. weapons to fire on Russian positions across the border inside Russia. 

These targets are right in front of Ukrainian troops—Kharkiv is only 25 miles from the Russian border. They can geolocate them. But Ukrainian officials say they’re not being allowed by the White House to fire their guns en masse to hit them. 

“Easy target but no permission,” said Davyd Arakhamia, a close ally of Zelensky and the parliamentary leader of the Servant of the People party. The Russians “know that we have this limitation, political limitation, on [our] weapons. So they put the attack systems on Russian territory.”

If the Biden administration lifted that restriction, Arakhamia said, “this situation in Kharkiv would be nonexistent.”

“It’s like if somebody attacks Washington, D.C., from Virginia, and you’re saying that we can’t hit Virginia for some reason because you don’t want us to escalate with Virginia,” Arakhamia said.

Although U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Wednesday that Ukrainian troops can target whatever they want with U.S. weapons, Ukrainian officials insist that so far, they’ve seen no change in policy from Washington. A National Security Council spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. position not to encourage or enable Ukrainian strikes inside Russia had not changed.

“We’re not asking to shoot Moscow or something like that,” said Oleksandra Ustinova, the head of the Holos faction in Ukraine’s parliament. 

Ukrainian officials believe that the Russians aren’t trying to occupy Kharkiv as they did last time. Instead, officials say, the Kremlin is trying to destroy the city, using glide bombs that Kyiv has no ability to intercept without more air defense.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank tracking the conflict, reported on Tuesday that Russia appeared to be prioritizing creating a buffer zone on the border instead of a deeper exploitation to capture territory, although small assault groups have moved into the area. 

But the tactical advances Russia has made around areas such as Vovchansk and Buhruvatka, immediately to the northeast of Kharkiv, using tank units backing up motorized rifle battalions, have been significant enough for Zelensky to cancel his foreign travel, a sign of the seriousness of the assault. In a video message posted to Telegram on Wednesday, Zelensky also urged Western allies to expand the F-16 fighter jet coalition and speed up training and delivery to give Ukraine more air defense cover. 

The Russians have also made tactical adaptations that have put Kharkiv in increasing jeopardy. Back in the summer of 2022, the Ukrainian military had success with the U.S.-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS, and other multiple launch rockets because Russian troops were fighting in the Donbas and in southern Ukraine—rather than positioning themselves inside Russian territory—and were tactically unprepared for the attacks with Western weapons. 

Now, even though the Ukrainians have a small arsenal of longer-range Western weapons—the 200-mile-range U.S. Army Tactical Missile System, the 250-mile-range British Storm Shadow, and the equivalent French SCALP EG—the Russians have adapted. They’re keeping all of their longer-range weapons on Russian territory, which means that the Ukrainians can’t shoot back. 

There’s also the ongoing problem of a lack of firepower. Ustinova said there are 10 new battalions of Ukrainian troops ready to fight but they have no weapons. 

Ukrainian lawmakers said there aren’t enough air defense systems to shield Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines, let alone protect their cities. Four more U.S.-made Patriot air defense batteries are coming—three from Germany and one from the Netherlands—but the United States isn’t providing any more at the moment. That is creating concern among Ukrainian officials that if the Russians succeed in torching Kharkiv, then places such as Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, and Sumy, the latter near Kyiv, could be next. 

“Kharkiv is going to turn into Mariupol,” said Ustinova, referring to the midsized Ukrainian city that was leveled by Russian attacks and occupied by the Kremlin in 2022.

[dasniichts]

echoes of the past

He was going to be smelling the insides of that judgement beast for months after this. Oh well, some sacrifices had to be made since she didn’t seem willing to talk. Welt could only guess at the things this girl must have endured to fall so quickly, but time was of the essence.

They had to contain the Second here and now 

The first round of the constructed titan mechs continued firing into Sirin, the throb of sovereignty pounding in the core of his brain as Welt’s mind autoscanned and compiled, no different from a printer and a computer choosing the necessary files for what would be needed. 

Several M142 high mobility artillery rocket systems, armed with high impact grade missiles. 

Titan class mechs along with Dr. Tesla’s newest MR-01Cs prepared with the porotype shield to contain the impact from whatever the Second had up her sleeve. 

Fleet of Northrop B-2 Spirit and Tupolev Tu-160 bombers, nuclear-capable and ready. 

Various models of heavy cruisers armed with anti-air cannons. 

Each built itself out of nothing, the perfect mimicry from pure honkai, the clear blueprints and machinations ramming straight through his skull. Welt could feel the drain hampering his focus, blood beginning to pool from his nose and mouth, but it had to be done. Sirin was already too far to negotiate peacefully with. 

“I am Welt of Humanity!” 

The missiles on the rocket systems all locked into place at once, the fire and ash stinging in his nose. 

“And I stand against you, dark queen, as a warrior guardian of the human race! Law and reason, not the chaos of the void, shall prevail today!” 

He held a hand up, the newest Titan constructs already firing. The hand dropped, and the missiles launched. 

The second honkai war had finally begun. 

[usafphantom2]

Ukrainian pilots start training in F-16 based in Arizona

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 10/27/2023 - 13:00 in Military

Ukrainian pilots began training of the F-16 in Arizona with the Arizona National Air Guard, leaving Kiev one step closer to acquiring the U.S.-made fighters that Ukraine says it needs to help defend its sovereign territory and its citizens from Russian troops.

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink announced the training in the X, saying: “This is an essential part of the construction of Ukraine's air defense. The United States is proud to work with European partners to support Ukraine against Russia's brutal aggression."

A National Guard spokesman said on Thursday that the 162ª Wing of the Arizona National Air Guard in Tucson began training a small number of Ukrainian pilots this week “in the fundamentals of the F-16”, with the training expected to last several months. Normally, F-16 training courses last about eight months, according to the Pentagon.

Training at Morris National Guard Air Base follows English training at Lackland Air Base in Texas last month. Proficiency in English is required to fly F-16 fighters.

During a press conference in Brussels earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that F-16 fighters could reach Ukraine by the middle of next year.

The deputy chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, General David Allvin, said that the F-16 aircraft will be important for Ukraine in the long term, as the Ukrainian Air Force will be able to fully integrate the new fighters into its armed forces.

The news came at a time when the United States announced that it would provide up to $150 million in additional military aid to Ukraine.

The package includes more GMLRS rockets for high-mobility artillery rocket systems, ammunition for the National Advanced Surface-Air Missile System, TOW anti-tank missiles, AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles and 155 mm cartridges.

The availability of 155 mm cartridges has raised concerns in recent days, as U.S. partners, Ukraine and Israel need them to fight their wars - one against the invasion of Russia, the other against the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which killed hundreds of Israelis and kidnapped more than 200 others in an attack on October 7.

Washington said it is able to support the military needs of Tel Aviv and Kiev.

Tags: ANG - Air National Guard / U.S. National Air GuardMilitary AviationF-16 Fighting FalconUkrainian Air Force

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has work published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[xtruss]

Seven Times “Demented Biden” Lied on Ukraine

© Sputnik/Stringer/Go to the Mediabank

The US announced last week that it would expedite the delivery of 155mm howitzer-launched cluster munitions to Ukraine, despite earlier characterizing the use of such weapons as a “war crime,” and promising to remove them from US inventories. What other Ukraine-related promises has the Biden administration broken? Here’s a partial list.

The fallout from the Biden administration’s approval on the transfer of M864 Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) cluster bombs to Ukraine continues to spread, with US allies, dozens of human rights and anti-war groups, and the United Nations condemning the decision, and Moscow warning that it will result in a further escalation of the conflict.

Cluster Bombs

The US military had previously pledged to eliminate its M864 stocks, and stopped using them in 2016, citing their high dud rate (which can reach up to 20 percent). These particular weapons are reportedly over 20 years old, thus further decreasing their immediate viability as a weapon, but increasing their deadliness to civilians and the surrounding environment over the long term.

In February 2022, then-Biden press secretary Jen Psaki characterized the possible use of cluster munitions in Ukraine by Russia as “potentially…a war crime.” Apparently when the shoe is on the other foot, that’s no longer the case.

Long-Range Missiles

In May 2022, Biden assured that the US was “not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that can strike into Russia.” Less than a month later, the US announced that it would send M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, to Kiev. These weapons have a range of between 80 and 110 km. A year after that, Washington’s UK allies announced that they would send long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which have a range of more than 250 km. Now, discussions are underway in Washington on the possible delivery to Kiev of a variant of a HIMARS known as the ATACMS, which has a range of over 305 km.

Kiev has already demonstrated its readiness to use its HIMARS and Storm Shadows against civilians in the Donbass and infrastructure in Crimea, as well as Belgorod region and Donetsk's border with Rostov region, which everyone in the West (apart from former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, perhaps) definitely recognize as Russian territory.

Tanks and Planes and American Crews

When the Ukrainian crisis first began, President Biden expressed caution about the types of military equipment that the US would be willing to deploy, and who would operate it.

“We are showing our strength and we will never falter. But look, the idea that we’re gonna send offensive equipment, and have tanks and planes and trains going in with American pilots and American crews – just understand, don’t kid yourself, no matter what you all say, that’s called World War III. Okay? Let’s get it straight here,” Biden in March 2022.

But less than a year later, in January 2023, Biden announced that the US would be sending 31 Abrams tanks to Kiev, with the announcement serving as a palliative to ease the transfer of hundreds of German-made Leopard and Leopard 2 MBTs. In May 2023, the US greenlit the training of Ukrainian fighter pilots to fly F-16s, even though just a few months earlier Biden promised that Washington would not be sending F-16s to Ukraine.

As far as “American pilots and American crews” are concerned, the recently leaked Pentagon assessment on the status of the Ukrainian conflict revealed that NATO countries already have dozens of special forces boots on the ground, including at least 14 American troops. On top of that, thousands of foreign mercenaries, including combat veterans of US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, have flowed steadily into Ukraine over the past 16 months. The Russian military announced Monday that it had information that Kiev is working with CIA-controlled private military companies to expand the recruitment of volunteers from the US and Canada to use as “cannon fodder” in Ukraine. If these aren’t the “American crews” that Biden was talking about, what are they?

Defending ‘Democracy’

On the campaign trail in 2019, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden pledged that “as president,” he would “ensure that democracy is once again the watchword of US foreign policy, not to launch some moral crusade, but because it’s in our enlightened self-interest.”

Has he kept his word on that foreign policy pledge in Ukraine? Well, to date the Zelensky administration has imposed martial law, canceled presidential elections scheduled for 2024, imprisoned political opponents, banned opposition parties, and gone after the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Must be a special US ‘export’ brand of democracy.

‘Transparency’ on Ukraine

“If the president were standing here with me today, he would say he works for the American people…But his objective and his commitment is to bring transparency and truth back to government – to share the truth, even when it’s hard to hear,” Jen Psaki said at a press conference in the White House in January 2021.

An often forgotten facet of the Ukrainian crisis is Biden’s intimate involvement in shaping US policy on the country going all the way back to his tenure as Barack Obama’s vice president and the 2014 coup in Kiev. At a Council on Foreign Relations event in 2018, Biden bragged about his personal intervention in Ukraine’s domestic politics to get Viktor Shokhin, a prosecutor investigating a Ukrainian energy company called Burisma on money laundering charges, fired. Biden jovially recalled how he told Ukrainian officials that the US would withhold a $1 billion loan agreement to Ukraine until the prosecutor was let go. Kiev folded, and the prosecutor was gone.

Later, it emerged that Biden’s son Hunter was sitting on the board of the energy company. Later still, President Trump got impeached for nudging Kiev to reopen the investigation into Burisma. And just last month, it was revealed by investigators in Congress that President Biden and his son allegedly received up to $10 million in bribes from Burisma’s owner to court favor with the powerful politician.

Has Biden met his administration’s pledge to be transparent on Ukraine-related issues? Judging by his string of denials, and most US media’s blackout silence on the matter, the answer doesn't seem encouraging.

Dangerous Lies

As the NATO-Russia proxy war marks its 500+ day anniversary, it’s anyone’s guess what the future holds. Washington’s European allies, pouring in nearly $100 billion in weapons and as much or more in economic and humanitarian assistance to Kiev, are growing increasingly weary of continuing to support a conflict that has thrust their economies into a recession and threatens to leave them deindustrialized husks.

Perhaps in time Biden, his administration, and the Washington political machine will come to the same realization in Ukraine that it did in Afghanistan in 2021, and pull out of the country, leading to the swift collapse of its puppet government.

Or, on the contrary, perhaps the pendulum will swing in the opposite direction, and NATO will entangle itself more deeply in the conflict (as Kiev and some alliance members are seeking), and potentially thrust the world into a global conflagration that could easily go nuclear.

Biden has promised repeatedly that the US “will not fight a war with Russia in Ukraine,” saying he recognizes that “direct conflict between NATO and Russia” would be “World War III.” But his track record on other promises and commitments made to date relating to Ukraine leaves much to be desired.

— Ilya Tsukanove, Monday July 10th, 2023

[ukrainenews]

Daily Wrap Up May 2-3, 2023

Under the cut:

The death toll of the Russian May 3 mass shelling across Kherson Oblast and the regional capital reached 17 people as of 6:30 p.m. local time, according to Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets. According to Lubinets, 26 people were injured. However, the head of the Kherson City Military Administration, Roman Mrochko, reported that 45 people were injured, including two children.

Ukraine and the EU have reached an agreement to continue their “economic visa-free” deal for another 12 months. The initial deal was struck last year after the outbreak of war. It means that Ukrainian businesses will be able to continue to sell goods to the EU without any quotas, export duties or tariffs.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new $300 million security assistance package for Ukraine Wednesday.

A fuel storage facility in Russia's southwestern Krasnodar region, located near the Crimean Bridge, was on fire early on May 3, the regional governor reported on Telegram.

It is “too early” to say whether Russia’s claims of a Ukrainian attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin amount to a “false flag” operation, the White House said Wednesday, adding that it would not speculate about the veracity of Moscow’s claims.

The death toll of the Russian May 3 mass shelling across Kherson Oblast and the regional capital reached 17 people as of 6:30 p.m. local time, according to Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.

According to Lubinets, 26 people were injured.

However, the head of the Kherson City Military Administration, Roman Mrochko, reported that 45 people were injured, including two children.

Around 6 p.m. local time, Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported the shelling was ongoing.

Earlier in the day, the Prosecutor General's Office said Russian troops shelled some civilian infrastructure in Kherson, killing 12 people there.

Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Ministry reported that Russian forces shelled a supermarket in the regional capital at around 11 a.m. According to the ministry, the victims include both supermarket employees and customers.

The city of Kherson and surrounding settlements have been under consistent Russian artillery fire since they were liberated in November, with Russian forces retreating to the east bank of the Dnipro River.

Kherson authorities are preparing to evacuate residents if the region comes under even more intense shelling.

-via Kyiv Independent (warning for graphic images at the link)

~

Ukraine and the EU have reached an agreement to continue their “economic visa-free” deal for another 12 months.

The initial deal was struck last year after the outbreak of war. It means that Ukrainian businesses will be able to continue to sell goods to the EU without any quotas, export duties or tariffs.

Access for agricultural goods has also been agreed, according to Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, on Telegram.

It comes as the EU agreed to speed up its ammunition delivery to Ukraine on Wednesday (see 12.13pm). In March foreign ministers agreed to supply Ukraine with €2bn of shells.

-via The Guardian

~

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new $300 million security assistance package for Ukraine Wednesday.

“This latest package will help Ukraine continue to bravely defend itself in the face of Russia’s brutal, unprovoked, and unjustified war. Russia could end its war today. Until Russia does, the United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine, for as long as it takes,” Blinken said.

The top US diplomat said it is the 37th drawdown of US arms and equipment for Ukraine.

Here's what is included in the package and its capabilities, according to a statement released by the US Department of Defense:

Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) 155mm Howitzers 155mm artillery rounds 120mm, 81mm, and 60mm mortar rounds Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles AT-4 and Carl Gustaf anti-armor weapon systems Hydra-70 aircraft rockets Small arms and small arms ammunition Demolition munitions for obstacle clearing Trucks and trailers to transport heavy equipment Testing and diagnostic equipment to support vehicle maintenance and repair Spare parts and other field equipment Earlier Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the package comes after "extensive work by the US government over the past few months to fulfill Ukraine's requests ahead of its planned counteroffensive and ensure they have the weapons and equipment they need."

The White House said it will continue to work with allies to support Ukraine.

Previewing this aid package earlier this week, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby suggested the new package would be "very much focused on ammunition and clearing capabilities" to give Ukraine "what they need to break through Russian defenses."

"They will be ready," Kirby said.

-via CNN

~

A fuel storage facility in Russia's southwestern Krasnodar region, located near the Crimean Bridge, was on fire early on May 3, the regional governor reported on Telegram.

Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Krasnodar, said the fire broke out in the village of Volna in the Temryuk district, located across the Azov Sea from Ukraine.

The Crimean Bridge, also referred to as the Kerch Strait Bridge, links Russia's mainland with the Crimean peninsula, annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014.

Videos and photos appeared on social media showing large oil tanks on fire. Kondratyev said that the "fire has been classified as the highest rank of difficulty."

"Every effort is being made to prevent the fire from spreading further," Kondratyev also wrote. "There is no threat to residents of the village."

A large fire also occurred at an oil depot at the Kozacha Bay in Russian-occupied Sevastopol, located in Russian-occupied Crimea, on April 29. The head of the illegal Russian occupation government in Sevastopol said the fire was caused by a Ukrainian a drone attack.

Ukrainian Armed Forces' Southern Command spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk said the large fire was part of Ukraine’s “preparations” for its anticipated counteroffensive. “This work is a preparation for the broad, full-scale offensive that everyone expects," Humeniuk said, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

-via Kyiv Independent

~ It is “too early” to say whether Russia’s claims of a Ukrainian attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin amount to a “false flag” operation, the White House said Wednesday, adding that it would not speculate about the veracity of Moscow’s claims.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said the US was not taking any steps that would help Kyiv from striking inside Russia.

“Since the beginning of this conflict, the United States is certainly not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders,” she said. "We've been very clear from here about that." She added, “I don't want to get into speculation from here about the authenticity of this report."

Earlier, US officials said it had no advance warning of the drone attack in Moscow. American agencies were urgently working to assess Russia’s claims.

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky denied earlier that his country had staged an attack on Putin.

Asked about the prospect of a Russian “false flag” operation, which the US has warned of previously, Jean-Pierre said it wasn’t prudent to speculate.

“It is really too early to tell, as you asked me, about a false flag,” she said. “But obviously Russia has a history of doing things like this.”

-via CNN