Posted on 02/24/2024 5:59:01 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas
Russia’s 41st Combined Arms Army has suffered catastrophic losses in Ukraine, with half its troops either killed or missing and the other half either deserted or criminally prosecuted, according to internal documents leaked to Ukraine’s I Want to Live project on July 17.
“half its troops either killed or missing and the other half either deserted or criminally prosecuted”
They are incentivized to get their troops into those categories, so they never have to pay the big bonuses promised to them.
Either way, it is a massive affront to humanity, the way Russian troops are wanted and abused.
“Another German military transport flight earlier today... Another transport flight from UK.”
Keep it Rolling!
Send more Artillery!
Flights from UK and Germany are about 1 per day. Consistent, but not a surge.
“The wage race, during which they grew by 8.2% and 9.1% in real terms (adjusted for inflation) in 2023-2024, may be coming to an end”
Along with your recent posts about falling egg prices, and falling car prices (I would add real estate prices), there are indicators the the Russian Central Bank is succeeding in battling inflation.
They may be better positioned to cut rates as crises develop.
“Russian oil companies are experiencing problems with repairing oil refineries due to sanctions”
It they don’t settle in 50 days, let’s send 1,000 missiles to the most critical nodes in their oil infrastructure, so the whole thing freezes and breaks apart.
A Russia without oil revenue is a safer world.
5 Patriot batteries due to be delivered to Switzerland starting next year have been redirected to be purchased by NATO countries. This allows NATO countries to donate existing air defenses to Ukraine, to be replaced by brand new batteries. Apparently, other foreign orders are being delayed too. Ukraine was already consuming pretty much all missile production not included in the delivery of new batteries. Now they will consume several years worth of production of complete systems (via NATO purchases). It’s unclear just how many batteries NATO will purchase, but Trump mentioned the number 17.
Patriot batteries are great, but they need to be complemented with more cost effective systems appropriate for low end threats like Shahed drones, and even subsonic cruise missiles. For every Patriot battery, they need several NASAMS or IRIS-T SLM systems, and a large number of shorter range systems like IRIS-T SLS, Raven ASRAAM, Skynex, Gepards, and other anti-drone systems. All interconnected in an Integrated Air and Missile Defense System. Without those systems, more Patriot batteries will just burn through more missiles.
Israel has 12 PAC-2 batteries that would be effective against anything but ballistic missiles, and they have plenty of missiles to go with them. And Europe now has a production line for PAC-2 missiles that could be pushed to produce more.
“Either way, it is a massive affront to humanity, the way Russian troops are wanted and abused”
Oops - “wasted” not “wanted”.
“Beijing is offering a serious loan on preferential terms, and also assures that if the United States introduces the sanctions announced by Donald Trump, they will be ready to secretly provide direct military assistance”
Then it will be Xi’s war, with all the likely economic blowback, from the EU, as well as the USA.
They may want to sink their hooks into more Russian assets, like their Belt and Road racket, and or just keep bleeding Russia dry as their proxy, to drain and distract the West.
But they can’t keep ramping up, without being noticed.
How many millions of LUCASs are they going to make?
They will have to pretend to pay again, forcing the workers to pretend to work.
“They will have to pretend to pay again, forcing the workers to pretend to work”
I just watched a video on YouTube (Silicon Curtain), where they reported just this phenomena increasing - payments to contractors and employees in the form of ledger entries (IOUs) instead of cash. Also, employees on the books, who are not currently working any hours.
The cost of the drone is estimated at 30-40 thousand dollars.
https://x.com/Heroiam_Slava/status/1945744673307246946
Modular with an "open" architecture.
“The cost of the (LUCAS) drone is estimated at 30-40 thousand dollars.”
Comparable to the Shahed/Geran.
A thousand LUCAS drones a week would be about 30-40 Million dollars per week.
All those miles of pipeline in Russia cannot be defended.
The cost of the drone is estimated at 30-40 thousand dollars.
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That would be $28-38K too much.
A thousand LUCAS drones a week would be about 30-40 Million dollars per week.
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Too much and too few - need to make $2-10k drones by the millions per year to compete on the modern battlefield.
you can have small short range operator controlled drones for cheap, but long range drones with complex guidance and larger payloads are inherently more expensive.
LUCAS is cost competitive with Shaheds, looks like them, and probably has similar (or better) performance characteristics.
India says that it is ready to drop Russian oil, when the time comes. Even if China keeps buying, the loss of just the Indian market would be a huge financial hit on Russia.
OilPrice.com (17 July):
“India is not concerned about President Trump’s threat to crack down on Russia’s oil exports and slap secondary sanctions or tariffs on buyers of Russian crude if no peace deal on Ukraine is reached in 50 days.
“I’m not worried at all. If something happens, we’ll deal with it,” India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, said at an industry event in New Delhi on Thursday...
...For now, India appears unfazed and is playing down the threat, saying it has diversified its supply sources and more oil will be available soon on the market.
“India has diversified the sources of supply and we have gone, I think, from about 27 countries that we used to buy from to about 40 countries now,” minister Puri said.
“There is a lot of oil available in the market…Many countries, including Brazil, Canada and others, are ramping up output. I am not unduly worried about supplies as of now. We have diversified our sources,” Puri said.
India feels “no pressure” and has enough supply options to ensure uninterrupted flows of crude, the minister added.”
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