Live Conflict Ukraine-Russia War

[Spitfire9]

Europeans will shoot down a Russian fighter jet that violated their border! Do you believe this fantasy?

Even when a Turkish pilot shot down a Russian bomber, the Europeans were so afraid of Putin's wrath that, in the midst of the conflict, they withdrew their Patriots from Turkey's eastern border and fled in terror.

When Turkey made its request, "formidable" NATO mumbled something unintelligible.

That's when it all became clear! That was 10 years ago.
Today, the US is no longer with Europe. And without the US, what kind of NATO is there?! With their "gender equality" and other "values," the Europeans have reached such absurdities that they appoint pregnant women as defense ministers instead of combat generals, as if there was no difference between them.

Rasmussen, Stoltenberg, Rutte—wonderful people. But I don't think Napoleon would have trusted them with command of even a battalion

About Russia deliberately flying into other countries' airspace: I think it is time for countries to tell Russia that it is game over, from now on such intrusions will be met by deadly force. That is entirely legal in international law, law that Russia expects other countries to respect where its airspace is concerned.

Yes, the US is no longer with Europe. Personally, I am pleased that the position has been clarified. I never liked 'the west' slavishly supporting US foreign policy due to being members of NATO, itself dominated by the US.

Yes, I always wonder at governments appointing ministers that have 'no hands on experience' or specialist knowledge in the domain concerned eg a defence minister who has never served in the military or a finance minister with no deep study of economics. Whether a minister is male or female is of no importance to me. In my opinion whether well known UK prime minister Thatcher were male or female was irrelevant.

As to generals having a say in a country's foreign policy, I think not. Same the other way round to me - politicians should not decide how battles are fought.

 

[Relic]

According to The Times, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer indicated that a deal to release $115 Billion usd worth of frozen Russian assets is close. The funds would included approximately $10 Billion usd worth of assets frozen in Britain, with a further $20 Billion scattered across Europe and the remaining bulk in the Euroclear depository in Belgium .

The plan would be to release $50 Billion usd worth of funds in each of 2026 and 2027, funding 2/3 of Ukraine's military needs and budget deficit. The remaining 1/3 would come from Canada , Norway , Britain , Japan (loans) and from the budgets of European Union members.

The key meeting on the topic will we held on December 18th. Belgium continues to push back against the idea, sighting an unacceptable plan for the EU to share risk associated with the backing of the funds. EU leaders are working diligently to dilute the risk for Belgium, making the plan acceptable for Brussels.

This would be an enormous "win" for Ukraine. Not only would it satisfy their budget / military needs for a further two years, it would provide substantial and predictable military specific support, over and above the planned individual contributions from their partners. It would almost certainly max out funding for American PURL packages and the Czech ammunition initiative, while injecting massive funding into Ukraine's own domestic military production, which is chronically underfunded. It would also allow Ukraine to make substantial new purchases of armored vehicles and artillery systems from supplies around the world. The current need for replenishment of armor in the Ukrainian brigades is substantial.

 

[Relic]

Ever wonder what kinds of things are purchased in "PURL" packages? Here is an example...

For the first time Ukrainian F-16s have been spotted with U.S. made "Sniper pod" targeting systems and APKWS rocket pods. These systems are being mounted on F-16s for a "cheap", accurate way of intercepting mass waves if Russian drones. APKWS features a conventional Hydra-70 rocket, with an improved guidance system. Ukraine has been using them on their attack helicopters since 2022, but inventories ran low when the Trump Government cut off military aid to Ukraine. Those inventories are being re-stocked, however, with twice monthly "PURL" purchases, valued at $1 Billion usd per month. Each APKWS rocket costs approximately $35,000 usd, substantially cheaper than the much more expensive AIM-7, AIM-9, AIM-120 and IRIS-T missiles that Ukrainian F-16s were being forces to use to down Shaheds.

The USA produces more than 250,000 HYDRA-70 rockets per year and recently ordered 55,000 new APKWS guidance kits for them. The ability to supply these effective interceptors is limited only by funding for them. Production to meet Ukraine's needs is nearly limitless. If 10,000 units were purchased by Ukraine each year through "PURL", it would cost approximately $350 million usd.

Ukrainian F-16s Appear To Be Armed With Laser-Guided Rockets In New Photos

Ukraine has a massive need for the low-cost, high-volume anti-air capability APKWS II rockets offer against drones and some cruise missiles.

www.twz.com