Russia Threatens to Destroy U.S. GPS Satellite Constellation
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Well, this was a rather frightening thing to wake up to this morning. GPS World reports:
The Kremlin warned it could blow up 32 GPS satellites with its new anti-satellite technology, ASAT, which it tested Nov. 15 on a retired Soviet Tselina-D satellite, according to numerous news reports.
On the state-run Channel One, host Dmitry Kiselyov warned that Russia’s anti-satellite missiles would leave the United States and NATO blind if the multi-national defense alliance “crosses our red line.”
GPS is also used for civilian navigation, including to guide airline traffic and cell phone apps that provide routes to destinations. The destruction of the constellation would cause create chaos in the West and result in enormous economic damage.
The red line likely involves a possible Russian military invasion of Ukraine. Russia invaded its neighbor in 2014, annexing Crimea and occupying the Donbas region. Russia has initiated a major military build up of about 100,000 troops along the Ukrainian border, sparking fears of an invasion to seize more territory or even the entire nation.
The United States, NATO and other Western nations have warned Russia against invading Ukraine. An invasion could bring the United States and Russia into direct military conflict.
Ukraine was part of the Russian-dominated Soviet Union until it declared independence in 1991. Ukraine has long sought membership in the U.S.-led NATO alliance, which has been strenuously opposed by Russia.
In the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, the government warned that it was under threat of being overthrown. Yahoo News reports:
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a startling announcement that he had “received information that a coup d’état will take place in our country.” According to Zelensky, it would happen as soon as Wednesday or Thursday of this week.
Zelensky stopped short of accusing the Kremlin of hatching a plot to overthrow his government, but added that taped conversations suggest the possible involvement of Rinat Akhmetov, a Moscow-linked oligarch in Ukraine who controls much of the country’s media and coal resources. Ahkmetov has furiously denied any role in the planning of the alleged coup, but some Ukrainians, including investigative journalist and former parliamentarian Serhiy Leshchenko, believe that he is actively working with the Russian president to weaken Ukraine.
“This is the first time that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is connected with an internal political battle, when pro-Russian oligarchs, including Rinat Akhmetov, are trying to destabilize politics from within — to make Ukraine weaker on the eve of a possible Russian attack,” Leshchenko told Yahoo News.
Meanwhile, Russia’s ally Belarus has sent thousands of migrants to its border with Poland, where they have been involved in a tense standoff with Polish border guards and security personnel. The refugees are seeking asylum in the European Union, of which Poland is a member.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Balarus President Alexander Lukashenko of manufacturing a crisis to aid Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Spoke yesterday with Polish Foreign Minister Rau to reaffirm our solidarity in the face of Lukashenka’s hybrid campaign on the Poland-Belarus border, which seeks to threaten security, sow division, and distract from Russia’s activities on the border with Ukraine.
Poland is a member of NATO, which could be called upon to defend Ukraine in the event of a Russian invasion.
Russia’s Nov. 15 ASAT flight was widely condemned by Western nations because it created more than 1,700 pieces of orbital debris. The debris sent the seven occupants of the International Space Station (ISS) scurrying for the safety of their Crew Dragon and Soyuz spacecraft in case debris punctured the facility.
NASA also postponed a planned spacewalk this week due to concern over debris. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the debris was related to the ASAT test.
Western experts were puzzled by why Russia would have put its own cosmonauts involved in a high-profile international venture at risk. They also questioned whether the ASAT flight was a test of a weapons system or a warning to other nations. The threat to the GPS system suggests it might have been the latter.
56 responses to “Russia Threatens to Destroy U.S. GPS Satellite Constellation”
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A good wakeup call about the dangers from all the bad actors out there. Hope you keep cash on hand for bill paying and have some stamps for mailing letters, along with your old Rand McNally.
Looks like it’s time to switch to Starlink as a backup to the GPS system. And so much for space being a “war” free zone.
https://qz.com/1106064/the-…
The entire global financial system depends on GPS, and it’s shockingly vulnerable to attack
By Tim Fernholz
to much vodka
what a joke.
1. technically destroying the XX and there are more then 32 satellites of the GPS constellation would be far far more difficult with a lot more warning then the excersize that they did
2. the US would clearly consider such an action, an act of war and would start quickly negating every launch site the Russians have
3. we could do this conventionally in under a few hours
4. this is just more Russian “talk” to much Vodka
Has anyone see any mobilizations going on other than Russia’s buildup? I’ve been looking for aircraft scattering, reserves callups, and conscription announcements. There’s a lot we’re not seeing that’s driving this. I’m not so sure this is all what it seems. Ukraine is under-reacting. I don’t even see the Right Sector getting ready to reenact the UPA should Ukraine fall to Russia.
privately and personally I dont see anything. the Russians are doing their usual thing with the Ukraine. they would probably have their hands full if they decided to “expand their holdings” there. we certainly are not acting worried. we have a Burke class tin can (in fact it is the A. Burke) in the black sea. thats normal for us…
That whole “push the migrants into NATO” game, came across as a half baked plan to make money selling overpriced trips to Belarus. Note how fast they gave up trying to push people across the border. I think that was all about a few members of the upper echelons making a fast buck at the expense of the poor rubes who were sold fast trips to NATO as ‘refugees’. I think something like that is going on here. Most likely an argument over payment of gas for the winter. As standby for a coupe de tat, yes, I’m ready to believe that. However, you are correct, at a minimum the Russians would have to deal with the hot heads in the Right Sector. Those guys are for real. But here we are, and the Ukrainian population does not even seem to be hoarding groceries, or evacuating the areas with the Russian troop concentrations. Very strange.
if we are not careful Putin has given us a glimpse into a future which is quite dim. Russia is a major power only because they have a substantial arsenal of nuclear weapons but a declining economic base and almost no real economy…and that means you are a SINO Superpower in name only
if they wanted to go into Afland or sorry Ukraine, they dont have the logistics for more then a few weeks of heavy combat…and they will likely face that. plus it was destroy their relationships with Europe and all but assure that their economy collapses
this last test was what great powers do when they are no longer great…its simply that PUtin cannot make the economy work and long ago gave up trying.
I think he’s trying to reestablish the Russian Empire before he gets too old to enjoy it, or maybe become czar Putin 1st. Your vision of post Pax Americana could very well be coming true. Things are headed that way. A most excellent exercise in what some would call sci-fi but I would call excellent poli-fi was season 1 of a Norwegian-French series from 2016 called “Occupied”/”Okkupert”. Some excellent foreshadowing of European politics after the Yankees go home.
did not see that I will have to go looking for it. I dont see the Russians being a real player until they come together with some form of government that works nd can make the entire country produce… we are having that problem as well.
so is MUsk 🙂
I think the US business sector is becoming more like Russian leadership every year. Like the Russians they are becoming more and more extractive with their business practice. Like the Russians they’re no interested in forming a manufacturing enterprise, maintaining it, owning it, and only taking a small percentage off the profit for themselves. They want the get rich quick solution, and then get out of the business all together. Russian news appeals to American right wingers these days and you’ll notice that a lot of them follow RT and agree with it. If Trump continues to lead the GOP for much longer, it will become a pro Russia, and anti NATO anti EU party. Think of all the GOP Congerssmen of the 80’s who would publicly make all kinds of statements in all kinds of media about these sort of events. All these weeks this has been brewing it’s been crickets from the GOP.
I think that the GOP is going fascist and thats why those regimes are becoming more and more “happy” to the GOP. we are in a real mess in this country in that we are seeing the “end” of a failed ideology and the folks who embrace it are watching their world collapse…so in fact become more and more aggressive at maintaining it
you can see business that are determined to follow the old ways and ones that are starting to figure out how to innovate their way into the future
as for Putin. he is a competent Trump. the problem is that he really doesnt care or is motivated to try and fix the russian economy. he is just busy making sure that the major players have their worlds intact so he can stage “one of” events like that ASAT shot and imagine he is well in charge of a major power. its a trump world that works sort of
I know folks like to throw around terms like fascist without realizing they have specific economic meanings, fascism being a form of socialism orientated towards nationalism. Its foundation, and remember it was invented in Italy, not Germany, was focusing on large public works programs (infrastructure, hospitals, schools, replanting forests…) funded through huge deficit spending with taxes on savings/investments to pay for them to “redistribute wealth” for the benefit of the nation. Fascists especially hated capitalists and denounced industrialists as “vampires” and “profiteers”.
I have seen none of those type of statements from the GOP, other than seeking “fair trade” by putting tariffs on goods from countries like China that have high tariffs on goods from the United States.
Nationalists might be a good term to refer to the GOP, but not the socialist part. Technically I would label the GOP as National Capitalists, not Socialists. The problem is that in the public mind fascism is often associated with the racial polices of Germany which were quite independent of it and were a basic part of Germany culture that existed long before and were not part of fascism in Italy or Spain. Regular pogroms were long a part of Germanic history. I believe the misuse of terms with a high emotional value only serve to further divide this nation.
I agree with all your comments except I do see the large infrastructure projects thing in the GOP.
The GOP or Trumps GOP infatuation with the wall, going to the Moon, large militaries would have, given a second term and a larger GOP base in the Congress that is far more red would have morphed into other infrastructure projects as well, (probably) aas the funding requjired to complete those things (the wall, the Moon thing etc)
an aspect of that is large spending on corporations. its not the same fascisim as the short guy with the Mustache (I have to be careful, I was beached for a week on facebook when I referred to Adolph the big H)…but it is a uniquely modern one.
its trump and his fools using government to do the things which project MAGA…or at least they think it does
put it in space terms. had Trump got a second term aand Jimbo stayed on AS NASA. when Jimbo came to tell trump “No moon in the second term” Trump would have either gotten him the money somehow or found someone who would do it on the money that was there
its useless infrastructure but that is what fascist mostly do
Building highways and fixing the potholes are always popular, it’s what kept Mayor Daley in office.
As for the border wall, the first sections were built under the Clinton Administration in California and building continued under the Bush and Obama Administrations without any big protests. Then President Trump made it a campaign issue to speed up the work to finish it and all of a sudden it became “bad”…
Of course no one is willing to do what is actually needed and completely rewrite the immigration laws so America could really rob the rest of the world of its talent by making it easy for those interested in a better life to immigrate here without restriction as was the case before World War I.
Tom. there was no serious border wall ever built or even contemplated until Trump came along.
the entire thing with trump was to create a crisis where there was not one…people here in Texas have dealt with illegals for years and its more or less self regulating in terms of the economy. and work
the “wall” wasw part of boasting, slamming minorities and doing stupid things…that the trump base loves
NO PRESIDENT before trump was going to build a wall from the Gulf to the Pacific. trump wasnt going to either, he just liked talking about it
https://www.10news.com/news…
Border fence build-up has long history in San Diego
CBP, DHS programs have enhanced border for decades
By: Jared Aarons
Posted at 9:27 AM, Jan 09, 2019 and last updated 6:53 PM, Jan 09, 2019
“In 1993, then-President Bill Clinton signed Operation Gatekeeper into law. It was one of three operations to add infrastructure and technology to the border to help curb illegal immigration. Gatekeeper led to the start of the fence that’s in place now.
CBP says it led to a 75% drop in illegal immigration arrests over the next few years.”
“The next wave of border security started in 2006 when President George W. Bush signed the Secure Fences Act. It called for nearly 700 miles of physical fencing along the southern border.”
All I know is that it would be nice to drive between Uvalde and Eagle Pass with dozens of State Troopers and Border Patrol being everywhere…
https://www.texastribune.or…
Texas uses shipping containers to create “steel wall” next to international bridge at Eagle Pass
Gov. Greg Abbott says the wall of roughly 20 shipping containers will help prevent migrants from crossing the border.
by Uriel J. García Nov. 18, 20213 PM Central
But we have drifted too far from space…
those are really no border fences…they are containment areas…
Yes, until it is finished from the Gulf to Pacific the existing fences only deflect the flow elsewhere.
https://www.cbp.gov/border-…
and it will never be finished. we are not that kind of country. we are not an east germany want to be.
I am much happier with infrastructure…
No, we really need to finish that fence. Not so much to stop illegal aliens, but more to stop illegal drugs.
not really worth it. just legalize drugs
I agree, and do the same basically for Immigration by streamlining the process. I remember when it was very easy to pop over to Mexico for lunch with no lines. Now its chaos and a mad house at the open crossings. And dangerous anywhere there is a gap in the border fence.
this has only happened as the right wing of the GOP has year after year demonized immigrants and more or less gone to whites only (the position of Pat B.) its race baiting
100% agree. BUT, until we do, we need the fence.
In addition, for what Biden and the goon squad is doing with illegal aliens, we do need the fence.
I dont really care about illegal immigration. its a non issue with me. anyone who can get here…come
Considering that Mussolini and H were far right, no to your first paragraph.
And the definition of fascism has always been far right UNTIL recent time when you far right extremists keep trying to apply it to the far left.
Here is Britannica discussing Mussolini’s National Fascist Party.
They attacked socialist and communist. Both Mussolini and H hated socialism/Communist, but put aspects in to keep ppl happy.
Trump, his admin and his follower are the epitome of fascism.
And this was defined back in the 1990s:
It’s interesting you think that someone who you disagreed is automatically a far right extremist. So much for having an intellectual discussion if you are going to focus on personalities rather than information.
The problem is that as a result of World War II the public simply associated the image of German storm troopers with Fascism, using it as a term to label their opponents without having any idea of the core ideology it represents. But than few have taken a course in Comparative Economics. In today’s world both Russia and China actually follow an economic system far more in line with Mussolini’s Italy than anything else. He would recognize them as fellow Fascist nations.
Both nations also emphasis a strong central government as well. Belief in a strong central government is the Right Wing aspect of Fascism dating to the French Revolution since those who believed the Monarchy should have absolute power sat on the right of the assembly. those with that belief approve the banning/marginalization of opposing political parties as in China and Russia. The Left Wing in the Revolution believed in the Monarch having only limited power and the need for two or more opposing political parties as is found in Democratic nations.
Attacks by the Fascists on international socialists were because they were international, hence the name National Socialist for the party that ruled Germany during the war (i.e, The National Socialist German Workers’ Party – Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei. Communism were also seen as an international movement and opposed for the same reason.
Paxton’s work only focused on Germany and Italy, ignoring other Fascist nations that didn’t fit his Five Stage Model, Spain, Portugal and Finland being prime examples. But then given that Spain and Portugal remained Fascist nations into the 1970’s, and important American allies with sites for based, its understandable he ignored them as examples of Facism He also completely ignored and never discussed the economic aspects of it, nothing surprising as it appears he had no background in economics. Sadly, his model based mostly on German politics blinds us to seeing Russia and China as they are, making it harder to deal with them.
Interesting enough, he considered that President Trump a plutocrat, not a Fascist…
https://harpers.org/archive…
American Duce Is Donald Trump a fascist or a plutocrat?
by Robert O. Paxton
“Are we therefore looking at a fascist? Not really. Unchecked executive power indicates generic dictatorship rather than fascism in particular. And affixing the label to Trump actually confuses matters, obscuring his economic and social libertarianism. We might as well call the Trump regime by the appropriate name: plutocracy.”
Tom, you have been here for over 10 years. U have defended trump on NUMEROUS things, over and over.
Just as I know that Robert voted for Biden, I KNOW that you voted for Trump ( certainly the first, and likely the second).
More importantly, the only ones that ever claim that Fascism is NOT far right, are those that are far right. Academia defines Fascism as being far right.
What is amazing to me is that over and over, you make claims that are totally false. For example, your claim that Hitler was socialist is always based on the NAZI name. Well, if that is your proof, then you should be happy with Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as being a Republic.
Then we have the People’s Republic of China, which also means that China is a Republic.
Yeah, no.
China’s economy and politics is nothing like Italy, Hitler, Spain, or Portugal were.
To make that claim is to totally ignore history and facts.
To date, all fascist ‘president’s ( generally dictators) have attacked over and over communist and socialist. Not just ‘international’, but national, etc. Fascists is basically capitalist without the freedom to be truly competitive (the same situation that America is slipping into ).
As to trump, that was in 2017, which Paxton’s definition was accurate at that time. In 2016, he was not president. When paxton wrote that article, trump had been in office for 2-3 months (he assuredly wrote it in march/april). By midterm, trump showed his real side and it was very much fascists. The fact that he wanted the GOP party to overthrow an honest election speaks volumes.
BTW, you continue to claim that BOTH russia/China are fascists.
As I have said, China is not.
However, there is little doubt that Russia IS fascists.
And while Putin DID start off as a communists, it is obvious that he is a mix with mostly right wing.
He is a nationalist, opposes communist/socialist, etdc.
He has taken various businesses from individuals and put them under government control (i.e. his), but those were individuals trying to take him on.
For all intents and purposes, he is a far right wing totalitarian fascists, which is exactly what trump was trying to turn America into
——- edit—
BTW, it is interesting that you pickuped on harper’s article. You obviously googled it, and choose that one.
BUT, I find it interesting, that you also choose to ignore the first one that almost assuredly came up in your search:
Sad.
News flash, I have never voted for President Trump. But I look at the evidence and prefer to think for myself rather that just parroting the party line.
It is very interesting how the media took a 180 degree turn once he decided to run against Hillary Clinton, even though the two families were close before then. Overnight the Media went from praising him for supporting same sex marriage, opposing the defense of marriage act, and giving benefits to same sex couples long before that became law and then claiming now he is against LGBTQ rights. Same with praising his creating opportunities for minorities before he ran for office and then claiming he is racist by taking statements out of context. And folks buy it hook, line and sinker to go along with the crowd. Yes, I choose the article by Dr. Paxton that was well reasoned and thought out over his just jumping on the bandwagon after the January 6 2021 attack.
Incidentally, you see the same thing with the media on vaccination even though President Trump was one of the first to get it and constantly urges those at his rallies to get vaccinated. BTW I am fully vaccinated and will be getting my booster next week when supplies of it finally reach rural Texas, having gotten my flu vaccination already.
Dr. Paxton was one of those who looked at the storm troopers and redefined Fascism in the 1990’s based on WWII German politics, failing to separate the Nordic Superiority aspect from the Fascist elements. He apparently became interested in Fascism as a result of his work on Vichy France and so used Germany as the model for it. If you go to the library and look up books on comparative politics, or comparative economics prior to the 1990’s you will see a very different definition of it.
And Yes, China fits the classic definition, nationalist economic policies marked by large public works projects, far right leadership that believes in the power of the central government, the banning of opposition political parties, a president for life, individual rights limited for the good of the nation, slave labor based on race/religion, and private ownership of assets allowed as long as the owners serve the state, the latter completely inconsistent with their claimed label of Communism. Mussolini would be proud of them.
https://www.theatlantic.com…
Americans Are Losing Sight of What Fascism Means
By Shadi Hamid
October 25, 2020
You do know that one of the reasons that Russia is unhappy is because President Trump started moving U.S. forces out of Germany into Poland so they would be closer to Russia. Russia is probably hoping to cut a deal with President Biden to reduce the presence of U.S. troops in Poland and the Baltic states in return for staying out of the Ukraine.
https://www.bbc.com/news/wo…
Russia Ukraine: Lavrov warns of return to military confrontation nightmare
December 2, 2021
“The alliance’s military infrastructure is being irresponsibly brought
closer to Russia’s borders in Romania and Poland, deploying an
anti-missile defence system that can be used as a strike complex,” he
said.
https://www.defensenews.com…
US, Polish presidents sign pact to boost American military presence in Poland
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
WARSAW, Poland — U.S. President Donald Trump and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda inked a joint declaration on advancing defense cooperation Sept. 23 in New York, paving the way for an increased U.S. military presence in Poland.
Tom do you really think that Putin wants US troops out of Poland?
if you do…you are wrong
if the Russians had any real desire to engage in serious conflict in anywhere in Europe, but the two places that they probably would like to in particular (the Baltics and Ukraine) they would want US troops to be in Poland instead of Germany
In Poland they are trapped, with next to no ability to resupply in the way we resupply which is lumbering commercial and C17 planes, and ships.
they would be cut off from almost anything quickly and nuetralized
Moving them to Poland was the dumbest move any President has made since the end of WW2.
they need to either be in Germany or home…and home is not a good place for them in terms of European politics. we are viewed in Europe as the winners of the peace of WW2 and the keepers of it
So U.S. planes won’t be able to land in Poland like they do in Germany?
not if the Russians either decide to invade or use their AF to attaack them. Germany is much much safer and has the logistics for all of this. Poland is not defendable. Soviet AF planes have an easier time operating there then in Germany look at the map. US forces there will be decimated
Soviet? Also you forget that unlike Germany, Poland is building up their military, not decreasing it… And by your reasoning it would be safer still to keep our troops in France, at least until they over run Germany and Poland.
https://nationalinterest.or…
July 14, 2021
Budget Cuts Have Grounded the German Air Force
Nope much of Poland’s airfields would come under cover of the S300, and 400 systems in Kaliningrad and Belarus, Then the Baltics. The way you reinforce Poland is land in Belgium, Bremen, and Denmark, then use German rail and the autobahn to move to the front in Poland. The Russians will shut down Tallinn and Gdansk pretty fast.
You’re implying the Russians are doing this after the US put 1000 additional troops into Poland after withdrawing 12,000 from Germany? Really? ….. Okay. 🙂 That’s pretty funny.
Russia was never happy with Poland being part of NATO, and does not want to see the Ukraine follow that path. You see, its not the number of U.S. troops, but that they are there in Poland, as part of NATO, in the first place.
Incidentally, you do know the name of the last nation to win a war against Russia?
So they did not like the armored battalion of 5000 Obama put there? BTW Air Policing has been going out of the Baltic’s for decades. Those air ops have meant a lot more to the Russians. Id’ say the Chechen’s got an outcome close enough to a victory for them.
We keep hearing about “Russia massing troops” ever since the coup and civil war in Ukraine. Every time the post-Maidan government screws up, this balloon is launched.
This one seems to have a real footprint. I’m exploring means of obtaining satellite imagery from commercial sources. I’m kinda sick and tired of the rumors that fly about these days with little evidence, and no carry thru on events as they do or don’t carry through.
That would be great.
Here are 3 blog posts by the same author crying wolf:
2016:
https://pjmedia.com/instapu…
2018:
https://pjmedia.com/instapu…
2021:
https://pjmedia.com/instapu…
The trouble with all this is, sooner or later a real wolf comes and then nobody believes in it until it’s too late.
That’s just what I mean about followup. Look we do know this. The troop concentrations are real. And we know the Kremlin views itself as the rightful governing body of the Ukrainian people, and views an independent Ukraine the way the US would view an independent Texas. Who’s crying wolf? You can cast it either way.
Putin is just using the play book that Germany did for Czechoslovakia hoping that will agree to it for “peace in our time”.
which was the best decision Neville made. it gave the British military a chance to rearm and build the industries that the war would demand
All while knowing there was zero chance the British or French could stop the Germans of that era from retaking Czech of slovakia 🙂
No…
https://www.historynet.com/…
What If: Britain and France Had Not Appeased Hitler in 1938?
Mark Grimsley
“But this prospect terrified Hitler’s senior generals, who believed that Germany was not yet ready for a major war. In all probability they were correct. The Czech army alone could have fielded 19 active and 11 reserve divisions against 37 active German divisions.”
“This is because historically, the March 1939 occupation of Czechoslovakia made a pivotal difference in German rearmament. Historian Williamson Murray forcefully argues this case in his 1984 book The Change in the European Balance of Power, 1938–1939: The Path to Ruin.”
Originally published in the December 2013 issue of World War II.
this is BS. The German Generals were wrong and Adolph the H was correct
in 38-41 the German army was the most modern, most disciplined, well supplied force on the European continent. they had modern weapons, modern doctrine and superb leadership. the French had larger forces then the Germans did, but were weaker in all the important metrics, including but not limiited to the logistics of war
the Czech forces were badly lead, had inferior weapons and had near zero logistics chain
just like a space program for humans depends on economics not technology war depends on logistics. there is no evidence in history much less in modern times of the force with better logistics losing . (this is one reason we lost in Afland)
You need to look very carefully how many trained EQUIPPED troops the British could deploy to france by 1940 much less 38 (nearly zero) …
what you are repeating is old myth.
I take it that you didn’t read the book or the research that was done for it…
I probably didd sometime ago when I wrote my piece in the USN war college about the era titled “It was good England slept”
it along with the rest of my work there earned me the title of distinguished graduate and a exit promotion to O4 about four years early
when it comes to military history and current affairs I am on a level with no one else on this blog. this is one of my things 🙂 It is a right wing fantasy tied into the love of big military’s and sticking it in the eye of others
So Sir Winston Churchill was wrong?
I am not sure what you are referring to…Neville had to go once war started…but wars are funny things…you have to hvae the people behind you…and they were not for war at Munich…and the British armed forces were in a sad state of affairs in that era. in general its not a good idea to go to war when you cannot win. and even a few years latter the Brits barely hung on…barely by the time Poland came around…it was time.
Thus gaining the Check armaments industry that out produced Britain for quite some time. Would the Ukraine bolster Russian strength in a similar manner?
If the system is S500 based no way it can reach 20k km altitude. They’d need orbital capable missiles to do that. An S-500 warhead on a orbital launch vehicle? Yes, that sort of thing might be what the Russians are saying they can do. If Zenit were operational maybe. That’s the sort of mission Zenit was designed for. But unfortunately for Russia, the US has its own Zenit called Falcon. And with a large interceptor payload, Falcon could mount an intercept mission to defend GPS. It’s well within the cards for the US, and quite a stretch for the Russians to do. The alert ready 1980’s Soviet Zenit no longer exists.
Zelensky is on the border of being overthrown? Oh I am soooo surprised. I’m sure his approval rating of 19% has nothing to do with it (below that of Joe “Worse Than Carter” Biden). Must be Putin!
Kind of weird. I read this about 12 hours ago and have been thinking about this.
It really does not add up. The LAST thing Putin wants to do, is engage in an open war with the west. As such, they are not going to take out GPS or invaded Western Ukraine.
From a military strategy, when you are the weaker force, it makes sense to do a feint; basically, show a fake hand in one place while doing something else in another place.
Russia is not up to anything at this time. As such, this might make sense if one of their allies (china, n. korea, Iran, etc) are up to something and they do not want the west to have troops in that area.
I have to wonder if N. Korea to invade S. Korea, or possibly China to invade Taiwan, is sitting in their minds and Putin is creating a rouse to keep biden’s attention?
yah Putin doesnt want a fight